Welcome to Ask Jerry, where we talk about any and all the questions you might have about the smart things in your life. I’m Jerry, and I have spent the better part of my life working with tech. I have a background in engineering and R&D and have been covering Android and Google for the past 15 years.
Ask Jerry
Ask Jerry is a column where we answer your burning Android/tech questions with the help of long-time Android Central editor Jerry Hildenbrand.
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What’s wrong with the eSIM?
L. asks:
I read that the Pixel 10 may launch as an eSIM-only phone, and people were very upset about it. Why? I thought the eSIM was supposed to be better technology than the old physical SIM card.
I really appreciate any answer
Hi L, I saw exactly the same thing as you did; the Pixel 10 may be an eSIM-only device in the United States, and people lost their ever-loving minds over the news. Everyone hates eSIM.
Except they really don’t.
The easy answer is that you’re seeing a biased response from a small group of people. I’ll imagine you’re a bit of a tech-lover. That means you see articles and social media posts from other tech-lovers, or websites (like Android Central) dedicated to tech-lovers.
Many tech lovers hate the eSIM, and we’ll get to why in a minute. But first, realize that most people have no idea what an eSIM is. They probably don’t really care, either. Some of the people who do understand happen to like the eSIM. But the people who don’t like it are using their voice and letting the world know about it. That’s what you’re seeing, not messages from people saying they have no idea what an eSIM is. It seems like there is no love.
Now, for why many people who understand it all hate the eSIM: Apple. Yeah. It’s easy to blame Apple, and this time, it’s even easier.
Apple launched the iPhone 14 in the U.S. as an eSIM-only device. It was not the first eSIM device, or even the first iPhone that could use one. It was the first iPhone that required you to use it, though.
When carriers started having issues assigning numbers to the chip, or started making up new rules about hoops you needed to jump through to transfer your number to a new iPhone, it was pretty messy. Not for everyone, but for enough people.
If your first exposure to the eSIM was trying to convince Verizon to activate your new iPhone 14 without you walking into a corporate store with a receipt and your old phone in working order, there’s no wonder you hate it.
For some contrast, my first exposure to eSIM tech was checking a box in the Google Fi app and having my new phone start working without pushing a paperclip into the tiny hole that releases the SIM card tray. It took about three minutes and worked fine.
Needless to say, I don’t have the same hate for the eSIM that many do because my experience with them has been good. I haven’t used a physical SIM card since the Pixel 3.
That doesn’t mean I like everything about the eSIM or that they are perfect. I don’t, and they’re not. The eSIM gives too much control over a thing you paid for to someone else.
As long as you weren’t using a phone that was marked stolen or blacklisted due to non-payment, you could always pop a SIM card in the tray and make it work. You might need to look up some numbers and find the settings, but it was up to you.
An eSIM doesn’t work that way. It’s a tiny chip that can be flashed with your account data, but you’re not the one doing the flashing. The phone maker and even worse, your carrier, are the only means to activate an eSIM. You might pay for one online and get what you need to know in an email, but in the end, you’re connecting to another entity that can decide if it wants to set things up. You have no control over the situation.
That doesn’t mean an eSIM is bad. It also doesn’t mean it’s good, either. It is cheaper, more environmentally friendly, and is going to eventually become the norm. If you have problems setting up or using an eSIM, I’d suggest you look at a different carrier instead of a different phone.
