Quite a few phones worldwide support the simultaneous use of two physical SIM cards, but not many US models do. In fact, most otherwise dual-SIM-capable phones see the feature disabled in the US market. While US consumers don’t often use dual SIMs, international travelers and small business owners use them to keep a primary phone number active, while providing connectivity to an additional phone line, or even anywhere around the globe.
Instead of importing an international version, aim for one of these US-released dual-SIM phones because global models tend to work poorly stateside, due to differences in frequency band support.
For the purposes of this list, we’re limiting ourselves to phones that support twophysicalSIM cards simultaneously. But if you’re happy to make your second SIM a virtual eSIM, most of thebest phonessupport that tech already.
OnePlus 12
Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro
OnePlus 12R
Nubia Redmagic 9S Pro
Asus Zenfone 11 Ultra
HMD Skyline
Unihertz Jelly Max
OnePlus Open
Top dual physical SIM phones in the US
Hard to beat at any price
The OnePlus 12, a strong contender for phone of the year, boasts impressive specs, capable software, and a camera that’s hard to beat. It is a fantastic piece of equipment that’s also remarkably well-priced considering its incredible performance and polish.
Few devices improved on their predecessors the waythe OnePlus 12 did. Equipped with the powerful, efficient Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and up to 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, it crunches numbers, loads apps, and runs resource-intensive software like none other. The screen rivals the best in terms of colors, peak brightness, and pixel density, only barely outclassed by the class-leading S24 Ultra due to the latter’s exclusive Gorilla Glass Armor finish.
The OnePlus 12 offers other convincing pros, particularly in its impressive camera array. Developed in conjunction with long-running camera heavyweight Hasselblad, it takes some of the best shots we’ve ever seen, roundly beating most of the competition. And while OnePlus doesn’t rely on as large a stable of AI tools for photo retouches as its competitors, its imaging processing works great in both auto and manual modes.
OnePlus 12 review: All flagship, no AI
This phone leaves nothing on the table, making for a truly complete package
Possibly the most shocking thing about the OnePlus 12, though, is its cost. Despite its contention for the best phone ever, its $800 MSRP undercuts most large-screen alternatives — not even including the $100 instant rebate from OnePlus simply for recycling any old phone you have sitting around. Your move, Samsung.
Top-notch hardware, at an extreme cost
If money’s no object, it’s hard to top the ROG Phone 8 Pro. The full $1,500 investment nets you 1TB of storage, 24GB of RAM, and the proprietary AeroActive Cooler X that all but guarantees it won’t hit thermal throttling in the most demanding games. There’s even a pair of console-like triggers integrated for a fully capable gaming experience.
While it lacks a few touches that made its predecessor unique (like the bezels for easy two-handed gripping, and the dual front-facing speakers), the ROG Phone 8 Pro still packs the most capable hardware selection and a host of software tools tailored to the gaming experience. For starters, it provides extensive interface control, letting you pick and choose which parts of Asus' Android implementation to use.
It also makes game organization simple, and lets you customize performance modes and adjust how much of the display each game assumes to ensure on-screen elements aren’t compromised. If you want to record a gaming session, including the direct sound feed, Asus' software makes it a breeze. It’s also the only recent phone with a second USB port on the side, for plugging in a charger orpower bankwhen the battery’s low, or when you just don’t want to exhaust power reserves on a demanding game.
Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro review: I’m not sure this is a gaming phone
Asus has changed the ROG Phone formula, and I’m not convinced it’s for the better
Altogether, it showcases the company’s clear talent for giving gamers an immersive, convenient, fun experience. The knock-on effect, of course, is that it’s a fantastic phone in its own right. Built for performance, it houses a beefy battery that you can’t deplete in a day without playing some high-FPS 3D titles. And it charges at 65W, in case you played too long, and it’s about to die. The biggest problems with the ROG 8 Pro are that it’s overkill for many non-gamers, and even those who love it will have to shell out quite a bit of cash.
Practically flagship-class specs for half the price
An impressive set of components wrapped up in a package starting at $500 makes the OnePlus 12 the early favorite for the year’s flagship killer. Just a year ago, something this well-equipped would have demanded some $1,000, but this one’s brand new, packed with features, and easily capable of maintaining high performance throughout its lifespan.
Out of all the phones we tested in 2023, quite a few had nearly identical hardware, and in some cases a lower-quality display, than 2024’s OnePlus 12R. Most of those phones also led their manufacturers' lineups and cost nearly $1,000, compared to the 12R’s paltry $500 MSRP. When viewed from that lens, OnePlus' midrange offering looks outright incredible, yet in some ways, it still rivals the most expensive.
