Samsung D780 DuoS (SGH-D780)
Discontinued 30th April 2008
The Samsung D780 DuoS is one of a very small number
of mobile phones that is designed to accept two SIM
cards at the same time. It's a very conventional looking
monoblock device, broadly similar in specification to
the existing D880
DuoS.
We have explored the DuoS's technology before, but
essentially both SIM cards are active at the same time,
and the DuoS has two handset profiles with different
settings for each. Users can choose which SIM to use
for voice calls and data, and contacts and SMS messages
are stored separately. There is very little functional
difference between a DuoS handset and carrying two phones
about.. except with the Samsung D780 DuoS you will only
need the one handset.
Apart
from the dual-SIM support, the Samsung D870 DuoS is
an utterly conventional GSM phone. It has a 2.1"
240 x 320 pixel display, a basic 2 megapixel digital
camera, microSD expandable memory, an FM radio, stereo
Bluetooth, a USB connector, plus a multimedia player,
web browser and email client.
Samsung don't say how much the D780 weighs, but it
does come with a large capacity 1200 mAh battery which
will add to the weight slightly. Because there are two
distinct GSM/GPRS radios in the SGH-D780, it will tend
to require more power to run. It's a small trade-off
for convenience though. At 115 x 50 x 16mm, the D780
is perhaps a little larger than a single SIM device
too.
One drawback is that the Samsung D780 is a tri-band
GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900 device only, although it does
support EDGE data as well as GPRS. Samsung are working
on other DuoS handsets, although we suspect that a dual-SIM
3G device may be some way off.
The Samsung D780 will be available in Russia and
the Ukraine from May 2008 at a price of around €260
(£200 approximately), followed by Europe, Asia
and the Middle East. This is about the same price as
the existing D880 DuoS slider.
One serious drawback is that if you want a DuoS handset,
you are probably going to have to pay the full price
for it. Dual-SIM devices don't really fit into the business
model of most cellular carriers, but we suspect that
people who want the DuoS features will be prepared to
pay for them.
|
Samsung
D780 DuoS (SGH-D780) at
a glance
|
Available:
|
May
2008
|
Network:
|
GSM
900 / 1800 / 1900
|
Data:
|
GPRS
+ EDGE
|
Screen:
|
240
x 320 pixels, 262k colours
|
Camera:
|
2
megapixels
|
Size:
|
Medium
monoblock 115 x 50 x
16mm
|
Bluetooth:
|
Yes
|
Memory
card:
|
microSD
|
Infra-red:
|
No
|
Polyphonic:
|
Yes
|
Java:
|
Yes
|
GPS:
|
No
|
Battery
life:
|
Not
specified
|
|
|