640 Dual sim in UK?

[iamstevie]

Hi guys... Gonna try venturing back into Windows Phone again, 640 seems a great tester phone for this.

Couple of questions was hoping some kind soul could shed some insight on:

1) Is the UK version dual sim? Looks like no on the MS shop:

Buy Microsoft Lumia 640 LTE - Microsoft Store United Kingdom Online Store

2) If not, it looks like the French version is dual sim, has LTE and operates on same networks (for 2G, 3G, 4G) as the UK. Can anyone confirm if that's right?? See French MS store here:

Achetez Lumia 640 LTE Double SIM de Microsoft - Microsoft Store France Boutique en ligne

3) Finally... Is the French version likely to experience slower upgrade times vs UK version, or is software likely to be rolled out same time?

Thankyou all! Hopefully can stick with WP for a little longer this time... Only feature missing is LED notifications!

 

[eusty]

I would doubt if the UK one is dual SIM (I can't see anywhere where it says single) as the UK networks don't like dual SIM phones, I've not seen any for sale.

The French one looks OK though. I'm wondering if you could try to flash to a UK CV ROM and see if the second SIM is supported, if not the French CV should have similar update times to the UK one.

 

[chancooluk]

Software update times vary by country for each OS release, so it's almost impossible to say which country will get an update first.

The 640 and 640 XL will only be sold in the Single SIM LTE variants in the UK (at least officially).

 

[iamstevie]

Thanks guys. I wasn't sure if it would have the same ROM, not really up on these things!

Does anyone have experience of buying unlocked phones direct from MS?

I would expect (hope!?) that they'd be first in line for updates. Naturally I'm thinking about WM10 here!

 

[chancooluk]

Unlocked phones sold directly by Microsoft would be the same as SIM Free "Country Variant" handsets (CV-GB or CV-GBIE for the UK). These are the same as handsets sold as unlocked by other retailers, so there would be no difference if you purchased direct from Microsoft or from a SIM Free retailer (such as Carphone Warehouse).

When the WP 8.1.1 (Lumia Denim) update was released, many network locked variants actually got the update before the SIM Free unlocked Country Variant phones. Vodafone received the update first across all models in the UK. My unlocked CV-GB Lumia 830 received the Denim update 3 weeks after it was released for the EE locked variant.

You would expect the unlocked versions to receive the updates first (as this is the case for almost every phone manufacturer), but Lumia updates are all over the place.

 

[iamstevie]

Cheers for the helpful info. Having seen the rollout schedule for WP8.1, France didn't appear to be in the initial rollout list.. who knows if that will be the case with Win10!!

On reflection, if MS decides to keep its Dev Previews and other bypass options open, I can use that.

Really intrigued to see what the WP experience will be like. Frankly, the main reason I've ever been interested in WP is for the People Hub with groups and live tiles... nothing comes close to this on Android. Just I'm hoping I'm not so embedded in the Google Ecosystem / Android flexibility that I can't adapt...!!

 

[jontyfernz]

Hi guys... Gonna try venturing back into Windows Phone again, 640 seems a great tester phone for this.

Couple of questions was hoping some kind soul could shed some insight on:

1) Is the UK version dual sim? Looks like no on the MS shop:

Buy Microsoft Lumia 640 LTE - Microsoft Store United Kingdom Online Store

2) If not, it looks like the French version is dual sim, has LTE and operates on same networks (for 2G, 3G, 4G) as the UK. Can anyone confirm if that's right?? See French MS store here:

Achetez Lumia 640 LTE Double SIM de Microsoft - Microsoft Store France Boutique en ligne

3) Finally... Is the French version likely to experience slower upgrade times vs UK version, or is software likely to be rolled out same time?

Thankyou all! Hopefully can stick with WP for a little longer this time... Only feature missing is LED notifications!

As far as I know,the carriers in UK wont allow a dual sim phone.The LTE variant is coming to UK

 

[sdc1]

As far as I know,the carriers in UK wont allow a dual sim phone.The LTE variant is coming to UK

Dual sim phones such as the Moto G 2014 are available in the UK.

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

 

[chancooluk]

Dual sim phones such as the Moto G 2014 are available in the UK.

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

Dual SIM phones aren't banned in the UK, they just aren't sold by Networks (EE, O2, Three...etc) or Network partners (e.g. Carphone Warehouse).

A dual SIM version of the 640 could come to the UK, but it would only be sold by a SIM Free retailer (such as Expansys, Amazon, or Clove).

The Microsoft Lumia UK site only shows the Single SIM LTE versions for the UK though, so it's unlikely that they will be sold without being imported.

 

[jontyfernz]

Dual SIM phones aren't banned in the UK, they just aren't sold by Networks (EE, O2, Three...etc) or Network partners (e.g. Carphone Warehouse).

A dual SIM version of the 640 could come to the UK, but it would only be sold by a SIM Free retailer (such as Expansys, Amazon, or Clove).

The Microsoft Lumia UK site only shows the Single SIM LTE versions for the UK though, so it's unlikely that they will be sold without being imported.

yup you are right.Dual sim phones might only be sold through ebay amazon etc but they are more popular here in india than in UK.Also only some dual sim phones like the moto g work in the uk

 

[Harrie-S]

yup you are right.Dual sim phones might only be sold through ebay amazon etc but they are more popular here in india than in UK.Also only some dual sim phones like the moto g work in the uk

Which dual sims are supported more (except the moto g) and which are not and why do they not work?

 

[jontyfernz]

Which dual sims are supported more (except the moto g) and which are not and why do they not work?

Phones from indian companies like micromax,lava,xolo,etc.Some of them like micromax yu yureka(CM11S) and micromax A1(Android one) are great.Even xolo play(tegra) is great.The problem with them is the same.They lack the telecom bands to run in the uk.its more using a wifi only device.A few like the yureka and a1 are sold in Russia

 

[iamstevie]

FYI... the (suspected) reason for lack of dual sim availability in the UK, is that networks want to discourage customers from using SIM cards from networks other than their own. Obviously the concern is they will lose long-term customer loyalty. Importing is generally the solution (I have yet to try this), but it can be hard to find good phones for import.... generally they are low-end handsets and more popular in Asia than Europe, where the mobile radios are less likely to be compatible in the UK.

This is what makes the French 640 an interesting proposition - it appears to run on all the right networks in the UK. Even more unexpected, it is both dual sim and LTE capable. Often when dual sim variant of handsets are released, they will omit the LTE radio.

 

[ElisaAndroid]

I would doubt if the UK one is dual SIM (I can't see anywhere where it says single) as the UK networks don't like dual SIM phones, I've not seen any for sale.