One of my biggest pet peeves when travelling is SIM cards. It’s one of those things that I sometimes wish I didn’t have to think about when travelling. However, it’s a travel essential that I cannot afford to ignore as I work on the go, and staying connected anytime and anywhere with quality connection is non-negotiable.
God bless the tech gods for creating eSIMs. I discovered Airhub, the best eSIM provider for the most flexible plan. In this post, I’ve outlined the key details about eSIMs, its benefits, why Airhub could be your choice of eSIM provider, the cost involved, device compatibility, the available data bundles, and my own experience using it.
What is an eSim?
The first thing that comes to mind when you read ‘e’ is ‘electronic’. Well, that’s not what it means. The ‘e’ is short for ‘embedded SIM’ because that’s literally what it is. It’s essentially a chip that’s embedded in your phone.
A physical SIM contains information that is hard-coded into them. eSIMs on the other hand, can easily be reprogrammed with different information, essentially enabling you to use it to connect to multiple phone plans from around the globe, all without inserting any physical SIM into your phone.
So when you purchase an eSIM, you are buying a temporary contract with a mobile service provider and then immediately reprogramming this chip to connect to it, as if it were a physical SIM.
The Benefits of Travelling with an eSIM
In all my years of travel, switching SIMs, and removing and inserting the SIM into the phone is such an inconvenience, which is why eSIMs are a godsend. Of course, if your local network provider offers free roaming, then there is no need for an eSIM.
- eSIM is more secure than a physical SIM as it can’t be removed from your phone if it is lost or stolen. My recommendation is even if you are not travelling and if your phone is eSIM compatible, switch your SIM card to an eSIM instead. Make sure to check with your local network provider if you can switch to an eSIM.
- Instantly be connected when you land. Airhub allows you to purchase your eSIM well in advance before your travel date. Installation and activation, however, must be done at the destination on the day you travel.
- Saves time. It took me less than two minutes to install and activate my eSIM when I arrived in Bangkok. The activation was done while I was queueing up at the immigration line however this was all possible with airport WIFI. Additionally, you won’t be wasting time searching for a local SIM card vendor.
- Unlimited data without throttling. While this may be true with some eSIM plans in Airhub offering unlimited data, there are some plans on Airhub offering 1GB daily high-speed data with throttling kicking in at 128kbps. These differences are significantly dependent on the countries you travel to.
- WIFI tethering for work on the go. This is one feature that I appreciate the most. When exploring a place, you no longer need to look for a cafe or a co-working space to get a reliable internet connection. With an international eSIM, you can just as easily get connected wherever you please to get on a call or to start your work for the day.
Why Choose Airhub?
After scouring the internet for the best eSIM plan, I decided to go with Airhub as it fits my budget, destination, validity period, and data size. Airhub is an online store where you can purchase eSIMs from over 190 countries worldwide. One of the main reasons I prefer Airhub is its wide variety of eSIM plans that include local call minutes, SMS and international call minutes.
Most eSIM providers typically offer 3 to 5 plans per country, but Airhub offers up to 15 plans for a single country, hence allowing the flexibility to choose a plan that suits my travel needs and circumstances. Additionally, Airhub has established excellent partnerships with local telcos to design the most cost-effective deals.
How Much Does Airhub Cost?
For this post, I made a note of all the deals and offers from Airhub. Most plans come with 4G LTE coverage except countries like Thailand, which offers 5G 15GB High-Speed Data, and a QR code will be provided immediately which can be activated when you arrive at the destination country.
Note that all prices are in USD.
Local eSIMs | Offered to over 190 countries | The Thailand eSIM specifically were $5.75 for 15GB for 5 days including voice minutes; $6.25 for 15GB data for 8 days including voice minutes; $10 for 15GB without voice minutes for 30 days.
Regional eSIMSs | Offers are for Africa, Global, Asia-Pacific, North America, Europe, Middle-East, and South-Latin America. $11 for 3GB data for 30 days in Europe; $75 for unlimited data for 90 days. Check out more deals for other regions here.
Monthly eSIM plans | Offered only for countries like the USA, Switzerland, the UK, Canada and Europe.
After looking at all the plans, I opted for a local eSIM for my recent trip to Bangkok. I bought the 15GB data plan for 8 days which included the voice minutes and yes, I was able to use the eSIM for tethering to my laptop for work.
Speaking of WIFI hotspots and tethering, be sure to look out for plans that DON’T include this feature. If the price seems affordable or low, there is a high chance that the WIFI hotspot feature is not part of the plan.
