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We asked, you told us: You definitely haven't switched to eSIMs yet

It turns out that most of you still prefer a physical SIM card to eSIM tech.
By
October 24, 2022
Setting up eSIM on a galaxy s22 ultra
Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority

One technology that’s gained more attention in the last few weeks is eSIM connectivity. This comes after Apple announced that its US iPhone 14 models would ditch the physical SIM slot completely in favor of eSIM support only.

The tech isn’t new for Android devices, but we wondered how many Android Authority readers have actually switched to eSIMs to date. So we posed this question to you last week, and here’s how you answered it.

Have you switched to eSIMs yet?

Results

Just over 1,800 votes were tallied to date, and it turns out that the vast majority of polled Android Authority readers haven’t made the switch yet. More specifically, 76.72% of respondents said they haven’t switched to eSIM yet.

We can understand this low adoption rate, as we’re guessing many people are simply more comfortable with old fashioned SIM cards at this point. A couple of readers also noted in the comments that they prefer the flexibility of a physical SIM. It’s also worth noting that eSIM support is largely restricted to high-end phones.

Nevertheless, 23.28% of polled readers say they have indeed made the switch to eSIMs. So there definitely seems to be interest in this tech. We do wonder whether some Android brands will blindly follow Apple and ditch a physical SIM slot in favor of eSIM only. If that does happen, we could see more people saying they’ve made the switch.

Comments

  • splus: Imagine if you had to just insert a SIM card instead? Oh, how complicated that would be…
  • Paul: I did when I upgraded my 3a to a 6 Pro last year. The initial setup was a bit frustrating but this year upgrading to the 7 Pro, I only had to run though the setup steps to move the eSIM and it was done quickly & I moved onto the rest of the phone setup
  • JahnJB: I’ve been on an eSIM for about a year now, it wasn’t by choice. It was the only way the store employees at T-Mobile could get my p6 pro to work. I forgot about it until Apple acted like it was something new. I don’t care if I have to use a SIM card or eSIM as long as my phone works.
  • Walter Kowalski: Yes pixel 6 pro was easy to setup last year
  • Tristan Schmitt: Because my phone from 2020 doesn’t have esim. If it would I of course would switch
  • Kira: Nope.Nor is that service readily available in my country.
  • bazaroworld: Yes, since Pixel 3xl. But all eSims are not the same. Some only work in one country, some can work in multiple countries, some can’t be activated outside of one country if you have trouble like changing phones or a reset, and some are only for data, and the best ones work internationally and automatically switch to the best local cell towers
  • deltatux: No, as carriers in Canada still treats eSIM as a premium feature. Only the mid-tier and upper tier mobile brands have eSIM support. No discount carriers support eSIMs at the moment and not all regional carriers support it at the moment. Plus, being able to swap physical SIMs is still essential for international travel for the foreseeable future.
  • Shizuma: Nope, and want to stick with a sim card as long as I can, as far as the consumer goes sim cards are far more consumer friendly so you can quickly and easily switch devices, which I know I have done so many times.