Dual SIM phones

[Osem]

I've been looking around as the missus wants one for her birthday. I've read somewhere (reviews?) that on some of these phones the second SIM has restricted capabilities as compared to the main SIM (e.g. 2g only). I've never seen that made clear in any of the specs of the phones I've looked at so is this correct? Is it possible to have 2 fully functioning 3G SIMs in a single phone?

Cheers as always.

[Jimmy-J]

I can't see why not, as the phone can only use one of the sims at a time. Right?

The HTC One Dual sim does but its expensive. Dunno about the others but this one handles calls texts etc from both sims at the same time so no switching.

Is there a particular one you are looking at? and may I ask why does she want this capability?

---------- Post added at 12:42 ---------- Previous post was at 12:41 ----------

Originally Posted by Jimmy-J

I can't see why not, as the phone can only use one of the sims at a time. Right?

The HTC One dual sim uses both at once

[Jimmy-J]

That's good, so the phone will automatically switch to the sim that's being called?

Make international calling easy – or handle more than one call in style – with the HTC One dual-sim. It’s the perfect device for business travellers, international students and foreign UK residents, living or working at home or abroad. The HTC One dual-sim offers the same outstanding features as the HTC One, as well as the ability to receive calls on either sim card at the same time.

Unlike many other dual-sim phones, the HTC One dual-sim offers complete flexibility. HTC Sense makes it easy to manage calls, texts and data between both your sim cards. Dual Network Manager lets you personalise each sim card, as well as selecting your preferred network – cutting down on complexity.

http://www.htc.com/uk/go/htc-one-dual-sim/

[Osem]

Originally Posted by tizmeinnit

The HTC One Dual sim does but its expensive. Dunno about the others but this one handles calls texts etc from both sims at the same time so no switching.

Is there a particular one you are looking at? and may I ask why does she want this capability?

---------- Post added at 12:42 ---------- Previous post was at 12:41 ----------



The HTC One dual sim uses both at once

Cheers. She's considering a dual SIM phone as she will at some point need a business number and she doesn't want to be carrying around 2 phones all the time so this seemed like a good idea. I've been checking Amazon/Ebay for cheapish phones and read on one of them that the main SIM was 3G and the second 2G only with restricted usability therefore. I've all seen mention of this in several customer reviews but can't recall which specific phones it applied to right now. So, not being very tecchie, I was wondering if there was a particular problem in having 2 fully functional SIMs in the same phone at the same time and, if so, whether this might affect her decision. From what you've said it seems that it depends on the phone and probably the price thereof.

Think I've found the answer here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_SIM

Mobile phones with built-in simultaneous dual SIM capability known as "Full Active (DSFA)" allow both SIMs to be active simultaneously and allow calls to be received on either number at any given time. All such phones have two transceivers built in, one of which may support 2G and 3G while another may only support 2G. This is for example the technology used in the older Samsung B7722 and Samsung B5722, or the newer HTC Desire 606w and HTC One 802w.

It does appear some dual SIM phones have more SIM functionality than others. Something we'll need to check before any purchase.

[qasdfdsaq]

It is true that many will only support 2G on the second SIM.

How is that actually a problem though? Why would you need 3G on the second SIM?

She wants a second number for business - that's exactly what 2G gives you. Not sure why you'd need a second internet connection with a different number too.

[Osem]

Originally Posted by qasdfdsaq

It is true that many will only support 2G on the second SIM.

How is that actually a problem though? Why would you need 3G on the second SIM?

She wants a second number for business - that's exactly what 2G gives you. Not sure why you'd need a second internet connection with a different number too.

I wasn't sure how much of a problem it could be for her hence the reason for clarifying the situation is re the capabilities of the SIMs. Hitherto I'd just assumed both SIMs would offer the same functionality in any phone. If she's only going to want/need phone/text on SIM#2 it will be no problem at all for her to have a 3G/2G DS phone. What wouldn't be any good for her is a phone in which one SIM can't be called when the other is in use.

[qasdfdsaq]

No, both could be called, as that's the whole purpose of active dual-SIM phones.

The 2G limitation just means you don't get a second internet connection, which most people wouldn't want anyway, so cutting it down to 2G saves cost and battery.

Phone calls and messages would work fine on both simultaneously. Sounds like exactly what she needs so you needn't worry.

Incidentally, back in the old days, Orange and Vodafone both offered a service via the GSM built-in "Line 2" standard that allows any GSM phone to have two phone lines and numbers on the same SIM

[Osem]

Thanks for the feedback. I'd never heard of active dual SIM phones until a couple of hours ago. There doesn't seem much information available on this issue when looking at phone specs but if the current situation is that all modern dual SIM phones will now offer 3G/2G at the very least then I don't think we need worry as you say.

[Dash: CF noob]

When they release a dual sim 4g With the ability to allow tethering then I want one.

[qasdfdsaq]

They already exist.