Device compatibility
Does the Mate 40 Pro support eSIM?
The Mate 40 Pro is what decides whether a travel eSIM installs, not the Huawei name on the box. Storage, radio and market variant all change from one model to the next, so every figure below was checked on this model.
1
Profiles stored
1
Active at the same time
2020
Released
40
Seconds to install, median
What the Mate 40 Pro does with a travel eSIM
The Mate 40 Pro is a phone, so the travel profile is a data line and your existing line stays the voice line. Calls and texts to your usual number keep arriving while Orbislo carries the browsing.
Installing writes the profile. Nothing is spent until it attaches to a network at the destination, so an install three weeks early costs exactly the same as one at the gate. Do it at home, on wifi, while you still have a connection to fix anything.
Storage and active lines
The Mate 40 Pro holds 1 profiles, which is at the low end of everything we have checked. Delete the dead profiles from old trips before you install, or the sheet will simply refuse.
Active is how many lines run at the same time, and on the Mate 40 Pro that is 1. Storage is how many profiles sit on the device waiting, and that is the number that runs out without warning.
Each destination's line installs in one tap from the Orbislo app, and while it is valid every refill lands on that same line. Most of Europe runs on a single line, so a trip through several neighbouring countries takes one slot rather than one per country.
- Home line: calls and texts, so bank codes still arrive on your usual number.
- Orbislo line: mobile data, with roaming switched on.
- Automatic data switching: off, or the phone borrows the expensive line in a tunnel.
5G on the Mate 40 Pro, and where it will not appear
The Mate 40 Pro has a 5G radio and the travel profile uses it. Where a partner network runs 5G, you get 5G, on the same profile and at no extra cost.
88 of our 197 destinations are 4G only on the networks we buy from. On those the icon reads LTE whatever the handset can do, and no setting changes it.
Speed belongs to the network rather than to the profile.
What goes wrong on the Mate 40 Pro, and the fix
Data roaming has to be switched on for this line. Your profile is issued outside the country you are standing in, so the device treats every attachment as roaming. Leave it off and the Mate 40 Pro finds a network and then refuses to use it.
If the profile will not download at all, the order refunds automatically inside 60 seconds, with no ticket. Install again from the same order, because the profile is reissued to your account rather than lost.
On this device the sequence is Settings, Network and internet, SIMs, the Orbislo line, Roaming on. Then set Orbislo as the SIM for mobile data and turn off automatic data switching.
- No service on the Orbislo line: roaming is off on that line.
- Connected but nothing loads: mobile data still points at the home line.
- Works, then stops after an hour: automatic data switching moved you back.
- Still searching: airplane mode on for 20 seconds, off, then restart.
Your SIM tray, and tethering
Your physical SIM stays exactly where it is. Adding an eSIM does not touch the tray, does not wipe the card and does not need it taken out. Remove it and you lose your own number, which is the opposite of the point.
Tethering is included on every Orbislo plan at no extra charge. The Mate 40 Pro can share the travel data with a laptop, a tablet or a watch, and nothing behind the hotspot needs a profile of its own.
What an Orbislo plan does once it is installed
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 customer gets 100 MB of free rescue data once a month on the line in use when the balance runs out. Unlimited runs full speed to 2 GB a day and then 1 Mbps.
One balance pays in all 197 destinations, and most of Europe runs on a single line, so a rail trip through three neighbouring countries is one install and one balance rather than three of each. Refills arrive on the line you already have, with no new plan or expiry date. Where a destination has more than one partner network, the line can move between them without you touching a setting.
How to install a travel eSIM on the Mate 40 Pro
- Open the Orbislo app and tap Install
- Confirm the eSIM download prompt
- Settings, Network and internet, SIMs, select Orbislo
- Turn on Roaming and set Orbislo as the SIM for mobile data
Data roaming sounds like it will cost you money. On the Orbislo line it cannot, because it is how that line reaches partner networks abroad and there is no charge beyond the data you already bought.
The Mate 40 Pro at a glance
| Specification | Mate 40 Pro |
|---|---|
| Takes an eSIM | Yes |
| Profiles stored | 1 |
| Active at the same time | 1 |
| 5G on partner networks | Yes, where the network runs it |
| Physical SIM tray | Yes, and it keeps working |
| Voice on the travel line | Data only |
| Tethering | Included, no extra charge |
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
Does the Mate 40 Pro support eSIM?
How many eSIMs can the Mate 40 Pro hold?
Will I lose my own number?
Do I have to turn roaming on?
Can I install before I fly?
Does tethering work on the Mate 40 Pro?
Pick the destination, then install its line in one tap
Take the metered wallet for maps and messaging, because the balance never expires. Take unlimited if you tether a laptop or stream, and read the 2 GB a day figure before you do.
The Mate 40 Pro by market
- Single SIM version: Huawei lists a single SIM version of the Mate 40 Pro with one nano-SIM and one eSIM, plus room for a Huawei NM memory card. A travel eSIM can run next to the physical SIM on this version.
- Dual SIM version: The dual SIM Mate 40 Pro can run two nano-SIM cards or one nano-SIM and one eSIM. Huawei states that either the SIM card or the eSIM can be set as the primary or secondary line.
Networks on the Mate 40 Pro
- The Mate 40 Pro supports 5G bands n1, n3, n5, n7, n8, n28, n38, n40, n41, n77, n78, n79, n80 and n84 on its primary line. The secondary line connects to 4G at most.
- Because either line can be primary on the Mate 40 Pro, a travel eSIM set as the primary line gets 5G, while the home SIM stays on 4G as the secondary line.
- The Mate 40 Pro lists LTE bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 17, 18, 19, 20, 26, 28 and 32, plus TDD bands 34, 38, 39, 40, 41 and 42.
- Huawei published a list of carriers whose eSIM works on the Mate 40 Pro, covering Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Italy, the Nordics, Thailand, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Hong Kong and Mexico, among others.
Worth knowing about the Mate 40 Pro
- To check whether a Mate 40 Pro has eSIM, open Settings, About phone, and look for Show EID. Huawei states that if no EID appears, the phone does not support eSIM.
- The Mate 40 Pro can store several eSIM profiles but uses only one eSIM at a time. On a single SIM unit, the eSIM sits in the SIM 2 position by default in SIM management.
- A travel eSIM is added on the Mate 40 Pro under Settings, Mobile network, SIM management, by scanning the QR code, choosing a saved QR image from the Gallery, or typing in the activation code.
- On a dual SIM Mate 40 Pro with a card in SIM 2, adding an eSIM asks you to disable that card. A factory reset with Reset but keep eSIMs selected leaves installed eSIMs usable.
- Huawei's specifications list EMUI 11, based on Android 10, as the operating system the Mate 40 Pro launched with.
What the Mate 40 Pro holds
- eSIM profiles it can store
- 1
- Active at the same time
- 1
- Released
- 2020
- Form factor
- Phone
- Network generation
- 5G capable where the network carries it
- Physical SIM tray
- Has a tray as well as eSIM
How the Mate 40 Pro compares with other Huawei models
- P40
- P40, 2020, stores 1, 1 active