Airalo Discover eSIM in Taiwan Review (+5G Speedtests)

Taiwan is my favorite East Asian destination – perhaps even my favorite Asian country.

During the pandemic, I was in the country for a year (because the government extended everyone's stay/visa every month for 2.5 years).

And it was one of the few countries where life was close to normal.

So yeah, I have a soft spot for Taiwan 😳.

From mountains to tropical forests, staying connected while exploring the country is crucial.

So, while trying to find the best way to stay in Taiwan, I tried out eight travel eSIMs from various eSIM providers, including Airalo's Discover (global) eSIM, and five Taiwanese SIM cards.

I spent over 100 USD for my Taiwan SIM card and travel eSIM review series – I went all out 😎.

I spent way more in 2020 because I was “stuck” in the country for about a year. It was probably the best country to be stuck in during the pandemic!

In most countries, getting a local SIM card is the cheapest way to stay connected (and you will have a local phone number, something you often do not get with a travel eSIM).

But installing an eSIM is quick, easy & convenient, as you do not have to queue up upon landing (after a long flight) or deal with SIM card registration requirements (such as getting your passport details captured in Taiwan – mandated by law).

And travel eSIMs, like Airalo's Discover, are affordable (especially when you plan to visit multiple Asian countries or other ones globally).

But what matters is how the eSIM performed in Taiwan (and neighboring countries) – especially compared to the local mobile operators (and the network Discover uses in the country).

Let's find out.

Original publication: 19^th of January 2024. Last updated: 29^th of February 2024.

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Table of Contents

Airalo's List of Compatible eSIM-Supported Phones

Before I even focus on Airalo's Discover (global) eSIM, does your phone support Airalo eSIMs?

If you have an eSIM-compatible smartphone, it is almost guaranteed that you can use an Airalo eSIM.

While Airalo had to certify phones in the past, almost all are supported nowadays.

As of December 2023, the phones shown in the infographic below are compatible with Airalo eSIMs:

Now we can actually focus on the Discover eSIM (in Taiwan).

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Airalo Discover (Global) eSIM Prices

You can get the Airalo Discover (global) eSIM for between 9 USD (1 GB for 7 days) and 89 USD (20 GB with 200 international minutes and 200 international SMS for 365 days).

You should know that Airalo's Discover eSIM has two variants: Discover and Discover+.

The Discover eSIMs are your standard data-only Airalo eSIMs – but they can be used in 125+ countries globally.

The Discover+ eSIMs, the ones I always get, can also be used in the same 125+ countries. Still, you also get an Austrian (+43) phone number, an international call allowance (up to 200 minutes) & an international SMS allowance (up to 200 SMS).

And you can call and text to any country you want. It does not have to be one of the 125+ supported countries. I confirmed this by calling a random airport in Russia (you cannot use the allowance from the Discover+ eSIM in Russia) from Australia, and it went through.

The eSIM has been a lifesaver in case I need to contact a foreign-based airline or hotel before arrival.

Or even calling back to Australia or the Netherlands while overseas (both my Australian and Dutch mobile operators would charge me an arm and a leg for calling back home!).

The price difference between the two variants is up to 20 USD, and the data allowances will stay the same.

This is an incredible deal, especially when you remember that the previous global offering by Airalo, Discover Global, charged about the same prices as the new one.

But you only got data (up to 20 GB), validity was up to 180 days (instead of 365 days/1 year) & was restricted to 4G/LTE (compared to up to 5G NR access).

Here is a list of all the 12 Airalo Discover(+) eSIM options:

1. Discover 1 GB eSIM for 7 days, costing 9 USD
2. Discover+ 1 GB (with 10 minutes and 10 SMS) eSIM for 7 days, costing 15 USD
3. Discover 2 GB eSIM for 15 days, costing 17 USD
4. Discover+ 2 GB (with 20 minutes and 20 SMS) eSIM for 15 days, costing 27 USD
5. Discover 3 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 24 USD
6. Discover+ 3 GB (with 30 minutes and 30 SMS) eSIM for 30 days, costing 36 USD – very popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
7. Discover 5 GB eSIM for 60 days, costing 35 USD – very popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
8. Discover+ 5 GB (with 50 minutes and 50 SMS) eSIM for 60 days, costing 50 USD
9. Discover 10 GB eSIM for 180 days, costing 59 USD
10. Discover+ 10 GB (with 100 minutes and 100 SMS) eSIM for 180 days, costing 79 USD
11. Discover 20 GB eSIM for 365 days, costing 69 USD – most popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
12. Discover+ 20 GB (with 200 minutes and 200 SMS) eSIM for 365 days, costing 89 USD

>>> Get your Airalo Discover(+) eSIM now! <<<

Note: Phone Travel Wiz reader popularity ranking was updated in December based on data up to the 30^th of December (2023 data only).

In general, purchasing a Discover(+) eSIM does not make sense if you plan to visit only one country (only Taiwan, for example).

For example, 3 GB of data for Airalo's Taiwan eSIM, Xie Xie (review), costs 14 USD.

This would be 24 USD (Discover) or 36 USD (Discover+).

However, the eSIM becomes interesting if you visit multiple countries within the same region during your trip or numerous globally within a year.

If you stay within the same region, regional eSIMs will be much more exciting and cheaper (in the case of East- and Southeast Asia, Airalo's Asialink eSIM (Taiwan review) covers Taiwan and 13 other countries).

But none of them give you a phone number for global use.

If that is important for you, the Discover+ eSIM is for you.

Anyway, the links from earlier will bring you to the product page of the Discover(+) eSIM.

