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An in-depth review of the Holafly eSIM – the perfect solution to easily get online when you travel!
Having fast, reliable internet access is very important to me when I travel – especially as a solo female traveller. It’s not only handy for things like maps, translation, and booking stuff, but also for safety reasons like location sharing or calling Ubers.
These days, I almost always purchase an eSIM before any trip. It’s the easiest way to get online without facing high roaming charges from your carrier – or having to deal with the hassle of buying a new SIM at your destination.
Holafly offers eSIMs for over 219 destinations, including 7 Regional Plans (for multiple destinations within a continent) and a Global Plan (which covers 113 destinations). Better still, most of their eSIMs come with unlimited data – which is surprisingly uncommon! After some thorough testing and comparison, here’s my review…
DISCOUNT CODE: Get 5% off any Holafly eSIM when you use my promo code: EMILYLUXTON
Disclaimer: This review was written in collaboration with Holafly, but I thoroughly tested the eSIM and their app myself, and this is my honest opinion.
What is an eSIM and How Does it Work?
An eSIM (“embedded SIM”) is essentially a digital SIM card which can be installed directly onto your phone, either alongside or instead of a physical SIM card.
They’re particularly useful for travellers because you can purchase a data plan for the country/countries you’re visiting and install it on your phone. There’s no need to go into a shop to purchase a physical SIM card – and therefore no need to swap between SIM cards if you need to use your old number (for example, if you need to receive an sms text to sign into your bank account).
Pros and Cons of Using eSIM
PROS
- Cheaper than using your own data abroad.
- Easy to install and use.
- Can be used alongside your existing SIM (so you’ll still get texts on your normal number, handy for things like bank alerts).
- Order online and set up yourself – no need to visit a shop when you arrive at your destination.
CONS
- Can be more expensive than buying a local SIM card.
- You won’t get a local phone number.
- You can’t make calls or texts from most eSIMs.
- Not all phones are eSIM compatible (so make sure you check first).
How I Tested the Holafly eSIM
I’ve been using eSIMs for years and absolutely swear by them – I’ve used them all over the world and have tried 4 or 5 different brands. So I definitely know what I’m looking for in terms of prices, ease of use, and app experience!
To test out Holafly, I purchased a 3-day United Kingdom eSIM with unlimited data and tested it out during my recent trip to London. Obviously, I live in the UK so I already have my own phone plan here – which meant I was also able to compare the internet speed and signal coverage against my usual UK network.
Holafly eSIM Review
Purchase & Setup Experience
Holafly’s website is super easy-to-use and user-friendly – even if you’re an eSIM newbie! You can browse by destination (either for a specific country or for a region, or simply use the search bar to type in the country you’re looking for.
It’s all laid out nicely and all the info you need to know is very obvious, so finding the right eSIM for your trip is easy. And, as you’d expect, purchasing the eSIM is incredibly straightforward, too. Simply select the number of days you want, add it to the basket, and checkout.
One thing I particularly like is that almost all of the eSIM plans Holafly sell come with unlimited data. Other eSIM companies I’ve used in the past tend to sell packages, leaving you to figure out if 3GB of data will be enough for your 7-day trip. With Holafly, you just choose the number of days you need and the number of people you need it for – which is a much more straightforward way of doing things!
Now, setting up an eSIM can be a little complicated – but that’s the case across all of them, not just Holafly. Thankfully, they send you detailed step-by-step instructions which are pretty straightforward to follow. I’ve installed eSIMS a bunch of times, but still have to use the instructions every time!
Top Tip: The easiest way to install an eSIM is using the QR code, so I recommend printing it out or loading it on another device so you can scan it with the phone you want to install the eSIM on.
Using the eSIM: Real World Performance
This is the most important part – how well does a Holafly eSIM work?
I trialled mine for a few days in London and was very happy. I had excellent service – in fact, the coverage was better than I normally get in London with my UK provider! It was handy trialling their UK eSIM because I live here, so I know exactly what I’m comparing the service to.
I won’t bore you with the technical stuff (because frankly, I don’t understand it!) but as an “everyday” user, I can confirm the eSIM worked great for the 3 days I was in London. Google Maps, WhatsApp, and internet searches all worked fine, my Instagram stories uploaded quickly (including videos), and I was able to stream Netflix with no issues.
Right now, I can’t say how the Holafly eSIMs work in other destinations, but I’ll definitely be buying one for my upcoming trip to India, so I’ll update this post once I’ve trialled the eSIM abroad. However, I can’t see any reason why it wouldn’t work just as well in any other destination.
Is it Actually Unlimited Data?
All of Holafly’s eSIM cards include unlimited data, so all you need to do is choose how many days you want. Other eSIM providers sometimes sell data packages, and it can be tough to figure out if 5GB will be enough for your trip.
Like most eSIM companies, Holafly isn’t a mobile provider. Instead, they partner with local providers – so on their UK SIM, for example, you’ll be connected to one of three major UK networks (Virgin Media O2, Vodafone, or Three).
One thing to note is that some carriers may reserve the right to apply a Fair Usage policy. Basically, this means that if you burn through a ton of data, they might start serving you slower speeds – even though it’s unlimited. It’s a bit vague about which carriers will do this and what the Fair Usage limit would be – but I think you’d have to be downloading a LOT of large files in order to reach it. For most normal users this simply wouldn’t be an issue.
Are Holafly’s Prices Good?
Using any eSIM is likely to work out cheaper than facing your own carrier’s roaming charges – which are often £5 or more per day.
Overall, I think Holafly’s pricing is pretty good – but of course, it depends on where you’re going and how many days you’ll need data for. I’ve used a number of different eSIM providers over the years and Holafly appears to be one of the best-priced for unlimited data – especially for use within Europe.
DISCOUNT CODE: Use code EMILYLUXTON to get 5% off.
It’s hard to do an exact comparison, because most eSIM providers sell packages of data while Holafly sell unlimited data by number of days. I’ve pulled a few random examples into the table below, comparing Holafly’s prices with a 20GB data package from two of their main competitors.
| Holafly | Competitor 1 | Competitor 2 | |
| USA | £24 7 days unlimited | £35.50 20GB | £29 20 GB |
| Spain | £30 10 days unlimited | £30 10 days unlimited | £27.50 20GB |
| Japan | £30 10 days unlimited | £22 20GB | £28 20GB |
| Europe | £30 10 days unlimited | £41.50 20GB | £27.50 20GB |
| Asia | £33 10 days unlimited | £41.50 20GB | £39.50 20GB |
On the whole, if you know you’re going to use a fair amount of data and want unlimited flexibility, it’s likely to be more affordable to purchase one of Holafly’s unlimited data eSIMs.
If you know you won’t need much more than 1 or 2 GB of data, it may work out cheaper to buy a small data package elsewhere. Shop around and weigh up all the options to see what’s going to work best for you.
Quick Summary and Final Thoughts
I think Holafly is an ideal choice for an affordable and hassle-free way to get online when you travel. I’m a huge fan of eSIMs in general and this one has a lot of pros, including:
- Unlimited data plans – for total flexibility and freedom. No need to worry about running out of data!
- Fast, reliable data – in the UK, the coverage was better than my own domestic network.
- Easy-to-use website and a clear pricing structure.
- As easy to install and set up as any other eSIM (with clear instructions to help).
CLICK HERE to search all destinations on Holafly and see how much an eSIM would cost for your next trip.
DISCOUNT CODE: Don’t forget to use my promo code EMILYLUXTON to get 5% off any purchase.
I hope you found this review of the Holafly eSIM helpful. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below!
