All dual SIM mobile phones are the same, right?
The answer is NO, they're not. And if you're unlucky enough to buy the wrong one, you could soon be stuck with a single SIM mobile phone.
Why a dual SIM mobile phone?
The answer is varied for this one. There are many reasons why people have more than one mobile device.
Some use it to juggle their girl/boy friends around, having different numbers for each.
Some like to have a full on data SIM only device where they can Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat, Netflix and web all they want.
But carrying two devices can be a drag. So here's where a dual SIM mobile phone comes in handy.
For me it's simple...
I've been carrying two mobile phones around for ages, one for business use, the other for personal.
I've been carrying two mobile phones around for ages, one for business use, the other for personal.
It just made so much more sense to carry one instead of two devices.
Where to get dual SIM phones in Australia and where NOT to get them.
So for the last few days, I've been on the hunt for a dual SIM phone here in Perth, Western Australia.
Being a loyal Vodafone user, my first stop was, you guessed it, Telstra.
When I asked about dual SIM phones, the kind lady at Telstra told me "You can't get any dual SIM phones in Australia anymore as they will be shutting the service down". This made me go.. hmm, you don't know what you're talking about, I better.. exit stage right.
My next stop was Vodafone, who also said there aren't any dual SIM phones in Australia, but they do have a brand new Oppo R9S on a $45 monthly plan I could have. I was stoked to hear this as some googling educated me on the fact that the Oppo R9S is actually a dual SIM phone. I signed up for the Oppo R9S and sped home to put my SIM cards in.
Switching it on, I quickly plugged in all the necessary info to prep a brand new phone as you would.. you know... select English, put in Google ID, password etc etc till I got to the home screen.
Lo and behold only one SIM showing, with no sign of the second SIM. Doing more googling I come to find out that Vodafone sell the single SIM version of the Oppo R9S.
So...Where NOT to buy a dual SIM phone? any of the major phone providers, Telstra, Optus, Vodafone etc. They generally sell the single SIM version of the dual SIM phones or the munted versions. They don't want you mixing their competitors SIM cards with theirs either.
Don't bother looking for prepaid phones as they are also likely to be single and not dual SIM in Australia, e.g. Samsung J1 prepaid from Target, there's a dual SIM version, but they are single SIM only at Target in Australia. The same goes for looking in Coles or Woolworths, no dual SIM phones.
I did get a dual SIM mobile cheaply AUD$150 from Officeworks who were clearing out the ZTE Blade dual SIM mobile phone, but I soon returned it (find out why, read below)
I did get a dual SIM mobile cheaply AUD$150 from Officeworks who were clearing out the ZTE Blade dual SIM mobile phone, but I soon returned it (find out why, read below)
Where to get a dual SIM mobile?
There are several places you can just go pick one up, namely Officeworks, JB HiFi, Harvey Norman or even The Good Guys
The biggest issue I have is the lack of knowledge on these phones.
What's the difference between dual SIM phones.
The usual configuration for dual SIM phones are two SIMs in the phone, and both on different bands i.e. 2G and 3G/4G/LTE bands. This allows the phone to accept two line numbers, one phone number on the 2G band, and the second phone number on the 3G/4G/LTE band.
The usual configuration for dual SIM phones are two SIMs in the phone, and both on different bands i.e. 2G and 3G/4G/LTE bands. This allows the phone to accept two line numbers, one phone number on the 2G band, and the second phone number on the 3G/4G/LTE band.
The issue in Australia is, the 2G band will soon be shut off in Australia (they are anticipating some time in November 2017). So the Telstra lady was right here, they are shutting the 2G service down. This is why I returned the ZTE Blade, it was dual SIM - SIM 1 is 3G, and SIM 2 is 2G only.
When this happens, the dual SIM version of the mobile phones that utilise 2G and 3G/4G/LTE bands concurrently, will only be able to run on the 3G/4G/LTE bands effectively making it a single SIM mobile phone.
Now how do we overcome this issue? There are several dual SIM phones available with standby and active dual SIM that run on the 3G, 4G or LTE bands instead. The Oppo R9S from retailers (NOT the Telcos) are standby dual SIM that is capable of doing this.
What's the difference between standby and active dual SIM mobile phones.
Standby dual SIM means that it switches the two SIMs sharing time between each, so when one SIM is on a call, the other SIM goes on standby (the caller on the second SIM will get an engaged signal or a "the mobile phone you're calling is not connected" message). This effectively means you can only make use of one SIM at a time.
Active dual SIM means both SIMs are active at the same time. You can effectively receive two calls at once, or use data on one SIM and call on the other simultaneously, which you cannot do on standby dual SIM mobile phones.
In the end, after all the running around and research, I ended up with the Huawei Mate 9 standby dual SIM mobile phone. It's a well polished phone with excellent battery life and best of all, standby dual SIM capability. I am literally writing this blog on it and I'm glad of the choice made. I can't really talk to two people at the same time, so active dual SIM wasn't necessary.
Thanks for reading and feel free to comment or ask questions below.
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