Differences with single-sim and dual-sim 950XL

Greyze

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Hi,

Are there any known differences between the single-sim and dual-sim models? I've already pre-ordered from MS UK, but found a dual-sim model for cheaper elsewhere. Wondering if it's worth cancelling my pre-order for the other.

The last time I looked into dual-sim phones (a while ago) the differences I usually saw were;
  • More battery usage
  • Possible connectivity issues
  • Some tech was removed from the phone to make room for dual-sim (like NFC or something)

Is anything like this true for the 950XL?
 

HoosierDaddy

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May 28, 2013
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Hi,

Are there any known differences between the single-sim and dual-sim models? I've already pre-ordered from MS UK, but found a dual-sim model for cheaper elsewhere. Wondering if it's worth cancelling my pre-order for the other.

The last time I looked into dual-sim phones (a while ago) the differences I usually saw were;
  • More battery usage
  • Possible connectivity issues
  • Some tech was removed from the phone to make room for dual-sim (like NFC or something)

Is anything like this true for the 950XL?
Both have NFC (and MicroSD), etc. There are no differences other than the second SIM in the hardware specs. Both are identical for everything the FCC tests per the letter below, so no differences in connectivity.

FCC.png
 

HoosierDaddy

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Thanks for the reply, in that case I may as well cancel my MS order!
Worth confirming the warranty status if you buy from someone else. In the US, you can only get factory warranty service if the phone was shipped by the US distributor. It may be the same in the UK.

I am getting my 950XL from B&H which is in the US. But they are getting the phone from a foreign market so the IEMI won't be on the list used by MS in the US to determine warranty eligibility. It was the same for my 1520.3 I bought from them. In B&H's case they provide their own warranty that is as good as MS' but if they didn't, I would be much less likely to buy from them.
 

Greyze

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All good here in the UK. The alternative is Amazon, which is ?65 cheaper and a dual-sim model.

Amazon already offers limited warranty, the rest of the warranty will always be down to MS to handle here.
 

ericloewe

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Actually, the FCC documents show that the single SIM version does 300Mb/s down (LTE Cat 6, IIRC) while the dual SIM version only does 150Mb/s down (LTE Cat 4, IIRC).
 

jmajid

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Actually, the FCC documents show that the single SIM version does 300Mb/s down (LTE Cat 6, IIRC) while the dual SIM version only does 150Mb/s down (LTE Cat 4, IIRC).

not sure about what you have said here... where did you see this in the FCC docs?
 

HoosierDaddy

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Do you still loose Visual Voice Mail by going dual SIM?
Dual SIM has no effect on visual voicemail. Being factory unlocked, regardless of the number of SIMs may mean loss of visual voicemail because a carrier may prevent it as an incentive to buy their locked phone.
 

Captpt

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not sure about what you have said here... where did you see this in the FCC docs?

Seems they split the download speed in half between 2 simms vs single simm which gets the full 300m/per/sec.. interesting if true and would make me go single..
Can someone more knowledgeable please chime in if they believe this seems true? Just seems strange to me number of simms would effect download speeds UNLESS they are determining the 150mps is rated IF downloads were being done simultaneously??
 

RumoredNow

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Typically on Windows Phone Dual SIM only one tray can use 3G/H+/4G/LTE at any one time. The other is relegated to GSM/2G/EDGE. But also typically, which tray you use is user selectable and configurable/changable.
 

jmajid

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unlikely they will require 2 sims to be inserted at once...
i agree that only one sim is used or is active at a time for data...
i think someone is getting confused with the two antenna...
 

ericloewe

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not sure about what you have said here... where did you see this in the FCC docs?
SAR reports, IIRC. Among a lot of other data, they include specs for the various radios. Different Categories are listed for the single and dual SIM versions.

Seems they split the download speed in half between 2 simms vs single simm which gets the full 300m/per/sec.. interesting if true and would make me go single..
Can someone more knowledgeable please chime in if they believe this seems true? Just seems strange to me number of simms would effect download speeds UNLESS they are determining the 150mps is rated IF downloads were being done simultaneously??
I don't think it can work quite like that. More likely is that the Radio has a dual-SIM mode, in which it can only do Cat. 4 LTE. A single radio could, theoretically, be multiplexed between two cards - but this is a complex scenario and could easily account for the downgrade in download bandwidth. Since both versions are identical, save for the second SIM reader, I imagine this is the solution they went with.

As a matter of simplicity, the radio's firmware may be permanently set to dual-SIM mode on the dual-SIM variant, since switching between modes would probably require at least a phone reboot.

Of course, none of this implies both cards support 4G or even 3G simultaneously. Doing that with a single radio is crazy complicated and may not even be possible in a reasonable package.
 

Captpt

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My question is if you buy the 2 simm version but only use it as a single simm phone would your DL speed be 150 or 300mps???
 

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