The screen, for example, is as bright and colorful as its more costly relative, making for easy use in direct sunlight, and powerful reproduction of your favorite movies, shows, and cat videos. It also lasts longer between charges and charges faster than nearly anything else on the market. Three minutes on theincluded80W charger can add nearly 15% to the battery. Outstanding.
It’s not without faults, although certainly none of them are huge trade-offs. We’d love a more reassuring IP rating (the full-on OnePlus 12 fails us here, too) and the relatively bog-standard camera works OK, but nowhere near Hasselblad’s level. We’re also not huge fans of the middling 3-year Android update promise, especially when competitors are going so much farther, and it’s clear the hardware should hold up fine.
OnePlus 12R review: A real flagship killer for $500
A phone that packs all the power you need for the price you want to pay
Overall, though, it’s an impeccably equipped phone, including some user-friendly touches that make it great for day-to-day use. Using a phone with a mute slider always makes us appreciate our ringtone (or lack thereof) a little more. OnePlus also delivers faster, more consistent, less light-demanding face unlock than any Android competitor. Asus' Aqua Touch shows up here, too, making the 12R surprisingly easy to use when drops of water enter the fray and would normally confuse the digitizer. Quite simply, at $500, you can’t do better than the OnePlus 12R.
A thoughtfully designed gaming phone that won’t break the bank
If you find full-size gaming tablets unwieldy but don’t want to shell out an arm and a leg, it’s hard to top the Nubia Redmagic 9S Pro. Its overclocked Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 pulls no punches, driving some of the most demanding games at 60 FPS without difficulty. There’s a host of gaming-specific features, and it’s not even very expensive compared to most gaming phones.
High-end gaming phonestypically command serious premiums due to their powerful hardware, as well as normally limited production runs, low demand, and novel features. That’s why the Redmagic 9S Pro stands out; It delivers fantastic performance and starts at $650 with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. For another $150, you’ll add 4GB of memory and double your storage.
An understated-yet-flashy design like no other
But there’s more than just raw processing and a low price driving this relatively wallet-friendly entertainment device. Its form factor differs markedly from the average smartphone, with clean, sharp lines surrounding a perfectly rectangular, edge-to-edge display that makes all visual media look great, not just games. The back’s unusual finish adds a surprising amonut of style, too, without the gaudy, super-agressive design elements that, thankfully, a lot of devices seem to be leaving behind.
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And it doesn’t just look great. Inside, an overclocked Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 makes short work of basically any title, with only the most demanding games pushing the internal fan to its limit. For that matter, in ouresteemed Gaming Editor Matt Sholtz’hands-on review, the fan proved to be essentially no distraction whatsoever, staying quiet even when the phone was working its hardest.
The Redmagic 9S Pro outfitted with theawesome Razer Kishi controller
Little touches like LEDs built into the touch-sensitive shoulder buttons make it that much more worth considering an upgrade if your current device just can’t hack it with today’s resource-intensive games. It’s comfortable to hold, even for long periods, and having all the physical buttons on one side makes for a streamlined experience without any inadvertent screen turn-offs or volume adjustments.
Redmagic consistently makes the best gaming phones, and the 9S Pro is the latest proof
For those that truly prefer function over form
Every phone has its faults, and the 9S Pro goes a little farther than we’d like with its streamlined form factor. That is, the practically microscopic bezels don’t give you much non-screen space to grip (even if it is comfortable). Plus, there’s no space for front-facing speakers, so you’ll end with slightly mudding audio unless you’re using headphones (for which the 9S Pro does have a dedicated jack, thankfully). We also wouldn’t recommend it if you plan to use it for streaming a lot, since the front camera’s hidden under the screen, which severely hampers selfie quality.
But if you’re looking for an on-the-go gaming solution that’s far less expensive than today’s flagships, yet boasts surprisingly similar performance, Redmagic’s latest refresh can’t be beat. It’s just over half the price of Asus' premium gaming phone, yet nearly matches it in raw performance.
An excellent all-rounder in a large form-factor
The Asus Zenfone 11 Ultra is an excellent premium flagship that slightly undercuts the competition. It has a large, colorful, bright display, a premium build quality, a great set of cameras, and a battery that can comfortably last a full day, even for power users. It supports fast wired charging and is a great all-rounder with dual SIM support.
Asus decided it was time to upscale its flagship device, and the result of that change is the new Zenfone 11 Ultra. It sports an enormous 6.78-inch LTPO AMOLED display with 144Hz refresh rate, which makes it great for browsing, using your favorite social media apps, and graphics-intensive games.
