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How to manage & operate your dual-sim Xiaomi Redmi ?

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Below you’ll find answers to many of the common questions about dual-sim operations on Redmi.

1. What are the mobile networks that are supported by the 2 SIM card slots ?

While both card slots accept SIM cards with data connectivity, only the left slot supports 3G mobile data (WCDMA/GSM) while the right slot is rated for 2G data connectivity (GSM). And, for your information, you need normal sized SIM cards for the 2 slots.

2. What mode does the dual-sim work in ?

The Redmi supports dual-standby, which means both SIM cards are active to receive calls and text messages. But when you’re using SIM 1 and another person is calling on SIM 2, he/she will hear the message “not reachable, try again later”or the call goes straight to the voice mailbox.

One workaround for this problem is to forward calls between these 2 numbers. When SIM 1 is engaged, the calls to SIM2 will be forwarded to SIM1 and notify you that there’s an incoming call.
dual sim faq

3. How do I know the signal strengths of the 2 mobile networks ?

When you insert 2 SIM cards into your Redmi, you’ll see 2 signal bars on the notification panel. The first one is for the first SIM slot, and the second one is for the second SIM slot.
dual sim faq_1

4. How do I disable a SIM card temporarily ?

  1. On your phone, go to Settings > General settings > SIM management.
  2. Tap the SIM card you want to disable.
  3. Slide the Enable switch to the left.
    dual sim faq_2

5. How do I edit the display name of both the SIM cards ?

  1. On your phone, go to Settings > General settings > SIM management.
  2. Tap the SIM card you want to change the display name.
  3. Tap Edit SIM name to change the display name.
    dual sim faq_3

6. How do I select which SIM card to use when making a call ?

On the dial pad, you can choose which SIM card you want to use to make a call.
dual sim faq_4

7. How do I know for which number (or SIM card) when I receive an incoming call ?

On the Incoming call screen, you can see the SIM card number (either 1 or 2). Also, there are labels of 1 or 2 on the call log entries.
dual sim faq_5 dual sim faq_13

8. How to filter to show only one particular SIM card entries in the call logs ?

  1. On the Phone app, go to Menu > Filter.
  2. Tap the SIM calls you want to display.

Note: As soon as you exit the Phone app, the Call log display will be reset to show all calls.
dual sim faq_7

How do I select which mobile network to use when sending/replying a text message ?

At the bottom of the Compose message screen, you’ll get to choose either send this message using SIM 1 or SIM 2.
dual sim faq_8

How do I know for which SIM card when I receive an incoming text message ?

On the message Popup notification, there’s either number 1 or 2 to indicate the SIM card. And on the Messages screen,’re all messages are labeled with either 1 or 2 to show you which SIM that they’re belong to.
dual sim faq_9

How do I choose a specific SIM card to use for mobile data connection ?

  1. On your phone, go to Settings > General settings > SIM management.
  2. Tap Data connection.
  3. Slide the Enable switch to the right.
  4. Tap to select the SIM card you want to use for mobile data connection.

Note: The 2nd SIM card slot only supports 2G connection.
dual sim faq_10

How do I view and edit the 2 SIM card contacts ?

Please refer to this guide.

How do I forward calls from SIM 1 to SIM 2 ?

  1. On the Phone app, go to Settings > Call settings > Call forwarding.
  2. Tap the SIM 1 option.
    dual sim faq_11
  3. Tap Forward when busy, Forward when unanswered and Forward when unreachable options to enter the SIM 2 number.
    dual sim faq_12

Note: The steps here were written for MIUI V5, based on Android 4.2.2 on a Redmi (HM1W). If you’re having a different model of Redmi or other version of MIUI/Android, there’s a possibility that the steps and screenshots will be different.

(Click here for more Xiaomi Redmi tutorials, tips and tricks.)

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Comments

  1. Dear Friend,

    Im looking forward to buy Xiaomi Redmi 1S Dual Sim 2G LTE model..is that true this model doesn’t support WCDMA2100 (3G) network..In Sri Lanka we have WCDMA 2100 network.According to the phone specification found on the Internet its clearly said it supports 2100 network..But local phone shop said its supports only 2G networks in Sri lanka..Im confused because they have 3 redmi models named.. Redmi 1S 2G LTE ( USD $ 96) , Redmi 1S Dual sim 2G ( USD $96) and Redmi 1S ( USD $164)…they said USD $ 96 model doesn’t support 3G in Sri lanka…

    • I don’t know where are you buying the phone from. As far as I know Redmi 1S LTE only supports China TDD-LTE network for now.

