Recently, I made a change in my cellular phone service. It’s a really good deal, and I want to tell you about it. I also have an announcement to share today, which I will add at the end of this article. I’ve been wanting to make this cellular change for a while now, but I just got around to doing it.
For several months now, I have been wanting to get two different cellular lines. My plan was that I would make one of my numbers public, and would reserve the other one for family and very close friends. My only problem was that I did not want to carry around two cell phones. Carrying a single phone can be a pain sometimes, carrying two was just out of the question. But, I wanted to have two lines, so what would I do? Well, the answer is simple. I just bought a Dual SIM phone! It is a Samsung D780. It can have two different SIM packs, resulting in two different phone numbers. They are both active at the same time, and whichever one recieves a call or text will ring. If you are talking on one line, the other line is still active and can recieve calls and texts while you are talking. What a perfect solution.
As far as I know, there are only two companies that offer a cellular phone like this: Samsung and MyPhone. MyPhone is a Philippine company, and their phones are very inexpensive. The low cost of the phones scared me away, as I worried about quality. There are also some “no brand” Chinese dual sim phones, but I didn’t even consider those.
My phone service in the past was through Globe, and I’ve been pretty happy with their service. For my second line, I decided to go with Sun Cellular. Sun has been around for several years now, but in the past their service was very bad. It was rare that you could get through on a call or even send a text, as their cell network was very limited in coverage. However, a friend recently told me that Sun’s coverage in Davao is excellent now. I decided to give them a try, and I’m happy that I did!
You see, Sun offers a flat rate, use all you can service. For P400 per month (only about $9 or so), you get unlimited calling and unlimited texting within the Sun Network. So, Feyma and most everybody in our household is using Sun now, and we are very happy with the service! You certainly can’t beat the price. So, for $9 per month or so, I can call Feyma as often as I want, and talk as long as I want, and in my experience so far, the quality of the calls is as good as any cellular service I’ve used in the Philippines so far. Basically, I use the Sun line to call and text anybody else who is using Sun, and I use my old Globe line for any other calls and texts that I need to send. So far, it’s working great.
If you are in the Philippines, I highly recommend Sun, especially if you have others that you communicate with a lot and they either have Sun, or are willing to change to Sun. If all of your friends use Globe or Smart for their Cell service, there really is no advantage to going to Sun, in my opinion.
As for the phone, the Samsung works great. There are some differences between it and my old phone (a Nokia), and I am still getting used to them, but I am quite sure that I will be happy with it. I was getting pretty tired of the Nokia, so I am pretty happy to get rid of it! It was about 2 years old, so it was time to upgrade, I think. If you are looking for a phone that will handle two lines at once, I highly recommend the Samsung.
Now, what was that announcement that I wanted to share? Well, as I said in this article, I am going to make my cell number public. The number that I will share is my Globe number, and I will leave it on during Business Hours – around 8am until 5pm on Weekdays. Sometimes I will put it on during weekends too. My Sun number, which will be private, and only available to close friends and family will be on all the time, but I won’t share it. I hope you understand, because I need some private time when i don’t have to answer my phone. As it is now, I get a lot of calls, and some are at pretty odd hours, from people who are visiting town, or readers of my site. So, I might as well make the number publicly available, but the hours of my availability on that line will be limited.
So, for anybody who needs to contact me, you may call me on my cell, (0915) 216-0300. If you are dialing from outside the Philippines, you would call +63(915) 216-0300. If you are in the United States, you would dial 011-63-915-216-0300. If I don’t answer when you call, just try me again after a few minutes. During business hours, I will do my best to be available to recieve your calls when I can.
Hear from you soon?
Hi Bob,
I have been looking for a dual sim cell phone, E-Bay has a nice selection available. There are quad band phones that will work in the US and Philippines.
I have an US phone and a Globe Roaming sim that I would like to put in one phone.
Thaks for sharing your cell Bob.I am planning on a return visit to Davao in April or May so I will keep your number handy.
