Installing an eSIM: the one step everybody skips

Installing an eSIM takes two minutes and nearly always works first time. Everything that can go wrong comes down to three things, and all three are settled before you leave the house.

First: can your phone do it at all

eSIM is supported by the iPhone XS, XR and everything newer, and by most Android phones from 2020 onwards — Samsung Galaxy S20 and later, Google Pixel 3 and later, recent Xiaomi and Motorola models.

A quick check without hunting through specifications:

• iPhone: Settings → General → About. If you see "eSIM available" or a second IMEI, you have it.
• Android: Settings → Network & internet → SIMs. If there is an option to add an eSIM, or "Download a SIM instead", you have it.

The other thing worth checking is that the phone is not carrier-locked. Handsets bought on contract sometimes are, and an eSIM will not install on a locked one. Unlocking is something your operator does, not us.

Second, and most important: install while you still have internet

An eSIM is not typed in by hand — it is downloaded from a server. Which means installing one requires internet.

Standing in arrivals trying to install a data plan without any data is a poor place to learn this.

Do it at home, on WiFi, the day before. It takes two minutes, and then at the airport you only flip one switch.

What installing looks like

You will be given a QR code. There are two ways in:

1. Scan the code from another screen. Open it on a computer and scan with the phone: Settings → Mobile Data → Add eSIM → Use QR Code.
2. No second screen. If the code is on the phone itself, save the image and choose "Use image" (iPhone), or enter the details manually.

The phone will ask what to call the new line. Give it a name you will recognise — "Travel" beats "Secondary", because you will be choosing it in a hurry.

Third: what to leave switched off

This is the step people skip, and it is the one that decides the bill.

1. After installing, leave the new line off until you arrive. A plan starts counting from its first connection to a network, not from payment. A line that connects while you are still at home spends days you bought for the trip.
2. On arrival, turn the travel line on and switch data roaming on for that line only.
3. Keep your own number on for calls and messages, but with its data roaming off. You stay reachable, bank codes arrive, and your home line cannot spend a single megabyte.

On iPhone: Settings → Mobile Data → pick the line → Data Roaming. On Android the same, inside each SIM's own settings.

If it does not work

• "This code has already been used." A QR code installs once. If you installed and then deleted the line, you need a new one — get in touch.
• "Unable to add eSIM." Usually a carrier-locked phone, or no internet connection.
• Installed but no signal. Check the line is switched on and that data roaming is enabled for it. This is the commonest cause by a distance.
• Works, but slow on the first day. Phones sometimes take a while to settle on a network. Toggle aeroplane mode off and on.

Deleting and reusing

Do not delete the line while the plan is still running — deletion is final and the code cannot be used again. If you do not need it, simply switch it off.

Once the trip is over and the plan has expired, delete it freely; it consumes nothing and charges nothing.

Short answers

Do I lose my own number? No. The eSIM is a second line; your own card stays in the phone and works.

Can I install it on two phones? No. One code, one device.

Can I install it early? Yes, and you should. Just leave the line switched off.

Do I need internet after installing? No. Installing needs internet; using it provides internet.

Does it work on a tablet or watch? If they support eSIM, yes — but the code is spent on the first device.