Dual sim 3G vs Dual sim 4G

[Michael2525]

Hey. I have almost decided to buy Lumia 640 XL. My first choice is dual sim LTE. However, becoming available in May (according to Microsoft Store France), kind a long time to wait

I messed up my 1020 over a month ago, using N73 on a daily basis, so I really need a new one very soon. Would it be to stupid if I bought dual sim 3G instead?

I have 4G available, and honestly I used 3G most of the time. Totally fine with that, although 4G is nice to have

 

[gpobernardo]

Hey. I have almost decided to buy Lumia 640 XL. My first choice is dual sim LTE. However, becoming available in May (according to Microsoft Store France), kind a long time to wait ��

I messed up my 1020 over a month ago, using N73 on a daily basis, so I really need a new one very soon. Would it be to stupid if I bought dual sim 3G instead?

I have 4G available, and honestly I used 3G most of the time. Totally fine with that, although 4G is nice to have ��

I'd go with more flexibility. At least with the 4G capability, you can always choose to limit your speed to 3G when you decide to. However, you can still go up to 4G anytime you want.

This won't be possible with a 3G dual-SIM, which my L535 is.

On a side note, what happened to your L1020? My L1020 is also "dead" now, but it will be repaired soon.

 

[d2008]

The "Dual SIM 3G", are both SIM slots always supports 2G/3G ?

 

[ygtgngr]

I don't know about Dual Sim 3G it can be both since it's relatively old technology. But Dual Sim 4G definitely means 1 4G 1 3G sim right now.

 

[Michael2525]

I'd go with more flexibility. At least with the 4G capability, you can always choose to limit your speed to 3G when you decide to. However, you can still go up to 4G anytime you want.

This won't be possible with a 3G dual-SIM, which my L535 is.

On a side note, what happened to your L1020? My L1020 is also "dead" now, but it will be repaired soon.

I guess you are right. Probably best to wait it out About my 1020, my SIM adapter got stuck, got mad and pulled it out and broke 2-3 SIM pins. Oops. Meant to repair it, found SIM reader on eBay, very cheap. However it needs to be soldered on, which I don't have equipment for It still works, just not with a SIM card.

Well, got it for free from Nokia agent. It served me well, still does. But it has become really slow lately. It froze badly 2-3 days ago. Maybe a bad app I installed. Deleted few newly installed apps and it helped.

But I am looking forward to a new phone. I guess I can say 1020 and I broke up
Time to move on

 

[gpobernardo]

I guess you are right. Probably best to wait it out �� About my 1020, my SIM adapter got stuck, got mad and pulled it out and broke 2-3 SIM pins. Oops. Meant to repair it, found SIM reader on eBay, very cheap. However it needs to be soldered on, which I don't have equipment for �� It still works, just not with a SIM card.

Well, got it for free from Nokia agent. It served me well, still does. But it has become really slow lately. It froze badly 2-3 days ago. Maybe a bad app I installed. Deleted few newly installed apps and it helped.

But I am looking forward to a new phone. I guess I can say 1020 and I broke up ��
Time to move on ��

Sorry to hear, but at least you've still got a legend (albeit a retiring one) with you. It's still one of the best-performing, hugely debated over, heavy criticized, juiced-up camera phone out there. Strip it bare of any other app that's not related to photo-taking, image processing and video handling, and then take it with you solely as a camera.

At any rate, let us know what you do. I've read somewhere that the 640 dual SIM 4G only means 1 4G and 1 3G simultaneously, but of course this needs to be confirmed and tested.

 

[Michael2525]

Sorry to hear, but at least you've still got a legend (albeit a retiring one) with you. It's still one of the best-performing, hugely debated over, heavy criticized, juiced-up camera phone out there. Strip it bare of any other app that's not related to photo-taking, image processing and video handling, and then take it with you solely as a camera.

At any rate, let us know what you do. I've read somewhere that the 640 dual SIM 4G only means 1 4G and 1 3G simultaneously, but of course this needs to be confirmed and tested.

I know. I still like my 1020. Will mainly be used as a travel phone with amazing camera and wifi he he.

