eSims, what is your experience.

[Buzzard]

Depends on the eSim provider.
Some use a single one and you can just add credit.
Others issue a new eSim every purchase and you need to download it then activate it.
Most phones can hold 10+ in memory just with generally only 1 active at a time, though dual eSim phones with no physical SIM are beginning to roll out.

Which providers use a single eSim?
This would be handy in the future making life more eSimple ()

 

[SYD]

Which providers use a single eSim?
This would be handy in the future making life more eSimple ()

Lots! Some I have at the moment include:

Eskimo - currently my “Go To”. Also long duration plans.

Flexiroam - but they have become hideously expensive.

Kolet and Saily.

 

[Comoman]

To get that thin!

Yep - great phone IMO

Which providers use a single eSim?
This would be handy in the future making life more eSimple ()

Roamless

 

[SYD]

Anyway, I’m pondering trying the GigSky to see what it’s like. Mainly just for monitoring emails etc. Unfortunately, a 7d / 1GB plan isn’t long enough and 15d / 3GB is probably too much data….

Bit the bullet and bought a 15d/3GB plan to test. Not cheap - even after discount - landed on my 28° MC at A$81 . But that’s still cheaper than ship wifi…

PS I have a 25% off referral code if anyone needs it.

Looks like my amaysim home mobile won’t “roam” on CaS but I will experiment to see if I can at least receive an SMS…

Meanwhile, “Tahiti looks nice” - unless you want eSIM data! Many providers don’t cover French Polynesia at all! Including Flexiroam. GigSky CaS doesn’t cover it either!

Best I’ve found so far is Kolet. After some discounts, US$11 for 1GB / 30d…

 

[ShelleyB]

Meanwhile, “Tahiti looks nice” - unless you want eSIM data! Many providers don’t cover French Polynesia at all! Including Flexiroam. GigSky CaS doesn’t cover it either!

Best I’ve found so far is Kolet. After some discounts, US$11 for 1GB / 30d…

I usually use Ubigi when roaming. It's a single eSim you can reload, similar to others mentioned above. Have used it in various countries in Europe, in Tanzania and in Japan without drama. The local provider for the eSim usually has good coverage with 5G where available (can be determined in advance, before committing to buy). Have not used it there, but note that that they do cover French Polynesia with a range of options from 1Gb US$12 for 7 days up to 25Gb for US$99 for 30 days. Can also be covered as part of some of their regional options eg. Oceania.

Have nothing but good things to say about Ubigi. Once the eSim is active, easy to add new data packages as required. If you run out of data, most locations can top up without wifi or any remaining data. For well-travelled locations (eg. Japan) can often get large or even unlimited data at competitive prices.

 

[SYD]

I usually use Ubigi when roaming. It's a single eSim you can reload, similar to others mentioned above. Have used it in various countries in Europe, in Tanzania and in Japan without drama. The local provider for the eSim usually has good coverage with 5G where available (can be determined in advance, before committing to buy). Have not used it there, but note that that they do cover French Polynesia with a range of options from 1Gb US$12 for 7 days up to 25Gb for US$99 for 30 days. Can also be covered as part of some of their regional options eg. Oceania.

Have nothing but good things to say about Ubigi. Once the eSim is active, easy to add new data packages as required. If you run out of data, most locations can top up without wifi or any remaining data. For well-travelled locations (eg. Japan) can often get large or even unlimited data at competitive prices.

Yes, I have Ubigi. I was going to say that it was the 2nd cheapest I found - so far.

I find the app a bit clunky but the update looks a little better but otherwise, it’s worked well when I’ve used it.

 

[Flashback]

Senegal, do yourself a favour and only purchase an eSIM with a provider that roams onto Orange. Data point = 4 people. We each used 4 different providers, Mrs FB and I had providers that roamed onto Yas/ Tigo/ Free. Since I reported it didn't work, interestingly the SIM is gone from their site (nextsim.eu) and thus from the esimdb.com results. Mrs FB tried Monty eSIM, who don't seem to specify which networks they roam onto, however we suspect it was the same as the eSIM installed had the same configuration.

Our 2 friends used Airalo and Holafly, both which roamed onto Orange/Sonatel and had no issues at all (it sat on Orange the whole time).

I didn't bother getting the Orange one in place once we worked that out, as I only wanted mine active as a backup for internet in case the connection at the hotel wasn't great as I was trying to do my interview via Teams, however, fortunately the connection at the hotel was solid and the interview went without a hitch.

TL;DR - use an eSIM that roams onto Orange if you're visiting Senegal.

 

[SYD]

Bit the bullet and bought a 15d/3GB plan to test. Not cheap - even after discount - landed on my 28° MC at A$81 . But that’s still cheaper than ship wifi…

Closing the loop on GigSky Cellular at Sea (CaS) option eSIM.

TL;DR:
Not cheap, can be clunky to use but a good option to provide some connectivity when not paying for overpriced ships wifi and you’re spending several days at sea away from land based mobile reception.

So getting a Cruise+Shore bundle (for compatible ships) is something to consider if you’re not forking out for wifi. On our recent cruise, it wasn’t possible to pre-purchase wifi and onboard it was US$25 pd (not happening on a 12 night cruise).

We already had plenty of eSIM data to cover time ashore and when within range of shore based mobile, so just needed a little data to keep on top of emails etc.

