New dual sim phone

[prophet01]

Afternoon all

 

I've decided to get myself a dual sim phone for use in UK (when I'm back doing contract work) and Thailand.

My current primary phone/sim (UK use, giffgaff monthly unlimited calls + 6GB data) is an old Samsung Galaxy S Advance bought in Patong which has served me so well.

Secondary phone (UK use sim & Thai sim PAYG) 2 year old Samsung S5 Mini.

 

The S5 Mini I use for apps (WhatsApp, Line, Dropbox, CameraFi, gDMSS (for viewing our Thai restaurant cameras) etc. is sufficient spec for my purposes so do not need high end phone spec.

 

I'd appreciate suggestions/advice for a new dual sim unit to suit my purposes. Doesn't have to be Samsung.

 

Thanks in advance.

[prophet01]

Forgot to mention budget.

Flexible up to 15,000Bt, perhaps more if necessary.

[prophet01]

Up at Big C Phuket this afternoon.

Samsung J7 Pro at just under 9,000Bt caught my eye.

Two sim slots plus micro sd slot.

Any views would be much appreciated

[Peterw42]

I have had a Samsung J7 for a couple of years now, running 2 sims (thai/Australian), works great no problems at all. wife has the same

Not sure what extra features the Pro model has

Edited January 2, 2018 by Peterw42

[tutsiwarrior]

I've got a 4500 baht Huawei (2/16) with slots for 2 SIMS but if you want to use a storage card then you havta use one of the slots for that purpose...might be worth investigating...

 

 

[RichCor]

Whatever phone model you're looking at, make sure the 'radios' are spec'd to work with whatever 'networks' you want to use it with. You'll need matching modem/codex (2G or 3G or 4G) and the frequency Band  

 

Most Thai mobile providers mostly use some combination of 850, 900, 1800, 2100 for 3G and 4G operations.

 

...from the Giffgaff community forum:

 

Giffgaff runs on the O2 network to provide a virtual mobile network service. O2 (and therefore Giffgaff) use the following 2G, 3G and 4G frequencies/bands.

2G (Good for Calls, SMS and Emails) - 900MHz (Band 8) and 1800MHz (Band 3)

3G (Good for Calls, SMS and Mobile Data) – 900MHz (Band 8) and 2100MHz* (Band 1*)

4G (Good for Mobile Data) – 800MHz (Band 20)

 

* PLEASE NOTE: 3G frequency 2100MHz (Band 1) is not available in all areas.

 

As listed above, if you want Giffgaff 4G Mobile Data you'll need to pick a phone that specifically handles 4G 800MHz (Band 20), or be satisfied with 3G on 900MHz (Band 8) and/or 2100MHz (Band 1) [*where service available]

[adammike]

Got a MotoG 5 plus, dual nano sim, 4g and there is a slot for a micro sd card.cost 300euro with a case.

[robin33]

Got a MotoG 5 plus, dual nano sim, 4g and there is a slot for a micro sd card.cost 300euro with a case.

Good phone but payed 235 when iT game out. Do you mean a moto g5S plus?


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[prophet01]

Appreciate the responses, particularly from RichCor

Went ahead and bought a black J7 Pro from the Jungceylon Samsung shop. Came with loads of free goodies (of varying use) selfie stick, wireless headphones, power pack etc.

 

With respect to 4G 800MHz I couldn't categorically establish whether or not this is available but if not it's not an issue as I'm not a heavy mobile data user.

I'll find out when I get the required replacement nano sim installed as now back in UK. for a while.

[Issanman]

On 1/2/2018 at 10:10 PM, RichCor said:

Whatever phone model you're looking at, make sure the 'radios' are spec'd to work with whatever 'networks' you want to use it with. You'll need matching modem/codex (2G or 3G or 4G) and the frequency Band  

 

Most Thai mobile providers mostly use some combination of 850, 900, 1800, 2100 for 3G and 4G operations.

 

...from the Giffgaff community forum:

 

Giffgaff runs on the O2 network to provide a virtual mobile network service. O2 (and therefore Giffgaff) use the following 2G, 3G and 4G frequencies/bands.

2G (Good for Calls, SMS and Emails) - 900MHz (Band 8) and 1800MHz (Band 3)

3G (Good for Calls, SMS and Mobile Data) – 900MHz (Band 8) and 2100MHz* (Band 1*)

4G (Good for Mobile Data) – 800MHz (Band 20)

 

* PLEASE NOTE: 3G frequency 2100MHz (Band 1) is not available in all areas.

 

As listed above, if you want Giffgaff 4G Mobile Data you'll need to pick a phone that specifically handles 4G 800MHz (Band 20), or be satisfied with 3G on 900MHz (Band 8) and/or 2100MHz (Band 1) [*where service available]

This website can be useful for helping to figure out if your phone will work properly in another country:

https://willmyphonework.net/

[speedtripler]

one plus 5t is probably the best phone on the market about your price range 

i got mine last week and its staggeringly fast 

[RKASA]

On 1/2/2018 at 7:37 PM, Peterw42 said:

I have had a Samsung J7 for a couple of years now, running 2 sims (thai/Australian), works great no problems at all. wife has the same

Not sure what extra features the Pro model has

Wife upgraded to pro - I have her old J7.  pro has more ram and can split screen - I didn't see any real need for ether.  The os has some changes - most noticed is it take twice as many clicks to switch language then the older J7s does.  I wouldn't upgrade for any reason other then I got her old phone for free.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

On 1/2/2018 at 10:10 PM, RichCor said:

As listed above, if you want Giffgaff 4G Mobile Data you'll need to pick a phone that specifically handles 4G 800MHz (Band 20), or be satisfied with 3G on 900MHz (Band 8) and/or 2100MHz (Band 1) [*where service available]

My impression is, the 800 Mhz band for LTE is a bit of an odd one, not a band often listed among phones sold here... Though, the higher end Samsung phones usually tend to have a pretty broad range of frequency bands supported in hardware.

 

It looks like Band 20 for LTE is supported on the J7 Pro, and also at least on the Europe Middle East Asia version of the standard J7.

 

Also, you probably want to make sure that the phone you get supports LTE on both SIM slots, even if you can only use LTE on one or the other at any given time.

 

Some LTE phones only support LTE in 1 SIM slot at a time and force the other SIM slot into 2G only mode.

 

My wife has a Thai bought J7, and it's been a good phone for her. Particularly has a very good camera.

 

You have to be a bit careful in shopping, though, because it looks like there have been three annual versions all named the J7 thus far -- the original J7 in 2015, the J7 (2016) version, and mid-last year the J7 (2017) version.

 

800 Mhz LTE seems a pretty constant, but the other specs like OS version and processor and even networking speed have advanced year by year.

 

 

Edited February 3, 2018 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[dddave]

On ‎2‎/‎3‎/‎2018 at 11:47 AM, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

You have to be a bit careful in shopping, though, because it looks like there have been three annual versions all named the J7 thus far -- the original J7 in 2015, the J7 (2016) version, and mid-last year the J7 (2017) version.

My GF had the original version of the J7 and it had a number of significant issues: poor signal reception in less than optimal areas, WiFi cutting in and out and a few more I can't quite recall.  Several updates were issued but never cured the problems but she liked the phone for it's display so kept it.

Finally got a new J-7 six months ago and it is far superior though B1000 more expensive than her original.  All the above mentioned complaints seem resolved, the display is even more vibrant and she is happy with it.

There are better phones for the price but having the Samsung brand name is more important to many ladies than any impressive spec. 

[ravip]

Samsung A series are quite good.