Despite the changes, Asus kept the dual SIM slots from its compact predecessor, and it still retains the beloved 3.5mm headphone jack that so many love and use daily. Regarding performance, the phone sports the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, and the device doesn’t appear to throttle or overheat when pushed to its limits. It also comes with a few gamer-oriented features that are borrowed from the ROG Phone 8 Pro.
The Zenfone 11 Ultra’s cameras are impressive, offering a competitive performance against the likes of the OnePlus 12. However, it’s important to note that the device shares the same camera setup as the ROG Phone 8 Pro, which means it can produce oversharpened and overprocessed images with some artifacts, especially in low-light conditions.
Asus Zenfone 11 Ultra review: They grow up too fast
A solid all-rounder that only comes in a large
The Zenfone 11 Ultra sports a beefy 5,500 mAh battery that can last for a full day for power users. It also supports 65W fast wired charging that you can top up in less than an hour. It also supports 15W wireless charging. It comes with near-stock Android software, providing a clean and quick user interface. The only downside is that Asus only provides 2 years of OS and 4 years of security updates, so while you won’t receive the latest features, you’ll at least have a regularly updated device that stays protected for several years.
A phone unlike any other
The HMD Skyline was designed to quickly and easily replace any component due to damage or failure. By teaming up with iFixit, HMD fully embraces and encourages your right to repair. Along with decent performance and Qi2 support, the Skyline is an interesting device.
Like many other devices on this list, the HMD Skyline is a unique smartphone in the Android landscape. HMD designed the Skyline with repairability in mind, and it largely delivers. Turning a small screw on the bottom of the device allows you to quickly pop the front and back panels off, revealing its easily replaceable internal components. If you need to fix a component, and just about everything is replaceable, HMD teamed up with iFixit to easily acquire the correct components.
The Skyline also comes with the new Qi2 wireless charging capabilities, allowing you to magnetically charge your device, similar to the iPhone’s MagSafe functionality. The convenience of attaching the Skyline to MagSafe chargers and stands without the need for a special case can’t be understated.
Outside its focus on your right-to-repair and the inclusion of Qi2 charging, the Skyline is a fairly basic midrange Android phone. With a large 6.55-inch pOLED display, a 144Hz refresh rate, and a resolution of 2400 x 1080, the display is quite good for the price. It does top out at 1,000 nits of peak brightness, which is behind some of the competition, but still enough to see in bright conditions. The large display and boxy overall design does make the Skyline a little tough to hold one-handed.
Performance is also adequate thanks to its Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 processor and 8GB of RAM. You’re not going to be pushing the latest games at high graphical fidelity, but it should provide plenty of pep for daily use. What’s not as good is the camera setup.
Review: The HMD Skyline pushes Android phones in the right direction
Repairability and Qi2 help the Skyline shine
With a 108MP primary lens, a 13MP ultrawide lens, and a 50MP telephoto lens, the Skyline looks to have all that you would need from a camera in this price range. Unfortunately, the cameras deliver an average experience at best. What’s below average is HMD’s promise of two years of software support, which lags behind the competition.
A 5G phone that easily fits in your pocket
The Unihertz Jelly Max is a solid option if you prefer a device that can be handled with one hand or one that will easily fit into your pocket. This is particularly true if you are looking for 5G connectivity and solid performance.
If you hate that phones are trending larger and larger with each passing year, then you’ll love the Unihertz Jelly Max. With a 5.05-inch display and a small 128.7 x 62.7 x 16.3mm footprint, the Jelly Max feels like a phone from yesteryear. The 60Hz LCD panel has a resolution of 1520 x 720, which sounds low, but looks crisp due to the small size.
The keen observer may have noticed that this device is thick, which normally would be considered an issue, but aids in operating the device one-handed due to its small stature. It also allowed Unihertz to cram a 4,000mAh battery into the Jelly Max, allowing it to easily make it through a day of heavy usage. While it may be thick and come with a large battery, at 180g, it’s not heavy.
Performance was also quite good thanks to its MediaTek Dimensity 7300 processor and 12GB of RAM. It had no trouble keeping up with day-to-day activities and was even able to play games like Genshin Impact and Call of Duty Mobile with ease. It also has 256GB of storage, allowing for plenty of space for all of your apps, games, pictures, and videos.
Unihertz equipped the Jelly Max with a 100MP primary lens and an 8MP telephoto lens, which are adequate shooters in good lighting, but quickly become muddy outside of perfect conditions. The Jelly Max has a rear fingerprint reader, which can be difficult to find without a case, and not always the most reliable.