The challenge with CaS is there’s a lot of moving parts involved - mainly the ships infrastructure. Literally at the top will be satellite connectivity into the CaS network. That is a totally different satellite connection for wifi. Then throughout the ship, there are mobile phone repeaters (think mini cell towers) that your phone connects / roams to when moving about the ship. In our experience, the CaS system didn’t work properly in our cabin. It connected, but couldn’t get data. But most common areas seem to work ok.

The real hassle was needing some manual intervention to the still get it to work. The phone might show it was connected at 4G/LTE but no data. I figured out that forcing the data to 3G worked…. Whether that’s ship specific configuration issue or a common problem - I don’t know… Anyway, it served its purpose.

Seperate to GigSky, I did discover that I could receive SMS for free on my home amaysim line over CaS, so that was very handy to know.

 

[SYD]

I’m new to eSIMs and thinking the “local SIM + international eSIM” setup could be super handy when travelling to USA/EU.

A “local” eSIM for data is redundant if you have one or more eSIMs (most providers provide a mix of country, regional or global - with increasing cost).

Has anyone tried it yet? I’m curious about real-world pros/cons — especially:

Did the eSIM give you instant data upon arrival (no hunting for a SIM card shop)?

Generally yes. Sometimes there can be a few minutes wait on the plane for a line to connect for the first time.

Were you able to keep your main SIM active (for 2FA, SMS or calls) while using the eSIM for data?

Yes. Most phones support 2x lines active simultaneously these days.

Did voice/sms work on the eSIM plan, or only data?

Most are data only but there are some bundles that provide limited calls/txt.

Any issues with signal strength, battery drain, or needing a back-up when roaming or travelling outside major cities?

Running two lines constantly can drain you phone battery faster. Turning to “Low power” mode or only turning on lines as required helps.

 

[LionKing]

Can I ask which Samsung phone supports eSIMs?
I am on Samsung S23FE and cannot support eSIMs. I wanted to have a new phone this year and I hope the new phone can support eSIMs.

 

[moa999]

A quick google says the S23FE should support eSims and was the first FE series to do so, alongside S series from S20.

 

[LionKing]

A quick google says the S23FE should support eSims and was the first FE series to do so, alongside S series from S20.

Maybe because I was purchasing from a country which does not support it?

 

[moa999]

Maybe because I was purchasing from a country which does not support it?

Possibly. Where did you buy it? Seemingly China models don't support eSims.

 

[serfty]

Two years ago I purchased a refurbed S20 on ebay - it was 'from S. Korea' - I found out that it does not support eSim. (S20 from Oz do)

 

[RooFlyer]

I am on a cruise using an eSIM for Indonesia, with my Primary turned off. Twice we have entered Australian waters from Indonesia overnight and both times I woke to see a message 'turned off your xx_X eSim and turned on your Primary'. And sure enough, the Primary was on (still in Aircraft mode though).

I've never had that happen before, but its always been arriving on an aircraft and in those cases I have quickly manually swapped on landing. I wonder if I left it the SIMs would change themselves automatically too?

 

[SYD]

I am on a cruise using an eSIM for Indonesia, with my Primary turned off. Twice we have entered Australian waters from Indonesia overnight and both times I woke to see a message 'turned off your xx_X eSim and turned on your Primary'. And sure enough, the Primary was on (still in Aircraft mode though).

I've never had that happen before, but its always been arriving on an aircraft and in those cases I have quickly manually swapped on landing. I wonder if I left it the SIMs would change themselves automatically too?

What sort of phone?

Don’t recall seeing that sort of behaviour on my iPhone. Not aware if iOS has some override feature for a line labelled “Primary”? My man line for Oz s labelled “amaysim” (on an eSIM) and I can have multiple valid eSIMs (and one physical SIM) loaded at any one time.

The cruise I was just on, I had amaysim on most of the time so I could receive SMS (could send txt or make/receive calls, use data on that line). At GigSky or Eskimo on standby as required. Don’t recall any switching.

 

[RooFlyer]

What sort of phone?

iPhone. Def turned off my Kolet eSIM and my Telstra Primary on - it was sometime during the night when we entered some Australian geographical zone (off Torres Strait). A bit cheeky, I thought.

The message MAY have said 'As you are home, your Primary SIM has been switched on ... etc.

 

[RealtimeY]

Since recently there's been a new prompt on iPhone that asks you whether your new eSIM is a travel SIM and, if you choose that, it will automatically turn it on "when you arrive". I have no idea how to bring up this option though and I don't have any new ones to add at the moment. Could that be why?

 

[SYD]

iPhone. Def turned off my Kolet eSIM and my Telstra Primary on - it was sometime during the night when we entered some Australian geographical zone (off Torres Strait). A bit cheeky, I thought.

The message MAY have said 'As you are home, your Primary SIM has been switched on ... etc.

As above, can't say I've ever seen that BUT!.....

Since recently there's been a new prompt on iPhone that asks you whether your new eSIM is a travel SIM and, if you choose that, it will automatically turn it on "when you arrive". I have no idea how to bring up this option though and I don't have any new ones to add at the moment. Could that be why?

Yes, its a new feature of iOS 26!

Use eSIM while travelling internationally with your iPhone – Apple Support (AU)

Find out about the options and benefits for using eSIM while travelling abroad.

support.apple.com

Returning home from travelling internationally​

​

With iOS 26, if you are using a travel eSIM, your iPhone will automatically turn off your travel eSIM and turn your home SIM back on when you return, depending on your country or region.​