In mid-January of 2022, I decided to do something crazy.
As I had not been on a trip since March 2021 because of COVID travel restrictions, I decided that I would catch up on the lost travel time and go on a trip.
So I went to Portugal, Spain, Andorra, Italy, Malta, Greece, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia & Slovenia, in that order, in March.
Yeah… it was intense… but fun! 😎
This also allowed me to (re-)test various local SIM cards, but also (new) travel eSIMs, such as Nomad's Europe eSIM.
So besides trying out four Portuguese local SIM cards (MEO Portugal, NOS Portugal, Vodafone Portugal & Lycamobile Portugal (Vodafone Portugal MVNO)), I tested the Airalo Eurolink eSIM, the Nomad Europe eSIM & SimCorner Europe travel SIM card to find out which option is the best for Portugal.
And I will share my results in this review.
Original publication: 30th of December 2022. Last updated: 15th of January 2024.
Table of Contents
Which Phones are Compatible with Nomad eSIMs?
Before discussing the Nomad Europe eSIM, you must know whether your phone can even support Nomad's eSIMs.
Unlike most travel eSIM providers, Nomad claims that every eSIM-compatible phone can use its eSIMs.
So that makes things easy 😎.
But the image will still give you an overview of the most popular phones that support eSIM.
As of August 2023, the phones shown in the infographic below are compatible with Nomad eSIMs:
With that out of the way, let's talk more about the Nomad Europe eSIM!
>>> Get your Nomad Europe eSIM and use code “ADU123” for 3 USD/2.70 EUR/2.40 GBP/4.05 CAD off! <<<
How Much Does the Nomad Europe eSIM Cost?
You can get the Nomad Europe eSIM for as little as 6 USD for 1 GB of data (7 days) and up to 26 USD for 10 GB (30 days). The eSIM can be used in Portugal and 34 other European nations with four 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.
Note that Nomad recently introduced a two-tier system for its Europe eSIM: one for 30 countries and the other for 35 countries.
Fortunately, the Nomad Europe 35 countries variant is only up to 3 USD more expensive than the 30 countries version.
Below is an overview of how much each Nomad Europe eSIM costs:
- Europe 1 GB eSIM for 7 days (30 countries by Tele2 Sweden), costing 5 USD
- Europe 1 GB eSIM for 7 days (35 countries by Truphone), costing 5 USD
- Europe 3 GB eSIM for 15 days (30 countries by Tele2 Sweden), costing 12 USD
- Europe 3 GB eSIM for 30 days (35 countries by Truphone), costing 13 USD
- Europe 5 GB eSIM for 30 days (30 countries by Tele2 Sweden), costing 14 USD – very popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
- Europe 5 GB eSIM for 30 days (35 countries by Truphone), costing 9 USD – very popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
- Europe 10 GB eSIM for 30 days (30 countries by Tele2 Sweden), costing 22 USD – very popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
- Europe 10 GB eSIM for 30 days (35 countries by Truphone), costing 22 USD – very popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
- Europe 15 GB eSIM for 30 days (30 countries by Tele2 Sweden), costing 29 USD
- Europe 15 GB eSIM for 30 days (35 countries by Truphone), costing 29 USD
- Europe 20 GB eSIM for 30 days (30 countries by Tele2 Sweden), costing 35 USD – most popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
- Europe 20 GB eSIM for 30 days (35 countries by Truphone), costing 35 USD – most popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
Europe 30 GB eSIM for 30 days (35 countries by Truphone), costing 70 USDEurope 40 GB eSIM for 30 days (35 countries by Truphone), costing 90 USD
Note: Phone Travel Wiz reader popularity ranking was updated in September based on data up to the 13th of September (2023 data only).
>>> Get your Nomad Europe eSIM and use code “ADU123” for 3 USD/2.70 EUR/2.40 GBP/4.05 CAD off! <<<
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 Nomad 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 Nomad Europe eSIM but realize you need more data.
You can top it up with the 3 GB Nomad Europe top-up or the 10 GB Nomad Europe top-up.
Many eSIM providers out there do not allow you to top up or extend the validity of your eSIM, so it is cool that Nomad allows you to do so.
>>> Get your Nomad Europe eSIM and use code “ADU123” for 3 USD/2.70 EUR/2.40 GBP/4.05 CAD off! <<<
In Which Countries Can the Nomad Europe eSIM Be Used?
