As with most of my technological needs atm it'll be whatever cheap **** I can afford/blag for free whilst in a state of mild panic as my last piece of free/cheap **** has probably just broke...
As someone who has to carry two phones most of the time (one work, one personal), the idea of a dual sim phone has me intrigued. How do they work exactly, do you have to switch between sims manually or can you make/receive calls on either sim interchangeably without any input? From what you have said I assume only one sim can have access to mobile data while the other is limited to 2G? And what about contacts, are there two different accessible contact lists for each sim or are they merged together?
November before I'm out of contract - so will see what black Friday deals are about then still on my S5 for £21 a month with 1gb data and unlimited voice/text
After about 3 years I have finally upgraded my Samsung Note 2 (still working as a backup phone) and bought the LG G4. I think this may be the last flagship phone with removable battery and sd card. Apart from battery life and price, I really can't even imagine what improvement they could still be making on today's phones.
I was interested in the Blackberry Priv but all the reviews I've read say it gets noticeably hot just in day to day use. A bit worrying over time but saying that, my old HTC One X+ use to be similar. The other phone that has caught my eye is the Sony Xperia Z5 Compact. Despite the name it's not really a small phone and the only downside would be the 720p screen, which probably doesn't make any difference on a 4.6" screen. In fact the pixel density is basically the same as the iPhone 6 and 6s.
If there's a new Nexus 5/5X equivalent in 2016 then probably that (if it's worth the upgrade over the current 5X) Otherwise stick with the 5X for another year (or however long it takes for an upgrade to arrive)
Probably wait for the iPhone 7 (or 7s), currently running with an iPhone 6 and previously an iPhone 4s before that. No reason to switch OS's at present (nor would I guess in the next year).
I will upgrade when a phone comes out with a feature that interests me, this tends to revolve around screen, camera quality and storage for resultant output from camera usage, phones have been good enough for me processing wise now for years, every phone OS seems very mature, so that is all that really pushes me to switch now, unless one of my chips comes out in a phone then I might buy that just because I don't see anything coming out that is a significant leap from my current phone G4.
It depends on exact models. Most phones are dual standby, that means both SIMs are connected to their networks, but once you pick up a call on one, the other one is disconnected for the duration of the call. That is why these phones allow you to easily redirect the disconnected number for duration of the call to the other number, so you get in-call new call notification. Dual active are better, but also more rare. When it comes to data, then yes, the SIM selected by you (user) is the one which gets LTE and data connectivity. The other one gets GSM/GPRS. Contacts are merged (it is how Android handles contact lists from multiple sources, like multiple Google accounts for example), but use of them depends on the specific application you use. Default dialer application simply asks you which SIM you want to call with when you are performing the call. I use https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hb.dialer.free which allows you to configure dual SIM behaviour inside the caller/contacts - it allows you to remember which SIM you have chosen for specific contact and use that in the future by default; you can configure defaults based on masks too (so if you have free calls within O2 from your O2 SIM, you can configure to perform all O2 calls via your O2 SIM); and of course you can choose a different application if you long press the Call with on the contact.
You want to look for "dual SIM, dual active" (DSDA) - basically both SIM's are live at once. Every dual SIM phone in 2016 should be dual active. When you make a call or text you 'nominate' which SIM to send it from. However (at least on my ZF2) only one has 4G data - the other is just 2G for calls and text, which is fine for work. That might not be true for all phones - mine is Intel based but Qualcomm have much better cellular tech and might offer different. Both contact lists are merged together in Android and there's only 1 Google account logged in. Basically it's not 2 Android phoens together, it's 1 phone + an extra way to call people. I'm really surprised NO ONE on here mentions gaming or performance. Phone / PC crowds really are different. (Not that I game. Phone games all bore the **** out of me)
They don't really make great gaming machines due to crap control method, bar the odd puzzle/tap style game and as mentioned most phones have all the performance you need right now to handle that stuff and have done for a while as phone games don't push boundaries, my phone plays games fine, it only struggles now with 4k video processing, it overheats after about 15mins.
Meh. Though at the low end of things [like what i have] you're wasting your time with [most] games on it. Be it lack of space [primarily lack of space], battery considerations, touch screen related hissy fits, or the fact my handset gets uncomfortably warm if you ask it to do anything remotely strenuous. Plus a lot of the comments have hinted that these are work[-related] devices, so probably not much gaming going on there.
I had an iPhone 4 which got upgraded to a 5s when the hardware buttons started to fail and the newer os bogged it down. I'm seriously tempted to move to a mid range android (Moto or nexus) or windows phone, assuming I replace my phone this year: the 5s is going strong and I'm on sim only plan. I don't really play games on my phone so it seems wasteful to buy a high end phone when a mid range should do what I need, as long as the camera is decent.
I tend to upgrade every two years when my contract is up for renewal. Still have my GN2 from 3 years ago which I frankly prefer to my new Xperia Z3 compact so don't know why I really bother.
Which is like unicorn - everyone talks about it, but no one has seen one... I have yet to see a Dual SIM Dual Active phone sold in Europe.
Great info, thanks. If that is the case i assume then that since only one sim can be active at a time, that also applies to data? So if you are using mobile data on the data sim it will disable the other one, and if you reveive a call on the non data enabled sim it will disable data on the data sim? I've had a look for DSDA phones and the only ones I can see are last years models as grey imports available from Hong Kong/China, which I'm not too keen on to be honest. They're certainly not widespread in this country at any rate. I'm looking at the Oneplus 2 at the moment as the best option for a dual sim dual standby phone at the moment.
To be honest, i never checked if data did work while on call, i am usually busy talking to the person on the other side .
After being repeatedly told by customer support that I wasn't eligible for a phone upgrade due to the contract that I'm on being "too good" (50% off for life, unlimited calls and text and 15GB data), I went into the store and asked about the Lumia 950 and was told I could have it for €100. Snapped it up and I'm absolutely loving it so far. Battery life is pretty damn good, getting well over 2 days use between charges.
I will never again get another high-end "flagship" device, whether on contract or bought up-front. My LG G3 is still on contract, so I'm not going to have to worry for a while yet. The other half recently picked up a Vodafone Smart Ultra 6 when it was discounted to £99. It has more or less exactly the same spec as my G3: 5.5" screen, quad-core chip, 3Ah battery. But my G3 was ~£400-£500 when it was released and the Vodafone Smart Ultra 6 is currently £115. With "budget" android phones being so incredibly powerful there is no way I'm ever taking a phone on contract again. Yes yes, I know it's unfair to compare a current budget phone against a flagship from ~18 months ago, but honestly the G3 is still far more powerful than what I need it for. And that screen on the G3 really is a battery-sucking gimmick; sure it looks pretty and sharp, but 1080p on a 5.5" screen is already more than good enough.
