Dual Sim phones - how do they work?
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Thinking of getting a dual sim phone and have a few questions about it.
I know that a dual sim phone means that you can store 2 sims on one phone, but I want to know that if I have an incoming call, will it indicate on the phone screen which sim it's calling?
As its able to store 2 sims on one phone, does this mean that the battery drains quicker?
Does it allow me to have two different settings for each sim on the phone?
I've been looking around at a few websites and it seems that dual sim phones exists on dumb phones too but most of them say that they don't support 3G and as I'm on the 3 network at the moment, this means that my sim card won't work on those phones. Are there no 3G dual sim phones for sale?
I know that a dual sim phone means that you can store 2 sims on one phone, but I want to know that if I have an incoming call, will it indicate on the phone screen which sim it's calling?
As its able to store 2 sims on one phone, does this mean that the battery drains quicker?
Does it allow me to have two different settings for each sim on the phone?
I've been looking around at a few websites and it seems that dual sim phones exists on dumb phones too but most of them say that they don't support 3G and as I'm on the 3 network at the moment, this means that my sim card won't work on those phones. Are there no 3G dual sim phones for sale?
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I have a dual sim, Moto G2, so I'll give your questions a go (disclaimer - these are all 'in my experience', so YMMV). OK:
Yes.
Not necessarily, it depends what sims you have in the phone. Mine drained like **** with Three and Lycamobile (who use O2) sims in it, but happily lasts all day with Three (for data) and Vectone (for calls, runs on EE) sims in it.
To a degree, yes, mainly for calling and texting. It depends what you specifically want to do.
Yes, there are several dual sim dumb phones about, some very cheap, but as you've found tend not to support 3G.
As for 3G dual sim phones, yes, there's a fair few of them about too (the Moto G2 for example) but they tend to be smart phones I find, and you have to look around a little bit for them. The thing with them is, one sim slot tends to be 3G (which is what data will run off) while the other is 2G, so as a Three user you'll need to make sure your Three sim is in the 3G slot, as it won't work properly in the 2G one, if that makes sense.
Hope that helps.
I've not seen them either, although I've not looked. I use the 2nd SIM for data roaming when I'm in the UK, so to have both 3G enabled at the same time hasn't been a requirement.
But I can see the need if you have a Three UK SIM and want to use another operators SIM for data. The Three UK SIM won't necessarily work unless the SIM is "3G" enabled on the phone. Ironically the Three UK SIM works fine on 2G when roaming...
Thinking about I can't see how having data active (either 3G or 4G) on both SIMs at once would work at a practical level anyhow. How would the phone (or an app) know which data service to use - unless there was a manual preference set?
Also from a cost perspective, I'd imagine you'd have to have two separate 3G (or 4G) radio components, (extra chipsets at least) not to mention they could be working on different 3G/4G frequencies, plus increased battery use....
As for the Z1 - it's dual SIM standby - one active at one time. See below.
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Kingzone Z1 review: Connectivity
Everything you need is covered on the connectivity front. There's GPS and GLONASS, NFC, 4G LTE (although it's supported by only one of the dual-SIM slots, the other maxes out at 3G), dual-band 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-FI, USB OTG support and Bluetooth 4.0. This is a dual-standby dual-SIM phone, for more details on what that means see our dual-SIM phones buying advice and best dual-SIM phones 2015.
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From http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/test-centre/mobile-phone/3511526/16-best-dual-sim-smartphones-2015-buying-advice-uk-may/
Dual-active SIM phones also exist, however, which use two modems and allow you to receive calls on both numbers at once. We've not tested any dual-active phones, but some more recent examples allegedly include the dual-SIM variants of the HTC One M8, Sony Xperia Z3 and Samsung Galaxy S5 mini.
Doesn't say if they are dual data as well as dual voice but again you'd wonder on the benefit of that...
Most of the time however you're getting 3G/2G in one slot and 2G in the other.