Review: The Unihertz Jelly Max is a capable small phone in a sea of large devices
Max in name, mini in nature
The main issue here is Unihert’s track record when it comes to software updates. The issue is that Unihertz doesn’t update its devices in a timely manner, if at all, and they have promised any sort of Android OS upgrades for the Jelly Max. However, if you prefer a small device over all else, then the 5G-capable Jelly Max is an amazing option.
Unbeatable, if you can stomach the price
You might expect OnePlus’s first hotdog-folding phone to exhibit some growing pains, but we found nothing of the sort. Its performance, physical design, and software utility all stand with the best, making it an instant rival to Samsung’s now long-running Z Fold series. While it’s as pricey as any tablet-style foldable, it’s also the only dual-Sim version offered in the US.
We typically expect first-gen devices to fall short in one or two massive ways, but the OnePlus Open did basically the opposite. Its designers learned so well from competitors' successes and failures that the Open hit the ground running as thebest foldable smartphoneyet released.
The first few foldable generations made big sacrifices, specifically in the battery life and camera departments. Advancements in SoC efficiency helped OnePlus a good bit there, as its Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 draws a lot less power than the previous Qualcomm SoCs used in early foldables. OnePlus has also learned what its multitasking consumers need, implementing a handful of useful software tricks to ensure you get the most out of its 7.8-inch, 1.08:1 inner display.
Otherwise, the Open’s pretty comparable to today’s top non-folding smartphones — in a good way. The battery life, for example, won’t leave you wishing for a single-piece, non-folder, and its 67W fast charging fights off charger anxiety in case you ever do have an especially long day. It also feels every bit as durable (and nearly as slim) as the top-dollar, 7-inch phablets from industry champions like Samsung.
The OnePlus Open is what every foldable should be
OnePlus supplies the competition Samsung needs
No phone’s perfect, and foldables have more chances of going wrong than slabs due to their physical configuration. But the only recurring issues we had with the Open were minor ones and software-based; some delayed notifications, oddly inconsistent HDR photo capture, and a less-than-perfect experience with interface navigation and customization did rear their heads. But none of those were insurmountable as a user, and OnePlus does have the opportunity to streamline those software aspects moving forward. Anyone seeking a foldable with dual-SIM support should be excited over what OnePlus’s Open offers.
Finding a dual-SIM phone that works in the US
Let’s make one thing extremely clear, youcanimport plenty of international-version phones that might work OK in the US while also accepting dual physical SIM cards. We don’t recommend doing that for two reasons. First, some carriers simply don’t whitelist global models for use on their network. If AT&T doesn’t explicitly allow a certain Samsung Galaxy Global Version phone on its network, AT&T users will have just imported a brick.
Second, even if a carrier does relent and allows the device to connect, it might not leverage the same bands commonly used by US carriers for wide-ranging, high-speed 4G and 5G connectivity. It’d be awfully disheartening to spend several hundred on an imported phone, only to regularly run into dead spots near civilization, and 5Mbps download speeds in medium-sized towns.
Why don’t most US phones support dual-SIM?
We already mentioned one recurring theme: the best dual-physical-SIM phones in the US come from manufacturers who normally have no ties to specific carriers. That’s due to the way US networking functions. Its widespread, sparse population and pre-established, massive corporate market shares mean there are mostly only 4 4G/5G networks to choose from: AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and UScellular. Phone manufacturers tied into those carriers typically disable dual-SIM functionality, even if they offer it in other countries, leading to popular US models like the Galaxy S24 series limited to Nano-SIM+eSim if you want dual-connectivity.
Which dual-SIM phone to buy in the US
Demanding consumers who also need dual-SIM support got lucky this time around. The OnePlus 12 isn’t just the best dual-SIM phone in the US, it’s one of the best phones overall. So you definitely won’t regret using one throughout your international exploits. For that matter, less-demanding users will, similarly, have no complaints about the OnePlus 12R — it’s as close to a flagship killer as they get.
Other dual-SIM phones exist, and are fantastic — the Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro and Zenfone 11 Ultra will definitely satisfy anyone looking for peak gaming performance or a regular large device with even more focus on a true flagship experience. You can also get plenty of bang for your buck from Unihertz Jelly Max, as long as you’re willing to make some software longevity compromises.
Finally, dual-SIM users who demand extensive functionality or class-leading durability have two specialized choices. The OnePlus Open wins out over every other tablet-style foldable in most aspects, so there’s no surprise that it’s also the best dual-SIM foldable.
Hardware performance, camera quality, and ever-increasing software integration make the OnePlus 12 one of the best phones of 2024. It also happens to be one of the few with dual physical SIM card support in the US.
