Which Phones Work With an eSIM in 2026: A Practical Compatibility Guide

Almost every question we get before a first eSIM purchase is the same one: will this actually work on my phone? An eSIM is not a card you can slide in and test — it is a digital profile your phone downloads and stores, so the hardware either has the chip or it does not. The good news is that you can settle the question yourself in under a minute, without installing anything.

There are really two separate checks, and mixing them up causes most of the confusion. The first is whether your phone has eSIM support at all. The second is whether it is carrier locked, because a locked handset refuses a travel eSIM even when the hardware supports it perfectly. This guide covers both checks, the broad families of devices that support eSIM, and what your options are if yours does not.

The short answer

• iPhone XS, XS Max and XR (2018) and every iPhone since, including iPhone SE from 2020 onward.
• Samsung Galaxy S20 and later, the Note 20 series, and the Z Fold and Z Flip foldables. Some A-series 4G/LTE/5G models too, but only in certain regions.
• Google Pixel 3 and later, with Pixel 4 and newer reliable across regions.
• Most flagship phones from 2020 onward have eSIM. Budget and mid-range models often do not, even from the same brand and year.
• Dial *#06# on any phone. If an EID number appears alongside the IMEI, the phone has eSIM hardware.
• Supporting eSIM is not the same as being unlocked. You need both. A carrier-locked phone cannot use any travel eSIM.
• Our full device list lives on our eSIM compatibility page, refreshed automatically from an industry device list rather than written by hand.

How to check an iPhone in 30 seconds

Open Settings, tap General, then About, and scroll to the bottom. If you see a line labelled EID — a long number near the IMEI — your iPhone has eSIM hardware. No EID line means no eSIM.

While you are on that About screen, look for Carrier Lock. If it reads No SIM restrictions, your iPhone is unlocked and you are clear on both counts. Anything else means the phone is tied to the network that sold it.

How to check an Android phone in 30 seconds

Android manufacturers name their menus differently, so the fastest universal check is the dial pad. Open the dialler and type *#06#. A screen of identifiers appears. If one of them is an EID, the phone has an eSIM chip. If it shows only IMEI numbers, it does not.

To confirm through the menus, open Settings, then Network & internet or Connections, then SIM cards or SIM manager, and look for Add eSIM or Download a SIM instead. Samsung puts this under Connections then SIM manager; Google Pixel under Network & internet then SIMs. If that option exists, your phone can take an eSIM.

What "carrier locked" means, and why it blocks eSIM

A carrier lock is a restriction the mobile operator puts on a handset it sold you, usually because the phone came bundled with a contract or is being paid off in instalments. It tells the phone to accept a connection only from that one operator. It is a policy setting enforced in software, not a hardware fault, and it applies to eSIM profiles exactly as it applies to physical SIM cards.

This is why a locked phone passes every compatibility test and still fails in practice. The eSIM downloads and installs normally, the profile appears in your settings, and then it never finds a network. The phone is doing exactly what it was told.

Only the operator that applied the lock can remove it, and in most markets they must do so free of charge once the device is paid off and any minimum term has ended. It usually takes a short request or an online form, so sort it well ahead of a trip — some operators take a few working days.

Supporting eSIM and being unlocked are two different things

eSIM support is about capability — whether the chip and the operating system can hold a downloaded SIM profile at all. Being unlocked is about permission — whether the phone is allowed to connect to networks other than the one that sold it.

A brand-new flagship bought on a two-year contract supports eSIM and is locked. A five-year-old handset bought outright is unlocked and may have no eSIM chip. Neither will work with a travel eSIM. You need a yes on both, and the two checks are unrelated.

Which families of devices support eSIM

We keep a compatible-device list on the site, synced automatically from an industry device list rather than maintained by hand, so it picks up new models as they are published. At the most recent sync it covered eleven brand families across sixty device entries, naming roughly a hundred and fifty individual models. The broad picture:

• Apple iPhone — iPhone XS, XS Max and XR onward, every generation since, plus iPhone SE from 2020 and 2022. Models sold in the United States from iPhone 14 onward have no SIM tray at all and are eSIM-only.
• Apple iPad — Wi-Fi + Cellular models from 2019 onward, across iPad, iPad Air, iPad mini and iPad Pro.
• Samsung Galaxy — the S20 through S25 lines including Plus and Ultra variants, the Note 20 series, the Z Fold and Z Flip foldables, and selected A-series 4G/LTE/5G models in some regions.
• Google Pixel — Pixel 3 in selected regions, then Pixel 4 onward broadly, including a-series, Pro and XL variants.
• Other major brands — high-end Motorola Razr and Edge models, Huawei P and Mate flagships, Honor Magic devices, Oppo Find and Reno models, OnePlus Open and recent numbered flagships, Xiaomi flagships and some Redmi Note models, Vivo X series, Sony Xperia 1 and 5 series, plus specific Nokia, Sharp, Asus and Fairphone models.

One pattern is worth remembering: within a single brand and year, the flagship usually has eSIM and the budget model usually does not. Brand and release year alone are not enough — check your exact model.

The regional variant catch

The same model name can be a different phone depending on where it was sold. Handsets bought in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao often ship without eSIM even when the identical model sold elsewhere has it, because those markets tend to favour dual physical SIM trays. If you bought your phone there, run the *#06# check rather than trusting a model list.

What to do if your phone does not support eSIM

If the EID check comes back empty, no setting or update will add eSIM — it is a hardware capability. A few routes are still open:

• Check a second device you already own. A cellular iPad or a mobile hotspot with eSIM can hold the plan and share it over Wi-Fi to your phone and everyone travelling with you.
• Confirm the exact variant. If your model appears on a compatibility list but your handset shows no EID, the regional variant is the likely explanation.
• If the phone is capable but locked, that is fixable — request the unlock from your operator before you leave.
• If you are due for an upgrade anyway, essentially every current flagship supports eSIM, and eSIM-only models are becoming the default.

Before you buy a plan

Run both checks — EID present, carrier lock clear — and you have removed the two things behind nearly all failed eSIM activations. If either is ambiguous, our support team is available 24/7 and can check your model and market variant before you spend anything.

Once your phone checks out, the rest is straightforward. AirPlans covers 210 destinations with plans starting at $2.55, and the eSIM arrives by email within minutes so you can install it at home and land already connected. Browse plans for wherever you are going at airplans.app/destination and pick the data amount that fits the trip.