Does the Mate 40 Pro support eSIM?

What to use on the Mate 40 Pro instead

Buy a physical SIM at the destination airport, or carry a pocket hotspot. We would rather write that down than sell you a plan that cannot install on the device in your hand.

A software update will not change this. An eSIM is a chip soldered into the device rather than an app, and no version of any operating system puts one into a handset that shipped without it.

If you travel with a second device that does take an eSIM, put the Orbislo profile on that one and tether the Mate 40 Pro to it. Tethering is included on every plan at no extra charge, so one profile can carry a phone, a laptop and a tablet.

• A local prepaid SIM bought at the destination, which needs your tray free.
• A pocket hotspot with its own eSIM, shared over wifi.
• A second phone or tablet carrying the Orbislo profile, with the Mate 40 Pro tethered to it.

How to be certain in 10 seconds

Do not take our word for it. Open the keypad and dial star hash zero six hash. The device shows its identifiers. If an EID appears alongside the IMEI, there is eSIM hardware in that unit. If only an IMEI appears, there is not.

The same number lives in Settings, About phone, Status, under the IMEI. A missing eSIM screen in Settings is the second confirmation. Units sold under one model name can differ by market, so check the handset in your hand rather than the name on the box.

What the Huawei range does support

1 of the 2 Huawei models we have checked do take an eSIM. Every one of them is listed on the Huawei page in the breadcrumb above, with the install steps and the storage figure for each.

If you are replacing this device anyway, that list is the quickest way to see which Huawei handsets we have tested rather than assumed from a spec sheet. It also records the market variants, which is where most of the surprises live.

What to look for in the device that replaces it

Check the handset itself before you pay, not the model name. Dial star hash zero six hash in the shop and look for the EID, because two units with the same name on the box can differ by the market they were sold in.

Buy it unlocked if you can. An operator can switch eSIM off on a handset that supports it, and no app switches it back on. Ask how many profiles it stores as well, because that is the number that runs out.

Ask the shop to switch the handset on before you pay. A device that shows an eSIM entry in the SIM settings and an EID on the identifier screen will take an Orbislo profile. One that shows neither never will, whatever the listing on the shelf says.

• An EID on the identifier screen, not just an IMEI.
• An eSIM entry in the SIM settings, present and not greyed out.
• No carrier lock, or a written promise to remove one.

What an Orbislo plan does, and where we lose

Data never expires. A gigabyte you do not use in Lisbon is still there in Bangkok next year, metered plans have no throttle, and every account carries 100 MB of free rescue data a month in 200 countries. Unlimited runs full speed to 2 GB a day and then 1 Mbps.

We lose on raw destination count. Airalo's global plan reaches 169 destinations and ours reaches 145. In 5 of ours we have exactly one upstream network, so if that operator has a bad day there is nothing to fail over to.

The Mate 40 Pro at a glance

Stored is how many profiles the device keeps. Active is how many run at the same time. Checked on this model rather than assumed from the brand.

Mate 40 Pro eSIM questions