Taiwan is my favorite East Asian destination – perhaps even my favorite Asian country.
During the pandemic, I was in the country for a year (because the government extended everyone's stay/visa every month for 2.5 years).
And it was one of the few countries where life was close to normal.
So yeah, I have a soft spot for Taiwan 😳.
From mountains to tropical forests, staying connected while exploring the country is crucial.
So, while trying to find the best way to stay in Taiwan, I tried out eight travel eSIMs from various eSIM providers, including Nomad's Taiwan eSIM, and five Taiwanese SIM cards.
I spent over 100 USD for my Taiwan SIM card and travel eSIM review series – I went all out 😎.
I spent way more in 2020 because I was “stuck” in the country for about a year. It was probably the best country to be stuck in during the pandemic!
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 captured in Taiwan – mandated by law).
Moreover, if you do not buy your Taiwanese SIM card at an airport, getting one in town can be a challenge.
Especially those from Far EasTone, T Star Taiwan & Far EasTone. Chunghwa Telecom's and Taiwan Mobile's are relatively easy to get.
And travel eSIMs, like Nomad's, are relatively affordable (especially compared to international roaming).
But what matters is how the eSIM performed in Taiwan – especially compared to the local mobile operators (and the network Nomad uses in the country).
Let's get started.
Original publication: 22nd of January 2024. Last updated: 29th of February 2024.
Table of Contents
Nomad's List of Compatible eSIM-Supported Phones
Before I even focus on Nomad's Taiwan 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 Taiwan eSIM.
How Much Does the Nomad eSIM for Taiwan Cost?
You can get the Nomad Taiwan eSIM between 4 USD (1 GB for 7 days) and 32 USD (50 GB for 30 days).
One thing I should note is that Nomad often has the most generous data allowances in Asia among its competitors.
Moreover, the prices are often the cheapest too.
- Taiwan 1 GB eSIM for 7 days, costing 4 USD & 6 USD
- Taiwan 3 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 5 USD (on sale)
- Taiwan 5 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 7 USD (on sale) – very popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
- Taiwan 10 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 11 USD (on sale) – most popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
- Taiwan 15 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 15 USD (on sale) – very popular with Phone Travel Wiz readers
- Taiwan 20 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 17 USD (on sale)
- Taiwan 30 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 20 USD (on sale)
- Taiwan 40 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 26 USD (on sale)
- Taiwan 50 GB eSIM for 30 days, costing 32 USD (on sale)
>>> Get your Nomad Taiwan eSIM and use code “ADU123” for USD off! <<<
The links above will bring you to the Taiwan 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.
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.
What if you buy the 20 GB Nomad Taiwan eSIM, as I did, and realize you need another 5 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 Taiwan eSIM for the same amount of data and prices as listed earlier.
The 5 GB top-up would still cost 7 USD as if you bought the 5 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 Taiwan.
So, if you plan on using 15 GB of data in Taiwan (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 Taiwan eSIM – so worry not.
>>> Get your Nomad Taiwan eSIM and use code “ADU123” for USD off! <<<
My Nomad eSIM in Taiwan Experience
During this trip, I used my Nomad Taiwan eSIM mostly in Taipei but also in Kaohsiung, Taiwan & Taoyuan.
The East did not get any love on this trip – I visited Hualien, Taitung & Luodong/Yilan in 2020… boring cities 🗿.
Anyway, travel eSIMs, including the Taiwan eSIM, roam on the networks of local mobile operators.
Nomad 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 Taiwanese mobile networks while using another network to make this system work.
Nomad's Taiwan eSIM uses the Chunghwa Telecom network (review) while being powered by JoyTelecom/CSL Mobile from Hong Kong (so your phone, some apps, or sites you visit may claim you are using 1O1O/CSL/Club instead of Nomad – that is correct).
Is Chunghwa Telecom any good? Yes, it is the best.
Regarding 4G/LTE availability in Taiwan, all mobile operators cover almost all populated areas of the country, with a 4G/LTE availability of more than 99.1% for Chunghwa Telecom, according to Opensignal.
Chunghwa Telecom won the Speedtest Best Mobile Coverage Q2-Q3 2023 award.
If we focus on 5G NR availability, Chunghwa Telecom is not doing well.
It is ahead of T Star Taiwan (15.1% – review) but behind Taiwan Mobile (20.3% – review), Far EasTone (25.5% – review) & GT Mobile Taiwan (28.5% – review).
But I can already tell you I had 5G NR access at every test location (28) with Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan Mobile & Far EasTone.
So do not let these numbers disappoint you 😜.
If we look at speeds, Chunghwa Telecom is the fastest in all categories (4G/5G download/upload speed).
Yeah, Chunghwa Telecom is a true winner.
I did speed tests with the Speedtest app throughout Taiwan.
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 eSIM performed in Taiwan.
>>> Get your Nomad Taiwan eSIM and use code “ADU123” for USD off! <<<
Nomad Taiwan eSIM in Taipei Speed Test Results
I used my Nomad Taiwan eSIM mostly in Taipei and a little bit in Kaohsiung, Taipei & Taoyuan.
All travel eSIMs I tested could be on either Chunghwa Telecom (review) or Taiwan Mobile (review).
So, in the next section, I will compare the Nomad Taiwan results with Chunghwa Telecom and the other travel eSIMs that defaulted on the same network.
This includes Airalo Asialink (Asia – can also use Taiwan Mobile), Alosim (can also use Taiwan Mobile), Holafly Taiwan, Holafly Asia & and Nomad APAC (claimed it could also use Chunghwa Telecom, but I could never connect to it).
Below are the results:
Being added.