My boyfriend had been telling me for years that he wanted to show me around his home country, Hong Kong (and Indonesia), early on in our relationship.
And I thought that would be a great idea – being guided by a local.
That way, you can see the city-state from a different lens than as a regular tourist.
Unfortunately, the pandemic hit, and the city-state was closed off from the world.
Following its neighbor up north, it imposed a strict zero-COVID policy, so we had to postpone our plans for a while.
Until the country announced it would reopen (without quarantine requirements) in December 2022.
So in January 2023, we went to Hong Kong and stayed for two weeks.
And my boyfriend, and many repeat Phone Travel Wiz readers, know that I do not go to a country without testing its SIM cards and various travel eSIMs before I recommend them.
So I tested out eight travel eSIMs, including Airalo's Asialink eSIM, four Hong Kong SIM cards & one travel SIM card to be used here.
This resulted in me spending about 2560 HKD (≈ 326.15 USD) for my Hong Kong SIM card and travel eSIM review series – yeah… I went all out for you 😎.
In many countries, getting a local SIM card will be the most cost-effective way to stay connected.
But in the same countries, getting a travel eSIM will be much more convenient because you do not have to deal with SIM card registration requirements (which can be stringent).
As of March 2022, SIM card registration rules came into effect in Hong Kong after avoiding it for many years, making the country the final East Asian country to do so.
So, is the Airalo Asialink eSIM a good option? Is it cheap compared to the local options and its travel eSIM competitors? How is its reception? And is it fast?
I will answer all those questions in this review. Let's do this.
Original publication: 2nd of February 2023. Last updated: 15th of January 2024.
Table of Contents
Which Phones are Compatible with Airalo eSIMs?
Before discussing the Airalo Asialink eSIM to be used in Hong Kong specifically, you must know whether your phone can even support Airalo's eSIMs.
Sure, your phone may support eSIM, but the local mobile operator and travel eSIM provider, like Airalo, first needs to certify a phone before the users can use their products.
As of August 2023, the phones shown in the infographic below are compatible with Airalo eSIMs:
With that out of the way, let's talk more about the Airalo Asialink eSIM!
>>> Get your Airalo Asialink eSIM now! <<<
How Much Does the Airalo Asialink eSIM Cost?
You can get the Airalo Asialink eSIM for as little as 5 USD for 1 GB of data (7 days) and up to 185 USD for 100 GB (180 days). The eSIM can be used in 14 Asian countries with six options: 1 GB/7 days, 3 GB/30 days, 5 GB/30 days, 10 GB/30 days, 50 GB/90 days & 100 GB/180 days).
Below is an overview of how much each Airalo Asialink eSIM costs:
- Asia/Asialink 1 GB eSIM for 7 days, costing 5 USD
- Asia/Asialink 3 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 13 USD – very popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
- Asia/Asialink 5 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 20 USD – most popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
- Asia/Asialink 10 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 37 USD – very popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
- Asia/Asialink 50 GB eSIM for 90 days, costing 100 USD
- Asia/Asialink 100 GB eSIM for 180 days, costing 185 USD
Note: Phone Travel Wiz reader popularity ranking was updated in September based on data up to the 7th of September (2023 data only).
>>> Get your Airalo Asialink eSIM now! <<<
Regardless of the currency used in your country, Airalo will always charge you in USD (US Dollar).
If your credit/debit card charges you foreign exchange fees, get yourself a Wise Borderless Account and Debit Card.
Their fees are MUCH lower than banks and credit card companies charge you (and Wise is transparent about their fees, unlike banks).
I have saved literal THOUSANDS of Australian Dollars and Euros, my main currencies, when using Wise abroad when traveling compared to my debit and credit cards.
Moreover, regardless of which Airalo Asialink eSIM you choose, you can always top it up for the same amount of data and prices as listed above.
For example, suppose you buy the 5 GB Airalo Asialink eSIM (30 days, costing 20 USD) but realize you need more data.
