Dual-SIM Android smartphones for every budget

Owning a smartphone today is no longer a luxury as companies like Spice, Micromax, etc. brought the Android OS down to affordable levels. One feature that many people still look for in a phone is Dual-SIM capability since this allows them to use more than one number without needing to carry around two phones. Dual-SIM started off as a highlight for the cheap ‘Chinese’ feature phones but since it gathered mass appeal, OEMs have started incorporating it in smartphones as well. Here’s a look at some of the good Dual-SIM Android handsets in the market, that are worth a look. 

Karbonn A7 - Rs. 7,400 

As a brand, Karbonn doesn’t really inspire confidence in many but the A7 is actually a surprisingly good phone for the price. The build and finish of the handset does not feel cheap in any way and you actually won’t hesitate to show it off. The phone comes with Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread so it’s pretty smooth. The  display quality is lacking a bit but it fares very well in the rest of the areas. This is a Dual-SIM (GSM+GSM) handset with 3G support. Karbonn does make up for the lack of performance with really good battery life.  

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Good value for money

• 3.5-inch LCD display with a 320 x 480 pixel resolution
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi (Hot spot), DLNA
• Bluetooth with A2DP, USB 2.0
• GPS with A-GPS support
• 5 megapixel camera with dual LED flash
• Stereo FM Radio
• 512MB memory, expandable via microSD 

Micromax Superfone Canvas A100 - Rs. 10,000

This is Micromax’s latest offering in its Android portfolio and it’s already flying off the shelves by the dozen. Why the craze? Well, how about the fact that for just Rs. 10,000, you get an Android 4.0 device with a massive 5-inch screen! Measuring about 11.9mm in depth, it’s pretty slim and at 168g, quite light as well. The phone is still powered by a single-core CPU, as asking for a dual-core would have been a bit much, at least as of today. The phone also packs in a 5MP rear facing camera and a front facing VGA camera. The A100 is powered by a 1GHz CPU so that should keep the OS chugging along nicely. While it looks great on paper, our fear is that the low resolution screen might be a bit of a deal breaker but we’ll know soon enough once we put it through its paces in our labs. If you can find it in stores, it’s definitely worth checking out. 

Impressive specs for the price

• 5-inch LCD display with a 480 x 854 pixel resolution
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi (Hot spot), DLNA
• Bluetooth with A2DP, USB 2.0
• GPS with A-GPS support
• 5 megapixel with LED flash, 0.3 megapixel front camera
• Stereo FM Radio
• 2GB memory, expandable via microSD, 512MB RAM

Spice Mi-350n - Rs. 7,800

The Mi-350n has been with us for more than six months now and continues to offer good value for money under the 10K price bracket. This Dual-SIM handset is built well and looks pretty presentable as well. With a decently large screen size to boot, watching videos and surfing the Internet is not a bad experience. Micromax also bundles along a wide selection of apps for productivity and play. It also manages to deliver a very good battery life thanks to the chunky battery. 

Still going strong

• 3.5-inch LCD display with a 320 x 480 pixel resolution
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi (Hot spot), DLNA
• Bluetooth with A2DP, USB 2.1
• GPS with A-GPS support
• 3.2 megapixel auto-focus rear camera, 0.3 megapixel front camera
• Stereo FM Radio
• 170MB memory, expandable via microSD

Motorola Defy Mini  - Rs. 11,300 

The Motorola Defy Mini, as the name suggests, is the smaller sibling of the Defy XT535. With a slight cosmetic tweak to differentiate the phones, they are pretty much similar feature-wise except for a few areas that Motorola has had to cut down in order to sell it for less. The IP67 certified phone has a smaller 3.2-inch screen, lesser RAM, a slightly slower CPU and a lower 3.2MP camera. As far as rugged Dual-SIM phones go, this is probably the cheapest one you’ll find in the market. The Defy Mini is still powered by Gingerbread and measures just 12.6mm in depth and weighs 107g only, making it easy to carry around. 

Rugged and waterproof

• 3.2-inch LCD display with a 320 x 480 pixel resolution
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi (Hot spot), DLNA
• Bluetooth with A2DP, USB 2.0
• GPS with A-GPS support
• 3 megapixel with LED flash, 0.3 megapixel front camera
• Stereo FM Radio
• Memory expandable via microSD, 512MB RAM

Spice Stellar Mi-425 - Rs. 9,500 

The Spice Mi-425 is another very good option in the Dual-SIM Android camp. This 4-inch smartphone runs Gingerbread but Spice says, it is upgradable to ICS; however, when that will actually happen is anyone’s guess. The phone features a pretty decent design and build which feels like it can take a beating in the long run. With a Qualcomm SoC onboard, the phone manages to chug along nicely without any major hiccups. Spice bundles along plenty of apps as well, like NQ Mobile Security, etc. The 5MP shooter is capable of recording videos at 720p and the image quality of the stills is pretty decent as well. All in all, it’s a good phone that’s worth a look. 

Another value option

• 4-inch LCD display with a 480 x 800 pixel resolution
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi (Hot spot), DLNA
• Bluetooth with A2DP, USB 2.1
• GPS with A-GPS support
• 5 megapixel auto-focus sensor with LED flash, 1.3 megapixel front camera
• Stereo FM Radio
• 140MB memory, expandable via microSD

HTC Desire V - Rs. 20,100

If you’re looking for a relatively high-end Dual-SIM Android, then the HTC Desire V is probably your best bet. Along with Android 4.0 with Sense, the phone packs in a powerful 1GHz CPU along with a comfortable 4-inch display. It’s a lot slimmer than most of the phones in the list, measuring just 9.3mm in depth and light too, at 114g. You do get a 5MP auto-focus camera with LED flash but no front facing camera. The Desire V handles media well with out-of-the-box support for AVI video files as well as Beats Audio enhancement for sound. 

Your best high-end Android option

• 4-inch LCD display with a 480 x 800 pixel resolution
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi (Hot spot), DLNA
• Bluetooth with A2DP, USB 2.0
• GPS with A-GPS support
• 8 megapixel BSI Sensor (Rear) with LED flash, 1.3 megapixel front camera
• Stereo FM Radio
• 4GB memory, expandable via microSD