Best DUAL SIM android phone?

[will_wonka]

It has to be said that Viewsonic Customer Services is absolutely shocking!

I got whiff of the V350 some months ago and have periodically been contacting them for updates ~(via phone) and also via email (contact us) on their website. Not once has the website response been forthcoming but I have managed to speak to (and it has to be said) clueless employees in their London office.

First they redesigned - accepted but updates could have been better
Then there was a delay - no updates apart from a few websites
Then the release was further delayed - only found out by ringing them 6 times!! (no exaggeration)

.....and now we are still surfing Chinese / Taiwanese websites to get some decent info. WTF!!!!

The only UK supplier I can find is Handtec or at least one that has the phone listed. It has been at "coming soon" since April. I have had numerous updates from them stating - no date!

This is hardly a good start to a relationship (consumer > Viewsonic) is it? It would take them seconds to update their corporate website or at least better information supply to the distributors.

Imagine all the hassle of developing a fault with the phone if this is anything to go by.

I am not brave enough to order from a Chinese manufacturer, it just feels wrong.

Come on Viewsonic, CS is everything.........either that or sack your marketing lot, they are useless.

We only want a fixed date!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! UK suppliers please.

 

[Pepe_le_Pooh]

It would take them seconds to update their corporate website or at least better information supply to the distributors.

Yup.
It's frustrating.

 

[smurfOnE]

I've been trying to get through to viewsonic as well.. they just ignore their messages.

 

[shark_attack]

I have been trying to contact viewsonic for some information but I can't get any about the release date for Europe!

Today I found a spanish website that looks quite official (- Tel

 

[will_wonka]

I attempted to call again today, got into the queue system, call got picked up (three times) and "click".

I keep asking myself why I want to buy a phone from a company with such shocking CS..........and then it becomes clear.........because the big boys, LG / HTC etc for whatever reason will not release a Dual SIM in Europe!!

There has to be something going on here, maybe the networks have done some dirty tricks stitch up which limits the manufacturers releasing these phones in Euroland.

The whole thing stinks as we have to continue relying on chinese unwarranted cheapos or useless single standby units or worse, 2G dual sim devices.

COME ON VIEWSONIC - GET US A DATE.

 

[will_wonka]

Ok guys, lets apply some pressure.

Here are the main email addresses for the main Euro countries all relating to Sales. The last one is the corporate HQ in the USA, suggest you cc them with the enquiry.

Sales-pl@viewsoniceurope.com
sales-it@viewsoniceurope.com
sales_no@viewsoniceurope.com
sales_es@viewsoniceurope.com
sales_fr@viewsoniceurope.com
sales-pt@viewsoniceurope.com
sales_de@viewsoniceurope.com

Salesinfo@viewsonic.com


I have simply sent:

Dear Sirs,

Since the announcement of your V350 Dual SIM phone in Feb 2011, I have been avidly waiting for further news and more importantly a confirmed release date within the UK and across Europe.

As I am sure you will appreciate this phone has caused a certain amount of excitement to people who require such a device but perhaps more importantly a device that is running an up-to-date platform such as Android. Great innovation.

As calls are repeatedly dropped when trying your customer service team, perhaps you would do me a great honour of responding to my enquiry as soon as possible. This phone has been a long time coming and it would be nice to (a) know a confirmed date after the many delays (b) show that Viewsonic DO offer customer support and that the endless lack of information within the mobile markets and resellers has simply been a mere oversight?

Whilst I appreciate that these must be exciting times for you venturing into new markets, you will also appreciate that an email and courteous reply costs nothing and brings respect to a potential user and customer base. It would be a shame to alienate that base before the product had been released, wouldn't it?

In anticipation.

 

[polvo]

I sent V350 inquiry to czech republic ViewSonic CS by email regarding release of cell phone anywhere in Europe or directly in the CZ two days ago. No response by now. :-(

 

[will_wonka]

Finally got a response today and being a kind sort had to share with you guys.......confirmed Euroland release date (according to VS)........2nd August!

We shall see.

 

[mar00]

Finally got a response today and being a kind sort had to share with you guys.......confirmed Euroland release date (according to VS)........2nd August!

We shall see.

Great job, mate!
Now we wait....