You can top it up with the 3 GB top-up (30 days, costing 13 USD) or the 100 GB top-up (180 days, costing 185 USD).
Many eSIM providers out there do not allow you to top up or extend the validity of your eSIM, so it is cool that Airalo allows you to do so.
>>> Get your Airalo Asialink eSIM now! <<<
In Which Countries Can the Airalo Asialink eSIM Be Used?
The Airalo Asialink eSIM can be used in 14 countries in Asia, mostly in East- and Southeast Asia, which are Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand & Vietnam.
With the Airalo Asialink eSIM, you can save a lot of money by skipping the initial SIM card costs per country you visit.
So if you plan on visiting multiple East- and Southeast Asian countries, getting the Airalo Asialink eSIM will be convenient AND will save you a lot of money too.
Unlike the European counterpart, Eurolink (which I used in 11 countries, by the way), you cannot use 5G NR with the Airalo Asialink eSIM… yet 😏.
>>> Get your Airalo Asialink eSIM now! <<<
My Airalo Asialink eSIM in Hong Kong Experience
I used my Airalo Asialink eSIM in Hong Kong Island, Kowloon & New Territories.
As Hong Kong does not really have cities (in the sense of the Government of Hong Kong not using them for administrative purposes and only as geographical limits), I could not visit multiple ones.
Before we continue, I do want to let you know how travel eSIM providers like Airalo work.
It is impossible for Airalo, or any other mobile operator, to operate in every country (and do not trust any company saying otherwise), so they set up roaming agreements.
And do not get worried by the word roaming yet – roaming can be expensive, but roaming with Airalo or many other travel eSIM providers, will not result in a 5000 USD roaming bill.
What Airalo does, and basically all (actual) mobile operators do, is partner up with a local mobile operator so that their customers can still stay connected when abroad.
In the case of Hong Kong, the Airalo Asialink eSIM uses the CSL Mobile network with the help of Singtel from Singapore (so your phone, some apps, or sites you visit may claim you are using a Singtel eSIM instead of an Airalo one – that is correct).
Note: in some countries, Airalo uses multiple local networks.
Just like how I tested the Airalo Asialink eSIM on my Hong Kong trip, I also tried all the local Hong Kong SIM cards excluding the MVNOs (China Mobile Hong Kong Mobile, CSL Mobile, 3 Hong Kong & SmarTone Hong Kong) and various other eSIMs (Airalo Hkmobile and Airalo Discover Global (in Hong Kong and worldwide), Holafly, Nomad (in Hong Kong and various countries in APAC – Asia and Oceania), Simify & Ubigi + the 3 (UK) Travel SIM Card by Holidaysimcard in Hong Kong Review (also used in Australia and Singapore)).
Yeah, I went all out 😏.
Because of this, I could also assess how CSL Mobile performed compared to its competitors.
Well, not entirely. CSL Mobile did not allow prepaid customers to use its 5G NR network (but that may have changed now).
The same applies to 3 Hong Kong. However, China Mobile Hong Kong and SmarTone Hong Kong were not that stingy (anymore).
So in reality, I could only compare CSL Mobile with 3 Hong Kong… and it was more than twice as fast!
When looking at 4G/LTE availability in Hong Kong, the four mobile operators cover practically all of the country (mostly because it is a small city-state), with an availability of more than 98.6%.
4G/LTE reception is so good in Hong Kong that I thought 3G did not exist anymore (until 3 Hong Kong was stuck at 3G a handful of times 😩).
In terms of speed, CSL Mobile has the second-worst download speed, with a median download speed of 45.95 Mbps, ahead of 3 Hong Kong (Three – 32.52 Mbps) but behind SmarTone Hong Kong (48.14 Mbps) and China Mobile Hong Kong (66.11 Mbps).
