Airalo Red Sand eSIM in Saudi Arabia Review (+5G Speedtests)

Many people visit Saudi Arabia for religious reasons (Hajj and Umrah).

And as of 2019, the Kingdom opened up to tourism (which was surprisingly close to impossible before that time).

Being in the top 15 largest countries worldwide (rank 13), staying connected while exploring the country is crucial.

So, while trying to find the best way to stay in Saudi Arabia, I tried out seven travel eSIMs from various eSIM providers, including Airalo's Red Sand (formerly Salaam) eSIM, and three Saudi SIM cards.

I spent over 250 USD for my Saudi Arabia SIM card and travel eSIM review series – I went all out 😎.

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 and fingerprints captured in Saudi Arabia – mandated by law).

And travel eSIMs, like Airalo's Red Sand, are relatively affordable (especially compared to international roaming).

But what matters is how the eSIM performed in Saudi Arabia – especially compared to the local mobile operators (and the network Red Sand uses in the Kingdom).

Let's get started.

Original publication: 11^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 Red Sand (formerly Salaam) 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 Red Sand eSIM.

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How Much Does the Airalo Red Sand (formerly Salaam) eSIM for Saudi Arabia Cost?

You can get the Airalo Red Sand (Saudi Arabia) eSIM for between 5 USD (1 GB for 7 days) and 44 USD (20 GB for 30 days).

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

1. Saudi Arabia/Red Sand 1 GB eSIM for 7 days, costing 5 USD
2. Saudi Arabia/Red Sand 2 GB eSIM for 15 days, costing 8.50 USD
3. Saudi Arabia/Red Sand 3 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 11 USD – very popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
4. Saudi Arabia/Red Sand 5 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 16 USD – very popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
5. Saudi Arabia/Red Sand 10 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 27 USD – most popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
6. Saudi Arabia/Red Sand 20 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 44 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).

>>> Get your Airalo Red Sand eSIM now! <<<

The links above will bring you to the product page of the Red Sand 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 5 GB Red Sand eSIM, as I did, and realize you need another 3 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 Red Sand eSIM for the same amount of data and prices as listed earlier.

The 3 GB top-up would still cost 11 USD as if you bought the 3 GB eSIM from the start.

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 Red Sand 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 Red Sand eSIM now! <<<

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My Airalo Red Sand (formerly Salaam) eSIM in Saudi Arabia Experience

During this trip, I used my Airalo Red Sand (formerly Salaam) eSIM only in Jeddah.

Although I plan on testing the eSIM in various other Saudi cities in the (near) future.

Travel eSIMs, including the Red Sand eSIM, roam on the networks of local mobile operators.

Airalo itself 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 Saudi mobile networks while using another network to make this system work.

Airalo's Saudi Arabia eSIM uses the Zain Saudi Arabia network (review) while being powered by Edge Mobile LLC/AT&T from the United States (so your phone, some apps, or sites you visit may claim you are on Edge Mobile LLC instead of Airalo – that is correct).

So, is Zain Saudi Arabia any good? Kind of.

Regarding 4G/LTE availability in Saudi Arabia, the three mobile operators cover almost all populated areas of the country, with an availability of more than 95.7%.

If we focus on 5G NR availability, Zain Saudi Arabia is behind (19.9%) but not by much (20.8% for Mobily (review) and 22% for STC Saudi Arabia (review)).

If we look at speeds, Zain Saudi Arabia is supposed to be the slowest in all categories (4G/5G download/upload speed).

Do not worry yet; these figures are worse than Zain's actual performance (in Jeddah) due to Opensignal not having as many data points as Speedtest typically has (but it has not made a recent report for the Kingdom at the time of writing).

I did speed tests with the Speedtest app throughout Jeddah.

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 Red Sand eSIM performed in Jeddah.