 

[explosivealan]

hello, i have been following this post for sometime, and today i just get my G1310
the camera and screen is ok and the reaction of the sliding is also good.
I don't have much time to play more with it yet, will update u guys later.
The first problem i encounter is that i still don't find the way to set 2 sim on ready. currently only sim1 can receive calls while sim2 can only read the phone number stored in it.
Will update soon

 

[explosivealan]

let me update a bit for the g1310
the phone is from a Chinese seller, with box set and few gifts (include a iphone 4 screen protector which can't fit well, i have removed it after putting in in for <5 seconds)
around 2000 CNY(the chinese dollar) which convert to ~$310 US dollar or $220 Euro

the dual sim need ~ 1min to start up, if only 1 sim is deployed, less than 20 second
it seems strange that the sim2 is loaded first.. but who cares...

when transmitting data on one sim, another will be disabled, <5 second to re-activate after transmit complete.

it is some what laggy when playing some games, angry bird is ok, not prefectly smooth but still ok, just a bit lag when camera pend to the awaiting birds after shooting

i just reg in this forum, so i think i can't post photo here? but actually there is no surprise for the outlook...

the phone case is no good as finger pin stick on it easily, but plastic is light anyway....

the p-sensor next to ear position is good

the screen protector could be a big problem because the "speaker" (do we call it like this?) for you to hear is a round shape and the width of the phone is large, pls tell me where can i get one if you know....

 

[explosivealan]

oh yes...
actually one of my fd got a prototype of v350 ~3 months before...
at that time the dual sim simply don't work at all and the sliding is just so laggy that is not acceptable.... thats why i don't wait for it...
hope it will be better now

 

[Qumad]

I see the Norwegian company DTN got the ViewSonic V350 on their website:
ETA: 06.08.2011

I got a Samsung GT-B7722 now but I do miss several of the features one gets with a smart phone.
The B7722 got a desagnated button for hot-swapping between active SIM cards and designated homescreens for the different SIM cards.
The way the dual sim is set up us great, I can go to my log, and call back someone and easely choose wich SIM to call or text from.


From what I gather the V350 only got one homescreen (wich is all ok) and one is prompted with a choise on wether to call from SIM1 or SIM2 (ref.: youtube.com/watch?v=iRYHXi2ociE&feature=youtube_gdata_player )
I guess the same thing goes for text messages aswell.

 

[will_wonka]

Spoke to VS today (once again) and the phone release date is now 12-15th Aug(moved once again)!!

Should be available from Handtec, Expansys and Amazon UK and is already on pre order for Expansys. I will be using Amazon as it adds surety.

Apparently they have had some gremlins to iron out which is now coming to a close, battery has been increased to 1500mah and expect 1 days use with the dual sim standby facility.......suits me as the iPhone is no better with a single SIM!!

Still running 2.2 Android but an update will be forthcoming at some point.

Let's hope they do not uncover any more issues, it's already running 3 months later than intended release date. That could be viewed as being thorough or itsva nightmare phone from the outset

I was getting impatient and almost opted for an FET8888 which has a similar spec, alleged better battery life but has no UK / Euro support! For $399 it seems pricey but is no more than the VS will be and has a 3.8 inch screen to boot.

..........I'm still waiting for the VS, it's the safer bet for me

 

[will_wonka]

Really? It says 2-3 weeks!

 

[amoralis]

ViewSonic V350 Dual SIM Android - Cell Phones - computeruniverse.net

Product ready for shipping within 2-3 business days

Have ordered one hope for it soon!

I also ordered it.
They told me it's available since the 7th Aug, so I hope get it around that day.
Ordered at https://hardware.nl/

 

[smurfOnE]

Most European merchants have not figured out how to properly charge VAT. It's difficult to find the v350 being sold (and it will be for some time, because this is Viewsonic's first phone) -- and when you do find it, it's most likely a merchant who only knows how to charge their national VAT, which is improper if you don't live in that country.

If anyone finds a merchant who:
* has the v350 in stock
* does not charge VAT, or charges it properly in the customers country
* accepts credit card

Please post! This is a very difficult combination to find in Europe.

BTW, hardware.nl is a bit overpriced. They want around &#8364;250 before vat, and &#8364;300 after VAT. Most stores are selling it around &#8364;250 with VAT included (&#8364;209 w/out vat).

