Ubigi eSIM in Singapore Review (+Speedtests)

Singapore was the first Asian destination I visited solo (in 2016).

I went to the Philippines a year earlier, but that was a work trip (way before Phone Travel Wiz was a thing… but I was already into researching the best local SIM cards best then!).

And… I was in awe – I truly loved Singapore!

I felt the positive feelings I had when I entered the United States again.

While Singapore is not representative of what Southeast Asia stands/is known for, it ignited my love for East- and Southeast Asia (which is still strong to this day).

Since then, I have been to Singapore four times – I still love it, but it is not special anymore.

Mostly because it is a small city-state, and I have seen and done the must-see/do attractions already 🤣.

In January and March 2023, I revisited Singapore.

I mostly spent time testing 17 (new) SIM cards and eSIMs.

This resulted in me spending about 237 SGD (≈ 175.80 USD) for my Singapore SIM card and travel eSIM review series – yeah… I went all out for you 😎.

I am excluding the cost of Airalo's Asialink 100 GB eSIM (185 USD) and its Discover Global 20 GB eSIM (89 USD) because I use both in multiple countries, not just Singapore.

In the past, I used to say that Singapore has the best tourist/airport SIM cards in the world.

Mostly because you could get 100 GB of data for as little as 12 SGD (8.90 USD).

Then I went to Taiwan, where the mobile operators offer truly unlimited data… which outdoes 100 GB 🤣.

Unlike most mobile operators, Taiwan's definition of unlimited is genuine. I used 100 GB – 200 GB of data on some SIM cards, and my speeds were never throttled. Amazing!

But when you can get so much data for such little money, is it even worth using a travel eSIM like Ubigi?

It can be because you do not have to deal with SIM card registration requirements (which are stringent).

One limitation to be aware of is that you can only have three active prepaid SIM cards in your name in Singapore.

For most… this is not an issue. But for some crazy people who wish to test four SIM cards… it could be 😏.

So, is the Ubigi eSIM a good option? Is it cheap compared to the local options and its travel eSIM competitors? How is its reception? And is it fast?

I will answer all those questions in this review. Let's do this.

Original publication: 11^th of June 2023. Last updated: 15^th of January 2024.

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Table of Contents

Which Phones are Compatible with Ubigi eSIMs?

Before discussing the Ubigi eSIM, you must know whether your phone can even support Ubigi's eSIMs.

Unlike most travel eSIM providers, Ubigi claims that every eSIM-compatible phone can use its eSIMs.

So that makes things easy 😎.

As of August 2023, the phones shown in the infographic below are compatible with Ubigi eSIMs:

With that out of the way, let's talk more about the Ubigi Asia plans!

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How Much Do Ubigi (Best) Asia Plans Cost?

You can get the Ubigi (Best) Asia Plans to be used in Singapore for as little as 6 USD for 500 MB (1 day) up to 49 USD for 10 GB (30 days).

Note: once you have installed your Ubigi eSIM profile, you do not have to install another one in case you visit a different country (unlike most of its competitors, where you would have to install an eSIM per country, which is convenient!

But you actually have two Asia plans that can be used in Singapore: Asia & Best Asia.

What is the difference between the two plans?

The Asia plan can be used in 24 23 Asian countries (up to 1 GB (12 USD) unless you buy a recurring plan, then up to 5 GB (29 USD/month)).

Whereas Best Asia can be used in 12 14 East- and Southeast Asian countries only (up to 10 GB (49 USD)).

I will list the country breakdown in the next section, but I do want to give you a price breakdown first:

1. Asia (23 countries) 500 MB for 1 day, costing 6 USD
2. Asia (23 countries) 1 GB for 30 days, costing 12 USD
3. Best Asia (14 countries) 3 GB for 30 days, costing 24 USD
4. Best Asia (14 countries) 10 GB for 30 days, costing 49 USD

Clicking these links will get you to a page to generate a QR code to create an account (on mobile). You cannot buy any Ubigi plan on the front end (only on the back end), although I was promised you could in May 2023 (but it is June 2023 at the time of writing).

>>> Get your FREE Ubigi eSIM profile now! <<<

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.

Open a Wise account for FREE!

If you wonder why I am highlighting the Asia region plans instead of the Singapore-specific plans, it is because they do not exist.

Yeah… I do not know why either.

But if you only want to visit Singapore and want to use a Ubigi plan, you have to get one of the Asia plans.