>>> Get your Airalo Red Sand eSIM now! <<<

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Airalo Red Sand (Saudi Arabia) eSIM in Jeddah Speed Test Results

I tried to test the Airalo Red Sand (formerly Salaam) eSIM as much as I could.

But as I mentioned before, getting into the city from the airport took thrice as long and the next day's flight was moved forward by hours, leaving me with little time to explore Jeddah (which in turn meant fewer test locations).

Worry not; I will revisit Jeddah/Saudi Arabia for sure and get more results for you in the (near) future.

The majority of travel eSIMs I tested used the Zain Saudi Arabia network (including the Red Sand eSIM).

So I will compare the Red Sand results with Zain Saudi Arabia and all the other travel eSIMs using the same network.

This includes Airalo Menalink (Middle East), Airalo Discover (global – can also use Mobily), Alosim (can also use Mobily), Holafly (can also use Mobily), Nomad Saudi Arabia (can also use Mobily) & Nomad Middle East (can also use STC Saudi Arabia).

Below are the results:

>>> Get your Airalo Red Sand eSIM now! <<<

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My Overall Experience with the Airalo Red Sand (formerly Salaam) eSIM in Saudi Arabia – Is It Worth Your Money?

I would recommend the Airalo Red Sand (formerly Salaam), and it would be one of my top eSIM recommendations for anyone wanting to buy an eSIM for Saudi Arabia.

Getting the Airalo Red Sand 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 Red Sand eSIM, making it more manageable.

In other news, Airalo's Red Sand eSIMs were one of the more affordable eSIMs I tested on this trip while also having one of the most options to choose from (1 GB, 3 GB, 5 GB, 10 GB & 20 GB).

The Red Sand eSIM uses the Zain Saudi Arabia network (review), which has extensive 4G/LTE availability throughout the country.

And its 5G NR coverage is good in urban areas – and yes, you get 5G NR access with the Airalo Saudi Arabia eSIM.

Among the seven travel eSIMs I tested in Jeddah, the Red Sand eSIM had the second-fastest download speed (slightly behind Alosim Saudi Arabia (review) – also on the Zain KSA network).

With an average download speed of 122.49 Mbps, you do not have to worry about slow speeds with the Airalo Red Sand eSIM.

When looking at upload speeds, it also performed well – 16.97 Mbps.

All the other travel eSIMs on the Zain KSA network, except for Airalo Discover+ (review), had an average upload speed of more than 12 Mbps, which is fast enough for HD live streaming.

Moreover, those eSIMs are not (significantly) cheaper than Airalo's (with Alosim having the same prices), so the price-to-performance ratio is excellent for Red Sand.

You may want to consider Holafly's Saudi Arabia eSIMs (review) if 20 GB of data is insufficient or if you do not want to deal with data allowances.

Holafly offers unlimited data plans for 5 days, 7 days, 10 days, 15 days & 20 days between 19 USD and 54 USD (product page).

But Holafly throttles speeds for unlimited data eSIMs significantly, so it must be a trade-off you are willing to make.

Anyway, by using a near-perfect 4G/LTE network, offering affordable data plans & offering super-fast download speeds, you should have a smooth browsing experience with the Airalo Red Sand eSIM.

>>> Get your Airalo Red Sand eSIM now! <<<

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Saudi Arabia eSIM & SIM Card Reviews

Besides Airalo's Red Sand eSIM (formerly Salaam), I also tried other Airalo eSIMs and other travel eSIMs in the Kingdom.

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

>>> Airalo Menalink (Middle East) eSIM in Saudi Arabia | Airalo Discover (global) eSIM in Saudi Arabia | Alosim Saudi Arabia eSIM | Holafly Saudi Arabia eSIM | Nomad Saudi Arabia eSIM | Nomad Middle East eSIM in Saudi Arabia <<<

Besides travel eSIMs, I also tried Saudi SIM cards.

You can find those below.

>>> STC Saudi Arabia | Mobily | Zain Saudi Arabia <<<

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