2 SIM cards work. What to do if the SIM card does not work, the phone does not see the SIM card? Dual SIM – double power consumption

You can’t force someone with no experience communicating with modern technology into the settings section of your smartphone. This approach sometimes leads to confusion, and a gadget that has not been told exactly how to behave begins to live its own life. One prominent example is a smartphone with two SIM cards, which people use together to optimize mobile communications costs. However, such optimization will be of no use if the smartphone does not receive precise instructions from you when and which SIM card to use.

It’s easier with calls and SMS: most smartphones, when you try to call or send a message, ask each time which SIM card number you need to use. The main thing here is to initially know your SIM cards in person and understand which one is the first and which is the second. As a last resort, this point can be clarified in the settings, in the “SIM Card Management” section.

There you can see which operator serves each card.

If the operator is the same, as in our example, you will have to deal with the numbers. Each operator has its own capabilities for clarifying the number corresponding to the SIM card. In MTS, you can call the short number 0887 from the desired SIM card: the answering machine will dictate the number. This call is free.

Let's go online

On your smartphone with two SIM cards, the situation with mobile Internet is more complicated. If you open a social networking app or browser, your gadget, without asking you anything, simply connects to the Internet using the specified settings, and possibly through the wrong SIM card. This is why it is important to be able to change settings.

In the screenshot above, find the “Default data transfer” option. You see that data transfer (i.e. mobile Internet) is configured for the second SIM card. At the very top of the screenshot you can see that for each of the SIM cards the types of cellular networks that can be used are described. In particular, the first SIM card has access to any network, including the fastest, 4G. The second card is only “capable” of 2G, and therefore is only suitable for calls and extremely slow mobile Internet. Obviously, you should change the settings by switching the Internet to the first SIM card, like this:

We climb under the hood

There is an important nuance: the availability of modern cellular networks often depends not on the SIM card and the complete coverage of operator networks, but on how you place the SIM cards in your gadget. The fact is that in many phone models, only one of the two SIM card slots can provide connection to 3G and 4G networks. The second slot has limited functionality and is only compatible with 2G and calls. We took our screenshots from just such a smartphone.

If you mix up the slots and the SIM card for the mobile Internet is in the wrong place, you will have to swap the cards. In some smartphone models, during this procedure you will encounter another problem: sometimes the slots are designed for SIM cards of different sizes. To resolve this problem, the SIM card can be replaced while maintaining the number at the operator’s office, telling its employee what size card you need. As a rule, the SIM card replacement procedure will not cost you anything.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of dual SIM phones?

The first phones with two SIM cards appeared five years ago, in 2006. At the origins of this trend in our country was a company, and almost in parallel with it, the company began working in this direction. Today, models with support for two SIM cards are available not only from these manufacturers, but also from Fly, LG, and Gygabyte. The demand for such phones is steadily growing, and, as a result, the supply is also increasing. Let's look at the main differences between phones with two SIM cards, as well as their main advantages and disadvantages, knowledge of which will help you make the right choice between several models.

One or two radio modules: what's the difference?

Dual SIM phones are very different from each other. And it’s not about the form factor, screen parameters or electronic “stuffing” - the main difference lies in the number of radio modules. A regular phone with one SIM card has only one radio module. A phone with two SIM cards can have one or two radio modules. In practice it works like this. In a phone with one radio module, both cellular operators can work simultaneously only in standby mode. When the phone receives an incoming call, the second number becomes temporarily unavailable (as if the SIM card were in a switched off phone). The same applies to accessing the Internet - while one operator sends and receives GPRS traffic, the second is in an inactive state. But keep in mind that some budget phones don't even have this option, and you end up having to constantly reboot the phone to select a different active SIM card. They have only one advantage - there is no need to open the case and rearrange the cards from place to place. Fortunately, such phones are becoming increasingly rare on sale, and new models with such a “feature” no longer appear.

In a phone with two radio modules, both operators are available at any time. If an incoming call arrives on one of the SIM cards, the second call will be on hold, and you can always quickly switch to it and continue communicating with another interlocutor.

Dual SIM phones Philips, Fly, Samsung

Each mobile phone manufacturer solves the problem of switching between two different operators differently. Some models have a switch button on the side, other models have two buttons for calling a subscriber at once, and for others this is done at the software level (the selection function is activated only where it makes sense to select - in the phone book or in the browser). By the way, all phones with two SIM cards have two IMEIs; this fact should be taken into account when searching for a stolen phone and when registering the phone.

Advantages of phones with two SIM cards

The first advantage of mobile phones with two SIM cards is precisely that they really allow you to save on communications. Mobile operator tariffs often allow you to communicate within the network for a purely nominal fee, but calls to other operators are usually too expensive. Therefore, buying such a phone and two SIM cards will help you stay connected on two networks at the same time and not spend too much money on calls. The second saving option is to use one operator for call service, and a second one for surfing the Internet.

The second advantage is that by buying one phone, you get rid of the need to carry two devices with you at the same time or periodically rearrange two different SIM cards on one mobile phone. In the first case, this will save space in your pockets and bags, and your hands will be freer if you don’t have to hold two phones at the same time. In the second case, you will simply save your nervous system - if you need to urgently make a call from the second SIM card or not miss an important call within the network of the second operator, every second can be decisive.

