Esims are EVERYWHERE at the moment, (so much so, that I've even written a separate guide on the best eSims for travel!) and choosing an eSiim for your next trip can feel like an overwhelming experience.
I’ve tried and tested a few eSims over the past two years, and in this review, I’m going to tell you why Eskimo is a great choice of eSim for your next international holiday.
First things first,
In it’s most basic form, a eSim is literally a sim card, without the physical sim card. I.e. it’s all digital.
Why is that great?
Because I have 100% lost my original sim card when trying to switch it out for a local sim card when travelling!
You won’t need to worry about this anymore and getting an eSim is truly one of my favourite travel tips.
You can even have multiple eSim cards!
Rather than inserting a sim into your sim card tray on a phone, you simply activate an eSim via scanning a QR code, or sometimes entering a number manually into your phone. (Depends on the phone and the eSIm provider!)
1. You can’t lose it (this is personally great for me, being the clumsy human I am)
2. They’re better for the environment: anything to help the environment is always a plus, and of course these eSims are digital, so less waste.
3. Esims are prepaid: this means you pay for the amount of data you want for your trip, whether that’s 5GB or unlimited, and you don’t need to link your bank details or start a direct debit, SO you have no chance of unwanted fees or overspending.
4. They save time: when you arrive at a new location, typically you physically have to go somewhere to buy a new sim card for the local country, and you’ll maybe want to shop around to get the best deal, and a lot of the time there is a whole sign up process with a passport and time wasted.
This isn’t necessary with an eSim. You go on an app or website, pick the country you want, pick the GBs, buy and scan!
The only real big con I can think of is the fact that you won’t be able to make calls off the eSim as you don’t have a new number.
However, because you are able to keep your own sim in your phone, you can easily toggle to your main sim if you want to make a phone call or see if any text messages have come through.
It’s VERY easy to switch between sims on a phone.
This is called a "dual sim", so basically you use your eSim for data and for calls and texts, simply switch over to your normal sim.
For example on my phone, I simply scroll down on my homepage screen, click on data, and it gives me the option to choose my own sim (SIM 1) or an eSim.
Oh, and they only work with more modern phones. Here is the list below…
You should make note that iPhone XR, XS and 11 models that are purchased in Macau, Mainland China and Hong Kong are NOT compatible with eSims and an iPhone with a dual physical sim card slot.
You should make note that the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 4G/5G and US versions of S20/S21, Galaxy Z Flip 5G, Note 20 Ultra and Galaxy Z Fold 2 are not compatible with eSims.
You should make noe that currently the Hauwei P40 Pro+ and P50 Pro are not compatible with an eSim.
Make note that the Oppo Find X5 Lite is not compatible with an eSim.
Make note that Google Pixel 3 devices from Taiwan, Japan, Australia (including those purchased from Canadian or US carriers other than Google Fi and Spring) are NOT compiable with an eSim.
As I mentioned before, there are a LOT of eSims on the market nowadays, but Eskimo does have some pretty cool features that makes it stand out for me.
Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brunei, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, China, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guernsey, Hawaii, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jersey, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lithuania, Macau, Malaysia, Mexico, Montenegro, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
This is super useful to me, as someone who does travel a lot. I tested this eSim in Italy, which I’ll tell you more about a little further down.
One of the really unique features of Eskimo that I love is the ability to transfer your data to anyone. This means if you’re travelling with a friend and they run out of data, you can transfer it to them, or if a family member is on a trip, and you’re at home, and they run out, you can transfer your data to them from home too!
I’ve used eSims in the past where I have to use my data within 30, 60 or 90 days.
I actually haven’t used a eSim that allowed me longer, until this one.
This is SUPER convenient.
For example, if you bought an Europe eSim, and visited for a couple of weeks one summer, but didn’t use all your data, you could use the rest of that data the next year, or next time you visit.
This is useful for me since I’m only a short flight or ferry ride away from mainland europe.
Following on from the 2 year expiration date, the fact that you can buy a global data eSim that works in 80 countries, means you’re going to be covered if you’re doing multiple trips in a year, or if you’re on a backpacking adventure. You’ll never need to worry about switching eSims or searching for physical sims. That’s truly a gamechanger and something I WISH i had back in my early backpacking days (unfortunately eSims weren’t around then!)
There is honestly nothing worse than being limited with data and data speeds when your travelling. Especially if you are working and travelling.
Thankfully an Eskimo sim will NOT throttle your speeds or limit your data to only a few GB per day.
Nowadays, it’s harder to get an eSim company that allows you to hot spot. A lot of them have introduced unlimited data, but stopped allowing hotspotting completely.
This happened with my last eSim provider, and I had to stop using them, because i NEED to be able to hotspot my laptop.
Thankfully with an Eskimo eSim, you can!
It's really easy to install an Eskimo eSim, but you'll need an internet connection and another phone, to display the QR code, so you can scan from your own phone.
Just scan the given QR code using your device to install your eSIM (one time only).
When using an eSIM, select your device settings as follows;
1. Primary SIM data plan (if any): DISABLE Mobile Data Roaming
2. Eskimo eSIM data-only plan: ENABLE Mobile Data Roaming
It can sometimes take a few minutes when you are connectiong to a new local destiatnion, and sometimes you will need to restart your phone once you've set up a new eSim.
If you're phone allows multiple eSims like mine, then you can tag them for what they're for, so if my Eskimo esim was for Europe, I could tag it as "Europe eSim" for my own reference.
I recently tested my Eskimo eSim in Italy, and it was brilliant.
I was there for a 11 day road trip and used my 5GB allowance for finding restaurants, google maps, finding things to do, researching random facts and information at each place, and I still have data left.
On my trip I had no issues with connectivity or speed and I was in some pretty remote areas of the Tuscan countryside too.
And since this is a global data eSim, on my return, I was able to use it in the UK, and on my next trip to Iceland, I'll be able to use the rest of the data there too!
Below is what the screen looked like when it came to downloading/setting up my eSim, as you can see there is a QR code, or a manual option.
I used the QR section, remember you can only scan your QR code once, so make sure your internet connection is stable before you do this to avoid any mishaps.
When you enter the app, you’ll find a data balance screen too, where you can easily monitor how much data you have used from your eSim, I love this feature, and because a lot of my other eSims were via websites, and not dedicated apps, they didn’t have this cool feature.
Want to try an Eskimo eSim for free? Then get 1GB free with you click this link!
If you’re a long-term traveller, or take multiple trips a year, then this is the eSim for you.
With borderless coverage and a 2 year expiry date, you’ll never have to stress about being connected on holiday again!
Don’t forget you can try 1GB for free via this link.
If you’ve tried the Eskimo eSim, comment below with your experience!
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