Truth be told – I love the people at Alosim.
Mostly because they take my concerns and suggestions seriously (although it took a bit for them to do this anyway 🙄).
When I started working with Alosim, it had five different eSIMs to be used within Europe.
The Eastern Europe eSIM (11 countries), Mediterranean eSIM (six countries), Scandinavia (four countries), United Kingdom and Ireland & Western Europe (four countries).
Yeah… that is quite a split… so why not have a Europe-wide eSIM?
It took months to get Alosim on board to introduce a Europe eSIM, but it eventually did.
My contact at Alosim claimed they had to do many administrative things for it to happen, which is why it took so long. Although I mostly feel they do not know how popular Europe-wide eSIMs are. They are one of the the most bought eSIMs by Phone Travel Wiz readers for Airalo, Holafly & Nomad (all in the top three at least).
The only issue is that the eSIM was released when I was more than halfway through my Europe trip in the summer of 2023.
I visited the United Kingdom and Spain on my own (June). Then my boyfriend and his mom joined me in Italy, Switzerland (+Liechtenstein), the Czech Republic, Germany & the Netherlands (July).
I used the eSIM in Switzerland (+Liechtenstein) and Germany only.
I do not recall why I did not use it in the Czech Republic. And I did not use it in the Netherlands because I started my testing in June and could not revisit the locations.
But I did use the country-specific Alosim eSIMs in the United Kingdom, Spain, the Netherlands & Italy.
And they are the almost identical eSIMs – just that the Europe eSIM can be used region-wide, while the country ones are geo-restricted.
As a result, I will consider the Alosim results of the aforementioned countries in this review, as they should be similar.
So let's get started!
Original publication: 21st of September 2023. Last updated: 15th of January 2024.
Table of Contents
Which Phones are Compatible with Alosim eSIMs?
Before discussing the Alosim Europe eSIM, you must know whether your phone can even support Alosim's eSIMs.
Sure, your phone may support eSIM, but the local mobile operator and travel eSIM provider, like Alosim, 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 Alosim eSIMs:
My lovely graphic designers are creating the infographic 😘.
>>> Get your Alosim Europe eSIM and use code “PTW” for 5% off! <<<
With that out of the way, let's talk more about the Alosim Europe eSIM!
How Much Does the Alosim Europe eSIM Cost?
You can get the Alosim Europe eSIM for as little as 5 USD for 1 GB of data (7 days) and up to 37 USD for 10 GB (30 days). The eSIM can be used in 32 countries 1 with five options: 1 GB/7 days, 2 GB/15 days, 3 GB/30 days, 5 GB/30 days & 10 GB/30 days.
1 note that although most eSIM providers cover all countries in the European Union (+the European Economic Area), the Alosim Europe eSIM does not yet. It does not work in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Poland & Sweden (but Alosim informed me that it is working on including those countries to the plans
Below is an overview of how much each Alosim Europe eSIM costs:
- Europe 1 GB eSIM for 7 days, costing 5 USD – very popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
- Europe 2 GB eSIM for 15 days, costing 8 USD – most popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
- Europe 3 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 13 USD
- Europe 5 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 20 USD – most popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
- Europe 10 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 37 USD
Note: Phone Travel Wiz reader popularity ranking was updated in September based on data up to the 20th of September (2023 data only).
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 Alosim Europe 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 Alosim Europe 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 10 GB top-up (30 days, costing 47 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 Alosim allows you to do so.
>>> Get your Alosim Europe eSIM and use code “PTW” for 5% off! <<<
In Which Countries Can the Alosim Europe eSIM Be Used?
The Alosim Europe eSIM can be used in 32 countries in the European Union (EU – most), European Economic Area (EEA – most), and various others such as Montenegro, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey & the United Kingdom.
No idea which countries are in the EU and EEA? Worry not; it can be hard to remember them all – I do not blame you😜.
The Alosim Europe eSIM can be used in the following 32 countries:
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia 1
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic 1
- Estonia
- France
- Germany
- Greece 1
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Italy
- Jersey
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Montenegro
- Netherlands
- Portugal 1
- Romania
- Russia
- Serbia
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Switzerland
- Turkey
- United Kingdom
1 5G NR access
With the Alosim Europe 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 European countries, getting the Alosim Europe eSIM will be convenient AND will save you a lot of money too.
>>> Get your Alosim Europe eSIM and use code “PTW” for 5% off! <<<
My Alosim Europe eSIM Experiences
I used the Alosim Europe eSIM in Switzerland and Germany, and country-specific Alosim eSIMs in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Spain & Italy.
And as the results should be similar because they are the same eSIMs (with the country-specific ones being geo-restricted), I am including the results of the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Spain & Italy in this review too.
Before continuing, I want to tell you how travel eSIM providers like Alosim work.
It is impossible for Alosim, 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 Alosim or many other travel eSIM providers, will not result in a 5000 USD roaming bill.
What Alosim does, and basically all (actual) mobile operators do, is partner up with a local mobile operator so their customers can stay connected abroad.
In the case of the Alosim Europe eSIM, it uses the networks of more than 40 local mobile operators through Play Poland.
Some of these networks are good, but some of them suck.
But performance through Play Poland has always been quite bad, which is why Alosim is working on changing that soon.
Various eSIM providers used to work with Play Poland in the past (due to accessibility and affordability. But they have learned it… is not the best partner in terms of performance). Many have moved away from Play Poland (after sharing my results with them) or are moving away). For example, Nomad used Play Poland (and Truphone) for its Europe eSIMs. Now, it uses Tele2 Sweden).
