Mobile phones with room for two SIM cards instead of just one have long made sense for business travellers who often head overseas.
There's no need to choose between keeping your Aussie SIM card to receive calls but risking being gouged for calls and data, or dropping in a local pre-paid SIM card for best value calls & data but missing calls to your regular mobile number.
Which is why the new Agora smartphone from direct tech seller Kogan blipped on our radar when it launched this week.
Sure, the $149 price tag – yes, that's $149 direct, no contracts or carrier lock-in – is also eye-catching, especially if you want a low-cost smartphone for your travels.
And there's no scrimping on the spec sheet with a 5" touchscreen, dual-core 1GHz processor and front and back cameras (a fairly standard combo of 5MP and 0.3MP).
But for many travellers the drawcard will be the dual slots for your Australian and overseas SIM cards and the fact that both can be used at the same time, thanks to Android's adroit handling of twin SIM cards.
You can also set a default card to be used for data and outgoing calls so you don't accidentally rack up a massive roaming bill.
The only trick is that you'll need to do some SIM swapping at the airport, because only one of the Agora's two SIM slots is for 3G – the other is for 2G.
So while your Aussie SIM card would sit in the 3G slot on home soil, once you touch down overseas you'd move this into the 2G slot and insert your local pre-paid SIM into the 3G bay.
You'll still be able to make and take calls and text messages over 2G, of course, so there's no drama there.
For more information, visit Kogan.com.
About David Flynn
David Flynn is the editor of Australian Business Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
1 on 11/1/13 by edy4eva