eSIMs, or embedded SIMs, have existed for quite some time now. They’re pretty much the only way to connect your LTE-enabled smartwatch with a mobile network. But these days, most Android phones and all new iPhones also come with an embedded SIM card, next to the regular slot(s) for normal SIM cards. Android 12, and the yet-to-go-stable Android 13, are adding more features to make eSIMs even more convenient and more standardized, and we might soon no longer need these pesky plastic cards at all anymore.
I was ready to make the switch to eSIM myself, but there are a lot of factors holding me back right now. Not everything is better with eSIMs, and sadly, most of the complications we’re experiencing right now can be pinned down to carriers making processes unnecessarily complicated. At this rate, we might either never make the full switch to eSIMs or, if we do, switching phones and connecting them to a mobile network will be a much more convoluted process than it has ever been.
Lengthy and convoluted profile switching
First up, let’s look at the process of switching to a new phone, comparing eSIM and physical SIM cards. If you’re not a phone reviewer or an enthusiast who switches phones multiple times a year, this is probably something you only come across every other year, but the process for standard SIM cards is straightforward, if finicky. You just use your SIM ejector tool to remove your physical SIM card from your phone and then pop it into your new handset. Most modern phones take care of the rest automatically, connecting you with the right network within minutes, if not seconds.
In theory, switching to a new phone via eSIM is even simpler. A contract with an eSIM should provide you with a printed or digital QR code you can scan with your new phone, with all credentials and details needed to configure your new phone’s embedded SIM card in it. Your old phone then should be removed from the network automatically, given that a new phone is now using its credentials in its place.
However, looking at T-Mobile’s guide, carriers can make the process much more complicated. The “Uncarrier” describes a 25-step process that involves reading a privacy policy, a login to T-Mobile’s site, an email verification code, entering your phone number, and receiving yet another verification code via SMS until you’re hooked up with its network. Phew.
It could be so simple
Verizon doesn't exactly make the process easier. A customer complains that they have to call support or visit a store to activate their new phone, with the online process either not working or not easy to find.
At least AT&T seems to offer the simple QR code method described above, but only for iPhones. While the steps described on the list for Android phones seem to be simpler than what T-Mobile goes through step-by-step, I presume it involves similar login procedures. For what it’s worth, customers do complain about it loudly.
Extra costs and limited compatibility
Another problem with eSIMs is the extra cost. Most carriers only offer free eSIMs on more expensive plans, leaving many other customers with extra charges for switching from a plastic SIM card to an embedded SIM. There are even some companies that charge extra for every single switch. In a 2020 report from Teltarif.de, German carrier Drillisch was singled out as one of only a few carriers that charge roughly $15 for every single phone switch — that’s more than the monthly price of some of that carrier's contracts.
Neither the cost of eSIMs nor the phone switching process itself is fully transparent, and things get worse when we look at embedded SIMs' limited compatibility. Carriers currently only support a handful of devices, even though many modern Android phones come with embedded SIMs these days. Verizon details that while it supports all of the latest iPhones, it only offers support for Pixel phones and Samsung flagship phones from the last two years. The list may vary slightly between carriers, but right now, the big carriers only support a limited number of devices. Even if you stay with Samsung and switch from a flagship Galaxy Note20 to a budget A series phone like the Galaxy A53, you’re out of luck and will need to go back to physical SIM cards (unless that Verizon list isn't up-to-date).
At the moment, it barely makes sense for anyone to make the full switch to eSIMs, outside of devices that only support those for connectivity. Many carriers around the world are making it stupidly difficult to switch from one device to another, be it thanks to convoluted setup processes or arbitrary extra charges.
But why?
You may have guessed it already, but traditional carriers have strong incentives to make the SIM card switching process more difficult. The issue for them isn’t so much that the convoluted process hinders you from switching to your new phone more quickly, though. It’s about eSIMs opening a whole new world of possibilities to switch carriers on demand.
eSIMs make it incredibly easy to get your phone hooked up to a network (as AP alum Rita would tell you), taking away the friction of going to a shop or waiting until your physical SIM card arrives at your door. If you’re not locked into a long-term contract, you can just browse through all offers and select the one you like most, open a new account, and import the needed data to your embedded SIM.
While carriers could use this to win new customers more easily, they’re likely more concerned about losing customers that way, potentially having to lower their rates to keep them in an ever more competitive market. In fact, it’s likely that carriers are the ones that are actively slowing the adoption of eSIM, with all big US carriers now supporting but not advertising eSIM.
Even smaller challengers don't fully realize eSIM's potential just yet. For example, both Visible and Google Fi offer streamlined processes to get started with eSIM, with Visible advertising it much more openly, but the device selection is even more limited than that of some big carriers.
Another reason is often cited by carriers: security. You need to have physical access to a SIM card to use the service, so it's hard for scammers to get access to your cellular service for nefarious reasons. A T-Mobile representative tells us that with a simple eSIM setup process, a hacker could take over your phone number before you notice and use it to receive two-factor authentication (2FA) SMS codes, allowing them to gain access to an otherwise secure account. eSIM hijacks are also harder to track than physical SIM card hijacks. With eSIMs, there is a real security trade-off as long as banks, financial institutions, and other critical services rely on 2FA SMS rather than more secure solutions.
The dreams of what could be
While I’ve described the process of switching a physical SIM to another device as simple compared to what you currently have to go through on some carriers when you want to switch your eSIM profile, it isn’t exactly great. Physical SIM cards are tiny these days, so people with limited vision or mobility would almost certainly need to ask someone else for assistance.
SIM cards and SIM card trays are generally finicky, prone to break due to their size, and another point of failure for manufacturers when it comes to waterproofing. Physical SIM cards also take up, well, physical space in your phone that manufacturers could otherwise use to make bigger batteries or bring back the headphone jack (hah, as if). Qualcomm has also developed a more advanced format called iSIM, which embeds an eSIM right into the cellular module of your phone, saving even more space and power.
There are just so many advantages that speak for eSIMs, and it’s clear that a straight-forward adoption of them would benefit both consumers and manufacturers. But unfortunately, the market is dominated by carriers that would rather not lose out on customers, and security is another limiting factor as long as important companies keep relying on SMS two-factor authentication.
