Airalo Eurolink eSIM in Italy Review (+Speedtests)

Italy is a fascinating country.

It has distinct characteristics in each part of the country.

Tuscany (Florence) is known for its vineyards, Naples is the home of Pizza & Northern Italy (South Tyrol/Bolzano) has mountains for skiing.

Italy is a very diverse country, as you can see.

Whether you visit the country for its food or scenery, staying connected is important.

That is why I tried out eight travel eSIMs from various eSIM providers, such as Airalo's Eurolink (Europe) eSIM, to find out which one is the best.

While I also tried the Big Four (Wind Tre, TIM Italy, Vodafone Italy & Iliad Italy) in 2022, getting one of their incredibly cheap SIM cards and plans has become even more challenging in 2024.

Most Italian mobile operators, except Iliad Italy, only want to sell you their expensive or uncompetitive tourist SIM cards.

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 Italy – mandated by law).

So, let's see how Airalo's Eurolink eSIM performed in Italy, right?

Original publication: 10^th of October 2022. Last updated: 2^nd 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 Eurolink (Europe) eSIM (in Italy), 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 Eurolink eSIM (in Italy).

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Airalo Eurolink (Europe) eSIM Prices

You can get the Airalo Eurolink (Europe) eSIM for between 5 USD (1 GB for 7 days) and 185 USD (100 GB for 180 days).

Below is an overview of how much each Airalo Eurolink eSIM costs:

1. Europe/Eurolink 1 GB eSIM for 7 days, costing 5 USD
2. Europe/Eurolink 3 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 13 USD – very popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
3. Europe/Eurolink 5 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 20 USD – most popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
4. Europe/Eurolink 10 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 37 USD – very popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
5. Europe/Eurolink 50 GB eSIM for 90 days, costing 100 USD
6. Europe/Eurolink 100 GB eSIM for 180 days, costing 185 USD

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 an Airalo Europe eSIM does not make sense if you plan to visit only one country (only Italy, for example).

Mostly because of price differences (Eurolink's 10 GB eSIM costs 37 USD, while Mamma Mia's (Italy – review) costs only 24 USD).

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

What if you buy the 50 GB Eurolink eSIM, as I did, and realize you need another 10 GB of data close to exhausting your data allowance?

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

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

The 10 GB top-up would still cost 37 USD 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 Eurolink 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 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 data (which is not the case with all travel eSIMs).

>>> Get your Airalo Eurolink eSIM now! <<<

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Airalo Eurolink (Europe) eSIM Country List

The Airalo Eurolink (Europe) eSIM can be used in 39 countries in Europe, including Italy.

Below is a complete overview of countries where the Airalo Eurolink eSIM works:

Note: 5G NR may only be available on select supported networks and not all. Check out this guide to determine which network you must manually select to experience 5G NR speeds.

With the Airalo Eurolink 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 two or more countries in Europe, getting the Airalo Euroink eSIM will be convenient AND will save you a lot of money.

>>> Get your Airalo Eurolink eSIM now! <<<

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My Airalo Eurolink eSIM in Italy Experience

I used my Airalo Eurolink (Europe) eSIM only in Milan during this trip (2023).

But I also used the eSIM in 2022 in Catania (Sicily) and Rome.

The 2022 Eurolink eSIM was powered by FL1 Telecom/Telecom Liechtenstein (the same provider powering the old Airalo Discover Global eSIM).

While it worked alright in Europe, eSIMs powered by FL1 Telecom were awful outside of Europe.

So, I was glad Airalo finally found a new partner somewhere in late 2022 or early 2023 (for your benefit).

As a result, I will not go over the 2022 results because they are not relevant anymore.

Anyway, travel eSIMs, including the Europe 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 Italian mobile networks while using another network to make this system work.

Airalo's Europe eSIM uses the Wind Tre (review), TIM Italy (with 5G NR access – review) & Vodafone Italy (review) networks while being powered by Webbing/Orange France (so your phone, some apps, or sites you visit may claim you are on Webbing instead of Airalo – that is correct).

In my case, the eSIM used Wind Tre by default, but you can change it to TIM (with 5G NR access) or Vodafone in your phone's settings.

If you wonder why I did not use TIM's 5G NR in Milan, I have no answer. Either 5G NR access was added later, or I forgot about it 🗿.

So, which Italian mobile operator is the best? Would Wind Tre be one of them?

All Italian mobile operators, including Iliad and Fastweb Italy, cover almost all of Italy, with a 4G/LTE availability score of more than 94.5% (TIM Italy), according to Opensignal.

If we focus on 5G NR availability, there is still room for improvement for TIM Italy, as it has a score of 5.5%.

Behind Vodafone Italy (12.4%) and way behind Fastweb Italy (21.1%), Iliad Italy (21.5%) & Wind Tre (24.8%).

