Nomad Middle East 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 Nomad's Middle East 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 Nomad's, 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 Nomad Middle East uses in the Kingdom).

Let's get started.

Original publication: 16^th of January 2024. Last updated: 29^th of February 2024.

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Table of Contents

Nomad's List of Compatible eSIM-Supported Phones

Before I even focus on Nomad's Middle East eSIM, does your phone support Nomad eSIMs?

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

While Nomad 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 Nomad eSIMs:

Now we can actually focus on the Nomad Middle East eSIM (in Saudi Arabia).

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How Much Does the Nomad eSIM for Saudi Arabia Cost?

You can get the Nomad Middle East eSIM between 9 USD (1 GB for 7 days) and 32 USD (10 GB for 30 days). The eSIM can be used in seven countries in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia.

Below is an overview of how much each Nomad Middle East eSIM costs:

1. Middle East 1 GB eSIM for 7 days, costing 9 USD
2. Middle East 3 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 14 USD
3. Middle East 5 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 20 USD – very popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
4. Middle East 10 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 32 USD – most popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers

>>> Get your Nomad Middle East eSIM and use code “ADU123” for USD off! <<<

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 Nomad Middle East eSIM does not make sense if you plan to visit only one country (only Saudi Arabia, for example).

However, in Saudi Arabia's case, the Middle Eastern and country-specific eSIMs have the same prices.

This also applies to Jordan, Kuwait & Oman.

For Israel, Turkey & the United Arab Emirates, getting country-specific eSIMs will be cheaper than the Middle East eSIM.

Of course, the Middle East eSIM will be cheaper if you visit two or more supported countries.

Anyway, the links from earlier will bring you to the Middle East eSIM product page.

Nomad allows you to pay for its eSIMs in many currencies, including American/Canadian Dollar, Euro & British Pound (Sterling).

I found that paying in USD is often cheaper than in other currencies.

For example, the 5 GB costs 20 USD or 18.50 EUR.

When considering currency exchange rates, it should cost close to 18.30 USD (1 USD was about 0.91 EUR at the time of writing).

It is a small difference – Holafly is a worse offender with currency exchange premiums of over 16% (USD compared to EUR).

That is why when I buy a Nomad eSIM, I pay in USD with my Wise account/debit card.

Their exchange 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.

Open a Wise account for FREE!

What if you buy the 10 GB Nomad Middle East 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 Nomad Middle East eSIM for the same amount of data and prices as listed earlier.

The 3 GB top-up would still cost 14 USD as if you bought the 3 GB eSIM from the start.

That way, you will never run out of data.

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

But do not buy top-ups, or eSIMs, too early.

Nomad has a 60-day activation policy, meaning an eSIM will start its validity after 60 days, even though you have not installed or activated the eSIM in Saudi Arabia.

So, if you plan on using 15 GB of data in the Middle East (10 GB eSIM + 5 GB top-up, as an example) in May, but you buy them both on the 1st of January, your allowances will expire by early April.

The grace period is in January (31 days) and February (28/29 days), while the timer runs throughout March (31 days).

A handful of Nomad eSIMs do not allow for top-ups. But that does not apply to the Middle East eSIM – so worry not.

>>> Get your Nomad Middle East eSIM and use code “ADU123” for USD off! <<<

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Nomad Middle eSIM Country List

The Nomad Middle East eSIM can be used in Saudi Arabia but also in Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Turkey & the United Arab Emirates.

With the Nomad Middle East 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 the Middle East, getting the Nomad Middle East eSIM will be convenient AND will save you a lot of money.

>>> Get your Nomad Middle East eSIM and use code “ADU123” for USD off! <<<

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My Nomad eSIM in Saudi Arabia Experience

During this trip, I used my Nomad Middle East eSIM only in Jeddah.

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

Travel eSIMs, including the Nomad Middle East eSIM, roam on the networks of local mobile operators.

Nomad 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.

Nomad's Middle East uses the STC Saudi Arabia (review) and Zain Saudi Arabia (review) networks while being powered by eSIM Go/Drei Austria (so your phone, some apps, or sites you visit may claim you are on Drei instead of Nomad – that is correct).

It was actually the only travel eSIM that had access to the STC KSA network – all the others could only use Zain KSA or Mobily (review).

In my case, the eSIM kept defaulting to Zain KSA, so I will focus on that for the next section (but you can manually change it to Mobily in your phone's settings if you want).

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 and 22% for STC Saudi Arabia).

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 Nomad Middle East eSIM performed in Jeddah.

>>> Get your Nomad Middle East eSIM and use code “ADU123” for USD off! <<<

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Nomad Middle East eSIM in Jeddah Speed Test Results

I tried to test the Nomad Middle East 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 Nomad Middle East eSIM).

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

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

But remember, you can manually select the STC network as well if you wish.

Below are the results:

>>> Get your Nomad Middle East eSIM and use code “ADU123” for USD off! <<<

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My Overall Experience with the Nomad Middle East eSIM in Saudi Arabia – Is It Worth Your Money?

I would recommend the Nomad Middle East eSIM, and it would be one of my top recommendations for anyone wanting to buy a Middle Eastern travel eSIM (but not if you only visit Saudi Arabia).

You scan the QR code shown on the app or send it to your email (the latter method works better).

Nomad's Middle East eSIMs are one of the cheapest out there, and standard options are available (1 GB, 3 GB, 5 GB & 10 GB).

The Nomad Middle East eSIM uses the STC Saudi Arabia (review) and Zain Saudi Arabia (review) networks, which both have extensive 4G/LTE availability throughout the country.

In my case, the eSIM used Zain KSA by default, but you can manually switch to STC KSA in your phone's settings.

And its 5G NR coverage is good in urban areas – and yes, you get 5G NR access with the Nomad Middle East eSIM.

With an average download speed of 90.63 Mbps, you do not have to worry about slow speeds with the Nomad Middle East eSIM.

When looking at upload speeds, it also performed well – 18.52 Mbps.

These were faster than Nomad's Saudi Arabia eSIM (review) – 62.65 Mbps download and 16.89 Mbps upload.

By using a near-perfect 4G/LTE network, offering reasonably priced data plans & super-fast download speeds, you should have a smooth browsing experience with the Nomad Middle East eSIM.

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Saudi Arabia eSIM & SIM Card Reviews

Besides Nomad's Middle East eSIM, I also tried the Nomad Saudi Arabia eSIM and other travel eSIMs in the Kingdom.

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

>>> Airalo Red Sand (formerly Salaam) eSIM | 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 <<<

Besides travel eSIMs, I also tried Saudi SIM cards.

You can find those below.

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