While I will extensively test the Alosim Europe eSIM in each city and country I visit, I will not analyze it in-depth in this review.
Not because I do not want to, but otherwise, this review will be excessively long after analyzing a handful of countries.
So, I will give you a “brief” analysis, which is still elaborate (lol), of the eSIM's performance per country and will link to the in-depth country-specific review, like my Alosim Europe experience in Italy.
That way, this review loads fast on your end, and you can have a quick overview of which countries the eSIM works well and which ones it does not.
But you can click the links below to jump to the country you are interested in – or read about them all!
Alosim Europe eSIM in Germany Experience + Speed Test Results
I used the Alosim Europe eSIM eSIM in Berlin, where you can only be on the O2 Germany network (this applies to the Alosim Germany eSIM too – this is different from most countries where you can pick and choose a local network).
Taking all 29 speed tests I did in Germany into account, I had an average overall download speed of 74.73 Mbps and a median download speed of 68.66 Mbps with the Alosim Europe eSIM.
Compared to the global median in August 2023 (43.20 Mbps), the Alosim Europe eSIM did amazingly well.
When looking at upload speeds, I had an average upload speed of 12.86 Mbps and a median upload speed of 9.13 Mbps with the Alosim Europe eSIM in Germany.
And that was… decent. The global median was 10.23 Mbps.
Alosim eSIM in Italy Experience + Speed Test Results
I used my Alosim Italy eSIM in Milan, where I could access three of the five Italian networks (Wind Tre, Vodafone Italy & Iliad Italy – this applies to the Alosim Europe eSIM too).
In my case, my phone defaulted to Iliad Italy.
Taking all 24 speed tests I did in Italy into account, I had an average overall download speed of 54.97 Mbps and a median download speed of 40.39 Mbps with the Alosim Italy eSIM.
Compared to the global median in August 2023 (43.20 Mbps), the Alosim Italy eSIM did well.
When looking at upload speeds, I had an average upload speed of 10.97 Mbps and a median upload speed of 8.15 Mbps with the Alosim Italy eSIM.
And that was… decent. The global median was 10.23 Mbps.
Alosim eSIM in the Netherlands Experience + Speed Test Results
I used my Alosim Netherlands eSIM in Amsterdam and Breda, where you can only be on the KPN network (this applies to the Alosim Europe eSIM too – this is different from most countries where you can pick and choose a local network).
Taking all 28 speed tests I did in the Netherlands into account, I had an average overall download speed of 48.55 Mbps and a median download speed of 47.10 Mbps with the Alosim Netherlands eSIM.
Compared to the global median in August 2023 (43.20 Mbps), the Alosim Netherlands eSIM did alright.
When looking at upload speeds, I had an average upload speed of 16.77 Mbps and a median upload speed of 14.32 Mbps with the Alosim Netherlands eSIM.
And that was… decent. The global median was 10.23 Mbps.
Alosim eSIM in Spain Experience + Speed Test Results
I used my Alosim Spain eSIM in Málaga, where I could access two of the four Spanish networks (Movistar Spain and Yoigo – this applies to the Alosim Europe eSIM too).
For some reason, I did not write down which network my phone defaulted to 🗿.
Taking all 16 speed tests I did in Spain into account, I had an average overall download speed of 52.55 Mbps and a median download speed of 44.87 Mbps with the Alosim Spain eSIM.
Compared to the global median in August 2023 (43.20 Mbps), the Alosim Spain eSIM did exceptionally well.
When looking at upload speeds, I had an average upload speed of 13.43 Mbps and a median upload speed of 7.73 Mbps with the Alosim Spain eSIM.
And that was… decent. The global median was 10.23 Mbps.
Alosim Europe eSIM in Switzerland Experience + Speed Test Results
I used my Alosim Europe eSIM mostly in Zürich, where you can only be on the Sunrise Switzerland network (this applies to the Alosim Switzerland eSIM too – this is different from most countries where you can pick and choose a local network).
Taking all 25 speed tests I did in Switzerland into account, I had an average overall download speed of 62.62 Mbps and a median download speed of 54.71 Mbps with the Alosim Europe eSIM.
Compared to the global median in August 2023 (43.20 Mbps), the Alosim Europe eSIM did amazingly well.
When looking at upload speeds, I had an average upload speed of 19.77 Mbps and a median upload speed of 18.38 Mbps with the Alosim Europe eSIM in Switzerland.
And that was… fast. The global median was 10.23 Mbps.
Alosim eSIM in the United Kingdom Experience + Speed Test Results
I used my Alosim United Kingdom eSIM in London, where I could access three of the four British networks (Wind Tre, Vodafone Italy & Iliad Italy – this applies to the Alosim Europe eSIM too).
Taking all 20 speed tests I did in the United Kingdom into account, I had an average overall download speed of 71.72 Mbps and a median download speed of 65.51 Mbps with the Alosim Europe eSIM.
Compared to the global median in August 2023 (43.20 Mbps), the Alosim Europe eSIM did poorly.
However, the overall performance with the British mobile operators was disappointing in London overall (which affected the eSIMs) – I expected better (3 UK did alright because it had 5G NR access for prepaid customers).
Anyway…
When looking at upload speeds, I had an average upload speed of 16.44 Mbps and a median upload speed of 8.91 Mbps with the Alosim Europe eSIM in the United Kingdom.
And that was… decent. The global median was 10.23 Mbps.