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Swapping SIM cards used to be easy, and then came eSIM

arstechnica.com

161–170 of 292 posts

Re: Swapping SIM cards used to be easy, and then came eSIM

#161

> We gave up the headphone jack. We gave up the microSD card. Some people might have given it up. I personally own a Sony Xperia phone, and intend to buy another Xperia next year, which will almost certainly still have both. In fact Sony is the one manufacturer that returned to a headphone jack after having removed it for a while. It might be more expensive than the competition, but this is my voting with my wallet.

Same here, no SSD or SIM support, no money from me.

Re: Swapping SIM cards used to be easy, and then came eSIM

#162
post #144

For what it's worth, this is entirely a carrier problem and has little to do with the technology. Various people and the article have outlined some bad experiences but to give a contrasting example: Digital Republic, a local MVNO here in Switzerland, allows you to replace your eSIM by simply logging into their web portal with TOTP-based 2FA and clicking a button. No SMS, no contact with support, no reidentification.…

The flaw with the technology is that it is designed so you need the co-operation of your carrier, when previously you did not. Indeed, for the first versions moving a sim profile could not even be initiated independently by a user, but required them to contact support. Now there is the "device change" protocol which can be triggered by an app on the phone, but I think it still requires the co-operation of carrier servers.

Re: Swapping SIM cards used to be easy, and then came eSIM

#163
post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "what's wrong with a usb-c to 3.5mm adapter" I want to charge and listen to music at the same time.

You can get adapters that support charging. An example is linked below. Note: I have not tried this. It is simply offered as an example to show they are available. https://www.amazon.com/Headphone-Charger-Charging-Earphones-...

>Note: I have not tried this.

Nice. They don't work on Pixels if they don't have a DAC, because Google in its infinite wisdom decided not to include one on the Pixel series.

And cables like these violate the USB spec.

Again: what was the harm in including a 3.5mm jack?

Re: Swapping SIM cards used to be easy, and then came eSIM

#164

Main as traditional sim, esim for travel.

I agree that seems to be the ideal balance. Retain the flexibility of being ablen to easily swap your home SIM, but also retain access to eSIMs as a option when travelling. I still use physical SIMs when travelling as it's still easy to get a physical SIM in many countries. Dubai I got offered a free SIM at immigration(!) and in Singapore there were cheap SIMs for sale post-Security. But I imagine that there will be other countries where eSIM may be a better option.

Re: Swapping SIM cards used to be easy, and then came eSIM

#165

> We gave up the headphone jack. We gave up the microSD card. Some people might have given it up. I personally own a Sony Xperia phone, and intend to buy another Xperia next year, which will almost certainly still have both. In fact Sony is the one manufacturer that returned to a headphone jack after having removed it for a while. It might be more expensive than the competition, but this is my voting with my wallet.

But why? What's wrong with Bluetooth?

I've never had good luck with bluetooth for listening to music. Too many dropouts and disconnects.

Re: Swapping SIM cards used to be easy, and then came eSIM

#166

> We gave up the headphone jack. We gave up the microSD card. Some people might have given it up. I personally own a Sony Xperia phone, and intend to buy another Xperia next year, which will almost certainly still have both. In fact Sony is the one manufacturer that returned to a headphone jack after having removed it for a while. It might be more expensive than the competition, but this is my voting with my wallet.

>It might be more expensive than the competition By a _substantial_ margin, because the best bang-for-your-buck strategy with smartphones for a long time has been to buy used or refurbished popular flagships for the last one or two years. As much as I like what Xperias are doing with a headphone jack and an SD card slot, the used market for them is almost non-existent. Even if you somehow manage to get a good deal, i…

> the used market for them is almost non-existent

Perhaps, but phones have become appliances. All my friends and family have held on to their smartphones for at least 5 years now.

Re: Swapping SIM cards used to be easy, and then came eSIM

#167

The problem with SIMs is that they aren't just credentials and config. They are full applications. Imagine if you needed to run a custom program to connect to every wifi network. It is bonkers. It is absurdly complex and insecure. A "SIM" should just be a keypair. The subscriber use it to access the network.

eSIM are the same, they offer all capabilities, while taking customer freedom away.

The apps are still on the VM.

Re: Swapping SIM cards used to be easy, and then came eSIM

#168

I am quite annoyed by the people who don't see the issue with eSim because "they never had an issue" with it. It's like having one murder down your block and stating that you don't see the issue because nobody attempted to murder you so far. ESim are backed up as part of iCloud backups, had one dodgy carrier in Europe (Lyca) who never activated my eSim so I switched back to a new carrier but I had to get a transfer a…

> It's like having one murder down your block and stating that you don't see the issue because nobody attempted to murder you so far

Yeah over exaggerations are probably not helping the cause. I’ll stick with eSim

Re: Swapping SIM cards used to be easy, and then came eSIM

#169

> We gave up the headphone jack. We gave up the microSD card. Some people might have given it up. I personally own a Sony Xperia phone, and intend to buy another Xperia next year, which will almost certainly still have both. In fact Sony is the one manufacturer that returned to a headphone jack after having removed it for a while. It might be more expensive than the competition, but this is my voting with my wallet.

what is it that keeps you loyal to xperia?

Nothing. But I want the SD card, dual sim plus eSIM, a headphone jack, a rectangular screen with a decent aspect ratio ideal for wide-format films and scrolling. I will fully concede that Sony's software quality has taken a hit in recent years; they used to be much better in 2016 or so.

Re: Swapping SIM cards used to be easy, and then came eSIM

#170
post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>It might be more expensive than the competition By a _substantial_ margin, because the best bang-for-your-buck strategy with smartphones for a long time has been to buy used or refurbished popular flagships for the last one or two years. As much as I like what Xperias are doing with a headphone jack and an SD card slot, the used market for them is almost non-existent. Even if you somehow manage to get a good deal, i…

Those magnetic wallets seem like a terrible idea.

There are some mostly reliable ones out there on the pricier end, but the catch is that they are almost exclusive to flagships. For the extra-cautious, some even have "Find My Device" compatibility baked in.
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