Yoho Mobile eSim Review
Our first foray into the eSim space. Is it worth trying for your next trip?
Yoho Mobile eSim Review Introduction
Let’s get into a new realm today in this review article - eSims. Aren’t familiar? You aren’t the only person that’s not onboard with eSims yet, don’t worry. But eventually, they will be the only option for sim “cards” in the world. We’re years away from that, but it’s worth noting. Put a reminder to me in 6 years and see how close I am to being right. I’m going to be looking at Yoho Mobile’s version of the service, but there are a few options out there.
Quickest way to describe an eSim is that it’s simply a programmable sim card for your phone vs. being a physical one. You set them up for your destination (or a global one) and pay the provider for whatever plan you want. The selling point for a traveler is that you’ll never need a sim card ejector, and you’ll never have to worry about losing your original sim card while on your trip.
Yoho Mobile is one of the bigger eSim providers in the world - but from what I’ve seen, they don’t appear to be so popular with the US crowd, hence why I felt this was a good option to test and review. Two other big brands are Holafly and Airalo (review coming for that service too).
I’m going to be reviewing Yoho Mobile as a pretty standard user. What I mean by that is that it’s not going to be an overly technical review because I don’t think the biggest portion of travelers meets that criteria. You can definitely find those options out there if you are more numbers driven. I will focus on the experience itself, and the perceived effectiveness. Keep in mind it’s a little difficult to review the service as a whole, because different countries have different wireless networks and infrastructure quality. For that same reason it’s hard to compare companies against each other unless you tested in the same country, head to head, which I’ve yet to do. But maybe that’s an idea for an upcoming article!
For this review, I purchased a plan from Yoho Mobile and used that as my only service provider on a recent 8 day trip to Italy. I was able to use it in roughly 3 cities and one additional region (Milan, Bergamo, Florence, Chianti region). I tested it on an iPhone 14 Pro, and I purchased the 5GB/15 Days eSim for $12.00 USD.
As always for full transparency, I had no interaction with Yoho Mobile for this review and purchased my own plan. I do use affiliate links which help to support the site if you decide to use them to make a purchase, but you’re under no obligation to do so and there’s no additional cost to you. Thanks for stopping by!
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Image courtesy of Yoho Mobile
Yoho Mobile eSim Overview
Let’s do a quick summary of what an eSim is to expand on the notion from above. eSims are electronic-only sims for your phone while sim cards are physical cards you need to take in and out of your phone (similar to a microSD card). They offer and promise a much better experience and a more convenient way to travel the globe. Frankly, I do think this is the future. Most new phones in the US can handle eSims, but you’ll want to check with your specific model before buying a plan. For reference, iPhones after the 11 should all be compatible with eSims and many phones in the US use them as standard now.
You simply go into the Cellular settings in your phone, and add the new eSim to the list. It can be done manually but you can also use a QR code to jumpstart the process.
Once activated, you select it when in your destination and that’s it. No need to pop the old sim card out, insert the new, and faff about with storing your original.
This also creates much less waste. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but think about all the packaging and the millions and millions of little sim cards getting tossed around once no longer in use? For modern phones, this is increasingly not necessary.
Most important of all - this is only DATA. You do not get a local phone number. So, if you need a local phone number, and there are plenty of reasons you might, you’ll still want a plan for that.
Yoho Mobile eSim Set Up
Mobile coverage makes sure your maps lead you to the Milan Duomo
Let’s get into how you actually set this up and how easy (or not easy) this was.
Yoho sends you a QR code in your email that you can use to help speed up the process (this seems to be consistent with most providers). This can also be done manually, but I’ve not had to do that in either of my cases.
This was my second eSim experience, the other being Airalo. I don’t know if it’s for that reason that I found it very easy, or if this just had less steps. But, I used the QR code, and Apple seemed to take care of the rest. It then became a “sim” that I could select under my Cellular data options. When you’re ready to use it, that’s all you have to do. The eSim will automatically pick the carrier they are partnered with in the region.
Two things to note. The first, is I would make sure to turn off your original plan. Otherwise, any phone calls you get when abroad will still come through and cost you an arm and a leg if you answer. Now you might need them still, but that’s up to you. At the very least, turn off “roaming” on your original plan’s data. I did all this once in the airport near boarding time. You want the new eSim to be your source for “data”.
The second is that I set this up the day before I leave. It means you can’t really “activate it” which is the final step. But in the two tries, with two different companies, this was no issue. At my departure airport I turned off my Home eSim and turned on this Yoho eSim for Italy. When I landed, it connected right up, right away, no issues. It’s much better if you get confused with setting it up to deal with it while at home than at an airport terminal. Just remember if it activates, that starts you count for how many days you can use it.
I BELIEVE they partner with Iliad in Italy as the actual cell tower provider. They are a low-cost phone carrier there.
Yoho Mobile Coverage
eSims ensure you have service to upload those bougie eats.
Like I said I didn’t get into much from a Speed test perspective, but that’s because I was not looking at this from some kind of serious Digital Nomad standpoint. Rather, I was looking at it from a normal, every day tourist standpoint. I used iMessage, Google Maps constantly, Google Maps Navigation (I downloaded the maps, of course), internet, Reddit, etc. All the regular things.
