eSIM technology and carrier support evolve quickly. Device compatibility, carrier offerings, install steps, and pricing can change with software updates and policy revisions. This article reflects the general state of eSIM technology at the time of publication — always check current carrier documentation for the specific device and country in question.
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Get a JetLuxe quoteAn eSIM is a tiny silicon chip soldered onto a phone’s main circuit board. Technically called an eUICC (embedded Universal Integrated Circuit Card), it’s a hardware-protected secure element designed to store credentials and perform authentication operations that mobile networks require.
Physically, the chip is smaller than a fingernail — measured in millimetres rather than centimetres. It is installed during the phone’s manufacturing process and is not designed to be removed or replaced. Modern phones include it as standard, embedded within the larger system-on-chip or near the cellular modem.
The chip itself is empty at the point of manufacture. It does not have a phone number, doesn’t belong to any carrier, and has no account associated with it. What it has is the technical capability to store and use carrier credentials once they are loaded — but the loading is a separate, later step.
This is the key conceptual distinction with eSIM: the hardware is universal and generic, while the software (the carrier profile) is what makes the phone work on a specific network. Multiple profiles can be loaded onto the same hardware over the phone’s lifetime, replacing each other as needed.
Through a process called Remote SIM Provisioning, defined by the GSMA. When a user signs up for a mobile service plan that supports eSIM, the carrier’s systems generate a profile — a digital file containing the network credentials, phone number, and authentication keys for the new line. This profile is then delivered to the phone over the internet.
The delivery happens in one of two ways:
Pull mode. The phone reaches out to the carrier’s servers and requests the profile. This happens when the user scans a QR code or enters the activation details manually — the QR code contains a server address and an activation code that the phone uses to fetch the profile.
Push mode. The carrier’s systems push the profile to the phone automatically, typically when the user is already a customer and the carrier has the phone’s device identifier. This is faster for the user but less common in retail flows.
In both cases, the profile arrives over a secure encrypted channel. The phone’s eSIM chip verifies the profile’s authenticity, installs it, and the line becomes active. The whole process typically takes 30 seconds to a few minutes, depending on the carrier’s systems and the user’s internet connection.
A QR code activation is the most common way to install an eSIM. The carrier sends the user a QR code — either by email, displayed on their website, printed in a retail packaging, or shown in their app. The user scans the QR code with the phone (usually through Settings or the carrier app), and the phone retrieves the eSIM profile from the carrier’s server using the information encoded in the QR code.
The QR code itself contains:
When the phone scans the QR code, it connects to the SM-DP+ server, presents the activation code, and downloads the assigned profile. The download is fast (typically a few hundred kilobytes); the entire process from scan to active line is usually under a minute.
Travel eSIM providers like Airalo and Yesim deliver QR codes immediately after purchase, typically by displaying them in the app or by email. The user can scan the code anywhere — including before leaving home — and the eSIM is ready to be activated when needed.
Manual activation is the same process as QR code activation, except the user enters the SM-DP+ server address and activation code by hand instead of scanning a QR code. Most carriers and travel eSIM providers offer both options.
Manual entry is useful in scenarios where the QR code isn’t accessible:
The user types in two or three pieces of information: the SM-DP+ address (usually a URL like “sm-dp.example-carrier.com”), the activation code (a string of letters and numbers), and sometimes a confirmation code. The phone then performs the same provisioning process as it would after scanning a QR code.
Some carriers also support “deep links” — tapping a link in an email or in the carrier’s app automatically opens the eSIM installer with the relevant data pre-filled. This is conceptually similar to QR code activation but uses URL handling instead of a camera scan.
The information is in the eSIM profile itself. Each profile contains an IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity), which uniquely identifies the subscriber on the carrier’s network. The first portion of the IMSI is the MCC (Mobile Country Code) and MNC (Mobile Network Code), which together identify the specific carrier in the specific country.
When the phone needs to connect to a network, it broadcasts its IMSI to nearby cell towers. The towers route the request to the carrier identified by the MCC/MNC, which then authenticates the subscriber using the credentials in the profile.
This is how the same phone, with the same eSIM hardware, can operate on different carriers depending on which profile is active. Switching the active profile from a US carrier to a Japanese carrier changes the IMSI the phone broadcasts, which routes the connection through Japanese networks instead.
For travel eSIMs, the local profile is usually issued by (or in partnership with) one of the local carriers in the destination country. The traveller’s phone, with the travel eSIM active, appears to the network as a customer of that local carrier — and pays local-carrier rates rather than home-carrier roaming rates.
The same eSIM profile, no — each profile is bound to a specific device. The hardware chip in the phone has a unique identifier (the EID — eUICC Identifier), and profiles are generally issued to be installed on a specific EID. Once installed, the profile is tied to that chip.
What is supported is transferring a line from one device to another, which is a separate process. The carrier (or the device’s built-in transfer tools) can issue a new profile for the same line, installed on the new device’s EID. The old profile is then deactivated. The user’s phone number and account stay the same, but the underlying profile is a new one.