Okay, that is enough background information – let's compare the Airalo Asialink eSIM to CSL Mobile in Hong Kong Island, Kowloon & New Territories.
Airalo Asialink eSIM Speed Test Results in Hong Kong Island, Kowloon & New Territories
Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated countries, or Special Administrative Region (SAR) if we want to be correct, worldwide behind Macau (also a SAR), Monaco & Singapore.
There are not many countries where you struggle to walk on the pavement because there are so many people around as Hong Kong without getting constantly pushed.
And I was there during the winter and when the China-Hong Kong border just opened – imagine how crazy it is during summer 😳.
But the country has a lot to offer: fantastic food, Ocean Park (attraction park) & even Disneyland for those who want it.
And of course smaller attractions, such as the Central–Mid-Levels escalator – the longest outdoor covered escalator in the world, The Peak (with the peak tram) & the Big Buddha (Ngong Ping) cable car.
The latter is 5.7 kilometers long and takes 25 minutes – and you even have a clear (called crystal) car option if you dare.
I am not fond of heights… but I actually enjoyed being in the crystal car… so I bet you will too!
Anyway, let's finally talk about my Airalo Asialink speed test results, right?
Decent speeds with the Airalo Asialink eSIM in Hong Kong.
Because most travel eSIMs I used in Hong Kong used the CSL Mobile network too, I shared the results of the relevant eSIMs too in the image above.
You can see that Airalo's Hkmobile eSIM, Asialink eSIM & Discover Global eSIM performed similarly well.
And what makes these results even more interesting is that the Hkmobile and Asialink eSIMs are powered by Singtel from Singapore.
In contrast, the Discover Global eSIM is powered by FL1 from Liechtenstein (formerly Mobilkom Liechtenstein).
So I guess the two mobile operators have similar roaming agreements on the CSL Mobile network.
Anyway, I had an average download speed of 33.16 Mbps and a median download speed of 21.25 Mbps with the Airalo Asialink eSIM: it passed the 4K video streaming test in Hong Kong (minimum of 25 Mbps).
The same can also be said for the HD live streaming test in Hong Kong – the Airalo Asialink eSIM had an average and median upload speed of 18.26 Mbps and a median upload speed of 14.39 Mbps, making it pass the HD live streaming test (minimum of 10 Mbps).
The Airalo Asialink eSIM performed at its best at Kennedy Town Station, with a download speed of 209.70 Mbps.
And when looking at Hong Kong mobile operators, the Airalo Asialink eSIM swept the floor with 3 Hong Kong, as its top speed was 77.14 Mbps… sad 🤡.
For fast uploads, you want to go to the University Library of the Chinese University of Hong Kong in Ma Liu Shui instead, where I had an upload speed of 60.52 Mbps.
No other local SIM card or travel eSIM had a faster speed than the Airalo Asialink eSIM.
Yes, that includes CSL Mobile itself (49.32 Mbps instead).
In terms of slow places, the eSIM does not perform, in general, well in the following neighborhoods or districts:
- Admiralty
- Central District
- Cheung Chau Island
- Sha Tin
- Tsim Sha Tsui
Even though you will experience snail speeds at these locations, you will have reception.
>>> Get your Airalo Asialink eSIM now! <<<
My Overall Experience with the Airalo Asialink eSIM in Hong Kong – Is It Any Good?
I would recommend the Airalo Asialink eSIM for Hong Kong, and it would be one of my top recommendations for anyone wanting to buy an Asia travel eSIM (but not if you only visit Hong Kong).
>>> Get your Airalo Asialink eSIM now! <<<
While I had a good experience with the Airalo Asialink eSIM, you are better off getting the Airalo Hkmobile eSIM if you are only visiting Hong Kong.
That is because you pay a premium to be able to use one eSIM in more than ten East- and Southeast Asian countries.
So if you are visiting multiple East- and Southeast Asian countries, you better go with the Airalo Asialink eSIM because you will be saving quite some money when you do so.
