Dual sim phone, more complicated than I thought, anyone help?

d123 wrote: »

Your supposition is right, the G5 has had cost cutting and uses older dual sim hardware that only allows 2G on sim2.

Oh that is a shame, I was considering MotoG5 for my next phone, no longer.

I'm now hoping the nokia 6 has the MotoG4 like functionality after reading "Support 3g/4g dual sim dual standby" in http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_6_starts_getting_android_711_update-news-24537.php

mrcamp wrote: »

I have a Lumia 650 dual sim and it does not have this limitation. Any of the sims can do 3G/4G, but only one at a time of course.

That's what made the Moto G4 plus quite unique, it could do 3G/4G and 3G at the same time.

It meant you could use a sim for data in one slot and a 3UK sim on 3-2-1 for calls in the second slot.

eDicky wrote: »

That's interesting, perhaps all or most dual SIM phones now available in Singapore have this capability, as a necessity. I am going to check...

Today I checked, and yes, for all dual-SIM phones sold here in Singapore, and most are dual-SIM if not provided by a network, the second SIM that is not using 3G/4G data runs on 3G (only). No phones with 2G capability have been sold here for a while, except mostly second hand for export to Indonesia etc. There's no longer any 2G in Singapore.

So there's no particular reason why the latest models sold in UK and elsewhere, such as Moto G5, don't have 3G capability on the non-data SIM, unless it's perhaps considered that 2G is more reliable and better coverage for voice calls. I doubt it can be much cheaper to produce the 2G model. Ideally the second (non-data) SIM would be 2G/3G, but perhaps that's more of a challenge or cost issue.

My enquiries also confirmed that with the latest model ranges of all brands the second slot is 'hybrid', it can take either a SIM card or an SD memory card - there is no third slot for the SD card. So you can either use them as dual-SIM with no SD card, or single-SIM plus SD card, you cannot have all three. Nobody could tell me the reason fot this innovation, which I had already noticed in Thailand. The only exception to this is the Moto Z Play (and not the Moto Z), which has the three slots, two for SIM cards and one for SD card.

@Easy.


I recently purchased the new Lenovo Moto G6 dual sim and had the same problem.


I also used a 3 PAYG sim as the second sim and it would not work, although it recognised the sim and number but when switched and I tried to call it just showed no network.


When the PAYG was used as the main account, sim 1, it worked perfect but again the second 3 sim did not work.


After four hours switching back and forth and changing settings I gave up and returned the phone to Amazon for a refund.


I never thought to try another networks sim as the second account! Who would have thought with technology today and a 2017 phone that a network sim would not be compatible.


Like you I'm back to two phones.

The Moto G5 Plus now on sale here in Thailand (and probably Singapore etc) does have 3G capability on the second (non-data) SIM.

Can any owners of this dual-SIM model purchased in UK confirm whether it has the same capability, or is only 2G connection possible on the second SIM?