Dual-SIM phones used to only commonly be found in other parts of the world, but now there are a number of them available in the UK, with ever more arriving, including some high-end and high-profile handsets.
Having a dual SIM card slot in your phone has a number of potential benefits. For example, you might have one work SIM and one personal one. Or one for use in the UK and one with better international rates for use abroad.
They won’t be useful to everyone, but if you carry two phones now or can think of situations where a different number or network would be helpful, then a dual-SIM phone is well worth considering. With that in mind we’ve created this guide to the best dual-SIM smartphones currently available in the UK.
Note: Some phones are sold in both dual and single-SIM versions, so before buying any double check that you’re getting the right model.
The Samsung Galaxy A70 is a bit more expensive than some dual-SIM phones, but it’s still comfortably on the affordable end of the spectrum.
What you get, other than a dual-SIM, includes a massive 6.7-inch 1080 x 2400 Super AMOLED screen, an in-screen fingerprint scanner, and a triple-lens rear camera, with a 32MP main lens, an 8MP wide-angle lens, and a 5MP depth sensor, making this a great phone for photography.
The Samsung Galaxy A70 also has an enormous 4,500mAh battery so it can keep going for a long time, and there’s a hefty 6GB of RAM, an octa-core Snapdragon 675 chipset, and a substantial 128GB of storage, all for a mid-range price.
The Honor 20 is one of the most affordable handsets on this list but it still packs fairly high-end specs, because to be on this list a phone doesn’t just need to be dual-SIM – it also needs to be great.
The Honor 20 stands out from similarly priced phones immediately due to its stylish, premium build, and continues to impress when you start using it, thanks to a quad-lens camera, 6GB of RAM, a 1080 x 2340 screen, and its high-end Kirin 980 chipset.
It’s essentially an affordable flagship, and while it’s slightly lacking in some areas (there’s no water resistance for example) you’ll be hard pressed to get more phone for the same amount of money.
The Samsung Galaxy S10 was one of the highest profile phones of 2019, but one thing that doesn’t get much attention is its dual-SIM card slots.
Their presence make it eligible for this list, but it wouldn’t appear if it wasn’t also a great phone in all the ways you’ve probably already heard.
This is a true, modern flagship, with a superb 6.1-inch 1440 x 3040 Dynamic AMOLED screen, complete with HDR10+ support for stunning visuals.
It also has an in-screen fingerprint scanner, and a premium, polished design with a curved display, a punch-hole camera, a glass back, and water resistance.
Then there’s its triple-lens rear camera, and its top-end power, achieved using an Exynos 9820 chipset and 8GB of RAM. This isn’t quite the best flagship around – and most of the better ones are also dual-SIM, which is why the S10 isn’t ranked higher in this list, but it’s still a brilliant phone.
The Google Pixel 4 XL is the biggest and best Google-branded phone you can get, and like many high-tech handsets, this one’s dual-SIM. But it’s even more high-tech than most, as the second SIM is an eSIM rather than a physical one, meaning you can change network without changing SIM card, though at the time of writing not all eSIMs are supported by all networks.
There’s plenty of other tech in this phone too, including a 6.3-inch 1440 x 3040 OLED screen with a 90Hz refresh rate, a top-tier dual-lens camera, and plenty of power from its Snapdragon 855 chipset.
This also runs a pure, unadulterated take on Android, and is all the better for it. Plus, as a side effect of that it’s also first in line for new software updates.
Like all recent Apple phones the iPhone 11 is a dual-SIM phone that uses a combination of a standard SIM and an eSIM, and while this isn’t quite as good as the iPhone 11 Pro models, it’s not far off, and a little more affordable.
It has a 6.1-inch 828 x 1782 screen, a capable dual-lens 12MP camera, water resistance, and – perhaps most significantly – a whole lot of power, thanks to Apple’s A13 Bionic chipset, which is also found in the 11 Pro models, and which beats 2019’s top-end Android chipsets for power.
So when it comes to pure performance, the iPhone 11 sits at the very top of what’s possible in a 2019 handset, despite being one of Apple’s more affordable recent phones.
The Huawei P30 Pro is Huawei’s best phone, just edging it over the Huawei Mate 20 Pro and the Mate 30 Pro (which is held back by its lack of Google services). Of course, like so many Huawei handsets it’s dual-SIM, but that’s not why it sits so high in our ranking.
The Huawei P30 Pro also has a 6.47-inch 1080 x 2340 OLED screen with almost no bezel at all. There’s a beautiful glass back design – optionally with a gradient colour scheme, there’s water resistance, an in-screen fingerprint scanner, a huge 4,200mAh battery, and perhaps most excitingly of all a quad-lens rear camera.
