Cheap dual sim smartphone that can receive calls from both without switching?

[Android Central Question]

Hi guys,

I've got an iPhone 6S+ for personal use and a Samsung Galaxy S3 for work, however the latter is defective and I need to replace it.

I can either pick up a cheap Android smartphone to replace the Galaxy, OR, if I can find an affordable Android smartphone which is dual sim and can receive calls/texts without having to switch between the two sims, I may just get the one phone.

I was told that most dual sim smartphones require you to actively switch between the two numbers you have -- in other words, you can't receive a call from number #2 whilst you're using #1 , and visa versa.

But I need to receive from both and be able to call/text from both without switching.

Is that possible? My budget is not very large. Looking at the Oppo A3s and Xiaomi Redmi 6A.

Would appreciate any help / suggestions with this.

Cheers,

 

[chanchan05]

I've been using Samsung dual sims for the last 4 years. They don't require you to actively switch between the sims. You just get a button labeled 1 or 2 to indicate which sim sends or makes a call if you press that button. It can receive calls from either sim as well. The primary sim option is only there to set default sim for shortcut actions and data. But otherwise both sims are active.

 

[Kalyori]

Thanks for the reply!

I've learned there are two terms - "dual stand-by" and "dual active".

With dual stand-by phones that I'm looking at, my concern is that I won't receive any notifications of calls or messages from the second SIM until I switch to it which would be super inconvenient as I'd constantly need to switch throughout the day to check if I have missed text messages or calls.

I have a few questions which may help sort out my confusion:

1. If I'm not on a call -- will I be notified of texts coming to both SIMs?
2. If I'm on a call, can I receive texts from the other SIM at the same time, or does the call need to end before those texts can be delivered?
3. If I'm on a call, and another call comes to SIM 2, does it just ring out and then I'm notified of a missed call?

Appreciate any help!

 

[chanchan05]

Thanks for the reply!

I've learned there are two terms - "dual stand-by" and "dual active".

With dual stand-by phones that I'm looking at, my concern is that I won't receive any notifications of calls or messages from the second SIM until I switch to it which would be super inconvenient as I'd constantly need to switch throughout the day to check if I have missed text messages or calls.

I have a few questions which may help sort out my confusion:

1. If I'm not on a call -- will I be notified of texts coming to both SIMs?
2. If I'm on a call, can I receive texts from the other SIM at the same time, or does the call need to end before those texts can be delivered?
3. If I'm on a call, and another call comes to SIM 2, does it just ring out and then I'm notified of a missed call?

Appreciate any help!

Samsungs are dual active.

1. Yes you'll receive texts. You can even set different alert tones for each sim.

2. Messages come in. Whether you get a beep or not depends on your settings, but you'll see a notification that you received a message.

On 3, there will be a notification on screen and depending on setup, a vibration or beep, that you have another incoming call with options to put one of the calls on hold to answer the other. Basically it's like call waiting. I have no idea though if this feature is carrier dependent.

My experience again is limited to Samsung dual sims sold in SEA. If you get say a OnePlus or LG or Huawei dual sim, I won't know if they behave the same way.

 

[Kalyori]

Thanks for your reply,

I do understand how dual active works, however I'm looking at the Oppo A3s which is dual stand-by, and I haven't been able to find out a lot of information about it.

Any idea about that?

Cheers

 

[Javier P]

I've been using dual SIM cards phones for a long time, all of them Moto models. They are pretty good.

 

[chanchan05]

Thanks for your reply,

I do understand how dual active works, however I'm looking at the Oppo A3s which is dual stand-by, and I haven't been able to find out a lot of information about it.

Any idea about that?

Cheers

Nope. Never used Oppo. As I said, I've only used Samsung Dual SIM.

 

[Kalyori]

Nope. Never used Oppo. As I said, I've only used Samsung Dual SIM.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Rukbat]

Thanks for your reply,

I do understand how dual active works, however I'm looking at the Oppo A3s which is dual stand-by, and I haven't been able to find out a lot of information about it.

Any idea about that?

Cheers

Dual standby means that only 1 SIM is active at a time - the other one is on standby.