eSIMs have gained a lot of popularity as an affordable alternative to pricey roaming from Canadian carriers. But it turns out the benefits of eSIM are not limited to smartphones that ship with an eSIM — there are adapters that let you enjoy eSIMs on Android phones that don’t have one built in.
The ‘e’ in eSIM stands for embedded because eSIMs are built into devices, unlike regular SIM cards that need to be physically inserted. Because eSIMs are built into devices, there’s a standard for downloading eSIM profiles and provisioning them onto the embedded SIM in a phone to enable a connection with a wireless provider. But there isn’t actually a requirement that eSIMs be embedded.
Android Authority has a very detailed breakdown of how this works, but the main takeaway is that there are eSIM adapters available that work like any physical SIM card would — you plop them in your phone’s SIM card tray and then you have access to whatever plan you’ve loaded onto the adapter.
The tricky part is loading a plan onto one of these adapters. To do this, you’ll need either a compatible phone or a computer and a USB reader to connect the eSIM adapter. Android Authority focused on the JMG adapter and the corresponding smartphone app, which is a bit pricier than other options but is also open-source.
JMG’s SIM Manager app allows users to check if their Android phone is compatible and, if it is, they can use the app to add or manage eSIM profiles on the adapter. Anyone without a compatible phone can pick up a USB reader to apply the profile with their computer.
The JMG website notes that it does ship the adapter to Canada. It costs $54.99 plus $10 shipping, plus $13.50 for the USB reader if it’s needed.
While pricey, the eSIM adapter could save you a lot in roaming fees by allowing you to pick up cheap eSIM plans when travelling rather than using your carrier’s roaming package. For example, most Canadian carriers charge around $12-$14 per day for U.S. roaming and $15-$16 per day for international roaming. Those daily fees can quickly add up to hundreds of dollars in roaming charges while an eSIM plan for the same destination could be much cheaper.
Of course, doing all the steps to purchase and setup an eSIM adapter for a smartphone without a built-in eSIM might not be the best option for everyone, but it’s neat to know it is an option. You can learn more about how it all works in Android Authority’s breakdown, or check out JMG here for more details.
Source: Android Authority
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