  2. Trying to forward the calls between the two Sims… Keep getting the call settings error – unexpected response from network.
    Please help

  3. dear sir,it’s been a week m searching for the sim setting. asa my 1 st sim 3g and seond is 2g .now my first sim data is exhausted. so want to continue surfing on seond sim i.e 2g.when i select the sim from sim management data connection on second sim its allowing but after .i turned my data off and on its automatically going on 1 st sim .every tine i have to select the seond sim. really fraustaing….

  4. Hello,

    How to set one sim as default caller, this way it don’t ask everytime I need to call someone and I can save the heckness of selecting a sim after dialing

    Thanks,
    Geetansh

  5. Hello,

    Somehow, I have enabled the reminder feature for SMS. Everytime I get a sms, and if I don’t check it then, it keeps me notifying (ringtones/vibrations) till the time I check that SMS. Can anyone please tell me how can we stop this?

    Thanks,
    Geetansh

    • i. MIUI V5
      1. Open the Messaging app.
      2. Tap the Menu button > Settings > Sound
      3. If you do not want repeat message alerts select 1x.

      ii. MIUI 6
      1. On the MIUI 6 phone’s Settings, tap Messaging.
      2. Tap Number of rings/notifications.
      3. If you do not want repeat message alerts select 1 times.

  7. Hi, i have a problem in My Redmi 1s ,
    SIM 1 – Aircel
    SIM 2 – Idea,

    When Data connection is on in SIM 1 , then Incoming calls for SIM 2 becomes unreachable.
    i came to know about this when my friend tried of calling me several times but it was responding unreachable , But i had full signal in SIM 2 But my Data connection is on in SIM 1 that time,

    can you please solve this issue?

    Thank you in advance .

    • Sorry Sarath, I can’t solve this issue if it’s related to bugs. Kindly find more info from the official MIUI forum.

    • I don’t think the Briefcase feature (which is found in Windows) is available in Android.

  10. How can use data plan from the gsm line while i keep the cdma line active to make calls. last time i tried, whenever i use data plan in gsm line(slot 2), the cdma line is deactivated and cant receive or male calls

  11. I have a new Redmi Note 3G phone. I got a new idea sim. Whenever I put it in sim1, it shows roaming. But is does not happen when I put the sim in slot2. This sim works in my Samsung Grand’s WCDMA slot. Any solution?

    Thanks in advance for any help.

  12. how to disable reminder notification of calls and message in DO NOT DISTURB MODE.
    some how i activate it for reminding in 5 minutes of interval.
    and now i want to deactivate but i am unable to find where it is.

    please help me

    • Sorry, I don’t quite get what notification are you talking about here. LED notification or something else ?

  14. Always out of stock, it’s happened with me 2 times & how this it’s possible just with in fraction of a 1 second stock is over? & no no i don’t think so it’s possible & can’t believe..

  15. Hi i am using redmi 1s. I have use two gsm sim card instead of wcdma and gsm. Is there any problem in internet speed in sim slot one ?

    • Using GSM SIM will only give you 2G or 2.5G (GPRS or Edge) data network which is slower compare to 3G using WCDMA

  16. Hello

    -My question is related to the Redmi 1S dual sim mobile-

    I plan to buy this phone in the near future. Before I have to know how can I use 2 SIM card (2 numbers) –with tricks- at the same time, not to get missed calls. My second question: Is it possible to use SIM 1 for data network (continuously available on Skype, Viber etc.) and receive calls on SIM 2 at the same time (or to be available)?

    Thanks a lot in advance!

    • 1st scenario – See number 2 for the answer.
      2nd scenario – The call to SIM 1 and 2 will still get through, while you’re using the data connection of SIM 1 to do Internet call such as Skype. If you accept the voice call, the Skype call will put on hold. To resume, you need to disconnect the voice call first.

  17. Hi, I’m using redmi 1s… I realised that my watsapp notification only rings when my home screen is turned on. If it’s turned off (in sleep mode), there’s no notification rings.how can I rectify this?

  18. Hi, i am using redmi note. I have set my contact display preference to show only sim1 contact. After phone restart, it will switch back to show all contacts. Any idea how to set default display preference to sim contact only?

