Galaxy S8 SIM card guide

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• How long does a sim card take to activate in a contract phone

  • SIM card activation depends on the carrier. Most carriers should activate the new sim card in a few hours. If you signed up the plan in the store, they usually tell you when you can use the sim card when it's handed to you.

    • Ty

• Hi there. I am a s8 user for almost 10 days now. Since last one week I am noticing that if the phone is kept in standby mode for more than 2 hours and if someone trying to call me it shows that the phone is switched off. I am using dual sim version. Both the sim are showing switched off for the caller while its on. I have to restart my mobile every time to resolve this. Does anyone have a solution for this?

  • Did you check settings - about phone - status - sim card status? Also if the phone is not registered in the mobile network, you should see a different icon in status bar.

• Hi, please is there any difference in output quality/ functionality of any of the s8 series due to being a double sim or single sim?

  This is because I want to decide on which one to get.

  Thank you

  • What's output quality are you referring to?

    The single sim version in US is powered by Snapdragon chips. In international market, most of the dual SIM version of S8 are powered by Samsung Exynos chips. But this depends on region of the phone. This is the major hardware difference. But technically, both chips are an overkill. Some like Snapdragon, some like Exynos.

    Software is almost identical. But in different regions, there mark be marginal difference.

    Anyway, it depends on what your concern is.

• hi there, I have an iphone with a zeiss wide angle lens on it. Pretty good pix .BUT. My friends who have galaxy 8 have superior photos I tink, even without any extra lens, edges, clarity, color saturation without post-production, and low light far more excellent without so much grain/ noise/dimness.

  do you thik there is any way to do a rental of a galaxy 8 [without a sim card, dont need that, as have an iphone which is fine for all else] to test against my iphone 6+ to see before buying if pix taking side by side really improve with gallaxy 8 in my hands? Then if yes, prob switch the whole shebang to galaxy. I use my iphone 90% of time for photos for work.

  • You need to check with local Samsung distributor. Some may offer 7 days or even with days money back. But this depends on individual distributor or carrier. You need to check with them.

    • hi there Simon, thanks. I'll try that. I sometimes see cell phone people at costco, maybe they would know, or verizon maybe. I hope it will work. Seems like a good idea to try out. I could drag a dslr all around, but thse little flat phones are I think quality pic and video contendahs for the bulky, heavy dudes in photog and vid. Thanks again

• Hi. First, I just want to state that you excel at explaining technical jargon so that phone-technically-dumb people like me can understand!!! I wish I had you on speed dial. I am thinking of buying an unlocked S8 or S8 plus and using StraightTalk for my service. (in the rural area that I live, ST seems to do better than friends who visit with T-Mobile and other carriers!) Are there any specs that I should be aware of? Do you know of any problems with compatibility with S8/S8 plus unlocked phones using ST that I should be aware of? Thank you in advance for any advice and your time.

  • I don't think there are any compatibility issues.

    But you should buy US version from authorized dealers. These phones come with local (US) warranty.

• Hi when I Insert micro sd card in my s8 I seem to loose 4g ie internet?

  • Unlikely, the issue is related to SD card. You can check sim card status in Settings- about phone - status.

    You can also reboot the phone to see whether it helps.

    • Thanks turned off phone and put sd in now ok

      • Thank you for sharing the update and glad to know it works now.

• I am owing a Samsung Galaxy S8 US version , I bought an unlocked phone from US , and using it in India , but not able to use it as dual sim phone because the tray is smaller than nano sim and even if I change the tray ,and insert other sim in slot it can't read the sim. What's the matter ,is it a single sim model or what?
  Bhavana verma
  Indore India

  • You should know US version is single SIM only. You can only use one SIM card. The other slot is for SD card only.

• hi... i’m an samsung s8 plus user and my sim card tray got broken yesterday. i was able to take out the sim and SD card but there’s a piece of the tray stuck and i’ve still not been able to take it out....please help me...thank u

  • Visit local Samsung service centre. It should take them less a min to remove the remaining.

• I bought my Galaxy S8 in Sweden from Telia, and now I am in Indonesia and the phone won't work with a sim card from Indonesia. Can someone please tell me why?

  • Indonesian carriers use both GSM and CDMA depending on carriers. You need to get a SIM card for GSM from a GSM network operator.

    LTE bands may be also different from your home country.

• My new S8 Is saying the sim is full with only 45 contacts.What do I do?

  • You should not save contacts in SIM card. Most morden SIM cards have very limited storage for users.

    You should save contacts to Google accounts or to the phone.

• My Galaxy S8 is only 8 months old and after the latest update won't function with my sim card in it. It turns itself off and won't get past entering the passcode when I turn it back on before it turns itself off again. If I take the sim card out it will stay on so I can only communicate through wifi. I put the sim into a different phone and it works fine on it. Why after 8 months doesn't it like my sim card?

  • Does it ask you to type passcode when it reaches the lock screen? Or before the lock screen? Did you set up SIM card lock? (Settings - lock screen and security - other security settings - sim card lock)

• I am thinking of buying either a samsung galaxy s8 plus or s8. With the single sim card version can I also insert a micro sd card as well as the sim card or do I need a dual sim card version

  • If you want to use two SIM cards, you must get a dual SIM version. But when you use two SIM cards, there will be no slots for SD card.

    If you just use one SIM card, you can get either one. If you use one SIM card in a dual SIM version, the second slot can be used for SD card.

    For single SIM version, there are also two slots. But slot 1 is for SIM card and the slot 2 is for SD card ONLY.

• Thank you for your help. I am new to the smartphone world.

• Could a Samsung S8 nano sim tray fit into the S8 dual sim tray hole? And would those work, both the sim and the SD card. Thank you.

  • Why do you need this? For the dual SIM version, you can use a SD card if you use one SIM card. The second slot is for sim card OR SD card in the dual SIM version.

    For single sim version, the 2nd slot is for SD card only. There are no issues to fit the sun card tray.

    But if you put the sim card tray for the single sim version, then you cannot use two SIM cards because the slot 2 can only fit a SD card. If you put a SIM card into slot 2, it will not be secured.

    If you put a SIM card tray for dual SIM version s8 into single SIM version of s8, there are no issues. But you cannot use two SIM cards. The internal hardware of the single sim version of S8 doesn't support the sim card in slot 2 even you put a SIM card there.

• What if it
  Ask for a SIM code

  • You need to ask the phone company. The code usually is printed in the original package of the SIM card.