The purpose of dual-sim on a phone?

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I've noticed that newer phones can accept 2 sim cards. What happens if someone rings that phone? Are there settings on which sim's number will answer the call?

On Orange, I have an SGS2 with 1 sim card with minutes, texts and data. On the same contract, Orange gave me a complimentary 3G stick with a 2nd sim card with a data-only contract. Very useful for when Virgin Media goes down. When my contract is due and I happen to choose a dual-sim phone, I could put both sim cards into the new phone. If I use up my month's data on the main sim card, will my continued data usage automatically roll over to the 2nd sim which is data-only? Same goes with tethering? Bear in mind that Orange allows tethering no probs.

Previous and next phone will be Android btw :-) Cheers.
 
Each SIM card has a different phone number, so you don't get to choose which SIM card to answer with. Whatever number you're dialed decides which SIM card is used for incoming calls. You can usually choose which SIM card to use when making a call/sending a text/using data though.

Dual SIM tends to be a lot more popular in poorer Asian countries, where one SIM might give a great deal on calls whilst another gives a great deal on SMS or international calls.
 
ata though.

Dual SIM tends to be a lot more popular in poorer Asian countries, where one SIM might give a great deal on calls whilst another gives a great deal on SMS or international calls.


This. a lot of people in Asian countries love the dual sim phones. And stated one sim will be good for calss and the other will be good for texts etc. Having 1 number is bad enough. But several numbers is taking the fig.
 
At Nokia we do single SIM and dual SIM of our mobile phones. The dual SIMs almost never come to the UK because there is little/no demand. In Asia/Africa/India however they are VERY popular.
 
At Nokia we do single SIM and dual SIM of our mobile phones. The dual SIMs almost never come to the UK because there is little/no demand. In Asia/Africa/India however they are VERY popular.


There is demand for dual sim phones in the UK. Just look on the bay for MT6589 or MTK6589 quad phones they go fast.
I have an Ovivo sim in slot one(3G) and my Vodafone one in slot two it's a win win.
 
There is demand for dual sim phones in the UK. Just look on the bay for MT6589 or MTK6589 quad phones they go fast.
I have an Ovivo sim in slot one(3G) and my Vodafone one in slot two it's a win win.

The demand obviously isn't enough otherwise all the major manufacturers (Nokia included) would bring their dual SIM devices to the UK.
 
The demand obviously isn't enough otherwise all the major manufacturers (Nokia included) would bring their dual SIM devices to the UK.

Or look at the flip side how many companies like voda\o2 want dual sim phones in the UK? We have never had a choice till now.

And the price is unbeatable.
 
Thanks everyone.

Tunney - I should have realised about the phone numbers bit. Every sim have a different number so that was daft of me to ask what the phone does sim-wise when someone dials a telephone number :D
 
Are there any decent dual sim phones in the uk? i have a work phone and a contract i took out before i got said work phone and to be honest it is a pain in the **** carrying two phones around all day.
 
There is demand for dual sim phones in the UK. Just look on the bay for MT6589 or MTK6589 quad phones they go fast.
I have an Ovivo sim in slot one(3G) and my Vodafone one in slot two it's a win win.
It has to be profitable to do so though otherwise there's no point. As others have said, India is practically a dual SIM requirement (India is broken up into sub-regions for telecoms - it's the worlds biggest mess) and a lot of Africa uses dual SIMs for things like M-PESA on one - calling on the other.
 
Myshra is correct, the demand in the UK and EU just isn't so high, hence why the available range and choice is so poor, consisting mainly of low-end devices.

I would love a Dual-SIM phone, but there just isn't one high enough spec for me to get. :(
 
Myshra is correct, the demand in the UK and EU just isn't so high, hence why the available range and choice is so poor, consisting mainly of low-end devices.

I would love a Dual-SIM phone, but there just isn't one high enough spec for me to get. :(


What high end spec are you looking for?

My next Chinese phone will have the
MT6589T [email protected], chipset
2gb for rom and 16gb for ram.
5.7 inch IPS 1920x1080 screen hdmi out
dual sim.
You can connect a usb stick via the usb micro port or a xbox controller ect. Plus the normal light\proximity sensors\GPS

All for £170 inc vat and delivery. If Samsung brought out an S5 with a option of dual\single sim they would sell.
 
I've got a Star N8000 knocking about here somewhere which has 2 SIM slots, When I got it I thought to myself why the **** hasn't every moby got 2 SIM slots as it would be perfect for Business & Personal use.
Mobys unreal for how much they cost but it was to big for my leathers when out on my bike so I slung it on the desk & went back to my Desire.
 
What high end spec are you looking for?

My next Chinese phone will have the
MT6589T [email protected], chipset
2gb for rom and 16gb for ram.
5.7 inch IPS 1920x1080 screen hdmi out
dual sim.
You can connect a usb stick via the usb micro port or a xbox controller ect. Plus the normal light\proximity sensors\GPS

All for £170 inc vat and delivery. If Samsung brought out an S5 with a option of dual\single sim they would sell.

A quad core cortex a7 is hardly high end though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARM_Cortex-A7_MPCore

1.9 DMIPS / Mhz is worse than, what is now ancient, Cortex A8.
 
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There's another reason why the operators don't offer them - they don't want you using a SIM card from another network to give you cheaper calls/texts/international calls.

Networks are only going to offer phones that make them money. In most countries where dual SIM phones are popular, phones are sold unsubsidised.
 
True but what is does it does it very well. If I want to play a game I got a ASUS prime or a PC to do that.

Modaco and XDA have roms like MIUI ect.

While im sure its good bang for buck, a high end pone it is not, and there is no use pretending otherwise.
 
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