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Author Topic: dream phone  (Read 8363 times)

kalos

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dream phone
« on: May 31, 2015, 08:16 AM »
hello!

I am looking for a mobile with these:

  • dual full active sim
  • removable battery
  • at least 3GB RAM

are there any??

thanks!

tomos

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Re: dream phone
« Reply #1 on: May 31, 2015, 12:56 PM »
is having access to the battery unusual in (non-iPhone) phones?
If not, a simple search will get you a couple of results.

I know some of the newer brand Chinese phones cater much more to dual-sim.
I bought a very cheap one earlier this year, and it's a treat to be able to use two cards without having to swap them (I have it set to: choose which card on sending text message; one sim as default for telephoning & internet). But mine is a far cry from 3GB ram ;-)
Tom

mwb1100

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Re: dream phone
« Reply #2 on: May 31, 2015, 01:16 PM »
Full active is pretty uncommon among dual-SIM phones, at least in my limited experience.  Are you sure you need full active?  My dual-SIM phone is standby, and I have had zero problems.  But then again, I'm not much of a yakker.

I also believe that 3GB of RAM is pretty uncommon in general for phones today.  I'd guess that a combination of 3GB with dual-SIM - whether standby or active - would be a rare bird.

kalos

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Re: dream phone
« Reply #3 on: May 31, 2015, 02:11 PM »
I want to be connected to GPS at the same time with receiving SMS or being on a phone call, does that need dual sim standby or full active?

tomos

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Re: dream phone
« Reply #4 on: May 31, 2015, 02:19 PM »
Full active is pretty uncommon among dual-SIM phones, at least in my limited experience.  Are you sure you need full active?  My dual-SIM phone is standby, and I have had zero problems.  But then again, I'm not much of a yakker.

I not much of a yakker either :D
but fully active dual-SIM is great e.g. if you live near a border - or abroad. So, I have a SIM-card from each country - I'll choose the SIM according to where I'm telephoning. One SIM (the one from the 'other' country) gets used mainly for texts - but also for the occasional call.

@kalos, sorry, dont know the answer to last query
Tom

Ath

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Re: dream phone
« Reply #5 on: May 31, 2015, 04:05 PM »
I want to be connected to GPS at the same time with receiving SMS or being on a phone call, does that need dual sim standby or full active?
GPS doesn't require any sim at all; my tablet doesn't have a sim slot but has perfect gps reception.
And why is receiving an sms limited by any phonecall you make? The linux based OS beneath either Android or iOS is perfectly capable of multi-tasking.

Please turn on your brain before posting a question  >:(

kalos

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Re: dream phone
« Reply #6 on: May 31, 2015, 04:36 PM »
well according to you, any dual sim phone would do, but according to a mobile forum I asked, I need ONLY dual sim full active phones to do that

mwb1100

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Re: dream phone
« Reply #7 on: May 31, 2015, 05:24 PM »
As Ath said, GPS has nothing to do with the SIMs or the cell radios.  

What happens with a dual SIM that supports stand-by is that when you're not actively using the cell radio (is., you're not in a phone call), the phone is 'multiplexing' between the two SIMs.  It'll activate one SIM to allow a connection on that phone number, and if nothing's going on, it'll switch the connection to the other SIM.  It does this automatically, without you having to manually choose which SIM is active.

I don't know how often the switch is done, but it's fast/often enough that any incoming calls on either SIM just ring the phone.  Dual active SIM phones actually have two sets of cell radios, so using one SIM doesn't affect the connectivity of the other at all.

However, when you are actively in a phone call with a stand-by dual SIM, the other SIM is never activated.  I think that for most people this isn't really an issue - incoming calls on the other SIM will go to voicemail. Just like if you had a single SIM.  

It might be a problem if you want to conference calls across the SIMs.

