The dual SIM handset market is mainly dominated by Chinese products, but Samsung is the first big name to have serious intentions about it.
Samsung SGH-D880 DuoS, released last year, was the first attempt at conquering “people too important to use only one SIM card and ready to spend good money for it”.
It’s now followed by two cheaper models - Samsung SGH-P240 DuoS and DuoS Samsung SGH-D780.
And these indeed seem to be two different models. At least by the number, because I still can’t figure out the difference from the looks and specs. Maybe different markets, or something? I’ve tested the Samsung SGH-P240 DuoS, which is in fact almost identical to SGH-D780.
It is a mid-range phone, aimed at people who want a little from each handset category. It has a bit of multimedia in it, a few organizer features and, most importantly, it can handle two SIM cards.
The dual SIM Samsung P240 is definitely a looker, with its slim shape and silvery side buttons, and it looks pretty robust, too. Nothing moves, everything is well in place. The only problem is that opening the back lid can be a bit of a drag because of this. After you managed to do that inserting the two SIM cards is quite easy and, the second you start it, the phone will ask for the PIN codes.
And just as you were about to say “that was fast!”, Samsung P240 will keep you waiting for more than a minute before actually starting… Boring, but worth the wait, because after that things run quite smoothly.
The two SIM cards work at the same time and you can receive calls and messages on both of them. Sound quality is really good, both at the receiving and the sending end. The only problem is that you will only be able to initiate calls from one of the cards, the “Primary” one, as the dual SIM P240 calls it. If you want to call someone from the other SIM, you’ll have to push a button on the side of the phone, select it as the main SIM, and the phone will restart – another minute of waiting…
Menus
The menus are pure Samsung style – nothing too fancy, but functional and quite easy to use. It shouldn’t be a problem to find a specific thing in them, even if you’ve never owned a Samsung before. If you don’t like their looks, the Samsung SGH-P240 comes with three predefined themes for you to tamper with.
But strange things do happen here, too. You’ll get the impression that the file manager doesn’t “see” the microSD card you insert in the slot. Well, it does, but switching from “Phone memory” to “Memory card” can’t be done with the directional key; oddly enough, you’ll have to use the * and # keys for this.
Multimedia
Entertainment wise, Samsung P240 dual SIM does pretty good. The music player isn’t fantastic, but it does its job and the phone can also play 3gp and mp4 video files. I’ve tried getting a file converter and I realized that TV series episodes are quite watchable on dual SIM SGH-P240’s bright 2-inch display.
And since the internal speaker won’t get you too far, you’ll have to use the headphones, which are quite uncomfortable and, thanks to the lack of a 3,5 mm jack, can only be switched with a Bluetooth stereo handset (yes, it does support AD2P).Music can be organized in a few playlists, but the strange thing is that, even though you have more of these, only a limited number of tracks can be added to each of them (30). If you’re bored of trying to organize it, you still have the FM radio.
The 2 megapixel camera is perfect for snapshots in bright sunlight, as image quality does seem to get lower once the light isn’t so bright. Here are a few examples of pictures taken with it (click on the images to see them full size).
Bottom line
Taking into account that it is a fairly good phone, with a fair amount of features, the fact that the Samsung SGH-P240 has dual SIM capabilities only makes it more interesting. If both SIM cards could be used for calling at any time, it would be even better.
