Which dual sim handset to buy?

Forums › Mobile handsets › Which dual sim handset to buy?

1 | 2

Stu

Hammered
8743 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2409

Moderator

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1510234 10-Mar-2016 00:41

You can use a dual SIM phone, but the Spark SIM must always be in, or set as, the primary SIM slot so that it has access to the UMTS/3G radios. If the Spark SIM was in, or set as, the secondary SIM slot then it wouldn't work at all. It seems that even on newer dual SIM phones, only one SIM can support 3G/UMTS at a time. Spark is 3G/UMTS only.

People often mistake me for an adult because of my age.

Keep calm, and carry on posting.

Referral Links: Sharesies -

Are you happy with what you get from Geekzone? If so, please consider supporting us by subscribing.

No matter where you go, there you are.

Stu

Hammered
8743 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2409

Moderator

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1510236 10-Mar-2016 00:43

Looks like the oneplus two may be the only option available. It's an anomaly!

People often mistake me for an adult because of my age.

Keep calm, and carry on posting.

Referral Links: Sharesies -

Are you happy with what you get from Geekzone? If so, please consider supporting us by subscribing.

No matter where you go, there you are.

Stu

Hammered
8743 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2409

Moderator

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1510237 10-Mar-2016 00:44

Actually just to check. LTE only on both slots? Or 3G/UMTS on both as well?

People often mistake me for an adult because of my age.

Keep calm, and carry on posting.

Referral Links: Sharesies -

Are you happy with what you get from Geekzone? If so, please consider supporting us by subscribing.

No matter where you go, there you are.

old3eyes

9158 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1365

Subscriber

#1510298 10-Mar-2016 09:07

LazyDr:
richms:

Dual sim works great for me with a vodafone and 2degrees sim in the handset. Get calls on both no worries, and quick menu selection to change the 3/4g over to 2 degrees when I find I am low on data on vodafone or in the rare spot where they have nothing useful but 2degrees have signal.

The sim that I am not using for data sits on a 2g network, but that largly seems fine for the odd phonecall or SMS that comes in.

You're suggesting there is a phone that can manage 3/4G on both sims? (Although not at the same time obviously)

3G / 4G on both SIMs but not at the same time is common. My Mi 4i does it. However sbiddle last week in a post gave the name of a Chinese one that does both at the same time.. Can't remember the name though..

Regards,

Old3eyes

Linuxluver

5833 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1639

Trusted

Subscriber

#1510392 10-Mar-2016 10:25

LazyDr:

I'd forgotten about the One Plus Two, it has a couple of areas they've seemingly skimped on to keep the price down, but does seem like a good option. Since owning the Note 4, and having such a great camera, i'm now finding it difficult to consider anything that doesn't stack up quite so well in that department, and that seems to be one thing the OP2 lags behind on slightly?

It seems you and richms both own phones that can utilise 3/4G in the secondary sim slot, but Stu and sbiddle thought that wasn't possible. Hmm

Stu: Then as above, but get the phone you want as well because um.... The old phone err won't work on the Spark network? (Yeah we know it will, but we won't tell your better half!)

Or buy the better half a new phone as well. My wife wants an S7 Edge, so I'm up for two of them!

Unfortunately, she may not be very technically literate, but I don't think I could convince my current phone won't run on Spark.. was a good idea though ;)

The camera in the OP2 is about 12mp. It is not the same camera used in most other phones and I've found that it handles many lighting situations better. It's a pretty good camera.

Here are two shots of the same scene in Greenlane from a few months ago.

This one is the One Plus 2: https://www.eyeem.com/p/73001877 (HDR on - no edit)

This one is a Samsung Galaxy S6: https://www.eyeem.com/p/73001859 (HDR on - no edit)

I think the One Plus 2 actually took the better shot into the bright sun.

(Aside: I've pre-ordered the regular SGS7 - which is also 12mp, but has the larger pixels, so I'm keen to see how that compares with the SGS6 / OP2).

_____________________________________________________________________

I've been on Geekzone over 16 years..... Time flies....

LazyDr

262 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 31

#1510511 10-Mar-2016 12:35

For those with the OP2, has the lack of band 28 been a problem for you? Are you running the US or Global models? For $599 from parallel importing sites, it seems pretty cost effective

old3eyes:

LazyDr:
richms:

Dual sim works great for me with a vodafone and 2degrees sim in the handset. Get calls on both no worries, and quick menu selection to change the 3/4g over to 2 degrees when I find I am low on data on vodafone or in the rare spot where they have nothing useful but 2degrees have signal.