The Nomad Europe eSIM can be used in Portugal and 24 or 34 other European countries, depending on the chosen variant, including most nations in the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area and a few other European countries, including Monaco, San Marino & the United Kingdom.
Below is a complete overview of countries the Nomad Europe eSIM works:
- Austria 1, 2
- Belgium 1, 2
- Bulgaria 2
- Croatia 1, 2
- Cyprus 2
- Czech Republic 1, 2
- Denmark 1, 2
- Estonia 1, 2
- Finland 1, 2
- France 1, 2
- Germany 1, 2
- Greece 1, 2
- Hungary 1, 2
- Iceland 1, 2
- Ireland 1, 2
- Italy 1, 2
- Latvia 2
- Liechtenstein 2
- Lithuania 2
- Luxembourg 1, 2
- Malta 1, 2
- Monaco 2
- Netherlands 1, 2
- Norway 1, 2
- Poland 2
- Portugal 1, 2
- Romania 2
- San Marino 2
- Slovakia 1, 2
- Slovenia 1, 2
- Spain 1, 2
- Sweden 1, 2
- Switzerland 2
- Vatican City 2
- United Kingdom 1, 2
1 25 countries variant
2 35 countries variant
With the Nomad Europe eSIM, you can save a lot of money by skipping the initial SIM card costs per country you visit – averaging 10.78 USD/country in Europe!
>>> Get your Nomad Europe eSIM and use code “ADU123” for 3 USD/2.70 EUR/2.40 GBP/4.05 CAD off! <<<
If you want to visit other countries outside of Europe, consider the Nomad Global eSIM, which can be used in 110 countries, including Portugal.
But be aware it is a very expensive eSIM (so expensive that I do not use it – 1 GB/20 USD, 3 GB/48 USD & 5 GB/54 USD).
Instead, I have an ongoing review for the Airalo Discover Global eSIM (which is much cheaper than the Nomad Global eSIM), letting you know in which countries you should consider it and which ones you should avoid it.
>>> Get your Nomad Europe eSIM and use code “ADU123” for 3 USD/2.70 EUR/2.40 GBP/4.05 CAD off! <<<
My Nomad Europe eSIM in Portugal Experience
I used my Nomad Europe eSIM in Portugal and seven other countries (Spain, Italy, Malta, Greece, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria & Slovakia) on my one-month Europe trip (and I will use it in various other countries in 2023 – I had to head back to Australia because my boyfriend wanted me back 🤪).
Before we continue, I do want to let you know how travel eSIM providers like Nomad 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 Nomad or many other travel eSIM providers, will not result in a 4500 USD roaming bill.
What Nomad does, and basically all (actual) mobile operators do, is partner up with a local mobile operator so that their customers can still stay connected abroad.
In the case of Portugal, the Nomad Europe eSIM uses the MEO Portugal network.
As you can expect, I also bought a(n) MEO Portugal SIM card and tried it out.
MEO Portugal allowed, and still allows, prepaid customers to use its 5G NR network, while I could not with the Nomad Europe eSIM.
So using the Nomad Europe eSIM was a good test to see how MEO Portugal's 4G/LTE network performs while roaming on it.
Besides using a(n) MEO Portugal SIM card, I also tried out other Portugal SIM cards in Porto: NOS Portugal, Vodafone Portugal & Lycamobile Portugal – you can read those reviews too.
Regarding 4G/LTE availability, MEO Portugal has the worst availability, with an availability score of 95.6%. Behind NOS Portugal (96.4%) and Vodafone Portugal (97.8%).
But an availability percentage of 95% is still impressive.
When looking at 5G NR, MEO Portugal is also losing the 5G NR availability race (8.7%), behind Vodafone Portugal (10.3%) and NOS Portugal (20.9%).
That is enough background information – let's see how the Nomad Europe eSIM performed compared to MEO Portugal, the Airalo Eurolink eSIM & the SimCorner Europe SIM card:
Super fast speeds with the Nomad Europe eSIM in Portugal!
The eSIM's peak performance was at Vila Nova de Gaia Station, with a download speed of 134.68 Mbps.
MEO Portugal, on the other hand, had a download speed of 195.57 Mbps on 5G NR.
Anyway, I had an average download speed of 70.29 Mbps and a median download speed of 62.11 Mbps with the Nomad Europe eSIM: it passed the 4K video streaming test in Portugal (minimum of 25 Mbps).
The same can be said for the HD live streaming test in Portugal – the Nomad Europe eSIM had an average upload speed of 20.83 Mbps and a median upload speed of 21.58 Mbps, making it pass the HD live streaming test (minimum of 10 Mbps).
