How to use two SIM cards on Galaxy S9, S10, and S20?

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• Hi, thanks for this article. O clarify, by enabling "Dual SIM always on", you will in effect be switching the S9 from Dual Standby to Dual Active. Is this correct?

  • It looks similar to dual active. But it requires network support from both sim cards. Also, when you are in a call with one sim card, you will get notification for calls to the other SIM cards. You can put either one on hold. Remember you are using call forwarding (diverting) for the second SIM card now. You will be charged for outgoing minutes for this SIM card.

    Anyway, dual SIM always on, if works properly, will make both SIM cards reachable at all times. If you don't enable it, and when you are talking on one SIM card, the other one will be unreachable.

• If you only have one sim card installed, do you still see two buttons on the phone and message apps? Or can you set it to only see one?

  • No, your will not see the button. When you use only one SIM card, you don't need to set up anything.

• Does Samsung S9 Duos support assigning one of the SIMs for call to specific contacts? E.g. when I am calling my colleague, always use SIM1, while when I am calling my wife, use SIM2 (I have to numbers: business and private). Or at least to call with last used SIM, without asking?

  I am asking this because the Bluetooth integration with my car - I have shortcuts on cars dashboard, and while driving I don't want to bother with phone in selecting the SIM to use.

  • Nope, there is not such an option on any Galaxy phones.

    In some other Android phones (e.g., Moto phones), the phone can "learn" to use the proper SIM card. Unfortunately, Samsung did not implement it.

• What a pity :-( Even my crappy old Huawei P10 lite could do it ...
  Are you aware of dialer apps that could do that?

  • Yes, many other Android vendors offer similar options so that the phone knows which sim card should be used. But Samsung didn't implement it.
    Not sure about third-party dialer apps. Without rooting the phone, most third-party dialer apps cannot be used. I haven't tried any third party dialer apps on s9

• What about Viber and Whats up applications using them on sim2? Will they still work?

  • In S9 and S9+, yes, you can use two WhatsApp and a few other messenger accounts. You can enable it in Settings - advanced features - dual messenger.

    Besides, you can use secure folder to use a different account.

• Hello. My S7 dual sim did not allow me to use data on sim 2. Based on your description above for S9, sim 2 can now accomodate data except only in 3g and 2g?

  • Only one SIM card can use mobile data at any time. The slot doesn't matter. You can assign either of them (but not both) for mobile data in SIM card manager as explained in this guide.

• Yes there is. I'm using the app Dual Sim Selector Pro. You can pre-assign sim card to a contact or to a group of contacts. Very useful.

• Hi, I want to use the Dual Sim for Work Sim and Personal Sim. My preference is that my work emails only connect when using the data from my work sim. Is this possible?
  Essentially I want to have the ability to disconnect from work outside work hours, so no emails or phone calls. I thought the best way to do this would be for work sim to support work emails.

  • Emails will be checked whenever internet connection is available. It doesn't matter the connection is established through SIM card 1 or through SIM card 2 or though WiFi. But you can turn off email notification. If you are using Samsung email app, you can set a peak period for a different email sync frequency.

    For calls, you can set it to forward to your voicemail for a specific period of a day. Some carriers allow it. On the phone, you cannot set time- based call forwarding. It only allows you to set as always or when not answered or when nor reachable.

    Anyway, most of the other relevant settings, for example, do not disturb, work on the phone level, not sim card level.

• Can l make a Wi-Fi call from SIM 1 using sim 2 as a hotspot

  • What kind of WiFi calling? If your phone has mobile data, all apps then can use it. Hotspot, WiFi, data connection all work at the phone level, not sim card level.

• If you live in the USA do not buy Samsung 9 duel sim , the networks don't support it at lte speeds. I have s8 note and s9 note that drop calls constantly because they in reality only run on 3G. Tried ATT T-Mobile and Verizon won't work at all because it is not CDMA. Samsung support refuse to support it. So be careful . Switched to new Apple duel sim that is USA and world compatible . I was told Samsung is world compatible , it was wrong. I will not recommend it. Great camera however .

  • It's always a good idea to buy local set. In the US market, S9 and S9+ only have single SIM version.

• In my S9+ I set Sim 1 as default Sim card for calls but still have two buttons when selecting contact. So what is the reasoning for setting default sim card if each time I call I need to select which cart I'm calling from?

  • Yes, one button is redundant. But it does not ask you to select a SIM card. It simply puts two call buttons (instead of one when using one SIM card). So, this does NOT add additional work/tap for the users.

    There are many possible usages. Some users may need to switch two SIM card very often. In my opinion, this is the best implementation among all dual SIM phones. Now, more Android manufacturers follow this setting.

• Hi,
  Are there any differences between single and dual SIM version of s9+ except the number of usable SIMs?
  I would like to use 1 SIM, but in Hungary most of the shops sell only dual versions. Should I hunt for a single SIM version or the dual version is exactly the same if I use only 1 SIM?

  • You should buy local set so that the phone works on all bands.