[edit] notebook.de seems to be a good site. Their VAT system is in order, and they accept credit card. Nevermind.. notebook.de is difficult to work with. So many strange anti-fraud restrictions that they actually block legitimate orders.

So the search for a competent EU merchant continues....

 

[jeroensteijl]

I ordered the V350 a few weeks ago at computeruniverse.net and the deliverydate was 01.08. Today I received a email with a new date 18.08.
Does anybody has more info ?? Does sombody received this phone allready ??

 

[amoralis]

I ordered the V350 a few weeks ago at computeruniverse.net and the deliverydate was 01.08. Today I received a email with a new date 18.08.
Does anybody has more info ?? Does sombody received this phone allready ??

release date is scheduled for 7th Aug as far as I know.

 

[mynameisone]

I see the Norwegian company DTN got the ViewSonic V350 on their website:
ETA: 06.08.2011

The release date at DTN is now 21.08.2011. Anyway they only sell to companys and the price is set to 8259,- NOK ex VAT. About 1,062 Euro. Can't see how they will sell many phones with that price.

Does anybody know if I can get Norwegian T9 dictionary if I buy from fx Germany. I don't need the menues to be in Norwegian, but want the T9.

 

[Cecilsoares]

So, an android dual sim was just released in the Brazilian market by a known brand. Only, uf gsm arena is correct, it's not 3G. what's the point of an android cellphone without 3G, honestly?

ZTE V821 - Full phone specifications

Celular ZTE V821 - GSM - c/ Leitor de Dois Chips, Sistema Operacional Android 2.2, C

 

[gsmpreacher]

I was also looking for a dual-sim gsm android phone to take with me on business in Europe and bought the WT790 (link) from Yippz.

It's a nice 3.5'' Android 2.2 phone with active dual sims that can be on at the same time or selectively. No contract and I got it in 2 days. Specs are pretty decent for an Android phone with no commitment.

Just an FYI for those looking for a nice Android phone.

 

[smurfOnE]

I was also looking for a dual-sim gsm android phone to take with me on business in Europe and bought the WT790 (link) from Yippz.

It's a nice 3.5'' Android 2.2 phone with active dual sims that can be on at the same time or selectively. No contract and I got it in 2 days. Specs are pretty decent for an Android phone with no commitment.

Just an FYI for those looking for a nice Android phone.

Is that phone obsolete? I wonder why maxwesttelecom.com does not have this phone in their online catalog.

 

[tindiahv]

hi guys,

I have read all the posts in this thread and decided to put up my thing till now:
I travel between two countries all the time and therefore i have two gsm numbers - one from each. I started looking for dual sim phone about two years ago and ended up with this iPhone clone from china
Third Hiphone N2 Dual Card Quad Band Dual Camera JAVA WIFI TV Function Flat Touch Screen Cell Phone White+2GB TF Card(SZRW427) - camera was crap, touchscreen was crap, it was really a pain to make it work with local networks (mms, internet, wap) etc but the dual sim thing was flawless - all in all it was nice while it lasted but as i was using this phone during very intense working period it died on me and i gave it to my kid to play - he enjoid it till the last bits
so almost a year from first purchase i needed a new phone and i ended up with this
9630 WIFI JAVA Quad Band Dual Card Dual Camera Bluetooth FM TV Cell Phone Black (2GB TF Card) - US$ 103.99 - BlackBerry ripoff. All the BB logos were covered with stickers when i got it I went through a lot of trouble to get the phone because the seller had some production problems and china new year etc. I have this phone till now - camera is crap, calender misses reminders ( i have to restart the phone every evening to get it to wake me up ) but other functions just prefect and battery life decent. All ok till yesterday when problems with speaker started - so I need a new phone . So today I checked the site that jech recommended notebook.de for Viewsonic V350 and their amazon store - at first visit amazon store showed release date 19th of october, after 15 min or so i checked again and it said "in stock" so i placed an order, paid it with cc and got confirmation but no delivery date so i called notebook.de - first call was hung up after some music but second call i made they confirfmed the release date - in october so i cancelled my order nice huh ?

 

[Cecilsoares]

"smurfOnE[/URL]"]
Is that phone obsolete? I wonder why maxwesttelecom.com does not have this phone in their online catalog.

Also I'd worry about baterry life. At least around here, cellphones don't usually come with 2 batteries on the package...