The other area that I think where stand-by could be a problem is if you're like me and use one SIM for voice/text and the other for data.  In that situation you won't be able to use data while you are actively in a phone call.  Personally, this hasn't been a problem at all.  The only time I noticed that I didn't have data access during a phone call was when I tried doing it just to see if it worked or not.

brahman

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Re: dream phone
« Reply #8 on: May 31, 2015, 06:23 PM »
Excellent and well priced 3GB phone with Dual-SIM Dual-standby:

http://www.kimovil.c...buy-ecoo-e0416gb-3gb

Dual-SIM dual standby *may* do what you want.

You will be able to have GPS while having any of your SIM cards engaged, since GPS is independent (as already explained by another poster) and will even work in airplane mode.

On DS standby while you are *engaged* on one SIM card (voice, there are different schemes that deal with data) the other SIM card goes into standby mode, i.e. no incoming SMS or calls or data.

While you are on a phone call with one SIM, in most cases you will not be able to receive an SMS on the SIM card, but you *will* receive any SMS sent to you while you were on that call as soon as you hang up (on DS dual standby), since the provider buffers the SMS and sends it once the SIM card is available again. Some Dual SIM Dual Standby schemes may work slightly different.

Here is a phone with Dual SIM dual active (be careful, different model versions and different features, some may only have Dual SIM dual standby):

http://www.asus.com/...s/ZenFone_2_ZE551ML/
Regards, Brahman

4wd

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Re: dream phone
« Reply #9 on: May 31, 2015, 07:31 PM »
... but according to a mobile forum I asked, I need ONLY dual sim full active phones to do that

The only time a mobile/data connection is helpful but not necessary is for Assisted GPS (A-GPS) where the phone can download the latest GPS almanac (and/or utilise multilateration to provide it's location) which will decrease it's TTFF (Time To First Fix) by GPS from satellites.  ie. Instead of taking a cold start of 45 seconds to provide a GPS fix, it might take 20 seconds.

The almanac will be downloaded from the GPS satellites if it can't be obtained another way this is what a normal non-data connected GPS receiver does.

Phone location can also be approximated by other means, (WiFi, etc), but none of them are a requirement for GPS, as @Ath said.

Regarding Dual SIM, some phones use the MicroSD as the slot for the second SIM, you either have Dual SIM or expanded memory capacity, not both.

tomos

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Re: dream phone
« Reply #10 on: May 31, 2015, 09:38 PM »
What happens with a dual SIM that supports stand-by is that when you're not actively using the cell radio (is., you're not in a phone call), the phone is 'multiplexing' between the two SIMs.  It'll activate one SIM to allow a connection on that phone number, and if nothing's going on, it'll switch the connection to the other SIM.  It does this automatically, without you having to manually choose which SIM is active.

I don't know how often the switch is done, but it's fast/often enough that any incoming calls on either SIM just ring the phone.  Dual active SIM phones actually have two sets of cell radios, so using one SIM doesn't affect the connectivity of the other at all.

However, when you are actively in a phone call with a stand-by dual SIM, the other SIM is never activated.  I think that for most people this isn't really an issue - incoming calls on the other SIM will go to voicemail. Just like if you had a single SIM.  

It might be a problem if you want to conference calls across the SIMs.

The other area that I think where stand-by could be a problem is if you're like me and use one SIM for voice/text and the other for data.  In that situation you won't be able to use data while you are actively in a phone call.  Personally, this hasn't been a problem at all.  The only time I noticed that I didn't have data access during a phone call was when I tried doing it just to see if it worked or not.

thanks for that description - I had misunderstood your initial post to mean only one SIM worked at a time - and that you would have to manually activate/change between the two. I would presume then that's also what I have.
Tom

kalos

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Re: dream phone
« Reply #11 on: June 01, 2015, 02:39 AM »
Ath rushed to judge

GPS may be independent of internet, but it only gives you the coordinates, to get the rest useful stuff you need to have an internet connection to download maps, update them etc.
by GPS I meant basically Google Maps, which ONLY works if you have internet (otherwise it says that it is not available because there is no connection)

also, along with Google Maps, I also want to add internet connection in general: I want to download something with sim 1 and receive a call with sim 2

from my research, to do that, I need dual sim full ACTIVE not dual sim standby

Ath

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Re: dream phone
« Reply #12 on: June 01, 2015, 02:49 AM »
Ath rushed to judge
Hmm, we could agree to disagree here.

