How to buy eSIM online

A SIM card is, in fact, a key generator, something like your passport in a mobile operator’s network. At some point, a technology appeared that allows you not to insert a physical SIM card into a phone or tablet but simply download a file with these same keys. The chip is called eSIM, and if you have one, you can buy any digital SIM cards online around the world and use them. This is often much more convenient and cheaper than looking for where to buy a SIM card, standing in line with documents, or overpaying for a card. Well, it’s essential during a pandemic because you can never contact new people again.

Why is it more convenient:

• You turn on the phone right on the plane at the landing, and you already have Internet from an operator in this country. You can write to your relatives that everything is in order. You can spend time reading guidebooks in line at the border with interest.
• No need to look for a place to buy a card.
• An ordinary card in several countries costs, conditionally, 5-10 euros per card, and then the money is put on it. So, no “5-10 euros per card” with an embedded sim.
• No need to get and change anything: the SIM card is selected from the menu, and the subscriptions can be changed, like gloves. If you need to top up your balance, usually either with a card, Apple Pay, or a Google Wallet (Apple Pay and Google Wallet do not work with some cards).

Where are the eSIM chips?

In modern cellular devices and tablets, they are being installed more and more often. But for some time, a SIM card had to be bought only with a passport, so it was unclear what was happening with the legal part. In general, devices with electronic SIM are rare, but soon there will be more of them. Already now, there are chips:

• on iPhone Xs, Xs Max, Xr, 11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro Max, and later, Google Pixel 3, Pixel 3 XL, Pixel 4, and later. There is a regular SIM card and an eSIM;
• iPad Pro 11-inch (1st generation and up), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation and up), iPad Air (3rd and 4th generation), iPad (7th generation and up) newer), iPad mini (5th and 6th generation), Microsoft Surface Pro 5 and 6;
• in Apple Watch Series 3, Series 4, and later, Samsung Galaxy Gear S3, Watch, Huawei Watch 2, 3.

How to buy an electronic SIM card?

Just go to the site, select the supplier of interest by country or region, and buy from him on the site. Example:

1. Check if the device supports eSim.
2. Go to esimway.com – this is an aggregator of all eSIM mobile network operators. Choose a country.
3. Choose a data plane.
4. Purchase a package (you can pay by card or Apple/Google wallet). Sim appears.

If this is an application, just click “install,” and the application installs it. In general, eSIM is a pair of keys with which you can log in to the operator’s website, and from there, you can already get a certificate for the cellular network using these keys. Therefore, you need to activate the SIM card even when there is Internet or on the airport’s Wi-Fi on the spot.

If the application cannot put the SIM card on its own, you must use a QR code.

You just need to scan it; the phone will do everything by itself. All. After a few seconds, your SIM card appears in the eSIM list (on iOS, it’s called “Rates”), and you can select it.

Underwater rocks

Don’t forget to enable data roaming for eSIM to work. And remember to turn it off when you get back so there are no surprises later.

It’s hard to scan the QR code on the phone with the phone. Therefore, you need to either buy a SIM card from a computer or you will have to enter numbers manually. On iOS, this input window closes when you switch the screen, so you need a pen to write down the entire sequence somewhere and then enter.

As you can see, unlike a regular SIM card, to use an eSIM, it is enough to download the profile to the device, and this can be done online. eSIM works simultaneously with a regular SIM card: calls and SMS are received on a phone number, both SIM cards, and you can also choose the SIM card that will access the Internet.