  19. I have redmi 1s, Currently I am using two Sim.

    Sim 2 – is for personal use and
    Sim 1 – is for data plan.

    Now my question to you is that how to block all incoming calls from Sim 1 only which i am using for data plan.

  20. According to your point no-6, the sim selection wll be manual till now we select the sim. But in my phone, when am trying to make call, a timer is getting start from 10sec and go on decreasing. If I didn’t select the sim within 10 seconds, the call is connecting automatically to sim-1. Please guide me how to disable the timer.

    • After you enter a new number, you can select either to call using SIM 1 or SIM 2. If you make a call by tapping a contact/number on the call logs (Recent tab) you will be given 10 sec to select either SIM 1 or SIM 2. When the 10 sec expired, the call will be automatically made using the SIM indicated on the entry in the call logs. Not necessary SIM 1.

      This is as far as I know.

  21. How do I silence an incoming call? Flip to silence work only if the phone is placed on table.. Is there any other trick to silence the incoming call

  22. 1. Can I set a default SIM (2g) for calls and messages so that all calls and messages are compulsorily sent through 2g sim only and the 3g sim only for data?

    2. Can I toggle between 2g/3g network through a one-click in the notification toggles to save on data costs? (for 3g sim of course)

    • 1. I don’t see such an option on Redmi. You still need to choose everytime you make a call or text.
      2. The Data toggle allows you to turn on/off data on both SIM at the same time.

  23. I connected my redmi 1s mobile in India with my laptop. It takes me to an installation program but unfortunately that is in chinese language. May you please help me to install a related supporting software in English language.

  24. I have contacts in samsung galaxy mobile. now please tell me how to transfer contacts from samsung galaxy y duos mobile to redmi 1s mobile. I m located in India.

    • If you registered using your mobile number as your username, kindly include the + sign and country in your phone number as the username. If you still can’t, seek help in the MIUI forum. Hopefully, the Mi Cloud admin can response to you.

    • Redmi doesn’t have this feature at the moment. Hopefully, such an useful feature will be incorporated in the new release.

  27. Hi, Ethan.

    I’m in Indonesia, using Redmi 1S.
    Using 2 simcard, but when I tried to send text from my 2nd card in slot 2, it’s failed.
    Said that the device cannot activate sim card 2.
    “Said couldn’t send activation message. Make sure the sim card is activated.”

    Do you happen to know how to settle the issue?
    Please help.

    Thanks/

    • As far as I understood from the MIUI forum, the “can’t send activation message” is an unresolved bug in Mi Cloud. With this bug, you’ll not be able to sync your messages to Mi Cloud and activate Cloud messaging. It should have nothing to do with your SIM card SMS operation.

  28. Use only Sim 1 in redmi 1s, when someone calls me it says that the phone is switched off. Even when I’m using applications like WhatsApp and the phone is on, when someone calls it says its off.

  29. I am using redmi with 2g data plan of airtel Delhi India. But the speed of data is very low please send me the settings

  31. Hi Ethan,

    I get the message “Unsuccessful” on my Xiaomi Note when I tried to include the phone number on SIM card #2. I have no problem changing the name though. Do you have a solution to that?

  32. Hi I have ordered redmi 1s phone last day. I wanna ask can I use both 2g sim in this phone as I have read about this that there is 2 sim slots 1 for 2g and another for 2g so please let me know about this..

  35. Hi There,

    My primary card is Umobile and secondary is Singtel (Malaysian).

    When im in SG I switched the preferred data to Singtel and set my pri to Roaming. But on the Singtel network strength I only get G. But when I physically switched the slots putting Singtel to primary I get H+.

    I’ve already checked the using 3G/2G

    Any advise?

    • Primary slot support 3G network that’s why you can get HSDPA+, whereas secondary slot only support 2G network.

  36. Hi

    My redmi 1 data connection speed is only max 5-6 k/s when on my sim card data slotted into slot 1. I think its only running at 2g. My slot 2 is empty. But when on wifi, the speed can go up to 250 k/s. Any advice or settings? My sim card is a M1 3g phone + data sim card.

    Btw is the 3 buttons on the front panel of redmi suppose to be lighted?

    • Settings app > General settings > Mobile network settings > Preferred network type. Here, you can set either Prefer 3G networks, 2G networks only or 3G networks only