by GPS I meant basically Google Maps, which ONLY works if you have internet (otherwise it says that it is not available because there is no connection)
That's not what you said before...
There are several free, turn-by-turn, navigation apps that work off-line, by downloading the maps beforehand, and only using GPS for the current location. That's how I (could) use my tablet for outdoor navigation.

kalos

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Re: dream phone
« Reply #13 on: June 01, 2015, 03:15 AM »
I know, but I want Google Maps, because it integrates google search with map results

Deozaan

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Re: dream phone
« Reply #14 on: June 01, 2015, 12:11 PM »
I've used my single-SIM phone before to be on a phone call AND load data from the internet via 3G/4G at the same time.

kalos

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Re: dream phone
« Reply #15 on: June 01, 2015, 12:26 PM »
I've used my single-SIM phone before to be on a phone call AND load data from the internet via 3G/4G at the same time.

I know but I want to use different sim for data, because I want to take advantage competitive rates

tomos

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Re: dream phone
« Reply #16 on: December 28, 2015, 12:10 PM »
Looking at dual sim phones again ('normal' ones where both sims work but probably not simultaneously - not for telephoning at any rate).
Very little choice still but there's a new-to-me brand from France that are selling on the continent -- Wiko, e.g.

On some of their products on amazon I've read claims that one can telephone with one sim *and* surf with the other -- but this just in the Q&A's. Unfortunately there's a lot of confusion about dual-sim phones in general and how they work - on amazon and even on phones' websites there is minimal info given. Info from Q&A's can be contradictory.

EDIT// I should add, the phone I've been using for the last year (haier) served me well, but my uses are really very basic:
I bought a very cheap one earlier this year, and it's a treat to be able to use two cards without having to swap them (I have it set to: choose which card on sending text message; one sim as default for telephoning & internet). But mine is a far cry from 3GB ram ;-)
Tom
« Last Edit: December 28, 2015, 12:15 PM by tomos »

tomos

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Re: dream phone
« Reply #17 on: December 28, 2015, 12:51 PM »
Here is a phone with Dual SIM dual active (be careful, different model versions and different features, some may only have Dual SIM dual standby):

http://www.asus.com/...s/ZenFone_2_ZE551ML/

I've read claims on amazon.de about the ZenFone 2 ZE551ML that only one card can do internet.

Similar claims here about the ZenFone 2 ZE550ML:
Do you get full 4g, Internet etc using the micro Sim slot or does full functionality only work using a nano Sim?
Answer:
Both sim slots are micro sim, but only sim slot 1 is data compatible 2G/3G/4G. Sim slot 2 is for 2G voice and text only.
http://www.amazon.co...e/dp/B00VP4T506/#Ask


EDIT// yeah, that's confirmed on their website:
Dual Micro SIM card
SIM1 Support2G/3G/4G
SIM2 Support2G (Call only)
Dual SIM Dual Active
http://www.asus.com/...51ML/specifications/

no idea how that compares with other models, just reporting (still trying to get my head around what exactly is meant by dual 'active' sim)
Tom
« Last Edit: December 28, 2015, 12:58 PM by tomos »

4wd

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Re: dream phone
« Reply #18 on: December 28, 2015, 03:37 PM »
(still trying to get my head around what exactly is meant by dual 'active' sim)

Basically, a Dual Standby phone has to time switch between each SIM, thus only one is active at any instant.
So if you make or receive a call on one SIM, the other is inactive until the call is finished. Incoming calls to the number associated with the inactive SIM will be unanswered and there'll be no indication of an incoming call.

Dual Active, each SIM is always active, you can receive two calls simultaneously and switch between them, or make a call on one SIM while using the data connection on the other.
« Last Edit: December 28, 2015, 06:23 PM by 4wd »

tomos

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Re: dream phone
« Reply #19 on: December 29, 2015, 06:51 AM »
^ thanks 4wd :up:
Tom