Samsung eSIM compatibility

Where the eSIM screen lives on Samsung

Two screens do all the work. The first one adds the profile. On Samsung it is Settings, Connections, SIM manager, Add eSIM.

The second one shows the device identifier, which is the only proof that a handset really takes an eSIM. On Samsung it is Settings, About phone, Status, where the EID sits under the IMEI. No EID means no eSIM, whatever a compatibility list says.

Storage, active lines, and the difference people miss

Two numbers get mixed up constantly. Storage is how many profiles the device keeps. Active is how many of them run at the same time. Storage is the one that fails, because it fills up without you noticing and then refuses an install at an airport.

The Samsung models below hold between 5 and 5 stored profiles. Orbislo refills the line you already have while it is valid, and most of Europe runs on a single line, so a trip through several neighbouring countries takes one slot.

15 of the 15 Samsung models below keep 2 profiles active at the same time. That is what lets you hold your own number for calls and texts while Orbislo carries the data.

• Home SIM: 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.

Carrier locks and market variants

A carrier lock is the one thing that stops an eSIM ready Samsung from taking a travel profile. The hardware is there, and the operator that sold the handset has switched the feature off.

Ask that operator to unlock it, which is usually free once the contract is paid, then restart and try again. If the eSIM screen is missing from Settings altogether, the unit shipped without the feature and unlocking will not bring it back.

We recorded a market or carrier caveat on 1 of the 15 models below: Galaxy S21. Each one is written out on its own model page rather than hidden in a footnote.

The install that fails on Samsung, and the fix

Data roaming has to be switched on for this line. An Orbislo profile is issued outside the country you are standing in, so the phone treats every attachment as roaming. Leave it off and the phone 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 Samsung the sequence is the SIM screen, the Orbislo line, Roaming on. Then set Orbislo as the SIM for mobile data and turn off automatic data switching. A few older Android builds also want the access point name typed in, and it is printed in your order.

• No service on the Orbislo line: roaming is off on that line.
• Connected but nothing loads: mobile data still points at your 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.

Watches, tablets and the rest of the Samsung line

Tethering is included on every Orbislo plan at no extra charge, so one profile on the phone can carry a laptop, a tablet and a watch behind it. We have not tested a single Samsung watch, so this page does not claim one works.

Every Samsung device below is a handset. If you travel with a tablet as well, buy the plan for the phone and share it over the hotspot rather than buying a second profile.

What the plan does, whichever Samsung you carry

The device decides whether the profile installs. It does not decide what the plan does. Data never expires, tethering is included, and every customer gets 100 MB of free rescue data once a month, loaded onto the line you are using when the balance runs out.

Coverage is 197 destinations across 264 partner networks. 88 of those destinations are 4G only on the networks we buy from, so a 5G handset shows LTE there. That is the network, not your phone.

How far the coverage reaches

Coverage runs to 197 destinations on one balance, and every one of them has a country page listing the networks we hold there and the typical speed on them. Check that list before you book, because a country that is not on it is one we do not sell yet, and the coverage check runs before payment rather than after landing.

Samsung eSIM questions