Dual SIM four bands GSM phones with real keyboard

Not everybody needs a smartphone, especially if one travels with tablet and laptop. It cost much less so it lost it is less of problem. It is also much safer, as smartphones are essentially a portable snooping device. As they say "Mobile phones can really limit your mobility." To say nothing that your smartphone can be infected with nasty spyware or Trojans. Some of which are capable of intercepting your banking sessions and stealing credentials.

Regular phone with a real keyboard is more convenient for making calls. Especially flip phones.  The can be more convenient then a smartphone that costs five-twenty times more.

Essentially smartphones are a hybrid of tablets and phones and neither task they do well. Their main advantage that you can carry one device instead of two. Dual SIM phones with real keyboard have some advantage for making and taking voice calls, while tablets are vastly superior in Internet browsing. 

Unfortunately in the USA it is very difficult to buy a unlocked inexpensive "regular" phone with real keyboard and standard warranty. "Locked" phones and smartphones dominate the USA phones market.  USA providers used to operate in "locked" paradigm and have power to suppress the market for unlocked phones. They try to push customers into two year contracts.

Moreover there are very few models available which correspond to the set of very simple requirements for "regular" phones suitable for international travel:

• GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 support
• Mini SIM use ("nano" SIMs are not available everywhere and cutting mini SIM to nano size while travelling is an additional hassle)
• Dual SIMs
• mini USB or micro USB charger.
• Real keyboard (dialing on smartphone in a bright sun is not always easy; generally smartphones are a mix the functionality of a classic voice phones and a tablet. Such an attempt to create a single device instead of two you need to carry entails a classical problem for integrated devices: despite huge popularity they do not do well iether of those two tasks. They are especially inconvenient for Internet browsing unless the screen is 5.6 or larger (aka Phablets).

  Although in case of need this capability (as crippled as it is) is very handy. For example for checking train schedule, weather, etc. Regular calls are also always less convenient on smartphones then on flip phones, as flip phones have a better from factor for mike and speaker But smartphone instantly became prestige/vanity fair item and now iPhones and expensive models of Samsung dominate the market, despite the price of $700 or more. While you can have a very decent phone for less then $100 ;-)

• Decent, at least 2.4" screen, to read SMS.  And if you are heavy SMS user, sliding keyboard is preferable.

Some very cheap phones come close. For example LG A275  ($24 on Amazon with Prime shipping)

Telecom Industry tricks

In the USA telecom industry typically tries to put you on the middle of two year contracts. Minimum payment a month is around $20 (Wal Mart plan). Resist that.

For most of us per day or per minute plans make more sense. This way you can cut you annual cost to $100 if you use just voice is minimum Internet browsing, instead of 300 or more with per month plan. In other way your phone is free. Carriers often overcharge low usage customers by a large margin and $50 per month on two year contract is a real overkill for this category ($600 a year). This is a nice contract for a real phone addict, not so much for anybody else.  Per minute voice plan like one Ptel provides ($100 per year), or fixed price annual plan like TracFone ($96 a year) provide for many of us better options, unless you spend on the phone all half of your waking hours. AT&T 10 cents per minute plan also makes a lot of sense by those of us who call somebody on mobile phone one a week or so.  See additional discussion at Prepaid Wireless Broadband Plans

Selected phones

Only few good models of such phones are available on the USA via major retailers. Most are sold without warranty. There are just half a dozen major players in this market segment (we can call it "simple international GSM dual SIM phones"): 

1. Nokia

   • Nokia  C2-01.5

2. Samsung
3. LG
   • LG A275  -- nice and very cheap phone that supports three languages (English, Spanish and Portuguese).
4. Huawei
5. BLU
6. Other

Nokia

Nokia  C2-01.5

This is a model with impressive reliability record, good phone connectivity and voice call quality. High-quality built-in radio receiver capable of catching a station, where it is a problem even for a normal auto radio. Which is very handy while travelling.