You can have settings set up for each SIM such as the default SIM to send text messages etc... Both SIM cards work at the same time and software enhancements have allowed you to soft swap which SIM is using 3G without physically needing to swap them around.
Though a number of the newer releases are now 3G or 4G on sim 1 and 3G on sim 2.
They're 4G/3G/2G in SIM 1 and 2G in SIM 2.
I dont think i've see a dual sim 4G phone support 3G in the second SIM card slot yet.
Kingzone Z1 I think does.
I'm just going by a number of reviews/sites that state the phone is 3G compatible on both sims.
(I do like your pedantry about the sim 1 slot being 4G/3G/2G though ;-)).
For example:
Lumia
http://www.microsoft.com/en/mobile/lumia-dual-sim/
The Kingsone Z1
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/mobile-phone/3608126/kingzone-z1-review-the-fastest-phone-youll-find-below-200/
HTC one M8 dual sim
http://gadgets.ndtv.com/htc-one-m8-dual-sim-1755?site=classic
The HTC One does not support 3G in both sim slots either.
The Kingone I'm not sure about but I'd imagine it's the same as above.
Basically, if one SIM card is using 4G/3G/2G, the other will always be 2G only. You can soft swap using built in software. It's rare to see a phone that will have dual simultaneous 3G connections and as far as I'm aware there are currently zero, or just a couple, of phones that support 4G/3G in SIM 1 and simultaneous 3G connection in the other SIM.
OK, you've just changed the playing field, I also haven't heard of any phones that offer a simultaneous 3G connection either, I was referring to phones that have been reported to utilise WCDMA 2100Mhz (as opposed to GSM 900/1800) as a voice carrier for sim 2, not as a dual data connection.
That's the same thing haha. 3G as you know isn't unique to data.
Like I said, the second SIM will NOT connect to 3G network (for voice or data) but will always be on a 2G connection.
So. The Kingzone and other such phones can do 3G on both sims and 4G on one. I'm not sure where the argument is here. Whether they can do both at the same time is another matter isn't it? Fact is there are phones out there that could for instance run a 4G sim for EE so you had decent data around and about and also a 3G sim to run a VOD sim for 2G calls and maybe Sure signal at home.
I don't want the Kingzone, it's a bit phat but I might be interested in a slimmer phone that could do that.
So, the question is. Can you have a phone that one sim can do 3/4G when it likes (EE) and the other sim can do 2/3G at the same time (VOD)?
I suspect it's all going to be moot in a few months but it's interesting none the less.
That's what we've been discussing and the answer is no.
One SIM will always be 2G only no matter what. The other SIM will have access to 4G/3G/2G.
Of course you can soft swap which SIM is which at any time.
I've got the cheap Blu windows phone from Amazon and that has 4G in both SIM card slots, but not at the same time, so you have to select which slot to use for data.
Off-topic, but it's a great little phone for the price (£69) although not too keen on Windows:D
The other annoyance is when I tether and take a call on SIM 2 (2G) it cuts out tethering (and data)
But, it's still generally much more convenient that carrying 2 phones.
I would not mind to do software switch of SIMs for data as long as they would both work simultaneously for voice.Do they? With my current phone I can switch which slot is 3G but the other slot becomes 2G. When one of the SIMs is Three and I want to use the other for data then it turns Three off completely.
I tested mine last night with a Three SIM in slot 1 and a Giffgaff SIM in slot 2 - only one slot can be used for data at once and it's selected in the settings, but it will make/send and receive calls and texts on both SIM's at the same time. It's only my back-up phone, so I used my main EE mobile to call each number individually without changing anything on the phone and it worked, and I sent a text to each number at the same time and it arrived on both SIM's at the same time (I have the £69 phone).
Edit: just double checked regarding your last sentence - if I select Giffgaff as the data SIM then the Three one does turn off, it only stays on with Three selected as Data, but thtas because Three don't have 2G capability I'd have thought and another SIM from a compabny that does might well work - its ok for me as no 3G Giffgaff where I am anyway.