Honestly… there is nothing bad to say about these results, except that the Nomad Europe eSIM had no reception at Bem Bom Grupo Boca Doce in Porto, but my MEO Portugal SIM card did not work there either, so it was not Nomad's fault.
>>> Get your Nomad Europe eSIM and use code “ADU123” for 3 USD/2.70 EUR/2.40 GBP/4.05 CAD off! <<<
By the way, I encourage you to read the Airalo Eurolink in Portugal review or the Airalo Eurolink in 11 countries review too because its eSIMs cover more countries, have more generous data allowances & longer validity (up to 100 GB for 185 days).
My Overall Experience with the Airalo Eurolink eSIM in Portugal – Is It Any Good?
I would recommend the Nomad Europe eSIM for Portugal, and it would be one of my top recommendations for anyone wanting to buy a Europe travel eSIM (even if you were to use it only in Portugal).
>>> Get your Nomad Europe eSIM and use code “ADU123” for 3 USD/2.70 EUR/2.40 GBP/4.05 CAD off! <<<
So why would I recommend an eSIM that can be used in 25 or 35 countries if you were to only visit Portugal?
That is because the prices for the Nomad Portugal and Europe eSIMs are similar (for the 25 countries variant).
The Nomad Europe eSIM is up to 2 USD more expensive than the Nomad Portugal one.
So yeah… it does not really matter lol 🗿.
Of course, there is no point in buying the Nomad Europe eSIM if you are only staying in Portugal.
However, this tells you that if you visit two or more European countries on your trip, you should always go for the Nomad Europe eSIM instead of the country-specific ones.
Because you will end up spending much more on the Nomad country-specific eSIMs instead of just one Nomad Europe eSIM.
I have to say that this pricing strategy is unusual – for example, I recommend getting the Airalo Eurolink or Discover Global eSIMs if you visit multiple European countries because you pay a premium to use those eSIMs in multiple countries.
In the case of Nomad, you can say you do not pay a premium for that privilege.
Anyway, Nomad's Europe eSIMs have become much more affordable over the months, making it the Europe eSIM I know of.
And it offers quite some options too (1 GB, 3 GB, 5 GB & 10 GB).
In Portugal, the Nomad Europe eSIM uses the MEO Portugal network, which has fast speeds.
In fact, I used its 5G NR network in Porto, and the speeds are ridicilously fast.
Hopefully, the Nomad Europe eSIM can use 5G NR soon too 😏.
Taking all 12 speed tests into account, I had an average overall download speed of 70.29 Mbps and a median download speed of 62.11 Mbps with the Nomad Europe eSIM in Portugal.
When looking at upload speeds, I had an average upload speed of 20.83 Mbps and a median upload speed of 21.58 Mbps with the Nomad Europe eSIM in Portugal.
The Airalo Eurolink eSIM performed slightly worse in Portugal, with an average download speed of 58.94 Mbps and an average upload speed of 12.32 Mbps.
Anyway, by using an extensive 4G/LTE network, offering affordable data plans & offering fast download speeds, you should have a smooth browsing experience with the Nomad Europe eSIM in Portugal.
>>> Get your Nomad Europe eSIM and use code “ADU123” for 3 USD/2.70 EUR/2.40 GBP/4.05 CAD off! <<<
Interested in using the Nomad Europe eSIM in another country or countries? Read my Nomad Europe eSIM review (tested in eight countries).
Other Portuguese eSIM & Travel SIM Card Reviews (Airalo & SimCorner)
As mentioned earlier, I also tried out the Airalo Eurolink eSIM and SimCorner O2 Europe SIM card when I was in Portugal and various other European countries.
You should read those reviews too.
>>> Nomad Europe (in other countries) eSIM Review | Airalo Eurolink (in Portugal) eSIM Review | Airalo Eurolink eSIM Review | SimCorner O2 Europe (in Portugal) SIM Card Review | SimCorner O2 & 3 Europe SIM Cards Review <<<
I also tried out various local Portuguese SIM cards: MEO Portugal, NOS Portugal, Vodafone Portugal & Lycamobile Portugal (Vodafone Portugal MVNO).
If your phone does not support eSIM (but felt like reading this Nomad 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 Portuguese SIM card reviews too.
>>> MEO Portugal Review | NOS Portugal Review | Vodafone Portugal Review | Lycamobile Portugal Review <<<
Check out my reviews page if you want to read all the other reviews I have written, including other European SIM cards.