How did it do? Ultimately, was totally fine. Was it the best coverage I’ve ever experienced? No, it wasn’t. But was that Yoho’s fault? I don’t believe so. I think we can chalk this up to Italy and here’s why.
Italy (among others, it’s not just them) is known for having spotty phone coverage and service outside of major cities. And this makes sense. Italy has a lot of rural areas with low populations and their high-speed coverage isn’t going to have penetrated to those communities yet. We’re talking actual villages and such, don’t forget.
I can anecdotally speak to my time living in London when I would go to countries like Spain - my roaming was often the exact same experience and we’re talking on carriers like O2 and Orange. So, I don’t feel it was related to Yoho at all. Just spotty coverage across Italy’s more remote regions as a whole.
In Milan, Bergamo, Florence, bigger villages in Chianti like Radda, I had no issues with my service at all. In the cities it was strong LTE. I sometimes had issues INSIDE. But again, depending on the wireless GHZ bands being used, this is normal inside thick walled buildings.
Overall I’d give it a passing grade and for the most part was dependable and fast! (Just make sure to download your maps before you head out, that’s a big tip).
The Good About Yoho Mobile
Number one and most important, is ease of use. I’ve done the sim card game in other countries, including Japan, and it’s never as easy as you hope. There’s sometimes hoops to jump through, language barriers, and customer service can be hard to come by. With Yoho, as I mentioned I had no issues connecting and it worked as soon as I landed in Milan. The QR code loaded everything I needed into my iPhone 14 on initial setup.
I was satisfied with the speed I was getting in real world use. Pages loaded up fast and maps performed well in most cases barring a few very rural areas when we were driving around.
Price. At the time of buying (May 2023) their Italy eSim was cheaper than Airalo. So, it was a good time to test it out. These things are so cheap in fact, you could always buy two from two different carriers just in case on your first go around until you get used to it. But, I don’t have any issues recommending Yoho based on my experience. Pricing on eSims is honestly pretty bananas if you’re used to sim card pricing (which is already low to be fair) or even worse - you’re buying plans from your US provider like Travel Passes. Gross - never EVER do that. Verizon for instance offers this for $10.00 per day. Remember, I paid TWELVE DOLLARS for 15 days access and 5GB. That’s a lot of geebees vs. the highway robbery Verizon is trying to do. Don’t let them take advantage of you because you aren’t aware. It’s predatory. And the more these large carriers (US or otherwise) lose customers to eSim providers, the better chances they change their ways. In Europe for instance, it’s illegal to charge roaming so you can use your UK phone plan in any European country, which is nice.
The Bad About Yoho Mobile
With Yoho itself? I don’t really have any complaints. Their set up documentation was a little sparse compared to Airalo (who also has videos), but then again I didn’t need anything else. The QR code worked as needed and I was good to go in a few minutes (though again, if you aren’t in the country you’re planning on connecting your service in, you won’t be able to go through the full activation process and it will look like the process gets “stuck”; I just ignored that both times and had no issues on arrival). So, maybe Yoho could work on some videos with step by step actions.
The only complaints would be around Italy’s overall wireless coverage. Don’t expect the same coverage everywhere as you’re used to in your major metro home. The cities are fine, but it gets more hit and miss in the rural areas. Again, this has nothing to do with Yoho and this isn’t a review of Italy’s wireless service.
Worth Noting About Yoho Mobile
I did not have to use this so I’m only listing this as a “your mileage may vary” - but I am not sure if their customer service is US based (I think they are based as a company in Singapore), so you might not get the ease of service you’re used to. I could be wrong here, so if the Yoho affiliate team wants to shoot me a note and correct me, I’m happy to update this article with the location of their customer service team. This is a new company as well, so they might have some growing pains there. Again being clear - I had no issues with them, and this is not to say the service won’t be spectacular. I’m just listing this as a possibility because a lot of young, online based companies struggle with this, even if their product is sound.
All that said - they offer 24/7 service with both email AND WhatsApp options. If you can access wifi where you are having issues that is.
Mobile service helps you map out your day when you’re in your hotel’s sitting room. (He said flatly without noting the absurdity of this sitting room)
Final Thoughts On My Yoho Mobile Review
So that’s my first review article from the world of eSims in June 2023. As I talked about in the beginning of the article, this is a new and emerging market right now but it’s quite hot. In fact, I’m predicting that within 6 years there is almost no reason to get a physical sim for most traveling humans.
Yoho Mobile was wicked easy to purchase, the website was super clear to navigate and find what I needed, and I received my activation email nearly instantly.
The QR code to set up worked like a charm, and when I landed in Milan I had data service. What more can you want?
If you’re reading this, that means you’re on the hunt for eSim providers. Yoho is one to add to your list. The prices were great for data, and the process was easy.
Just remember, they are offering DATA ONLY. But lots of that sweet, sweet, good stuff (Data, I’m talking about data, folks).
So that’s it. Remember to wander more, and wander smarter everybody.
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