The best dual-SIM phones 2023

The Galaxy S23 Ultra is our second-favourite phone right now – but since the Google Pixel 7 Pro doesn’t support two physical SIMs, Samsung’s flagship manages to top this particular ranking. It arguably deserves it too: it’s more powerful, probably has better cameras, and includes stylus support.

The camera is one of the best in any phone, with a 200Mp main shooter backed up by an ultrawide and two telephoto lenses at different zoom levels. It’s a shame that the 12Mp selfie camera lets the phone down, but otherwise photos here are excellent.

The expansive 6.8in LTPO AMOLED display delivers both high WQHD+ resolution and adaptive refresh rate up to 120Hz, and with S-pen stylus support it comfortably fills the productivity niche of the former Note phones.

If you like big phones, and can afford Samsung’s asking price, this is probably the best around – but it won’t suit everyone.

If you want an Android smartphone with top specs in 2023 that’s designed to stay fast and will have software support till 2028, the OnePlus 11 is a great choice. It’s also one of the cheapest high-end phones to offer this.

The absence of wireless charging shouldn’t be a dealbreaker for most people. After all, this phone has an excellent screen, top cameras, good battery life and truly fast charging, and phenomenal performance thanks to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. The lack of full waterproofing is more annoying to us.

OnePlus can’t just stand still, it also must evolve – luckily for us, the OnePlus 11 is a fine evolution and one of the best phones you can buy for a price that undercuts many competing products.

Not every budget phone includes dual-SIM support, and even fewer include support for two physical SIM cards and 5G networking. Enter the Moto G62.

While it fails to stand out in any one particular area, the combination of a 120Hz display, a fairly current Snapdragon 480+ processor, 5G connectivity, and an affordable price tag is surprisingly difficult to come by. Its stamina is excellent, and Motorola’s light-touch UI continues to be the best on the affordable phone scene.

The major drawback here is a familiar one. With margins so tight at this end of the market, 5G connectivity feels like a luxury. It’s one that takes an inevitable toll on performance, storage, and charging speeds. If you want more power for the price, look to the 4G-only alternatives. But if you insist on 5G connectivity, the Moto G62 is one of your best bets at the price.

The Zenfone 9 is a full-force flagship in a small size, and with remarkably few compromises for it.

The 5.9in display makes this one of the smallest phones on the market, especially on the Android side, and comfortably the smallest with specs this strong.

The Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 and up to 16GB of RAM mark this as a serious performance phone, though cooling problems do leave that power slightly throttled. The 8+ Gen 1 is also partly to thank for the excellent battery life however, which puts other compact smartphones to shame.

The gimbal-stabilised main camera impresses, especially at night, though with a few visual glitches and issues in bright environments it’s clear Asus has some software tuning to do. Some may also miss the variety offered by rivals, especially the lack of a telephoto lens here.

Given the phone is so good, it’s frustrating that Asus is only promising two years of support, so this will only suit those who know they’re on a regular upgrade schedule. The lack of mmWave support will also limit the 5G performance for US buyers. The overall experience is excellent though, with smart software and welcome touches like the IP68 rating and headphone jack.

An outstanding follow-up to 2021’s best mid-range phone, with 80W fast charging, 5G, OnePlus’s signature Oxygen OS user experience, and a near-flagship main camera. What’s not to love?

What the OnePlus Nord 2T really demonstrates is the company’s ability to prioritise the features that users are looking for right now and wrapping them up in an attractive package with a compelling price point.

The Nord 2T misses out on flagship niceties like wireless charging and waterproofing, but those are really the only compromises made here.

The Galaxy S23+ isn’t the best phone on the market at any one thing. But it’s a great phone at almost everything, with few flaws so long as you can manage the fairly steep price.

A slick, simple design is paired with top Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 performance, long battery life, and a versatile triple rear camera array. Throw in Samsung’s promise of five years of software support and this begins to look like an incredibly practical choice.

Besides the price the main downside is the 45W wired charging, which is fine, but slower than other options at the price. The smaller Galaxy S23 is a little cheaper, but slightly harder to recommend thanks to even slower charging and shorter battery life, though you may find those trade-offs worth it for the smaller size.

The Xiaomi 13 Pro is a top-tier flagship, but what stands out most is its main rear camera, featuring an enormous 1in sensor that captures more light for stunning results.

That main shooter may be the standout, but all of the Leica lenses impress, though the trade-off is putting up with an enormous rear camera bump. The regular Xiaomi 13 is a little more compact, but doesn’t pack as powerful a camera.

The software experience can be frustrating too – we don’t love Xiaomi’s MIUI – but performance from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is absolutely fantastic, with its improved power efficiency and a larger battery delivering significant battery life improvements.

We usually recommend the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 as the best flip phone around, but it has one disadvantage: it only supports a single physical SIM card, requiring eSIM if you want to use two numbers. Enter the Oppo Find N2 Flip.

The Find N2 Flip is a match for the Samsung on almost every spec, and has it beat on camera performance and charging speeds. Throw in a sturdier, gapless hinge and its expansive cover display and you might wonder if it isn’t the best flip phone out there after all.

Really, the only downsides are the lack of water-resistance or wireless charging, plus some spotty Bluetooth performance. Small faults, and enough to make the Find N2 Flip easy to recommend, and an excellent two-SIM option.

Some phones are great for what they do, others are great for how little they cost doing it.

The Motorola Edge 30 Ultra stands out because it offers the best of an Android flagship while costing a lot less than most of the competition. The 144Hz OLED display is pretty much unheard of outside gaming phones, the 125W charging is among the fastest around, and the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip is blisteringly fast. Oh, and the battery lasts for two full days, easy.

All that, and it costs just £749/€899, making it an absolute bargain. You’ll have to live with IP54 rather than IP68 water-resistance, and a camera that’s good but not quite great, but those feel like small concessions to make for a phone as good as this.

On the hardware front, the Xiaomi 13 is extremely well built, and more durable than the previous generation. The main camera produces clear, crisp shots, even in darker conditions, and we can’t ignore its impressive performance.

It’s a little low on this list because its price puts it head-to-head with some of the leading smartphones of this past year, and sadly it doesn’t quite measure up to some of the competition, especially with the bloated and confusing MIUI software.