Due to small screen capability to browse Internet is almost completely useless on the phone (you need at least 3.5" screen to be able to browse sites)

There are a couple of other shortcomings as well:  weak vibration. In the silent mode, it is difficult to feel, which is fraught with a lot of missed calls.

Still this is a good model for international travel. Highly recommend for those who hate smartphones ;-)

Specifications:

Nokia C2-01.5 Unlocked GSM Phone with 3.2 MP Camera and Music and Video Player--U.S. Version with Warranty (Black)

Amazon.com

It is a great phone, simple as it! June 7, 2011 

By Jacob S

Amazon Verified Purchase

I have recently downgraded from iPhone 4 to LG GU295 provided by AT&T. Since I am using iPad 3G I didn't want to pay double data charges to AT&T. LG provided by AT&T is good as a paper weight. I have replaced it twice and was frustrated by the situation.

So I decided to spend little money for a lot of peace of mind. I ordered this Nokia C2 from Amazon and oh boy! This is an amazing phone with:

• Light weight
• Ever lasting battery life
• Nokia oVi support (transferring contacts couldn't be easier)
• Crystal clear sound
• Very good display
• Bluetooth ADAP 2.0
• FM Radio
• 3G compatible with upto 384 kbps (Though I did not test the 3G functions)

Overall, if you are looking for a decent phone with extra ordinary battery life to make phone calls ans text, look no further! This is the right phone for you, period!

Plug-n-Play travel phone, no fuss at all October 1, 2011

By Charlie TOP 500 REVIEWER

Amazon Verified Purchase

Nokia C2-01 Unlocked GSM cell phone (Quad-band and 3G)

I was looking for an unlocked quad-band GSM cell phone for use while traveling abroad. The C2-01 is priced the same as some of Nokia's other smartphones that had a full keyboard (Blackberry style) but the C2-01 was the only one in-stock at the time. I wasn't expecting a whole lot after reading numerous reviews of other unlocked cellphones purchased via Amazon that yielded used/refurbished phones or phones that weren't unlocked.

I was pleasantly surprised when the package arrived and my C2-01 was brand spanking new from the factory, complete with a NOKIA factory seal on the box. The battery was new, and the phone was in excellent condition. I was up and running within minutes, and fully charged the battery. I threw in a SIM card from another AT&T phone and it was immediately working, no PIN or unlock requests, nothing. It immediately recognized the AT&T SIM card and logged onto the network. I was unable to use the Internet or browse websites though, since I couldn't figure out how to change the access points properly. Even if I figured out how to access the internet, the C2-01 is ill-suited for browsing. The keypad is circa-2001 and the screen is circa-2001. It is very easy to use for phone calls and text messages (albeit slow due to the keypad design), and has MP3 audio capabilities.

The micro-USB port allows you to charge the phone as well as access data. The AC adapter works in 120V AC and 240V AC outlets.

A SIM card from China Unicom was inserted into the phone while in China, and it immediately recognized the carrier and changed the language to Chinese. The text and menu were in Chinese, this is great if you can read the language while traveling. But this is not so great when you can't read Chinese and just wanted a local prepaid SIM card to use while visiting! However, the simplicity and ease of use made the C2-01 truly worthwhile as a travel phone.

The fact it can be used anywhere in the world (quad-band GSM and international 3G) makes it extremely versatile. The long battery life and simple interface for making/receiving phone calls are just icing on the cake!

Overall: 4/5 stars. Antiquated keypad and tiny non-touch screen remind me of the late 1990s/early 2000s Nokia cellphones. The saving grace: long battery life, and automatic recognition of prepaid SIM cards makes for a perfect travel phone that can be used almost anywhere in the world.

UPDATE: I figured out how to set it up for Internet access and as I suspected, the interface is ill-suited for web browsing let alone modern apps. Read more ›

Nokia C2-06

Nokia C2-06 - Full phone specifications

2G Network GSM 900 / 1800 - SIM1 & SIM 2
                  GSM 850 / 1900 - SIM1 & SIM 2
SIM Dual SIM (Mini-SIM)
Announced 2011, June
Status Available. Released 2011, November

Dimensions 103 x 51.4 x 17 mm (4.06 x 2.02 x 0.67 in

Type TFT resistive touchscreen, 65K colors
Size 240 x 320 pixels, 2.6 inches (~154 ppi pixel density)

- Handwriting recognition

This is an attractive alternative to C2-01.5 but it is not suitable as a travel phone as it is a dual band not quad band phone. 