Think I will go with 640 xl until next flagship comes (Nov -Dec). Hopefully it will be amazing Unless Build 2015 changes everything?

 

[d2008]

I don't know about Dual Sim 3G it can be both since it's relatively old technology. But Dual Sim 4G definitely means 1 4G 1 3G sim right now.

At any rate, let us know what you do. I've read somewhere that the 640 dual SIM 4G only means 1 4G and 1 3G simultaneously, but of course this needs to be confirmed and tested.

In android environment, "Dual 4G" sometimes mean :

SIM 1 : 4G/3G/2G
SIM 2 : 4G/2G or 3G/2G or 2G, not 4G/3G/2G as I expected it.

As I only use L520 yet, I want to move to Dual SIM Lumia soon, but it's difficult to find this information in Microsoft Lumia website or specification. Even in the Lumia store, it's not possible to test it as they didn't put any SIM cards in it.

 

[gpobernardo]

In android environment, "Dual 4G" sometimes mean :

SIM 1 : 4G/3G/2G
SIM 2 : 4G/2G or 3G/2G or 2G, not 4G/3G/2G as I expected it.

As I only use L520 yet, I want to move to Dual SIM Lumia soon, but it's difficult to find this information in Microsoft Lumia website or specification. Even in the Lumia store, it's not possible to test it as they didn't put any SIM cards in it.

Alright, aside from this forums the second best option would be to ask the sales rep about it, though (depending on the store) the customer might be more knowledgeable about their products than they are.

BTW, do you need two at least 3G SIMs working simultaneously? Even if you have two 3G- or two 4G- capable SIMs inserted in a 4G Dual SIM phone, I'm not sure if you will be able to use both of their internet connections at the same time. I'm guessing what the phone will do is to switch between these two if the internet connectivity in one of them becomes less stable - especially if you've got SIMs from two different networks. My vote, however, is still to wait for the dual 4G phone to become available for you.

 

[d2008]

Alright, aside from this forums the second best option would be to ask the sales rep about it, though (depending on the store) the customer might be more knowledgeable about their products than they are.

BTW, do you need two at least 3G SIMs working simultaneously? Even if you have two 3G- or two 4G- capable SIMs inserted in a 4G Dual SIM phone, I'm not sure if you will be able to use both of their internet connections at the same time. I'm guessing what the phone will do is to switch between these two if the internet connectivity in one of them becomes less stable - especially if you've got SIMs from two different networks. My vote, however, is still to wait for the dual 4G phone to become available for you.

Yes, both SIM slots should supports at least 3G. Of course only 1 network activated at a time. And you're right, this is for 2 different networks so I can switch from the setting, not switching the SIM cards.
This is about the meaning of "Dual 4G", sometimes a "Dual 4G" phone, has only 1 SIM slot, but it has dual 4G frequencies (FDD & TDD). So, I hope Microsoft Lumia make as clear as possible like the below pic.
.

 

[MassDeduction]

From what I can tell, all the existing dual-SIM Lumias allow 3G connectivity on both SIMs. None of them support LTE yet, the 640 and 640 XL dual-SIM LTE variants are the first to do so.

Other dual-SIM Windows Phones (such as the Blu Win HD) are 3G for one SIM and 2G for the other. This saves on manufacturing costs, but Nokia/Microsoft don't seem to be playing that game.

Based on this, I'd wager the 640 and 640 XL will support LTE on both SIMs. Microsoft's website for the 3G Lumias with dual-SIM don't bother to specify which SIMs support which, as both SIMs support both. The 640 and 640 XL dual-SIM LTE variants do the same, so here's hoping that remains true. I could live with 3G for one of the SIMs, but would prefer LTE for both. 2G-only for either of them, like you see on many/most budget dual-SIM handsets, would be a huge disappointment though.

2G support would be nearly useless in Canada as most providers only support 2G and LTE. Only a single network (Rogers) supports 2G. The others are all former CDMA2000-networks (Telus, Bell, Sasktel, MTS, TBayTel, etc.) that switched to HSPA so never had 2G GSM, or newer networks (Wind, Mobilicity, Videotron, Eastlink) that didn't bother to roll out 2G as almost all handsets are at least 3G anyway.