    Dual SIM is additional feature. In single SIM version, Samsung simply disable this feature in the card reader and software.

    As far as functions or features are concerned, there are no other differences. But in US and Canada, where single SIM is default, the CPU is from Qualcomm. In other regions, where dual SIM is the default, Samsung chips are used. But you will not see the difference.

• Hello! I'm moving abroad and I was wondering if I should buy the s9 dual in order to use two sims (the one of my country and a new one of the country where I will live in). I would like to use the sim of the new country the whole time, but receiving the miss calls from my usual sim. Is it possible? Can I have one active sim card and just receiving calls from the other one? (I mean without picking up the phone, just to see who is calling). Or do I have to pay much more if I want to receive those phone calls? (Even if I don't answer the phone).

  Thanks in advance! :)

  • You need to use both SIM cards.

    You need to enable international roaming for the usual (home country) SIM card through your phone company. Most carriers offer it as free service or pay-as-you-go. You can receive calls for that SIM. Receiving calls is usually free. But you should NOT pick it up because it will be charged as an international call. You can check who is calling. You can also receive SMS. Receiving is usually also free. Sending will be expensive. Check with your carrier for the charges. For most carriers, receiving is free for both calls and SMS. But you need to check with the carrier.

    You should not enable data roaming if you plan to use the local SIM for data. Also, you need to set the preferred SIM card for the data connection as the local SIM card when you are roaming.

• Hi,
  I don't understand the point of having 2 call buttons in the phone app while every time you make a call, whatever the button you choose, it will ask you which sim to use for the call . It would be more logical to take the call through the corresponding sun without asking this select a sim. Am I missing some thing?

  • You need to confirm the SIM card because you enabled "confirm SIM card for calls" under Settings- connections - SIM card manager". If you disable it, you can then directly make calls or send SMS with the sim card based on the button you use.

• I've tried even when disabling "confirm SIM card for calls" under "SIM card manager" nothing changed. It still asks me which SIM to use for the call.

  • What's the settings for preferred SIM cards in the sim card manager? If you set to always ask for calls, then it should ask.

• Then what's the point of having 2 call buttons? If I set it to "always ask" il will always ask, what ever call button I use. If I set it to a preferred sim, it will use that sim whatever call button I use. I'm probably missing something...

  • If you set the preferred SIM card (and disable “confirm SIM card for calls"), then it should ask you to confirm. If you press the call button with 1, the SIM card 1 will be used. If you press the call button with 2, the SIM card 2 will be used.

    If you press the call button with 2, but SIM card 1 is used without asking you for the confirmation (or vice versa), then something is wrong.

• If I'm on the phone on sim 1 and someone calls sim 2 I don't get any notice that someone is trying to call and afterwards I have no missed call on my phone app. Same thing if I'm on the phone on sim 2 and someone else also calls sim 2 - no reaction on my phone an no missed calls. Is that the dual sim always on not working (shouldn't be in the second scenario, if I had a single sim phone and was on the phone it should react if someone else calls me), is there something else I can do in settings in order to see calls during calls? I have my work phone and private phone in one, so it's important that I can see who called my work phone while I was on my private phone during the day.

  • Did you turn on dual SIM always on? If enabled, you should get a notification for the second call. Most carriers support call waiting and call diverting.

• How do I activate the contact list on my sim card 2? I can't find all my saved contacts on sim card 2. Only contacts on sim card 1 appears. Thanks.

  • First, you should sync contacts with your Google account. It's a bad idea to save contacts to the SIM card.

    Open Contacts app, tap the navigation button (3 lines on the top left side), you should be able to find all contacts organized by sources. You can also manage them.

• Thanks Simon, my only issue is that the phone receives SMS from only 1 Sim at a time because you have the option of receiving messages from either sim 1 or sim 2 and not both at the same time. Can that be corrected?

  • The phone should receive SMS from both phones simultaneously.

    The option under SIM card manager is for you to designate a "default" SIM card when sending SMS without using the Messages app, or using third-party Messages app without two send buttons (Samsung's Messages app has two buttons for each SIM card, so the option is not necessary for the default Messages app).

    If you cannot receive SMS from one of the SIM cards, you can try to power off the phone, remove the other SIM card, then reboot. If you still cannot receive SMS when using one SIM card, it means some wrong with you Message Center settings. You need to contact your carrier.

• Is there a way (like on Asus Zenfone) to set a predefined SIM for bluetooth calls (i call using my car bluetooth) and leave the "ask sim" for normal phone calls and sms ?

  Many thanks

  • No, as I know, there is no such an option on Galaxy phones.

• Sir i use galaxy s9 and the sim tray shows that it can accomodate two simcards but there in the connection settings there is nothing like simcard manager whats wrong

  • Are you sure it is a dual SIM version of Galaxy S9 (check the phone model in Settings --about phone)? For the single SIM version of Galaxy S9, the SD card slot does not have the chopped corner for a SIM card, although it looks like you can fit one.