I was initially excited about eSims. I live in the US and have been traveling to Europe for work and getting eSims for those trips. I now think they suck (or at least are not mature enough). I've had a lot of problems, and that is in Europe.
Cons:
- More expensive
- Many countries through Airalo and similar are data only, but I want/need a phone number to...you know, call people. Especially when several places/agencies have asked me for a phone number. Like when the airline lost my luggage, they wanted a phone number to call me, but the eSim was data only
- I have had my eSim just quit working all together, even though when I got on wifi it said I had data left. When you run out of data on a normal pre-paid sim typically the code to top up will still work, so you can check/add data or credit. On an eSim it just stops working, even if it shows you have bars.
I plan to buy an iphone 14 on my next trip to Europe specifically so I can get one with a physical sim slot. We travel in Southern Africa fairly often and Namibia, one of our favorite places, currently doesn't have eSims. I'm sure they will soon, but it is a headache I don't want to deal with.
|