Bob,
With the unlimited service within Sun, what about to other services and from the other services to Sun. I know from Smart to Globe a text is 2 pesos where Smart to Smart is only 1.
Hey Mark…by chance have u ever or currently live in Michigan? I knew a guy same name as ur's growing up.
Hi Bob,
I am not interested in a new phone right now, I just got an LG EN-V2 that I love, but that one sounds great. Also the Sun network. It sounds like the best thing for a business person. 1 phone for both needs. I might check it out, if and when I make my move to the Philippines. I carry 2 phones when I come there because my cell phone here is CDMA. I am just not too fond of AT&T, and Verizon has the best service where I live.
Richard D
Bob….amazing…your numbers the same one etched on the wall in the CR at a club in Angeles City!!!!!
dam busted !!!lol
Bob
Let’s keep the info about Angeles city private. That was tooooo much information. 😉 I just bought a no name phone on Ebay and will be trying it out in the RP in about 10 days. The phone has TV, Video player, dual sim, quad band, MP3 player, and camera for around $140. I was going to buy a Video player to keep my 3yo daughter entertained on the trip so I bought this phone with all the features plus the player for about the same price. Now to see about the quality of the no name phone.
Do you know how much for the Sim from Sun?
Brain – that was classic – Bob, your come back was perfect 🙂
I almost bought a dual-sim Samsung on my recent trip (T-Mobile & Smart Roaming) but declined because of what I thought would be it's useful time period for me. I think it's a great feature and your scenario is a perfect example – I've seen it marketed as "one for the wife, one for the gf" – haha.
I've seen dual sim adapters for sale on ebay, and some reviews of them from European users seem to be positive – but the Samsung has a better battery than the comparable single-sim models which may come in handy if additional power consumption is required. Samsung also sells the SGH-D880 Dual SIM.
There are also a number of non(unknown)-branded Chinese dual-sim phones, which may be similar to (same?) as the MyPhone dual sim.
If you're in the US and are looking for an unlocked GSM phone at retail price, check out http://www.myworldphone.com – I'm not affiliated with them, don't vouch for them, but they have a wide selection on their website, and offer models not sold through US wireless providers such as the Samsung D780.
Hmmm! You seem to be reading up on your pavlina eh Bob? Heh Heh Heh!
I'm with you all the way on the (non-branded) phone quality issue – the other matter, I'll leave to everyone's good conscience…
Hi Bob – Gettin too techie for this provinciano! 😆
Hi Bob,
I have just seen that phone advertised here on the German Amazon site. I was thinking it would be great for travellers. I could leave my Austrian SIM intact and just buy a Philippine SIM when I get down there. Great for tourists (with or without girlfriends!)
Hi bob,
Cellphone service in the P.I. is getting better and cheaper, I could not believe how cheap it is to have a cellphone service in the philippines, from where i am now, it is quite strict to acquire a cell service, a lot of identification is needed to get one and the cost is ridiculous, i bought a china made "ipod" style cellphone with a stylus, ntcs/pal tv, mp3 player, fm/am radio a 2gb storage, a cam, a triband, wifi/bluetooth and some other crap that i don't use, it is a decent cellphone and it is cheap too, just over 150 usd.
i really don't mind where the cellphone is made, the thing is, technology changes very quick, and before you break your china made cellphone there's a new model and cheaper that will be out in the market, besides, the internal component is just the same with the "branded" cellphone, there's a lot of "re-badge" branded cellphone in the market nowadays.
Bob – with this Samsung 780 is there a way to determine which simm line an incomiing text or call is on. I would think this would be important. Also with the outgoing. How to switch from one to the other. I could probably go to Samsung for this but you are the man
Hi Bob, that sounds like a good phone. I have had samsung phones the last twice, and no problems with either of them. I now have a use for two numbers, and I never knew that there were dual sim phones on the market, though in the UK the providers all seem to offer a two line facility on the a single sim. Limits you to the one service provider of course, but at least you only get one bill at the end of the month.
