A few weeks ago, I dropped my Dad off at the airport for a holiday to the UK and Europe, where he would visit family and friends he hadn’t seen in years. One thing that came up before he left was the need for connectivity while he’s away; he was concerned about cost and maintaining connection with us at home while he’s abroad. In a moment of hilarious timing, only days before the need for connectivity was mentioned, I had received an email from Simify talking about the ease of using their service, the transparency of cost and the fact that they cover a heap of overseas destinations.
After returning from the trip, we had a chat about the Simify experience and how he, as an average user, felt about it.
SIGN UP AND ESIM DOWNLOAD
It’s as simple as choosing, purchasing, and downloading your eSIM in just minutes. It’s so quick and easy, I wouldn’t even worry about doing it more than a day or two ahead of leaving Australia. Truth be told, even if you forget, you could probably do this pretty comfortably at the airport in your wait time, given how early you need to arrive for international flights.
Setting up the eSIM is very easy, provided you have two screens. I used a laptop and Dad’s mobile to set up the SIM on his phone, and it took only moments on his Pixel. Add a SIM under Mobile, select eSIM and scan the QR code that Simify displays on the screen.
A moment later, the SIM is on your phone and ready to be used. You’re presented with some basics of how to use it once you arrive at your destination. It pretty much boils down to turning off data switching and (if you choose to) disabling your primary SIM; then use your mobile data as you usually would.
THE USER ESIM EXPERIENCE
Once Dad arrived in the UK, he turned on the eSIM and reported in via WhatsApp moments later. Since then, the only complaint I’ve heard from him is that the speeds can be a touch erratic, most of the time, absolutely fine, but occasionally caused some issues when he was on a video call; truth be told, that could easily have been the VPN running a little slow. This could just as easily be due to the carriers that Simify are using being at high capacity at the time, the area he was in, or simply the carriers lowering priority on third-party carriers. Either way, it’s not presented as a major issue; merely a minor inconvenience a couple of times.
The caveat here is that SIMIFY is a data-only SIM. If you want or need calls while you’re away, you’ll need to use a third-party service like WhatsApp or purchase a fully functional SIM. This did create a minor issue when turning on the SIM upon arrival, but it’s simply a case of turning off calls.
For my Dad, using an eSIM while overseas, the only real thing he needed to remember was to use WhatsApp for calls and messaging. As everyone he wanted to message or call was on the platform, all he needed was data and that worked well for him. This was even through a VPN while on the move.
The coverage test in England was pretty thorough, including areas like:
- The Midlands
- Yorkshire
- The Lake District
- North Wales
- Kent
- London
- Devon
On top of this, there was some time in Northern and Southern Ireland, and a week in Barcelona, all on the one pre-purchased eSIM. This really is the epitome of simplicity, and while staying connected overseas isn’t cheap, the ease of setup and the capacity of one connection option really make Simify a great value option.
It’s difficult to make more of this than I already have, because it just worked and was easy to use.
PRICING AND AVAILABILITY
The price of an eSIM varies depending on how much data and how long you’re travelling for. Availability is really as simple as making sure whatever country you’re travelling to is on the extensive list of destinations.