Especially when some country-specific East- and Southeast Asian countries have only one eSIM variant (1 GB/7 days for Laos and Vietnam).
Yes, top-ups are available, but you will end up spending way more for 10 GB of data with nine top-ups (10 * 4.50 USD is 45 USD for Vietnam (only 37 USD with the Asialink eSIM) and 10 * 9.50 USD = 95 USD for Laos (with that money, you can get 50 GB for Laos and 13 other countries with the Asialink eSIM)).
Okay, back to Hong Kong specifically, getting the Airalo Asialink eSIM, and any other Airalo eSIM for that matter, is easy and straightforward (even though I did not spend any time on how to install Airalo eSIMs – you will manage… promise!).
Airalo's Asialink eSIM has the most generous data allowance of any Asia eSIM I know of (1 GB, 3 GB, 5 GB, 10 GB, 50 GB & 100 GB).
In Hong Kong, it uses the CSL Mobile network, which has practically excellent 4G/LTE availability (just like the other Hong Kong mobile operators… so CSL Mobile ain't special 🤪).
And your speeds will often be fast enough for general data browsing and video streaming, but do not have crazy expectations.
Taking all 56 speed tests into account, I had an average overall download speed of 33.16 Mbps and a median download speed of 21.25 Mbps with the Airalo Asialink eSIM in Hong Kong.
When looking at upload speeds, I had an average upload speed of 18.26 Mbps and a median upload speed of 14.39 Mbps with the Airalo Asialink eSIM in Hong Kong.
My CSL Mobile SIM card speeds were not much faster than the Airalo Asialink eSIM (53.01 Mbps download and 20.18 Mbps upload).
And that is a reasonable margin for a travel eSIM roaming on the network of a local mobile operator.
Usually, I consider a margin of 20% or 10 Mbps-15 Mbps similar and acceptable (because the travel eSIM roams on the network of the local mobile operator, which is almost always slower).
By using a near-perfect 4G/LTE network, offering affordable data plans & offering reasonable download speeds, you should have a smooth browsing experience with the Airalo Asialink eSIM in Hong Kong.
>>> Get your Airalo Asialink eSIM now! <<<
Interested in using the Airalo Asialink eSIM in another country or countries? Read my Airalo Asialink eSIM review (tested in numerous countries and counting).
Other Hong Kong eSIM Reviews (Airalo, Holafly, Nomad, Simify & Ubigi)
As mentioned earlier, I also tried out (other) eSIMs from Airalo (Hkmobile and Discover Global), Holafly, Nomad (Hong Kong and APAC), Simify & Ubigi + 3 (UK) travel SIM card by Holidaysimcard.
You should read those reviews too.
>>> Airalo Hkmobile eSIM Review | Airalo Discover Global eSIM in Hong Kong Review | Holafly Hong Kong eSIM Review | Nomad Hong Kong eSIM Review | Nomad APAC eSIM in Hong Kong Review | Simify Hong Kong eSIM Review | Ubigi Hong Kong eSIM Review | 3 (UK) Travel SIM Card by Holidaysimcard in Hong Kong Review (also used in Australia and Singapore) <<<
- Check out my eSIM reviews page if you want to read all the other eSIM reviews I have written, including other eSIM providers in Asia.
I also tried out various local Hong Kong cards: China Mobile Hong Kong, CSL Mobile, 3 Hong Kong & SmarTone Hong Kong.
If your phone does not support eSIM (but felt like reading this Airalo review in full anyway – awesome) or want to have the best network experience possible, you want to go directly with the local mobile operators instead of roaming on their networks (as you do with travel eSIMs).
So I encourage you to read the Hong Kong SIM card reviews too.
>>> China Mobile Hong Kong Review | CSL Mobile Review | 3 Hong Kong Review | SmarTone Hong Kong Review <<<
Check out my reviews page if you want to read all the other reviews I have written, including other Asian SIM cards.