This includes a 40MP main lens, a 20MP ultra-wide lens, an 8MP telephoto lens and a Time-of-Flight (ToF) depth-sensor, combining for one of the best camera setups on a phone at the time of writing – especially as there’s also a 32MP camera on the front.
The Huawei P30 Pro is also very powerful – though not quite the most powerful – with its octa-core Kirin 980 chipset and 8GB of RAM. With a bit more power and a slightly sharper screen, this would be topping our list.
The OnePlus 7T Pro is not just one of the best dual-SIM flagships around, it’s also one of the best value, as this has truly top-tier tech at a lower price than you might expect.
You get a 6.67-inch 1440 x 3120 curved AMOLED screen, a Snapdragon 855 Plus chipset, 8GB or 12GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and a 90Hz refresh rate, making interactions feel smoother than on most rival devices.
The OnePlus 7T Pro also has a triple-lens rear camera, consisting of a 48MP main lens paired with a 16MP ultra-wide one and an 8MP telephoto one. Plus it has a big 4,085mAh battery, an in-screen fingerprint scanner, and an all-screen design, made possible by a pop-up front-facing camera.
It’s worth noting that the standard OnePlus 7T is also a dual-SIM phone and it’s a little cheaper, but not quite as impressive.
The Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus was arguably briefly the best phone on the planet and remains one of the best, as well as being one of the very best dual-SIM phones.
It’s basically a bigger, better version of the Samsung Galaxy S10, with a top-quality 6.4-inch 1440 x 3040 Dynamic AMOLED screen, a top-end octa-core Exynos 9820 chipset, up to a mammoth 12GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, three rear cameras (a 12MP main one, a 12MP telephoto one, and a 16MP wide-angle one), and two front-facing ones (a 10MP main one and an 8MP depth sensor).
The Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus also has a big 4,100mAh battery, an in-screen fingerprint scanner and basically the same great design as the standard S10. There are no major weak points here, making this a top choice – just as long as you can afford it.
The iPhone 11 Pro and the iPhone 11 Pro Max are the best iPhones you can buy, and they both have dual-SIM support, though one of those two SIMs is an eSIM, as mentioned elsewhere on this list.
The two phones are very similar other than their screen sizes, with the iPhone 11 Pro coming in at 5.8 inches while the iPhone 11 Pro Max is 6.5 inches. That, coupled with the Max’s larger battery, gives it the edge, but you can’t go wrong with either of these handsets.
The iPhone 11 Pro Max additionally has three 12MP cameras on the back (one standard, one wide-angle and one telephoto), plus an A13 Bionic chipset which outshines just about every Android chip, and it has a stylish, iconic Apple design, and advanced facial recognition.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus is arguably the best phone you can buy at the time of writing, so since it’s available in a dual-SIM version it of course also tops this list. It is worth noting however that there are both single and dual-SIM models, so make sure you buy the right one.
Dual-SIM credentials aside there’s a whole lot to love here, starting with its massive 6.8-inch 1440 x 3040 Dynamic AMOLED screen with a pixel density of 498 pixels per inch, so it’s super sharp and it’s one of the very highest quality screens you’ll find on a phone. And this being a Note, you also get an S Pen stylus to make the most of all that screen space.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus also has a great camera array, with a 12MP variable aperture main lens, a 12MP telephoto one, a 16MP ultra-wide one, and a time-of-flight camera for depth sensing. Plus there’s a 10MP camera on the front.
You get tons of power too of course, thanks to an Exynos 9825 chipset – which is even more powerful than the chipset in the Galaxy S10 range, and which is paired here with 12GB of RAM.
With water resistance too, plus an in-screen fingerprint scanner, a premium design, a curved screen, loads of storage, stereo speakers and a massive 4,300mAh battery, this phone has it all.
So there you have it. While these ten handsets aren’t the only dual-SIM phones they are arguably the best.
They’re all high-end but suited to different tastes and budgets. The Samsung Galaxy A70 and Honor 20 are surprisingly affordable, making them good options if you can’t justify a full flagship price tag. The Samsung Galaxy S10 and Google Pixel 4 XL meanwhile are great Android flagships but not quite the best.
The iPhone 11 is arguably even better and certainly a better choice for iOS fans, with the Huawei P30 Pro, OnePlus 7T Pro and Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus offering similar excellence for Android fans. Then there's the iPhone 11 Pro Max, proving the best option for iOS users – though also consider the iPhone 11 Pro if you want something smaller.
Then in first place there’s the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus. This is a phone with more features packed in than you’ll know what to do with and importantly it does a great job of all the basics as well. Just be sure you want a big screen and can stomach the high price.
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