Nokia Asha 206

Also at ebay:Nokia Asha 206 Dual Sim Yellow Unlocked Mobile Phone eBay

Nokia 206 Asha Dual Sim Unlocked Mobile Phone Cell Phones & Accessories

The phone has less convenient keyboard then  C2-01.5 The Dual GSM SIM support is optional and should be verified before purchase. It is also more expensive that  C2-01.5

The phone runs on Nokia's Symbian Series 40 OS. This is a stable OS with many features enabled by Java. The phone has a very basic, 1.3 MP camera at the back for photos and video recording at 15 fps. The camera also comes with a digital zoom capacity of 4x. The LCD QVGA screen has a size of 2.4 inches with a minimal resolution (240 x 320 pixels). Supports 65K colors.

Fantastic dual sim phone, August 5, 2013

gter1965 "gter1965" (Czech Republic) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nokia 206 Asha Dual Sim Unlocked Mobile Phone (Unlocked Phone)

This is my 3 nokia asha 206 dual sim that I bought. The first one (white) was stolen by my girlfriend, the second (yellow) by my mother in law, the third is here but ONLY FOR ME (I hope). I like this phone: it is simple, very practical, working perfect with two sims and I can use viber, whatsapp, twitter, FB and other 10000 webapps. It works like a piece of cake and battery? Wow this is the best I can go on for a week without problem with normal use.

I love this phone. Many people will complain that there is no wifi and no 3G, ok don't buy. But if you want a resistant and appealing nice colored phone very light only 91 gr. this is for you 

Nokia 301 - Full phone specifications

Also available as Nokia 301 Dual Sim, Nokia 3010 for China.
2G Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - RM-840, RM-841
GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - SIM 1 & SIM 2 (RM-839)
3G Network HSDPA 900 / 2100 - RM-840, RM-839
HSDPA 850 / 1900 - RM-841
SIM Optional Dual SIM (Mini-SIM)
Announced 2013, February
Status Available. Released 2013, April

Nokia Asha 301 Black Quadband Factory Unlocked 3 15 MP Bluetooth New USA Seller eBay $93

nokia asha 300 Specifications

26-Oct-11

GSM 850/900/1800/1900 , UMTS 850/900/1700/2100/1900 MHz

Dimensions

112.8 x 49.5 x 12.7 mm

Weight

85 g

Amazon.com Nokia X3-02 TOUCH AND TYPE WHITE Unlocked Phone Cell Phones & Accessories

Use standard USB port to charge it.

Nokia 100 RH-131_NV Factory Unlocked Mobile Phone

Amanda Hacking

Some things you need to know about this phone January 1, 2013

I have had this phone for about two weeks. You need to know some things.

1. It is made out of cheap plastic. Not like the older Nokia phones. This one is very lightweight. Because of the cheap plastic construction, there is a sharp edge right where you put your ear. Not very comfortable at all, and not very good for long calls.

2. Getting the back of the phone off to put in your battery and SIM is very hard to do. The picture is totally wrong. The only way to get the back of the phone off is to turn the phone face up, use both thumbs, and slide the phone up off it. The instruction diagram tells you to do it facedown. I've never been able to do it that way.

3. The menu system. Even though the screen is bright and easy to read, getting to your inbox takes too many extra steps. Same with punctuation. You have to go through about five menus to use a '?'.

Now for the good things. The screen is bright and colorful. The buttons are about as easy to push as you can get. The volume on the mic and the speaker is very good. So the sound quality is good. This is an alright basic phone, but there may be other better ones out there. If you use your phone mainly for text messages, this one is a pain because of extra steps. If you use your phone mainly for talking, this one is a pain because of the hard plastic edge where you're resting your ear. But the phone does come with a nice earpiece if you can use that.