 

[d2008]

From what I can tell, all the existing dual-SIM Lumias allow 3G connectivity on both SIMs. None of them support LTE yet, the 640 and 640 XL dual-SIM LTE variants are the first to do so.

Other dual-SIM Windows Phones (such as the Blu Win HD) are 3G for one SIM and 2G for the other. This saves on manufacturing costs, but Nokia/Microsoft don't seem to be playing that game.

Based on this, I'd wager the 640 and 640 XL will support LTE on both SIMs. Microsoft's website for the 3G Lumias with dual-SIM don't bother to specify which SIMs support which, as both SIMs support both. The 640 and 640 XL dual-SIM LTE variants do the same, so here's hoping that remains true. I could live with 3G for one of the SIMs, but would prefer LTE for both. 2G-only for either of them, like you see on many/most budget dual-SIM handsets, would be a huge disappointment though.

2G support would be nearly useless in Canada as most providers only support 2G and LTE. Only a single network (Rogers) supports 2G. The others are all former CDMA2000-networks (Telus, Bell, Sasktel, MTS, TBayTel, etc.) that switched to HSPA so never had 2G GSM, or newer networks (Wind, Mobilicity, Videotron, Eastlink) that didn't bother to roll out 2G as almost all handsets are at least 3G anyway.

Yeah....I hope Microsoft never playing this game at all. But it's better if Microsoft put this kind of information clearly in the specification.

Last week, my friend purchased the new Asus Zenfone 2 Dual SIM, only after he opened the back door he knew that the SIM 2 only supports 2G :angry: There was no such information in Asus website or on the box. The funny things, the previous generation (Zen 5 & Zen 6) could supports 3G for their both SIM slots. So we couldn't assumed that the successor is always better or exceed from the previous one.

 

[gedster314]

Eagerly awaiting the 640XL DS LTE here. It can't come soon enough.

 

[RumoredNow]

The "Dual SIM 3G", are both SIM slots always supports 2G/3G ?

On a Dual SIM 3G phone only one slot at a time can use 3G. You can toggle between the slots and the SIM trays momentarily reset (not the whole phone).

I assume 4G is the same - only one Slot can use 4G at a time... IDK if that kicks the other slot all the way back to EDGE, but I kind of suspect it does. I. E. There are dual GSM radios as required to run two phone numbers simultaneously with dual voice/SMS/MMS, but higher data is relegated to one non-sharable radio with 3G + LTE.

 

[Roderick Aspiras]

We'll it really depends on the carriers. If your network provider offers good acceptable 3G speeds like HSDPA/HSDPA+ then I think it is acceptable. Unless your carrier has good LTE speed and coverage then I suggest wait for the LTE version. One thing to keep in mind is that LTE tends to drain battery faster. But I would suggest to wait for the LTE version.

Hey. I have almost decided to buy Lumia 640 XL. My first choice is dual sim LTE. However, becoming available in May (according to Microsoft Store France), kind a long time to wait

I messed up my 1020 over a month ago, using N73 on a daily basis, so I really need a new one very soon. Would it be to stupid if I bought dual sim 3G instead?

I have 4G available, and honestly I used 3G most of the time. Totally fine with that, although 4G is nice to have

 

[gedster314]

Eagerly awaiting the 640XL DS LTE here. It can't come soon enough.

Ordered it, hopefully will have it tomorrow.

 

[SjanUK]

So, when you received your new 640XL DS LTE.... an you confirm any of the following?

You can select Tray One for data 3G/4G-LTE and then Tray Two is only GSM (2G)
You can toggle the data over to Tray Two and there is a pause while the Trays reset
Then Tray Two has 3G/LTE and Tray One is only 2G-GSM.

There are 2 GSM radios and both SIMS have their own dedicated GSM radio
There is only one 3G/LTE radio so only one SIM at a time can use that radio.

Can both SIM Trays operate 3G/LTE at the same time or does one tray become limited to 2G (GSM)?