Use your cell phone in Mexico with an eSIM

Mexico is one of the most beautiful countries in the world and if you are about to visit it, good luck because you won’t be bored for a single second. You will find a lot of activities to enjoy your trip as well as great monuments and beautiful landscapes to delight you.

So right now you might be thinking, if there are so many amazing places in Mexico how can I stay connected to share this experience with my family and friends? Here we will show you one of the best alternatives there is today to connect to the internet during your travels, easy to acquire and affordable: The eSIM for Mexico.

Does eSIM work in Mexico?

Surely you already know what an eSIM is, but if you are not familiar with this technology, it is basically a nano-SIM that comes embedded in your mobile device and performs the same functions as the traditional physical SIM. So beyond whether or not this technology works in Mexico, what you should check is whether or not your phone is compatible with eSIMs.

Since it fulfills the same function as a SIM card, eSIMs do work in Mexico, but not all devices work in Mexico and are not compatible with eSIMs. That is why it is so important to check if your phone does.

Will my phone work in Mexico?

How can you verify this? The first thing is to check if the bands on your phone match the ones that work in Mexico. Here is a small table that you can use to check this.

Table 1: Network frequencies in Mexico. Source: kimovil

The second thing to do is to check if your phone is compatible with eSIM, so below is a shortlist of compatible phones.

Why use an eSIM Mexico?

If eSIMs serve the same function as SIM cards, why use an eSIM? Mainly because of its ease of acquisition, since if your cell phone is compatible with this technology you can acquire one in a matter of minutes, without having to wait in line at a physical point, or wait days for it at home.

This is because eSIMs are virtual cards that are installed directly in the nano-SIM as we mentioned before. So the company with which you buy an eSIM for Mexico should only send you a QR code with which to activate it on your mobile. Something that takes only a couple of minutes. This also means that you can buy it from anywhere in the world, so it doesn’t matter if you are still in your home country or you are already in Mexico.

Which mobile phones support eSIM

As we mentioned before, here is a brief list of the devices that are compatible with eSIM, however, we recommend you to always check with your provider if your cell phone is compatible. Since some carriers have eSIM compatible eSIMs on different devices.

Apple iPhone SE, XR, XS, XS Max, 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max, 12, 13, 13 Mini, 13 Pro, and 13 Pro Max. Samsung, Samsung Galaxy S20, S20+, S21, S21 Ultra, Note 20, Note 20 Ultra 5G, Fold, Z Fold 5G, and Z Flip. Huawei, and its Huawei P40 and P40 Pro. Google with Google Pixel 3, 3a, 3a XL (even though some versions are not eSIM compatible), 4, 4a, 4 XL, 5, Gemini PDA, Motorola Razr 2019, and Razr 5G.

Buy an eSIM Mexico online

eSIMs are virtual cards, so one of the easiest and most common ways to purchase an eSIM is through the internet or in other words online. This is because there are many companies that offer international eSIM services for travel today, such as Holafly and its eSIM for Mexico.

A great advantage about this online store is that Holafly offers you 24/7 customer support in different languages, such as Spanish, English, French, and German.

Where can I buy an eSIM in Mexico?

If you are already in Mexico and want to buy an eSIM, you already know that you can do it directly in an online store regardless of the fact that you are already in the country. But if for some reason you want to do it with a local company, we will talk about this in-depth below.

Carriers eSIM Mexico

In Mexico there are already several operators that offer eSIM service for their customers, however, it is important to highlight that most of them only offer the service for Mexican residents. So it is very likely that as a foreigner traveling for tourism or business it is not possible for you to acquire one of these.

Among the operators currently offering eSIM service in Mexico are Telcel, Movistar, and AT&T.

Although it is very likely that you will not be able to purchase an eSIM card directly from a local operator, it is important that you keep in mind the main operators in Mexico so that when you purchase an eSIM card for travel you can check if the provider with which you are going to purchase it has good coverage in the country. This way you will avoid connection problems during your trip.

Why eSIM is better than SIM Card

We have already given several reasons why it is a good idea to buy an eSIM for travel instead of a traditional SIM card, however, here are a few more.

Apart from the fact that you can purchase an eSIM from anywhere and at any time, you also have the advantage that you will not be carrying anything physical besides your cell phone. So you will not have any inconvenience if the card is damaged or if you lose it.

You will also be able to verify instantly, as soon as the eSIM is activated, if everything is working correctly, so you will not have to wait a few days for its activation.

You can also have two cards at the same time so you won’t lose your contacts or phone number during your trip. But we’ll talk more about this below.

Can I have an eSIM and a physical SIM at the same time?

Yes, you can have without any problem a physical SIM card and an eSIM at the same time on your cell phone. So as we mentioned in the previous section, you will keep your contacts and original phone number during your trip.

This is because if your mobile is eSIM capable, activating one will automatically turn it into a dual SIM device. But for this reason, we also recommend that if you do not want to pay high roaming rates on your trip and you purchase an eSIM, check very well that you do not have roaming activated, because if you receive a call from abroad or your cell phone is dialed unintentionally, you could get a surprise bill.