Using a Dual SIM phone

I use a work esim in my s24, no faff at all. Set up so personal is default for data/sms, and it asks me when making a call which sim i want to use...for frequent contacts I have set this accordingly.

Means I can have a work WhatsApp as well as a personal on the phone

I'd not go back to two handsets.

You can set a preferred sim for data, phone and text.
Really easy to change preferences at weekends .

It's easy selecting which card you want to call or text from.

But.

It's so nice being able to put the work phone down/leave it at home during weekend or evening activities. I used to dual SIM a single phone but now I run two separate devices.

I dual sim for my work phone, I use my personal sim as my main. On a call you can long press the call button to select which sim to use. As my data is very limited on my work sim, data is set to my personal sim. It's very configurable on Android, probably the same on Apple. Way better than carrying 2 phones around.

Cheers all, sounds a good option

I've got two SIMs and it's fine.

Both personal though, I spend a lot of time where there's little signal and having two networks helps. One PAYG and one on a £5/month tariff so cheap as chips.

Dual SIM just makes so much more sense than 2 phones...

I've been doing it for 5yrs now, had a separate work phone to my own mobile once before in another job and it was a massive PITA! Fortunately work pays for my phone and the (eSIM) contract that goes with it, I just pay for my own monthly rolling contract for my own data and calls...

Dunno what it's like on Android, but on an iPhone it's so easy to manage the different SIM's simultaneously through the phones settings app. Super easy to switch a SIM off too and leave the phone just working on the one SIM as required (out of office, weekend etc.)

sc-xc
Full Member
I use a work esim in my s24, no faff at all. Set up so personal is default for data/sms, and it asks me when making a call which sim i want to use…for frequent contacts I have set this accordingly.

Means I can have a work WhatsApp as well as a personal on the phone

I’d not go back to two handsets.

+ 1

Will add using e sims via Airalo travelling on an iPhone. You can even set the sim you want to use for individual contacts

cant see any reason not to try a single phone unless your employer locks down the phone software in some way

The only possible complication is if work has any mobile device management it insists on installing on any phone connecting to their apps or data. If they do, your personal phone might be under their control and have some features turned off.

For this reason, I stuck to two phones.

Device management is the reason I have dual (i)phones.

Not that I have anything to hide, more that the work phone is locked down to prevent certain things and functionality, as I'd expect from a work phone tbh.

Just makes it a pain when using the phone as if it was my own.

If there was a way to use two phone management profiles, I'd be on the one phone for sure.

It’s so nice being able to put the work phone down/leave it at home during weekend or evening activities.

If you have a Samsung it can be split into a work profile and personal profile. You can turn the work profile off manually or on a schedule.  Many apps (Outlook, Teams etc) install into both profiles and are segregated so your data stays separate. In fact, I don't think I'd want any of my employees using their personal phones for work without this feature.

The only possible complication is if work has any mobile device management it insists on installing on any phone connecting to their apps or data. If they do, your personal phone might be under their control and have some features turned off.

See above. I am not sure if it's Samsung exclusive or not.

Well, that's a useful thing to learn.  I've been running a dual SIM phone for the last 6 years or so and it always used to be the case that you couldn't run two WhatsApp accounts without having to faff around with a hidden profile....  Just looked it up and you can now, and have been able to do so since 2023.  Have just added a WhatsApp for my work account, thanks for pointing it out SC-XC!

I thought it was the opposite. Had a few Pixels that had a multi-user option in settings you could turn on and switch between profiles, but never seen it on my Samsung.

I've been doing it for years, work profile has been around for ages.  And it's not just WhatsApp there are loads of apps that support work profile.

I’ve been thinking about this, my iPhone is with O2, I’m on their SwitchUp contract, which means every year, I just swap the current phone for a brand new one, and I’m not paying any more per month than I was for my iPhone 11, plus I get O2 Priority for tickets and gigs.

However, O2’s coverage could be improved, I’m with BT for my landline/internet, and they’re now with EE, who I think have better coverage, and definitely wider 5G, so as I don’t make many calls, I’m thinking it might make sense to get an EE e-sim for data, leaving my O2 number for any time anyone wants to contact me, I’ve had the same number for years and years, I can rattle off the number in my sleep, so I don’t want to lose that one.

I got an ad the other day for a secondary SIM - gave you fallback data with all (lthe UK networks and some overseas cover but on a limited list of apps (so no streaming audio /video.)

there are various other Uk @all networks@ sims as well I think that cost more but don’t have that restriction

I went through all this a few years ago. I stuck with two phones, all the options where there was any sharing between personal and company data on a single device left my personal data exposed to the companies management software.

I mean, they aren't allowed to monitor without due cause, union oversight and legal agreement from me, but it makes it a pain to move personal stuff to a new company phone, the choice is quite limited (only 2 iPhone options and 1 Galaxy) and subsequently moving to a new private phone would also have been a pain.

On the plus side, my work phone gets switched off as i walk out of the office.

On the downside, i don't get to take advantage of the company allowing me (effectively) unlimited use of my company phone due to how the contract is structured.