Original publication: 24th of September 2023. Last updated: 15th of January 2024.
Table of Contents
Which Phones are Compatible with Nomad eSIMs?
Before discussing the Nomad North America 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 December 2023, the phones shown in the infographic below are compatible with Nomad eSIMs:
>>> Get your Nomad North America eSIM and use code “ADU123” for 3 USD off! <<<
With that out of the way, let's talk more about the Nomad North America eSIM!
How Much Does the Nomad North America eSIM Cost?
You can get the Nomad North America eSIM for as little as 9 USD for 1 GB of data (7 days) and up to 40 USD for 10 GB (30 days). The eSIM can be used in Canada, Mexico & the United States with four options: 1 GB/7 days, 3 GB/30 days, 5 GB/30 days & 10 GB/30 days.
Below is an overview of how much each Nomad North America eSIM costs:
- North America 1 GB eSIM for 7 days, costing 9 USD
- North America 3 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 14 USD
- North America 5 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 20 USD – very popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
- North America 10 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 40 USD – most popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
Note: Phone Travel Wiz reader popularity ranking was updated in September based on data up to the 20th of September (2023 data only).
>>> Get your Nomad North America eSIM and use code “ADU123” for 3 USD 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 North America eSIM you choose, you can always top it up for the same data and prices listed above.
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.
In Which Countries Can the Nomad North America eSIM Be Used?
The Nomad North America eSIM can be used in the three North American countries: Canada, Mexico & the United States.
With the Nomad North America 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 two or all three countries in North America, getting the Nomad North America eSIM will be convenient AND will save you a lot of money too.
But if you start your trip in the United States and get a SIM card from the Big Three (AT&T, Verizon, or T-Mobile US, many prepaid plans will include free data roaming in Canada (up to 60 GB, depending on the SIM card and plan) and Mexico (up to 60 GB or unlimited). However, these plans start from 50 USD…
>>> Get your Nomad North America eSIM and use code “ADU123” for 3 USD/2.75 EUR/2.35 GBP/4 CAD off! <<<
My Nomad North America eSIM Experiences
I have already used the Nomad North America eSIM in 66.7% of the supported countries.
And yes… that is a roundabout way of saying two of three supported countries 🤪.
When I planned my trip to North America with my friend, he really wanted to see Los Angeles and New York (which I had been to already) in the United States and did not want to skip one city for Mexico.
But only a month before we went to North America was the Nomad North America eSIM introduced… and I had already planned to go to Indonesia (alone to join a group trip) after the United States, so I could not extend my stay to visit Mexico.
Worry not, I will be going to Mexico in 2024, allowing me to conclude this Nomad North America eSIM review (and I will also test the Latinlink eSIM and see which performs better in Mexico).
Before we continue, I do want to let you know how travel eSIM providers like Nomad work.
It is impossible for Nomad, 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 5000 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 the Nomad North America eSIM, it uses the networks of nine local mobile operators (Bell, Rogers, Telus, SaskTel (Saskatchewan only) & Vidéotron (Montreal and Quebec) in Canada, AT&T Mexico and Movistar Mexico in Mexico & AT&T and T-Mobile US Verizon in the United States) with the help of Orange France/Webbing (Solutions).
When I was in the United States, I could not connect to the Verizon network (and T-Mobile was the other network I could choose from). However, None of the eight eSIMs I tested during this trip could connect to Verizon. The connection was either refused, or the internet would not work at all. Nomad informed me Verizon was experiencing a roaming issue, so you have the option now. Verizon is significantly faster than AT&T.
For once, all the supported networks are good (although AT&T was acting up every now and then for some reason).
But your experience will often not be as good as if you were to get a SIM card from these mobile operators directly.
That is because you are roaming on the local networks instead of being a native customer.
But that does not mean you will have (incredibly) slow speeds – just slower than native customers.
I cannot give an average percentage because it really depends on the roaming agreement Nomad has made… that is why I have to test the eSIM everywhere!
While I will extensively test the Nomad North America 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.
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 Nomad North America experience in Canada.
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!
- Canada
- Mexico (coming in 2024)
- United States
>>> Get your Nomad North America eSIM and use code “ADU123” for 3 USD/2.75 EUR/2.35 GBP/4 CAD off! <<<
Nomad North America eSIM in Canada Experiences + 5G Speed Test Results
I used my Nomad North America eSIM in Toronto, where I could access three of the four nationwide Canadian networks (Rogers Mobility, Telus Mobility & Bell Mobility) + two regional mobile operators (SaskTel for Saskatchewan, and Vidéotron for Ontario and Quebec).
Rogers does not allow Nomad North America eSIM users to use its 5G NR network.
Initially, I suspected it was due to its prepaid customers not being allowed to use the technology either, but the same applies to Bell, and I had 5G NR access with the Nomad North America eSIM (+the Nomad Canada eSIM).
In my case, I chose the Bell network most of the time (sometimes Telus) because I used the Telus network with my Nomad Canada eSIM already.
Taking all 32 speed tests I did in Canada into account, I had an average overall download speed of 99.03 Mbps and a median download speed of 118.70 Mbps with the North America eSIM.
Compared to the global median in August 2023 (43.20 Mbps), the North America eSIM did exceptionally well.
When looking at upload speeds, I had an average upload speed of 22.02 Mbps and a median upload speed of 15.99 Mbps with the Nomad North America eSIM in Canada.
And that was… good. The global median was 10.23 Mbps.
>>> Get your Nomad North America eSIM and use code “ADU123” for 3 USD/2.75 EUR/2.35 GBP/4 CAD off! <<<
Nomad North America eSIM in Mexico Experiences + Speed Test Results
You have to be patient for this analysis because I will not be in Mexico until at least mid-April 😏.
Nomad North America eSIM in the United States Experiences + 5G Speed Test Results
I used my Nomad North America eSIM in California, New Jersey & New York, where I could access two of the three American networks (AT&T and T-Mobile US Verizon).
When I was in the United States, I could not connect to the Verizon network (and T-Mobile was the other network I could choose from). However, None of the eight eSIMs I tested during this trip could connect to Verizon. The connection was either refused, or the internet would not work at all. Nomad informed me Verizon was experiencing a roaming issue, so you have the option now. Verizon is significantly faster than AT&T.
In my case, I tried using AT&T for a while until I manually selected T-Mobile US most of the time due to better connection status, reception & speeds.
I am not sure in what order it was, but trying to use AT&T in California sucked, but it was better in New Jersey/New York or vice versa. According to Nomad most of its users had bad experiences with T-Mobile instead, while it worked flawlessly in the three states for me. Interesting 🤔. This is the reason why it stopped working with T-Mobile and with Verizon nowadays.
Taking all 70 speed tests I did in the United States into account, I had an average overall download speed of 55.97 Mbps and a median download speed of 38.81 Mbps with the Nomad North America eSIM.
Compared to the global median in August 2023 (43.20 Mbps), the North America eSIM did well.
When looking at upload speeds, I had an average upload speed of 11.30 Mbps and a median upload speed of 8.69 Mbps with the Nomad North America eSIM in the United States.
And that was… decent. The global median was 10.23 Mbps.
>>> Get your Nomad North America eSIM and use code “ADU123” for 3 USD/2.75 EUR/2.35 GBP/4 CAD off! <<<