I bought a 128GB Oneplus 5T on the basis that it was at the time the best combo of cutting edge/$$$, dual sim, world bands, 99% pure google UI and decent on-board storage capacity

A number of Dual sims don't offer big storage capacity and rely on you tying up a sim slot with a mSD card which kind of defeats the purpose 

I would happily recommend Oneplus, seen plenty of updates (security patch 1st June 18)

I can't recommend anything but the OnePlus 6 if you're wanting a "good" dual sim phone.

The OnePlus 6 looks good; I see Noel Leeming sell it but without the Dash charger for some reason.

If you want "budget" then there's Motorola g6 series and Motorola e5 series. Probably not up there in terms of updates as the OnePlus though.

There are also a plethora of retailers. Noel Leeming is obviously mainstream; any recommendations for reliable alternatives? Some of the websites that come up if you search do not look all that professional, and some offer fairly dubious warranty cover (six months only in one instance). I am not sure why dual sim models are never sold as normal options here.

Both myself and my colleagues have purchased from Supero multiple times without any issues - their warranty is quite good too. It drop ships normally from overseas but quickly and all GST is covered on their end: http://supero.co.nz/oneplus-6-128gb-8gb-silk-white/ 

Aredwood: Check that whatever dual SIM phone can support 4G on both SIMs at the same time. Lots of phones can only do 3g on the second SIM, and some can only do 2g on the second SIM.

Also USB OTG solves some of the problems from not being able to use the memory card slot. As you can plug a USB thumb drive directly into the phone using a small adaptor. Which makes it easy to copy or backup lots of data.

As for not selling the Dual SIM models, the NZ networks are just being precious. All they are doing is sending more customers to shops that sell parallel imported phones.

Dual SIM Dual Active (DSDA) phones are essentially no longer in production. The last one of note was the Huawei Mate 8 Dual SIM. All major brands' dual SIM devices are now Dual SIM Dual Standby (DSDS).

Most are using hybrid SIM trays, too, so a trade-off needs to be made between micro SD or two SIMs. Notably the Moto G6 range and all of Oppo's current devices do have triple-slot trays for 2x SIMs + micro SD simultaneously.

There is also a strange misconception that dual 4G instead of 4G SIM 1/3G SIM 2 is a super desirable thing.

You can only use one data connection at a time, and NZ telcos have yet to implement VoLTE publicly, so there is no advantage whatsoever in 4G/4G unless you're travelling to a country with VoLTE-only networks like India's (in)famous Jio. The Huawei Mate 10/Pro and the dual SIM variants of the P20 series are 4G/4G, but again, there is absolutely no point in seeking this feature for use exclusively in NZ. 4G/3G will do the same job and give you significantly more choice.

I highly recommend Motorola, LG, and Huawei for dual SIM. OnePlus is great too, although it is not as well tuned for NZ networks as the brand is not officially available here.

As for the telcos and dual SIM, I understand where they're coming from. Why would they willingly subsidise hardware which is fundamentally designed to undermine their business models?

NikT:

 

Dual SIM Dual Active (DSDA) phones are essentially no longer in production. The last one of note was the Huawei Mate 8 Dual SIM. All major brands' dual SIM devices are now Dual SIM Dual Standby (DSDS).

 

Most are using hybrid SIM trays, too, so a trade-off needs to be made between micro SD or two SIMs. Notably the Moto G6 range and all of Oppo's current devices do have triple-slot trays for 2x SIMs + micro SD simultaneously.

 

There is also a strange misconception that dual 4G instead of 4G SIM 1/3G SIM 2 is a super desirable thing.

 

You can only use one data connection at a time, and NZ telcos have yet to implement VoLTE publicly, so there is no advantage whatsoever in 4G/4G unless you're travelling to a country with VoLTE-only networks like India's (in)famous Jio. The Huawei Mate 10/Pro and the dual SIM variants of the P20 series are 4G/4G, but again, there is absolutely no point in seeking this feature for use exclusively in NZ. 4G/3G will do the same job and give you significantly more choice.

 

I highly recommend Motorola, LG, and Huawei for dual SIM. OnePlus is great too, although it is not as well tuned for NZ networks as the brand is not officially available here.

 

 

 

As for the telcos and dual SIM, I understand where they're coming from. Why would they willingly subsidise hardware which is fundamentally designed to undermine their business models?

 

No need for them to subsidise it - they could simply sell it at the same cost as a variety of other retailers already do, surely? At present, they get none of the sales in that segment whereas for little effort they could get some - possibly even most - of them.

Good info there; thanks. I suppose the only reason to look for VoLTE etc is future proofing?

Saw a version of the OnePlus 6 in red on line (not in NZ) and that just looks fab.

NikT:

 

Dual SIM Dual Active (DSDA) phones are essentially no longer in production. The last one of note was the Huawei Mate 8 Dual SIM. All major brands' dual SIM devices are now Dual SIM Dual Standby (DSDS).

 

Bet me to it :)

this is such a common misconception.