On the subject of mobile phones, I remember an article from a couple of weeks ago that seemed to suggest that there are some circumstances where one can incurr a charge for RECEIVING a call or text. Did I misinterpret that? (I do know, of course, that if I use my UK sim overseas and receive an incoming call from the UK, the caller pays only the UK part of that call, and I am billed with the international part…only fair, since the caller did not dial an international number and may not know that I am overseas).
Good post, Bob. I have a friend there in Davao City where her cell number is no problem for me to call. It's the home phone that I have problems with,
The number begins with 299, however, she says the Davao code is 082. I believe the correct way to call is +639 822 99x xxx or 011 639 822 99x xxx.
Your input, please! Btw, I am planning my first visit to Davao City in Oct. It's nice to have your number. If I run into a situation where I may lose my cool I'll tell them that they don't know who I am do they?; I'm a friend of Bob Martin (the mover and shaker in Mindanao). Hahahaha!
Thanks a bunch!
Brian, that was hillarious( I laughed till I cried) although I don't think Bob will find that his number being on the cr walls in Angeles City as funny. Like me, you must have a keen sense-of-humor. You are too much!
Bob, I can't stop laughing. Yes there was a U.S. Senator that was busted in the men's stalls. Someone made a video about it that was funny, however, what you and Brian said was much funnier. That was a good laugh!
Hi Ed Griffin – Ah, when you are dialing the Davao number, you are adding an extra "9" in there. You should dial:
011-63-82-299-xxxx
that extra "9" after the 63 is only for cellphones, not landlines.
Yep, I am aware about Sen. Craig… just making a joke with Brian!
Give me a call when you are in town!
Hi Bob
I almost swallowed my tongue went I read that you only pay about 9 bucks a month for cell service!!!
Damn I pay …..for free incoming calls and texts and 500 mins free with evenings and weekends free about $80.00 per month…. about P3400
So this news is even more reason to immigrate!!!! 🙂 🙂
So where does a person go (if they are not too tech savvy) to get help choosing a phone and a plan????? Without getting screwed that is..
Hi Tyleen Reynders – As a foreigner here, you probably won't be able to get a "plan" where you pay at the end of the month. The price that I quoted is pre-paid. You just go buy a phone of your choice, and buy a prepaid sim. Put the Sim in your phone. But a Prepaid Load card, and type the number into your phone, and the value of the card is transferred into your phone then.
This is called a trac phone in the USA, not sure in Canada.
Hi, Bob,
I bought my only second mobile phone almost a year ago. Since i bought it, it stayed in the shop for almost three months, off and on, then another few weeks, off and on. The shop assistants never bothered to find out the real cause of the conking out of my new Nokia. Anyway, they just presumed it was the battery. They notified me and told me that I could come and collect it. Two days later, I went back to complain that it wasn't working again. So, another trip, another wasted petrol. Finally, I asked another shop assistant and told him, perhaps, it's the charger. He smiled. He checked my charger and it was not working!. The battery had nothing to do with it. A week had passed and my Nokia needed re-charging. it seems that it needed recharging every two days. Why? When I opened it, I realised that they replaced my NEW battery with an OLD one. So, Bob, please make sure that you mark your mobile phone battery with a small "b" or something so that you'd know it's YOUR battery. I was conned. Regards, Hill
Hi hill roberts – thanks for the tip!
Hi Bob,
I'm not much of a cellphone techie, but your article gave me a lot to think about. When I was in the Philippines last year, I purchased a cheap cellphone for use during my 10-day visit. Before leaving, I presented that cellphone to my girlfriend. Well, I'd like to buy a cellphone to use both here in the states and in the Philippines. I don't need anything fancy, just a basic cellphone.
Thanks!
Hello Bob,
Do Myphone have a website? I would like to get to know their phones which as you say are not expensive.
Thanks in advance,
Johnny