eSims, what is your experience.

[kevrosmith]

I'll be in Portugal for a week, Lyca pt has 50gb + unlimited local calls €4/mth esim. And some EU roaming AFTER activing in pt. Seems too cheap.
Anyone used them, any issues cancelling with no ongoing commitment?

Lyca Boss 50GB – Unlimited Calls & 50GB Data for €4 | Lyca Mobile Portugal

Get 50GB data, unlimited calls & SMS, EU roaming, and free SIM/eSIM for just €4. No contract and easy activation with Lyca Mobile Portugal.

www.lycamobile.pt

I used Lyca Mobile France in France in May 2025 on a deal like this and it worked fine. Setup instructions (sms) came in French & English so it was fairly easy. In France, had to register sim online (provide passport details etc.) so not sure if that was an EU requirement or particular to France Lyca mobile.

 

[Scarlett]

Something I’ve noticed with two eSIMs now: they often work in more places than advertised!
My current JamboSim I’m using was chosen as it offered good coverage in South America, including Bolivia. It didn’t cover Uruguay so I have a second (Orange FR) eSIM which I was going to activate for the second half of the trip.

Well I’m posting this from Uruguay and haven’t swapped eSIM yet, so this JamboSim DOES have access here. I’m currently roaming data from the Tigo network.

I’ve had his occur elsewhere where an eSIM actually does have more access than advertised: I think it was in the Caribbean.

 

[SYD]

Something I’ve noticed with two eSIMs now: they often work in more places than advertised!
My current JamboSim I’m using was chosen as it offered good coverage in South America, including Bolivia. It didn’t cover Uruguay so I have a second (Orange FR) eSIM which I was going to activate for the second half of the trip.

Well I’m posting this from Uruguay and haven’t swapped eSIM yet, so this JamboSim DOES have access here. I’m currently roaming data from the Tigo network.

I’ve had his occur elsewhere where an eSIM actually does have more access than advertised: I think it was in the Caribbean.

Well, you’re doing better than us when we went to Uruguay ~2yrs ago.

I had a Flexiroam SAm plan that included Uruguay when I bought it during a sale but by the time we landed, it had been removed! WTF!

Compounding that, Optus DIDN’T roam AT ALL! Not even receiving SMS…. It was on their PAYG countries, but if you’re on the $5 daily roaming plan, no roaming in Uruguay…….

 

[RB]

There are some bigger cash backs available today on ShopBack

 

[vllxrl16]

How do you find their speeds? I've been experimenting with a few providers from esimdb.com .
Haven't found a single brand with consistently good speeds globally.

I try to buy "local IP" SIMs but even then, their data speeds can be hit or miss.

For me, the real test was a trip around Asia (Japan, Thailand, China and Singapore). I grabbed the esim in the Kaspersky eSIM Store app and was honestly pretty impressed, especially in China. It worked without a VPN, so everything just loaded normally despite the Great Firewall.

Having one eSIM that worked across all four countries was a bloody handy bonus too, especially with all the long-haul travel between them. I only really noticed any lag in more remote spots where the mobile coverage was a bit patchy. Otherwise, 20 GB lasted me a full month, and I just jumped on Wi-Fi whenever it was available.

Also, eSIMs do use local networks, that's kind of the whole idea, isn't it? You don't get a normal phone number, sure, but I barely noticed that. WhatsApp and the other messaging apps handled calls just fine for me.