Battery life is very good.

By TS

Great Small Phone March 14, 2013

Bought this phone so I could have a cheap phone while traveling abroad. It does everything I need (call, text, alarm, basic phone stuff). This is a dual band phone (900/1800). I think another reviewer is confused about what dual band means and gave this a bad review because of it, but like I said this is a great phone. This phone will work in places like Europe, Australia, Asia, Africa, and some of South America, but WILL NOT work in the US. If you want a phone that will work in the US you need one that is dual band (850/1900) or a quad band phone. About the phone:

Pros:

• - KEY PAD/TEXTING- the keypad is very nice. They keys are spaced out very well so it is very easy to text and dial numbers on this phone, unlike some other small phones. The keys are rubber, which worried me a little before I got the phone, but it is a very hard rubber, so the keys are very easy to push. Texting is good on the phone, The phone has T9 and as I said it is easy to type on this phone.
• - SOUND QUALITY- The sound quality is very good for a cheap phone like this. Speaker is very loud and it is easy to hear other people.
• - Battery Life- Battery life lasts a long time.
• - FLASHLIGHT- Nice Flashlight

Cons:

There are only a few things that you could count as cons, none of them really bother me or affect me, but some people might have a problem with it. But none of them are really a big deal

• - Phone is light- the phone is pretty light, some could say too light, but I don't think it matters because it performs well.
• - NO SD card slot
• - No volume buttons- No external volume buttons, must change in the menu of the phone- again, not a big deal for a good phone this cheap.

Overall great basic phone for very cheap, will definitely get the job Done. Also just a forewarning, this comes with a European plug with an American adapter, so plan ahead if you're not going to Europe.

Nokia N80 Internet Edition Unlocked Cell Phone with 3.2 MP Camera, 3G, Wi-Fi, MP3-Video Player, MiniSD Slot--U.S. V

• This unlocked cell phone is compatible with GSM carriers like AT&T and T-Mobile. Not all carrier features may be supported. It will not work with CDMA carriers like Verizon Wireless, Alltel and Sprint.
• Quad-band GSM cell phone compatible with 850/900/1800/1900 frequencies and US 3G compatibility via 1900 HSDPA plus EDGE capabilities
• Slider phone; 3.2-megapixel digital camera with macro mode and video capture; Wi-Fi networking (802.11b/g)
• Bluetooth for handsfree devices; MiniSD expansion to 2 GB; digital media player; FM radio; access to email
• Up to 6 hours of digital talk time and 350 hours of standby time

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Amazon.com Dual SIM phone Cell Phones & Accessories

False starts

Only two bands

• New GT25 2 4” Unlocked GSM Cell Phone Dual Sim GPRS FM Camera Bluetooth Black eBay
• Amazon.com Nokia 1280 Dual Band (900-1800Mhz) Unlocked GSM Phone Electronics
• Nokia 2330C-2B With S40 Flashlight Unlocked Phone--US Version with Full Warranty Cell Phones & Accessories

  Not 4 bands

  Hey guys just to let you know you can buy this phone from the ATT website for $7.99 as a Gophone. Yes you read that correctly $7.99! You don't sign a contract or anything and you can just put your ATT sim card in there.

  I purchased this phone because I needed a solid battery life and talking phone for college. I also purchased this phone because it works with the Nokia PC Suite software, which allows me to control the phone from my computer for tasks such as writing SMS messages and managing my contacts. This phone has bluetooth which works wonderfully. I've tested the range of the bluetooth to be about 17 feet. It is very reliable and I have not had any disconnect issues with the bluetooth. The camera on this phone is quite basic, but it works if you are willing to wait for it to load. I was shocked how wonderful the phone was when I opened the box. You get a pair of headphones and a charger with the phone when you purchase it.

Unknown brands

• Yezz Moda Dual Sim Quad Band Unlocked GSM Black 2 0 Camera Cell Phone eBay

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