How to check if your phone supports eSIM in 60 seconds

There is one number that settles it. Open your phone’s dialler and type:

*#06#

A panel appears with your device identifiers. If one of them is labelled EID — a 32-digit number, longer than the IMEI above it — your phone has an eSIM. If there is no EID line, it doesn’t, and no software update will add one. The EID is burned into a physical chip.

That check takes about ten seconds and works on both iPhone and Android. It is the only test that can’t be wrong.

The settings check (and what the wording means)

If you’d rather look than dial:

iPhone — Settings, Cellular (or Mobile Service). If you see Add eSIM, Add Cellular Plan or Convert to eSIM, you have one. On iPhone 14 and later sold in the United States there is no SIM tray at all, so eSIM is the only option.

Android — Settings, Network and internet, then look for SIMs or Mobile network. A Download a SIM instead? or Add eSIM link means yes. On Samsung it’s Settings, Connections, SIM manager, then Add eSIM.

Wording differs between manufacturers and Android versions, which is why the dial code is the better test. If the menu is ambiguous, use *#06#.

The check that actually catches people out

Your phone can have an eSIM and still refuse to install one, because it’s carrier-locked.

A phone bought on contract or on an instalment plan is often locked to the network that sold it until the contract completes. A locked phone will download a travel eSIM profile and then fail to activate it, usually with an unhelpful error. This is the single most common reason an eSIM “doesn’t work”, and it is not fixable from the traveller’s end.

To check:

• iPhone — Settings, General, About, scroll to Carrier Lock. It should say No SIM restrictions.
• Android — Settings, About phone, Status, then SIM status, or search the settings for “network unlock”. Some manufacturers hide this; the reliable route is to ask your carrier directly.

If it’s locked, your carrier can usually unlock it once the contract or instalment plan is paid off. Ask before you travel — some carriers take a few days.

Which phones have eSIM

Roughly: iPhone XS, XR and everything after; Google Pixel 3 and after; Samsung Galaxy S20 and after, plus the Z Fold and Flip series and recent A-series models; most flagship phones from 2020 onward. There are exceptions in both directions — some regional variants of otherwise-supported models ship without eSIM hardware, particularly Samsung handsets sold in certain markets, and some Chinese-market phones omit it entirely.

That’s why the dial code beats a compatibility list: it tests your handset, not the model name.

Our full 2026 eSIM phone list covers the model-by-model detail and the known regional exceptions.

Three more things worth knowing before you buy

A dual-SIM phone isn’t automatically an eSIM phone. Plenty of phones take two physical SIM cards and have no eSIM at all. The two features are unrelated.

You need internet to install an eSIM. The profile downloads over the network, so install it at home on Wi-Fi before you fly, not at the arrivals gate. The plan doesn’t start counting down until it first connects in the destination country.

Some phones cap how many eSIM profiles they store. Most recent iPhones hold eight or more profiles with two active at once; Android limits vary by manufacturer. If you travel often you’ll eventually need to delete an old one, and deleting a profile is permanent — it can’t be reinstalled from the same QR code.

Once you’ve confirmed the EID, pick a destination — Japan, Italy, Kenya or anywhere else on the destinations list — and the installation guide takes it from there.