eSIM guide

What an eSIM is, and whether your phone takes one

No plastic, no shop, no counter to queue at. An eSIM is a chip already soldered into your phone — buying a plan just writes a new profile onto it. Here is the whole thing, including the ten-second test for whether yours supports it.

What an eSIM is

The plastic SIM in your phone is a tiny computer with your operator's details written on it. An eSIM is the same computer, except it is soldered to the mainboard at the factory and the details are written to it over the air. The "e" is for embedded — not for electronic, and not for anything you have to download.

That single change removes the parts of buying a foreign SIM that are annoying: there is nothing to post, nothing to lose in a hostel, no paperclip, and no tray to open with wet hands outside Ponferrada. The plan you buy here is a profile — a small file the QR code installs onto the chip your phone already has.

How it works, step by step

Four things happen, and three of them happen before you leave home.

Buy the plan for your route

Not for a country — for the route. A Francés starting in Saint-Jean crosses France before it reaches Spain, and a plan that covers only one of them goes dark at the border. The finder does that arithmetic for you.

The QR code arrives by email

Within minutes of the payment clearing. It also lives on your order page, so you can pull it up again from a phone on the trail without digging through your inbox.

Scan it at home, on your own wifi

Settings → Mobile data → Add eSIM on an iPhone; Network & internet → SIMs → Add on most Androids. Installing needs an internet connection, which is exactly what you will not reliably have at 6am in an unfamiliar airport. Then leave the line switched off.

Switch it on when you land

Enable the line, and set mobile data to use it. This first connection is the moment the plan starts counting — not the purchase, not the install. A 30-day plan bought in March and switched on in May still gives you 30 walking days.

Which phones take one

Ignore lists, including ours, and ask the phone. Open the dialler and type *#06#. Nothing is dialled — a panel of identifiers appears straight away. If one of them is labelled EID, the phone has an eSIM. If the only number there is the IMEI, it does not, and no setting will change that.

The shortcut version

Apple

iPhone XR, XS and XS Max (2018) and every iPhone since. iPhone SE from the 2nd generation (2020).

iPhones bought in mainland China have no eSIM at all. Recent US models are the opposite — eSIM only, with no tray for a plastic SIM.

Google Pixel

Pixel 3 and newer.

Some carrier-sold Pixel 3 units shipped without it. Pixel 4 onwards is dependable.

Samsung Galaxy

Galaxy S20 and newer, Note 20, the Z Fold and Z Flip series, and the recent A-series (A54 and up).

Regional variants differ more than on any other brand — several US, Korean and Chinese models of otherwise-supported phones ship without eSIM.

Motorola

Razr from 2019, Edge and G-series flagships from roughly 2021.

Others

Sony Xperia 10 III and 1 IV upwards, Oppo Find X3 Pro and later, Nothing Phone (1) and (2), Honor Magic series, Fairphone 4 and 5, Huawei P40 and Mate 40.

Huawei handsets take an eSIM but have no Google services, which changes what maps and messaging apps you can install before you go.

What still catches people out

A carrier lock beats a spec sheet

A phone bought on a contract can be locked to the operator that sold it, and a locked phone refuses a foreign profile no matter what its EID says. Ask your operator to unlock it — it is usually free once the contract is paid off, and it takes a few days, so it is not a thing to discover at the airport.

Budget phones usually skip it

Below roughly €250 an eSIM modem is still the first thing cut. If the *#06# screen shows an IMEI and nothing else, there is no software fix — the hardware is not there.

Some phones hold only one eSIM profile at a time

Many can store several and run one; a few older models overwrite. If you already carry an eSIM for your home line, check before installing a second one.

A profile installs once, to one device

It cannot be moved to another phone afterwards, and a QR code cannot be scanned twice. Two walkers need two plans — or one phone acting as a hotspot for the other.

You keep your own number

The plans here are data-only, and that is a feature rather than a limitation. Your usual SIM stays in the phone and stays active, so calls, texts and the verification codes your bank insists on still arrive on the number everyone has for you.

The eSIM carries the internet instead. One switch decides which line pays for data — turn mobile data off on your home line and on for the eSIM, and you will not see a cent of roaming.

When it goes wrong

Nine times out of ten the eSIM line is on but mobile data is still pointed at your home SIM. Check which line is selected for mobile data, and make sure data roaming is enabled for the eSIM line — the profile is a foreign one, so the phone treats it as roaming even though you are paying nothing for it.

Screens reflect. Print it, or open the email on a second device, or use the manual entry option — the same order email carries the activation code as text (it starts LPA:1$) for exactly this reason.

An activation code installs once. If it has already been used on another phone it cannot be reused, and if it has not, contact us with the order number rather than retrying — repeated failed attempts do not help.

That is geography, not the eSIM. Between villages on the Meseta, on the high stages of the Primitivo and along parts of the Norte you will be on one bar or none on any network. Download tomorrow's stage tonight and it stops mattering.

Nothing is charged automatically and no overage appears later — prepaid means prepaid. Buy another plan and install it the same way; you can hold more than one profile on most phones.

More of these on the FAQ, and the coverage question route by route on the route pages.

Plans for your route

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Pick your Camino first

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