For trips in the past, I’ve always relied on Hello1010 for the most affordable SIM card plans. However, after discovering eSIMs it only made sense to see if Hello1010 offers an eSIM plan. The good news is they do. However, they only offer a 10-day plan; 10GB and is much more expensive than Airhub. The physical SIM on the other hand is cheaper than Airhub’s eSIM plans, but it did not offer 15GB data and voice minutes for a 7 or 8-day travel. It also meant that I’d have to order the SIM card in advance, wait to receive it and make the physical switch, which I was trying to avoid altogether.
As for the Airhub regional plans, several reviewers mentioned that coverage in Latin America is not strong. Therefore, I recommend researching and checking customer reviews of other eSIM providers and comparing the plans properly.
Lastly, there are other eSIM providers I believe are equally as good and will potentially fit your travel needs for various reasons more than Airhub. Here are the top 5 best global eSIM providers for international travel you might want to consider.
Ps: Airalo and Holafly are two eSIM providers that offer a regional plan for Latin America and local plans for countries in Latin America.
Airalo – Best eSIM provider for international travel overall
Nomad – Best eSIM provider for shorter trips
Holafly – Best eSIM provider for unlimited data
GlobaleSim – Best eSIM provider for calls + text
BNESim – eSIM with the best network coverage
Is My Phone or Tablet Compatible with Airhub eSIM?
The majority of phones or devices that are manufactured after 2018 are eSIM compatible with a few exceptions depending on location and carrier. This is why even though your devices are eSIM compatible, check if the eSIM plans offered can be used for your device from the list below.
Here is the list of eSIM-compatible phones and devices:
Apple Devices
- iPhone 15, 15 Plus, 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max (not Dual SIM*)
- iPhone 14, Plus, Pro and Pro Max (not Dual SIM*)
- iPhone 13, 13 Pro (not Dual SIM), 13 Pro Max, 13 mini
- iPhone 12, 12 Pro (not Dual SIM), 12 Pro Max, 12 mini
- iPhone 11, 11 Pro (not Dual SIM), 11 Pro Max
- iPhone SE (2020) and SE (2022)
- iPhone XS, XS Max (not Dual SIM)
- iPhone XR (not Dual SIM)
- iPad Air (2014, 2019, 2020, 2022)
- iPad Pro 11 (2018 and 2020)
- iPad Pro 12.9 (2015 and 2017)
- iPad Pro 10.5 (2017)
- iPad Pro 9.7 (2016)
- iPad 10.2 (2019, 2020, 2021)
- iPad 9.7 (2016, 2017, 2018)
- iPad mini 4 (2015)
- iPad mini 3
- iPad mini (2019 and 2021)
Android Devices
Samsung:
- Galaxy A54
- Galaxy S23, S23+, S23 Ultra
- Galaxy S22 5G, S22+ 5G, S22 Ultra 5G
- Galaxy S21 5G, S21+ 5G, S21 Ultra 5G
- Galaxy S20, S20 5G, S20+, S20+ 5G, S20 Ultra, S20 Ultra 5G
- Galaxy Note20, Note20 5G, Note20 Ultra 5G
- Galaxy Fold
- Galaxy Z Fold4
- Galaxy Z Fold3 5G
- Galaxy Z Fold2 5G
- Galaxy Z Flip4
- Galaxy Z Flip3 5G
- Galaxy Z Flip and Z Flip 5G
Google:
- Pixel 7, 7 Pro
- Pixel 6, 6a, 6 Pro
- Pixel 5, 5a 5G
- Pixel 4, 4a, 4 XL, 4a 5G
- Pixel 3, 3a, 3 XL, 3a XL
Others:
- Huawei P40 and P40 Pro* (not the P40 Pro +)
- Huawei Mate40 Pro
- Sony Xperia 10 III Lite
- Sony Xperia 10 IV
- Sony Xperia 5 IV
- Sony Xperia 1 IV
- Motorola Razr 2019 and 5G
- Motorola Edge (2023), Edge (2022)
- Motorola Edge 40, 40 Pro
- Motorola Moto G (2023)
- Nokia XR21, X30, G60
- OnePlus 11
- Nuu Mobile X5
- Oppo Find X3, X5, X3 Pro, X5, X5 Pro
- Oppo Find N2 Flip
- Oppo Reno A
- Microsoft Surface Duo and Duo 2
- Honor Magic 4 Pro, Magic5 Pro
- Xiaomi 13, 13 Lite, 13 Pro
- Xiaomi 12T Pro
- HAMMER Explorer PRO
- HAMMER Blade 3, Blade 5G
- myPhone NOW eSIM
- Rakuten Big, Big S
- Rakuten Mini
- Rakuten Hand
- SHARP Aquos Sense4 Lite
- SHARP Aquos R7
- Gemini PDA 4G+Wi-Fi
- Fairphone 4
- DOOGEE V30
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