I like the idea of eSIM, but the reality is different. I think it all depends on the country that issues the SIM card and/or the telecom. For example, right now I'm using a SIM card from a telecom that provides eSIM with their app and has very limited support for phones (it's basically only iPhone and Samsung). Even though the phone supports eSIM, I can't use it due to some artificial limitation. But I can use the old and trusted physical SIM card. So I'd stick with it.
Ask HN: What's Your Experience with eSIMs?
71–76 of 76 posts
Re: Ask HN: What's Your Experience with eSIMs?
#72I bought a temporary esim in Japan that I couldn't get working. Buying a physical sim to replace it was a mentally cheaper option than continuing to troubleshoot it.
Re: Ask HN: What's Your Experience with eSIMs?
#73Personally, I use physical card for my main SIM. However, when I travel I prefer using eSIMs as it is so much easier rather than searching for one when you arrive in a new country. I definitely had some set up problems regarding travel eSIMS in the past. With some very known providers that I tried I always had some troubles like QR codes not working correctly or not getting service even though it showed that everything is good to go.The support would not always be very helpful and that would take me at least a few hours to get everything set up and ready to use. Until I found out about one brand called Saily that actually have an eSIM card that you have to install only once and use for all future travels. That actually was a life saver because now all I have to do is buy a plan in their app and activate it every time I travel. I only had to set up eSIM once and honestly did not have any problems there like with others. Maybe it was the easy setup or clear instructions.
Re: Ask HN: What's Your Experience with eSIMs?
#74I used one on my iphone for a work trip and now my iMessage stuff is all broken after switching back. There's still some rough edges.
That's not specific to eSIMs, that is an iMessage issue. Having done this recently myself (just got home yesterday from a trip to the UK), my recommendation for anyone about to travel with an iPhone is to get a data-only eSIM that works in your destination country, then toggle off roaming on your primary line and make sure WiFi calling is enabled. If the phone asks to add a new number to your iMessage, refuse. Then y…
That sounds terrible! Some people just take these things in stride I guess, but I have no interest in going through these kind of hurdles for something like this...
Re: Ask HN: What's Your Experience with eSIMs?
#75Using Airalo plus a Verizon physical sim in Europe with an iPhone SE 2 worked, and I found the cost fair enough, but it drained my battery like mad, so bad in fact that I found myself turning the eSIM off a lot. I think this is probably just Yet More Shoddy Apple Software, and I will probably use eSIM in future, but it’s something to watch out for.
I can't imagine how SIM vs eSIM would make any difference, I would ascribe battery drain to something else tangentially related, like using a mobile network with weak coverage that has the phone constantly ramping up power to find a decent signal. Anecdotally, I've used three eSIMs in my iPhone 15 (only two are allowed to be active at the same time, though), and my wife has a physical SIM and an eSIM on her older iPh…
I did a fair bit of googling on this as it was my first time using eSIM. Apparently for iPhone the network switching eats the battery, whereas for Android (which has had dual-sim support for ages) it’s not a problem.
Nothing else changed in my usage, and eSIM only worked fine, it was just when the physical sim and the eSIM were both active that the battery drained super fast (like more than double the usual rate).
YMMhaveV of course.
Re: Ask HN: What's Your Experience with eSIMs?
#76[dead]