An eSIM is a SIM card directly embedded in a digital terminal, which therefore does not need to be added or changed. It is activated and managed remotely.

What does eSIM mean?

eSIM is the abbreviation of “embedded SIM”, which, in French, can be translated by integrated SIM or embedded SIM. In concrete terms, an eSIM is a SIM card automatically integrated into a mobile device. As it is soldered to the electronic card of the device, there is no need to add a conventional SIM card. Its other specificity is that it is possible to integrate user profiles and the settings of the corresponding operators remotely, via the mobile network.

What is an eSIM used for?

The first eSIM card dates from March 2016. It allows, in telephony, to get rid of classic SIM cards, as well as to equip devices without SIM cards until then: watches (too small to support the slightest physical card , even nano) or tablets, which gives it a direct use in the expansion of the Internet of Things.

What are the differences between SIM card and eSIM?

If the SIM card is sold by an operator, the eSIM can be multi-operator – as long as the manufacturer decides. The eSIM has also been one more stone in the garden of operators, who, if they were once holders of hegemonic power over communication technologies, are increasingly challenged by manufacturers.

The different SIM cards, including the eSIM. // Source: Adèle Foehrenbacher for Numerama

For the user, it allows above all to buy his terminal and to replace the stage of purchase and insertion of the SIM card by that of direct downloading of operator data on his device. In principle, the eSIM also makes it possible to multiply the number of connected objects linked to a single offer and a single mobile number. In fact, this type of use is currently reserved for connecting watches connected to a number already used on a smartphone. In the future, this could extend to tablets or car on-board computers.

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Source: PublicDomainPictures - Pixabay

Which smartphones are compatible with the eSIM?

A growing number of smartphones are equipped with eSIMs – around sixty manufacturers had integrated them as early as 2017. However, for them to be usable, operators still had to offer compatible offers. Orange, for example, started by reserving the eSIM function for connected objects other than telephones, before expanding to all devices in 2019. The company was followed by SFR and Bouygues Telecom in 2020, although all three still restrict access to existing customers, having started by subscribing with a physical SIM card.

Today, in France, high-end mobiles carry it, most often together with a slot for a nano SIM, so as to facilitate the transition. In practice, here are some of the smartphones equipped:

  • At Apple: iPhone XR and the Pro Max game, iPhone 11, 11 Pro and all subsequent models, iPhone SE (from iPhone 14, Apple nintegrates even more the traditional SIM card port on its American models, thus forcing the passage of its US customers to the eSIM).
  • At Google: the Google Pixel 3, 3XL, 3a and following up to Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro.
  • At Samsung: the Galaxy Z Fold and the following models, Galaxy Z Flip, Z Flip 5G and following, the S20, S20+, S20Ultra and the following.
  • At Sony: the Xperia 10 III and the following.
  • The Fairphone 4.

Today, in France, all incumbent operators and their cheaper branches (Sosh at Orange, B&You for Bouygues, Red by SFR) offer eSIM options.


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