Hi,
I know a lot of OzBargainers have the Moto G5 models et al and I was wondering what the go was with dual SIM?
I have the EXACT same issue as this person but on a budget Moto C, where the only SIM that can get call and SMS reception is the one that has mobile data activated. This somewhat defeats the point of a dual SIM phone for my needs and defeats the SIMsploitation hacks for data.
If this is normal then I'll know not to bother with Moto G5 Plus. Unless it's common to all Dual SIM phones?
I have a Moto g5 and the second SIM slot is useless in Australia.
Why? I've got the G5+ and use both the sims without issue.
Dual standby and dual active are two very different things when it comes to dual phones.
With the dual standby phones you choose which ONE sim is currently used for data ( but can easily switch between which one you use).
Can receive calls from both sims, but only one call at a time regardless of sim, which just give engaged noise or voicemail if someone else tries to call from other sim.
If you set sim1 as data sim and get a call on sim2, data won't work until you are off the call as two sims can't function at once.
Dual active allows both sims to be active at the same time, ie. Call on one and use data from other at same time. Haven't used dual active myself, they are rarer and usually more expensive.
Edit: a lot of cheaper dual sim phones use 2G ONLY on second sim, which IS useless in Australia. As no carrier uses 2G any more from what I understand.
I've used both G4+ and G5+ and they are 4G/3G on main/data sim and 3G on second sim.
Edit2: just looked at Moto C specs. It is definitely only 2G on sim2. So is effectively just a single sim phone for Aus use.
Good summary of what happens. Nearly all dual SIM phones available are dual standby. Dual active phones are rare and have shorter battery life. In addition Dual VoLTE in the newer generation of phones promises to overcome the caveats above.
Thanks for the help everyone. I knew you'd deliver.
I naively thought that the 4g/2g issue was no longer relevant in "branded" dual SIM phones from last year and didn't even bother to check despite it being a budget phone AND a foreign model.
I've since read that even the Australian G5 had this issue, so my lowly C didn't have a chance.
Oh well. It's faster than switching SIMs but useless when you need an active phone number
I've since read that even the Australian G5 had this issue
Not the 5+ though, mine works fine.
Can anyone help recommend where's the cheapest place in Melbourne to get a Moto G6 plus? It seems Officeworks have it for $488.
Or, should I go into a Good Guys store and try to haggle it down $50 or so….
Any advice is most appreciated. Thanks!
Keep in mind the G6 can't have two sims and an SD card at the same time. The second sim slot is a sim/SD hybrid. So either two SIM cards or one sim and one SD card. This is the only reason I opted to go for the G5+.
Love the Moto G series, but if the next one uses a hybrid slot I'll be choosing a different brand.
However, the G6 PLUS can. I have it.
Really? Moto support lied to me then :(
I got the Moto G3 when the 2g network was still running. The call quality on the 2g sim was terrible with people often complaining they couldn't hear me. Sometimes calls would go straight to voicemail on the 2g sim, the solution was to set up forwarding so unreachable calls went to the data sim instead. Now the second sim slot is only good for storing a sim.
if you're 2nd sim slot only does 2g, then yeah its useless in australia.
you need one that does 3g for the 2nd sim.
We bought a Moto G4 Play in January last year when the previous G1 was dropped and a G6 Play a month ago. The 4000mAh battery in the G6 Play is excellent because it lasts for 2 days if you forget to charge overnight which I have done once. The battery was starting to get very low at the end of the second day but it made it.
We have a no longer available grandfathered $125/year 16.5GB Vodafone (VF) 365 days data SIM in slot 1 and a $20/year VF 365 days voice SIM in slot 2 in each phone. Total cost is $145/year.
This was the cheapest way to get ad hoc usage rolloverable data and voice when we started using smartphones. We never use all the data so we usually rollover the maximum allowable 50GB.
We get 50 minutes of free VF to VF rolloverable calls if we need to call each other but we rarely do this so we have many hours of free VF-VF voice available.
We don’t have kids, parents or live in your pocket family or friends so we don’t need to make lots of phone calls - who would at 80 cents/minute - or texts. Any calls to phones that we need to make we use Skype lasts forever credit. We use Skype, WhatsApp or FB Messenger for voice or text contact.
When we travel overseas we remove the data SIM and put in a CoverMore SIM. There are probably better plans but someone gave the SIM to us with a lot of last forever credit on it that we have never used up.
Last year while we were in Spain we received a call on the VF SIM which we didn’t pick up at $8/minute. We returned the call using the CM SIM at 30 cents/minute. Subsequently they called us back on the CM SIM at 15 cents/minute.
This is the only time we have actually used the two voice SIMs in the phone but it seems that they both work to receive and make calls.
If we weren’t locked in by the large amount of rolled over data and voice or if we have to start afresh I would probably go with Kogan’s $152/year 36GB data unlimited calls and texts plan.
This system has worked well for us for many years. However, a few days ago the G4 lost voice. Both SIMs continue to work in the G6 Play.
When we visited a VF shop they told us that the phone only covered the VF 3G frequencies that they shut down when they switched off the 2G signal and that the phone couldn’t receive their remaining 3G frequencies. The other 3G frequencies that the phone covered were used by Optus. We went next door to Optus and they gave us and activated a free no plan SIM.
We got bars and received a Welcome to Optus text and I made a call to the SIM’s number. However, when we got home there were no bars and it hasn’t worked since. I haven’t been back to Optus to see if the SIM only had a limited life or if I killed it when I went into the activation screen and it told me that all credit had expired.
CM uses Optus in Australia but the CM SIM doesn’t get any bars in slot 2. It does work in slot 1.
At this stage I am perplexed but I haven’t pursued the matter because we are going OS tomorrow.
When we get back, if an Optus network SIM works in slot 2 I will get an Amaysim $10/year 15 cent/minute plan. If I can’t resolve the issue I will probably get a Kogan 365 day plan for the G4 and put the SIM in slot 1.
Depends a lot on the modem configuration. That Moto C is using a very budget MediaTek MT6737M which might not support 4G/3G + 3G, but only doing 4G/3G + 2G. could be wrong though.
FWIW my Moto G4 Plus with Snapdragon 617 works fine and receives calls on either SIM regardless of whether mobile data is on or not.