And if you already have the Airalo app installed on your phone, the links will open the respective app (Android or iOS).

Regardless of the currency used in your country, Airalo will always charge you in USD (US Dollar).

What if you buy the 20 GB Discover+ eSIM, as I did, and realize you need another 10 GB of data close to exhausting your data allowance or need more minutes/SMS?

Would you need to purchase a new eSIM? Not at all.

You can top up your Airalo Discover eSIM for the same amount of data and prices as listed earlier.

The 10 GB top-up would still cost 50 USD (or 35 USD for Discover) as if you bought the 10 GB eSIM from the start.

And you can purchase as many top-ups as you wish/need.

That way, you will never run out of data.

A handful of Airalo eSIMs do not allow for top-ups. But that does not apply to the Discover(+) eSIM – so worry not.

You can top-up on the Airalo website or its apps.

And if you buy a top-up before you have fully exhausted your data, call, or text allowance, Airalo will not use your top-up yet.

As a result, the validity of the top-up will not start until you start using the top-up (which is not the case with all travel eSIMs).

But if you run out of data, the top-up will start, regardless of whether you still have enough minutes or SMS left if you have the Discover+ eSIM, like in my case. Just be mindful of this, though.

>>> Get your Airalo Discover(+) eSIM now! <<<

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Airalo Discover (Global) eSIM Country List

The Airalo Discover (global) eSIM can be used in 125+ countries worldwide, including Taiwan.

The eSIM can also be used in all of Taiwan's (very) indirect neighboring countries (Brunei, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea & Vietnam).

Below is a complete overview of countries where the Airalo Discover(+) eSIM works:

As I mentioned, you can save a lot of money by skipping the initial SIM card costs per country you visit, especially if you explore several countries on multiple continents during your trip or within a year.

Moreover, you will save a lot of time and do not have to deal with each country's individual SIM card registration requirements.

>>> Get your Airalo Discover(+) eSIM now! <<<

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My Airalo Discover (Global) eSIM in Taiwan Experience

During this trip, I used my Airalo Discover (global) eSIM mostly in Taipei but also in Kaohsiung, Taiwan & Taoyuan.

The East did not get any love on this trip – I visited Hualien, Taitung & Luodong/Yilan in 2020… boring cities 🗿.

Anyway, travel eSIMs, including the Taiwan eSIM, roam on the networks of local mobile operators.

Airalo is not a mobile (network) operator (MNO), so it partners with various MNOs, which roam on local MNOs' networks.

Okay, that may sound a bit confusing – all you need to know is that you will be treated as a guest on one of the Taiwanese mobile networks while using another network to make this system work.

Airalo's global eSIM uses the Chunghwa Telecom (review) and Taiwan Mobile networks (review) while being powered by Drei Austria (so your phone, some apps, or sites you visit may claim you are using a Drei instead of an Airalo one – that is correct).

So, are Chunghwa Telecom and Taiwan Mobile any good? And which one is better?

Regarding 4G/LTE availability in Taiwan, the aforementioned mobile operators cover almost all populated areas of the country, with a 4G/LTE availability of more than 99.1% for Chunghwa Telecom and 99.2% for Taiwan Mobile, according to Opensignal.

Chunghwa Telecom won the Speedtest Best Mobile Coverage Q2-Q3 2023 award.

If we focus on 5G NR availability, the difference between Chunghwa Telecom (19.2%) and Taiwan Mobile (20.3%) is minimal.

They are behind Far EasTone (25.5% – review) and GT Mobile Taiwan (28.5% – review) but ahead of T Star Taiwan (15.1% – review).

If we look at speeds, Chunghwa Telecom is the fastest in all categories (4G/5G download/upload speed), while Taiwan Mobile is the third-fastest.

We have got to love this consistency 🤪.

I did speed tests with the Speedtest app throughout Taiwan.

For reference, I consider an average download speed of 25 Mbps and an average upload speed of 10 Mbps fast enough.

Why is that? A more than 25 Mbps download speed is enough to video stream content @ 4k resolution.

Social media sites that do live streaming, like Facebook Live, recommend an upload speed of at least 10 Mbps.

I have way higher standards, but not everyone demands a download speed of 500 Mbps 🤪.

In the section below, you will find various colors and formatting.

Results in dark green mean that the result was the fastest download or upload among all SIM cards and travel eSIMs I tested at that location.

Whereas results in light green were the fastest download or upload within the category (among all SIM cards OR all travel eSIMs) but not the fastest when considering the other category.

The same applies to dark red and light orange results – the slowest download or upload among all (dark red) or the slowest within a category (light orange).

All underlined results are on 5G NR, while results in italics are on 3G – results without additional formatting are on 4G/LTE.

That should clear up the colorful speed test results in the next section.

For now, let's see how the Airalo Discover eSIM performed in Taiwan.

>>> Get your Airalo Discover(+) eSIM now! <<<

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Airalo Discover (Global) eSIM in Taipei Speed Test Results

I used my Airalo Discover (global) eSIM mostly in Taipei and a little bit in Kaohsiung, Taipei & Taoyuan.

All travel eSIMs I tested could be on either Chunghwa Telecom (review), Taiwan Mobile (review), or both networks (including the Discover eSIM).

The eSIM chose Taiwan Mobile by default (but you can change it to Chunghwa Telecom in your phone's settings).

So, in the next section, I will compare the Discover results with Taiwan Mobile and the other travel eSIMs that defaulted on the same network.

This includes Airalo Xie Xie (although it should be able to use Chunghwa Telecom as well, it could not connect) and Nomad APAC (same issue as Airalo Xie Xie).

Below are the results:

Being added.