The sim that I am not using for data sits on a 2g network, but that largly seems fine for the odd phonecall or SMS that comes in.

You're suggesting there is a phone that can manage 3/4G on both sims? (Although not at the same time obviously)

3G / 4G on both SIMs but not at the same time is common. My Mi 4i does it. However sbiddle last week in a post gave the name of a Chinese one that does both at the same time.. Can't remember the name though..

I'm officially unsure now, some are saying both sims can do everything, some say no handset can do 3G/LTE in the secondary. Seems the OP2 can do both as there are a couple of people here with the device to confirm it, but other than that i'm clear as mud on the situation

Mighty Ape

Shop now at Mighty Ape (affiliate link).

scottjpalmer

6032 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 790

Moderator

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1510603 10-Mar-2016 14:30

To clarify, the Sony, Samsung, etc can do 3G/4G in both slots but only in one at a time. It doesn't matter which slot you put the SIM cards in, you choose in the software which slot is 3G/4G and which is only 2G and you can swap these via the settings menu whenever you want.

Indio

153 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 2

#1523590 31-Mar-2016 22:12

I have an LG G3 Dual Sim (D858HK) with 4G/3G/2G on SIM1 and 2G on SIM2 I'm playing around with. I've used 2 Vodafone SIMs and it will only detect SIM1: I swap the SIMs around and it still does not detect SIM2. But when I insert a Spark prepay SIM in SIM2 and one of my Vodafone SIMS in SIM1, the G# sees both and I can activate both...

Does this mean I can't use SIMs from the same provider in the same Dual SIM?

old3eyes

9158 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1365

Subscriber

#1697010 1-Jan-2017 08:22

FYI. Just bought the Moto G4 Plus from PB Tech at the boxing day sales as I wanted a vanilla interface dual SIM phone. My normal configuration is SIM1 Skinny LTE and SIM2 Optus AU roaming on 2D or Vodafone (used for password resets from AU) As a part of the run up of this phone I notice when Skinny and Optus SIMs were both in I saw 4G on the Skinny SIM and 3G on the Optus SIM. I changed the Optus SIM to a Spark SIM and the they were both online and I could receive calls on both SIMs but could only call out on the one that was set as default. So I guess you can add this to the list of phones that will do 3G the second SIM for calling on Spark / Skinny

Regards,

Old3eyes

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
80658 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 41071

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#1697022 1-Jan-2017 09:01

The Huawei Mate 9 is a high end smartphone and it comes dual SIM in New Zealand.

Referral links: Quic Broadband (free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE) | Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies

Support Geekzone by subscribing (browse ads-free), or making a one-off or recurring donation through PressPatron.

old3eyes

9158 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1365

Subscriber

#1697023 1-Jan-2017 09:04

freitasm:

The Huawei Mate 9 is a high end smartphone and it comes dual SIM in New Zealand.

But the Mate 9 is $600 more than the Moto G that I bought but the Mate 9 looks like a great phone..

Regards,

Old3eyes

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
80658 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 41071

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#1697024 1-Jan-2017 09:05

Yes, hence my warning that it is a high end phone.

Referral links: Quic Broadband (free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE) | Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies

Support Geekzone by subscribing (browse ads-free), or making a one-off or recurring donation through PressPatron.

mckenndk

914 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 35

#1697060 1-Jan-2017 10:54

My current is the Dual Sim Asus Zenfone 3 (bought from PB Tech) which has a Spark and a UK SIM in it.

Currently both are running on Spark one being on 3G and the other on 4G.

Huskie

144 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 12

#1699198 6-Jan-2017 09:03

I'm using a Mi 5 and running 2 x Spark SIMs at the same time. They can both receive/send txts and calls. You can select which card you want to use for mobile data. It's the only phone I have found so far that will let me use both Spark SIMs at the same time which are both 3G WCDMA minimum.

Previously had a dual SIM S7 but could only have 1 Spark card active at a time while the other had completely no signal as it automatically set itself to 2G Only.

hio77

'That VDSL Cat'
13036 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3896

ID Verified

Trusted

Lizard Networks

Subscriber

#1699213 6-Jan-2017 09:36

my current preferance for a dual sim phone is the V20.

supports Dual sim on 3G, so i have my primary service being Vodafone (for coverage at home) which sits on 4G most of the time. While my spark sim happily runs 3G.

Most other dual sim phones only do GSM on the secondary which obviously in sparks case would be a unusable.

#include <std_disclaimer>

Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.

1 | 2