Wind Tre and Fastweb Italy also have the best 5G NR Coverage experience (5.11 on a ten-point scale). Ahead of Vodafone Italy (2.99), Iliad Italy (2.87) & TIM Italy (1.13).

So what about speeds?

Opensignal determined the average download speeds between the five Italian mobile operators (26.9 Mbps with Iliad Italy and 37.9 Mbps with Vodafone Italy).

The same applies to upload speeds but are significantly lower (between 7.3 Mbps with Iliad Italy and 10.4 Mbps with Vodafone Italy).

The figures are much more exciting when we look at 5G NR download speeds.

While Iliad (71.2 Mbps) and Wind Tre (101.9 Mbps) are on the lower end, significantly faster speeds are available with Fastweb Italy (139.7 Mbps) but especially Vodafone Italy (202.2 Mbps) and TIM Italy (239.3 Mbps).

On average, 5G NR upload speeds are about twice as fast as the 4G/LTE ones (11.9 Mbps with Iliad Italy and 22.8 Mbps with TIM Italy).

But remember, TIM Italy's 5G NR network is minimal compared to its competitors.

So, for the fastest speeds, selecting TIM Italy would be the best option if you can pick it.

But only when it has 5G NR coverage in the place(s) you intend to visit.

I did speed tests with the Speedtest app throughout Milan.

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 Mamma Mia eSIM performed in Catania (2022), Milan (2023) & Rome (2022).

>>> Get your Airalo Eurolink eSIM now! <<<

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Airalo Eurolink (Europe) eSIM in Milan Speed Test Results

I used my Airalo Eurolink (Europe) eSIM only in Milan.

I am excluding the old results of 2022 in Catania and Rome.

Most travel eSIMs could use Wind Tre, TIM Italy, and/or Vodafone Italy.

Some can also use Iliad Italy, while others can only use one Italian mobile operator.

In my case, the eSIM defaulted to Wind Tre (like most of the eSIMs I tested).

The Airalo Mamma Mia (Italy) eSIM (review) was also on Wind Tre and powered by Webbing/Orange France, but it could use (Wind Tre's) 5G NR, even though it is (still) not mentioned on the Airalo product page).

So, the next section will mainly compare the Airalo Mamma Mia and Airalo Eurolink eSIMs.

Below are the results:

>>> Get your Airalo Eurolink eSIM now! <<<

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My Overall Experience with the Airalo Eurolink (Europe) eSIM in Italy – Is It Worth Your Money?

I would recommend the Airalo Eurolink eSIM, and it would be one of my top recommendations for anyone wanting to buy a European travel eSIM (but not if you only visit Italy).

Getting the Airalo Eurolink eSIM or any other Airalo eSIM is extremely easy.

Airalo is one of the few eSIM providers that allow you to install an eSIM directly to your phone (without the need to scan a QR code), which makes the installation process a piece of cake (hence, I did not spend any time on how to install in this review – it is easy!).

Moreover, you do not have to adjust the APN settings with the Airalo Eurolink eSIM, making it more manageable.

You can access the Wind Tre, TIM Italy (with 5G NR access) & Vodafone Italy networks.

My phone used Wind Tre by default (no 5G NR access).

Surprisingly, the Airalo Mamma Mia (Italy) eSIM (review) did have 5G NR access on Wind Tre, even though it is not mentioned on the product page.

To add to the surprise, 4G/LTE speeds were faster than 5G NR speeds (by about 16%).

Both eSIMs were powered by the same provider, Webbing/Orange France, so this was a direct apple-to-apple comparison.

The average download speed with Airalo's Mamma Mia eSIM was 66.05 Mbps, while it was 78.69 Mbps with Airalo's Eurolink eSIM.

So even if you were to purchase the Mamma Mia eSIM, stick to 4G/LTE for better speeds.

>>> Get your Airalo Eurolink eSIM now! <<<

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Italy eSIM & SIM Card Reviews

Besides Airalo's Eurolink (Europe) eSIM, I also tried other Airalo eSIMs and other travel eSIMs in the country.

I encourage you to read those reviews to decide which eSIM suits your needs.

>>> Airalo Mamma Mia eSIM in Italy | Airalo Discover Global eSIM in Italy (not sold anymore) | Alosim Taiwan eSIM | Holafly Europe eSIM in Italy | Holaly Asia eSIM in Taiwan | Maya Mobile Europe eSIM in Italy| Mobimatter Europe eSIM in Italy | Nomad Europe eSIM in Italy <<<

No clickable link above? The review is being written. Come back later or sign up for the Phone Travel Wiz newsletter to get notified!

Besides travel eSIMs, I also tried Italian SIM cards (the year before).

You can find those below.

>>> Wind Tre | TIM Italy | Vodafone Italy | Iliad Italy <<<

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