Category: Dual SIM

Before i tell you that there has been a software update for this phone, let me remind you of my review of the phone

The lowdown: right after the update, i tested the P698 dual sim android, and i can say that the phone which was a disaster before the update is perfectly usable now, i would still prefer the samsung galaxy Y duos (GT-S6102)

I have only used this phone as a 3G modem up to now, when i tried to use it as a phone, it was a disaster, the phone battery does not last for a day, and this is nothing compared to the very faulty software, ending a phone call is very hard to do (you need to wait 10 seconds before you can be sure the other party can no longer hear you) that is, if this magical phone does not get into stupid mode and make ending the phone call mission impossible, in short, the phone is a disaster.

Worth mentioning is that the phone hardware is pretty OK, in some regards better than the Samsung Y duos, it is the software that is a disaster, the only thing that i consider essential and is missing from the hardware is the proximity sensor (the one that disables the touch screen when the phone is close to your face). CORRECTION: THE LG P698 does have a proximity sensor, and with the new update it works just fine.

So, today i decided to check whether the phone got a new software update, and indeed it has (the second), this update is named (and dated) v10g-jul-06-2012, where the update right before this one was v10f-mar-07-2012, so what did LG do in those 3 months, any news of fixing the bugs that were killing me ?

I will now install both my lines into this phone (from my very usable and useful Samsung Y duos), i will try the phone for a couple of days and let everyone know of the results, i am not optimistic

I will be back in a couple of days to tell you all if the phone is better now.

The update:
The new update improves the software so that this phone is now usable compared to a phone i bought and could not use, the samsung galaxy Y duos is still better than this phone (and has the swype application that is very nice), so i am still favoring the Samsung Galaxy Y duos, but the LG P698 is not so bad now, it works as a phone just fine

I like the idea of Dual SIM android phones because one SIM can provide data at a cheaper rate, the other can be my phone line, and i will not experience overages on my main phone like (billed at a premium when over quota).

The LOWDOWN, Get SAMSUNG, if you like get the ALCATEL, stay away from the LG, it is a disaster, 3 LG Phones suffered the same exact problems.

I have tried 3 Android dual SIM phones to date.

Samsung Galaxy Y Duos (S6102)
Excellent up to now, no problems with this phone at all, but we have only used it for 3 days up to now (We are 3 people with three phones)

ALCATEL ONE TOUCH BLAZE DUO OT-890D
A bit slow, dialer good, not very responsive, but works as a mobile phone, don’t expect to flawlessly play angry birds

LG Optimus NET duo – LG-P698
A complete disaster despite the excellent hardware (for the price), All 3 phones (now replaced with the SAMSUNG) have the same exact problems, software for all 3 phones was updated to the latest software, and still a disaster.

The best hardware rendered useless with LG’s very bad dialer, the dialer hangs, sometimes calls people and there is no way to stop the call, takes a good 10 seconds at best to hang up, and if you press hang up more than once, it will call the person back, all in all, the basics are hell in this phone.

The battery is also very very bad, 16 hours at best if you don’t use it at all (Had one 3G sim card and 1 GSM only SIM card), the power manegemnt of the phone is not all that good and that is probably the reason it depletes a battery bigger than the samsung battery in much less time.

The good side of it is that it is very fast when sharing the internet by becoming a potable hotspot (WIFI tethering), it’s browser is good, it’s hardware is good, it has 512MB of ram (That’s plenty), but it is a very bad phone.

This is probably the cheapest dual sim mobile phone on the market. with one relatively significant drawback.

To give you the lowdown first, this phone has 1 issue concerning how to chose the line before sending or calling, by default you call from line 1, unlike the Dual sim Samsung(s) that i have used, this phone does not provide a simple easy convenient way to switch lines (In some samsung phones there is a dedicated line change button), to switch a to the second line, you must enter the number, then go to options, then hit call via, then chose the line you will use.

The phone does receive to both lines at all times (Dual stand by), so in situations where the second line is only to receive, and very seldom send or call from, this phone will do the trick, considering that this is the cheapest dual sim phone on the market.

The phones hardware seems tough. (and i have been using it heavily for a year and it is very tough)

the phone comes with radio that unlike other brands, has an internal antenna and does not requiere an earpiece to work.

Now that i have given you what i think is most important above, let me get to the other details of this phone.

What is in the box

Phone, Battery, Charger, Users manual, and warranty card (No Earpiece).

Even though the phone charger is a simple Micro-B-USB plug, connecting the phone to a computer will only result in charging the phone from the computer USB power, no data exchange can happen.

The phone comes with only one game called space ball that happens to be very similar to the popular snake game (Like the old one).

The phone can store 500 contacts, and 100 messages, 10 memos and 20 calendar entries

A strange feature in this phone is called fake call or self call, where you set the phone to make a fake call at a certain time, it rings, then you pick p and pretend to talk to someone, in other phones like samsung phones, you can have the phone play a side of a pre recorded phone call, but not this phone, this phone simply rungs, you can chose the name and number of the person ringing you I never really understood the need for this feature, but when they are adding it to the cheapest phones, i should be investigating this fake call feature soon, and what people use it for