You can often save money by purchasing a phone with two SIM cards. Recently, more and more budget models have appeared in this segment. Particular credit here goes to the manufacturer Fly, whose assortment includes many devices in the budget and mid-price categories. It is noteworthy that it was this company that almost completely abandoned the production of regular phones with one SIM card, but the variety of models with two SIM cards is impressive - the assortment includes modern touchphones, budget all-in-ones, universal sliders and clamshells, some models are decorated with rhinestones and are oriented exclusively to a female audience of buyers. But the main competitor, Samsung, is in no hurry to introduce budget solutions with two SIM cards to the market, so its models are traditionally more expensive. Among the most famous devices from this manufacturer are the D880 Duos, C5212 Duos, C6112 Duos and B7722 Duos. The first model in this list - the D880 Duos - really became the first dual-SIM device from this manufacturer and the first phone in this segment that gained popularity in Russia (although Fly officially took the lead, this event did not receive due publicity).

The famous Samsung D880 Duos

When talking about inexpensive mobile phones with dual SIM cards, we cannot ignore Chinese-made phones. In particular, the brand. At a very affordable price, Anycool phones have almost everything a modern phone should have: a touch screen, a Wi-Fi module, support for microSD memory cards, a module for watching mobile television and much more. Therefore, if you are not confused by the origin of the phone and the little-known brand, you may well become the owner of such a phone. By the way, among the “Chinese” you can even find phones with three SIM cards!

An example of a Chinese-made dual-SIM phone Anycool T808

Disadvantages of dual SIM phones

If you own a phone with two SIM cards running at the same time, you will probably notice how quickly the battery will drain. Moreover, the charge reduction will occur faster even when the phone is in standby mode. The fact is that both cellular operators exchange signals with base stations at certain points in time, and this precisely requires some activity, which leads to battery depletion. If you regularly use your mobile phone to make calls, send messages, surf the Internet or watch multimedia, you will have to recharge it even more often.

Most dual-SIM phones will need to be recharged every day or two, even if they don't have a huge touchscreen (the display is known to be one of the most resource-intensive parts of a phone).

There are exceptions to this rule - the manufacturer Philips, famous for its Xenium line of devices, also produces phones with two SIM cards. The peculiarity of this line is that all models in it are capable of working for a very long time without recharging. In practice, Xenium phones with two SIM cards under moderate load can last 4-5 days before the next recharge. Models X806, X503 and 9@9w have this feature.

If you use the services of two operators and have two phones at once, then if one of them is stolen, lost or broken, the second one will always remain with you, as will one of the SIM cards. If you have a phone with two SIM cards, you will lose everything at once - the phone, two SIM cards, and the ability to quickly make an important call. Therefore, some still prefer two separate phones rather than one.

The next point cannot be considered an obvious drawback, but it can still bring some inconvenience. The fact is that among devices with two SIM cards there is a very small selection of smartphones. As an exception, we can cite the manufacturers Acer (model DX900), (model) and Philips (model V816). That is, if you want to have a phone with two SIM cards and at the same time use a multitasking mode, an advanced organizer, a functional email client, view and edit documents created in the MS Office package, your choice will be very, very limited. By the way, Nokia fans can also be upset - this manufacturer has never previously released models with support for two SIM cards for sale in Europe, although information has recently appeared about the release of a budget phone with two SIM cards, which will be sold here too.

Example of a dual-SIM smartphone

What does the future hold for dual SIM phones?

If we take into account today's development trends in this segment, we can make a few simple assumptions. For example, budget and mid-priced phones will continue to appear on sale. In parallel, we should expect the emergence of smartphones with two SIM cards running Android OS and the expansion of the model range of smartphones in particular. Therefore, if you want more options when choosing a dual-SIM smartphone, you may want to wait for new devices to appear in this segment. In general, the fashion for dual-SIM phones is not going away; this is evidenced by the fact that many well-known manufacturers are trying to introduce at least one or two such devices into their range of models. Therefore, if you want to save on mobile communications or mobile Internet, but are tired of using two different phones or rearranging SIM cards, dual SIM phones will be the best choice for you.

There you can see which operator serves each card.

Let's go online

We climb under the hood

There are also adapters that allow you to install small cards in larger slots, and large cards can be cut using a special tool. You can almost always find it in a store that sells cell phones. Cutting a SIM card is usually a paid service.

As you can see, a dual-SIM smartphone gives you great convenience, but it can also have pitfalls. Now you know how to get around them.

If dual SIM is supported, you can use two SIM cards in one phone (for example, one for work and one for personal calls).

Note. On devices with dual SIM cards, both slots (SIM1 and SIM2) support 4G networks. However, if both slots (SIM1 and SIM2) have LTE SIM cards installed, the first SIM card will support 4G/3G/2G networks, while the second one will only support 3G/2G. For more information about SIM cards, contact your service provider.

Selecting the required SIM card

You can select the SIM card with which, for example, you want to make a call. To do this, after dialing the number, press the SIM 1 or SIM 2 button.

The phone displays the network status separately for each SIM card. In standby mode, both SIM cards installed in the mobile device are available at the same time, but if one of the SIM cards is active (for example, during a call), the second card may not be available.