For travel eSIMs, profiles are typically tied to the specific purchase and the specific device. A traveller cannot generally take their Airalo profile from their old phone and install it on a new phone without going back through the provider’s system. Most providers support transfer of unused data plans to a new device by reissuing the profile.
The reason for this binding is security. If profiles could be freely copied between devices, the cryptographic authentication that secures mobile networks would break. The EID-binding ensures that each profile is used by exactly one device at a time.
The eSIM does not transfer automatically — the user has to actively move it. Two main routes:
Device-to-device transfer. Apple’s eSIM Quick Transfer (iPhone to iPhone) and similar Android tools can move a profile from the old device to the new one directly. Both phones must be present and configured to communicate. The process takes 1–3 minutes and is handled entirely between the two devices, without needing to contact the carrier separately.
Carrier-side reactivation. The user contacts the carrier (through their app, website, or customer service) and requests a new profile for the new device. The carrier issues a new activation QR code, the user scans it on the new phone, and the old profile is deactivated. This is slower than direct transfer but works for any carrier and any device combination.
For new phones being set up from a backup of the previous device, the eSIM is usually transferred automatically as part of the restore process. This works smoothly in most cases but can occasionally fail — in which case the carrier-side reactivation is the fallback.
The practical implication is to not wipe the old phone’s eSIM before completing the transfer. If the user removes the eSIM profile from the old phone first, then realises the new phone needs a separate activation, they may need to go back to the carrier for a reissue.
A factory reset of the phone removes all eSIM profiles by default. This is intentional — the reset wipes user data, including the configuration of any active lines. After a factory reset, the phone has the eSIM chip but no installed profiles.
To restore service, the user must either:
This is one of the practical differences from physical SIM. A physical SIM survives a factory reset — the chip is in the card, not in the phone’s memory, so the SIM continues to work after the phone is wiped. With eSIM, the profile lives in the phone’s hardware and is removed by a wipe.
The practical advice for any phone reset: ensure you have backup access to your carrier or eSIM provider before performing the wipe. If you can’t access the carrier’s systems (because your phone is the only device with the relevant authentication), restore from backup or contact the carrier before wiping. Travel eSIM providers like Airalo typically allow profile reissuance from any device with the account credentials.
Not directly, no. The eSIM profile is bound to the customer’s account with the carrier or eSIM provider. Transferring the line to a different person requires the account holder to deactivate the line on their account and the new user to activate a new line on theirs.
What can be done is sharing access to the data plan — for example, family plans where multiple lines are billed together on one account but each line belongs to a different person. The eSIM for each line is provisioned to the specific user’s phone and account; the shared element is the billing, not the eSIM itself.
For travel eSIMs specifically, plans are not transferable. A travel eSIM purchased by one person is provisioned to their device and cannot be moved to another person’s phone. If two travellers are sharing a trip, each needs their own travel eSIM plan.
This is different from physical SIMs in a small way: a physical SIM can be physically handed to another person, who can insert it in their phone (if the SIM is unlocked and compatible) and use it. The carrier still bills the original account holder, but the physical transfer is possible. With eSIM, the digital binding to the original device prevents this kind of informal sharing.
An eSIM is a permanent chip in the phone that does the same job as a physical SIM card. What changes is that activating it doesn’t require inserting anything — the carrier sends the activation data digitally, usually via a QR code, and the phone installs it in under a minute.
The chip is hardware. The carrier profile that activates it is software. Profiles can be installed, removed, and replaced over the phone’s lifetime, allowing one piece of hardware to be used on different carriers, different countries, and different accounts at different times.
Transferring an eSIM between phones requires a digital process (either direct device-to-device transfer or carrier-side reactivation), unlike a physical SIM which can simply be moved between devices. Factory-resetting a phone removes eSIM profiles, while a physical SIM survives a reset by being a separate card.
For most users, the day-to-day experience of having an eSIM is identical to having a physical SIM: the phone works, the calls go through, the data flows. The differences are mostly invisible until the user wants to add a second line, travel internationally, or switch carriers — at which point the eSIM’s digital provisioning model becomes the easier option.
The eSIM stores a profile containing the carrier’s network identifiers and authentication credentials. When the phone needs to connect, it broadcasts these identifiers to nearby cell towers, which route the request to the correct carrier. Authentication uses cryptographic keys stored on the eSIM chip.
A QR code that encodes the carrier’s server address (the SM-DP+ server) and an activation code. When the user scans the QR code with the phone’s camera (typically through Settings or the carrier app), the phone connects to the server, downloads the eSIM profile, and activates the line — usually within a minute.
Yes, but the process is digital rather than physical. Apple’s eSIM Quick Transfer (iPhone-to-iPhone) and similar Android tools can move the profile directly between devices. Alternatively, the carrier can reissue a new profile for the new device. Restoring from a backup also typically transfers the eSIM.
Yes, by default. A factory reset wipes all installed eSIM profiles. To restore service after a reset, you need to either restore from a backup that included the eSIM or contact the carrier (or eSIM provider) to reissue the profile. Always confirm you can recover the eSIM before performing a reset.
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