This seems to be an issue with non-Western countries (those do have country-specific plans), so you would get a better deal there than in Asia and Singapore, for example.

Anyway, do know that Ubigi has long-term plans for its Asia eSIMs, giving you data for a year.

Yes, really – you can get the Best Asia annual plan for 78 USD, giving you 2 GB a month for 12 months (24 GB in total).

And you will pay this in advance at the time of purchase, so not 6.50 USD/2 GB/month.

Or plans that renew monthly, like the Best Asia 5 GB a month plan for 29 USD.

But there is a reason I did not mention the recurring plan yet.

That is because you need to stay on it for at least three months, meaning you spend at least 87 USD for the Best Asia plan.

It is not that Ubigi hides this fact – it is clearly mentioned on the purchase page (on the app).

But I mention this in case you thought you found a good deal in case you think 3 GB is too little, and 10 GB is too much (or too pricey).

>>> Get your FREE Ubigi eSIM profile now! <<<

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In Which Countries Can the Ubigi (Best) Asia Plan Be Used?

The Ubigi Asia plans can be used in 12 14 East- and Southeast Asian countries (Best Asia plans) or 24 countries throughout Asia, including parts of the Middle East (Asia plans).

Previously, Iran was covered by the Asia Plan (considered to be part of the Middle East). But it is not included anymore. Hence the sentence above was struck through.

Below is a complete overview of countries the Ubigi Best Asia plans work in:

¹ with 5G NR access (in Vietnam, select the Viettel network instead of the Vinaphone (VNPT) network for 5G NR access)

Below is a complete overview of countries the Ubigi Asia plans work in:

¹ on 3G only
² with 5G NR access (in Singapore, select StarHub instead of Simba Singapore for 5G NR access. For Vietnam, select the Viettel instead of Vinaphone (VNPT))

So yeah, both Asia and Best Asia plans work in Singapore.

If you are mainly staying in multiple popular East- and Southeast Asia countries, the Best Asia plans will be more convenient for you.

If you visit not-as-popular countries, the Asia plans will be better.

For 5G NR access, I mentioned that you should manually select the StarHub network if your phone does not automatically does so.

You will not have 5G NR access on the Simba Singapore (formerly TPG Telecom).

When I was in Singapore testing the Ubigi eSIM (January 2023), you could only use the StarHub network, and 5G NR was unavailable.

Simba Singapore is the worst in Singapore, but it is still decent.

So I recommend manually selecting the StarHub network for the best experience, which is actually the next chapter in this review 😎.

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My Ubigi eSIM in Singapore Experience

I used my Ubigi eSIM throughout Singapore.

As Singapore does not really have cities (in the sense of the Government of Singapore not using them for administrative purposes and only as geographical limits), I could not visit multiple ones as I tend to do.

Before we continue, I do want to let you know how travel eSIM providers like Ubigi work.

It is impossible for Ubigi, 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 Ubigi or many other travel eSIM providers, will not result in a 5000 USD roaming bill.

What Ubigi does, and basically all (actual) mobile operators do, is partner up with a local mobile operator so that their customers can still stay connected when abroad.

In the case of Singapore, the Ubigi eSIM uses the StarHub network.

Note that Ubigi is a brand and powered by NTT Docomo from Japan, but your phone will say that you are on the Ubigi network.

Nowadays, you can also use Simba Singapore (formerly TPG Telecom).

Anyway, just like how I tested the Ubigi eSIM on my Singapore trip, I also tried all the local Singaporean SIM cards excluding the MVNOs (Singtel, StarHub, M1 Singapore & SIMBA Singapore (formerly TPG Telecom)) and various other eSIMs (Airalo Connect Lah!, Airalo Asialink (in Singapore and various other Asian countries & Airalo Discover Global (in Singapore and worldwide), Alosim, eSIM2FLY sold by SimOptions, Holafly, Mogo, Nomad, Nomad APAC (in Singapore and various other Asian countries), Nomad SEA-Oceania (in Singapore and various other Asian countries) & Simify + the 3 (UK) Travel SIM Card by Holidaysimcard in Singapore Review (also used in Australia and Hong Kong)).

Yeah, I went all out 😏.

Because of this, I could also assess how StarHub performed compared to its competitors.

When looking at 4G/LTE availability in Singapore, the four mobile operators cover practically all of the country (mostly because it is a small city-state), with an availability of more than 99.2%.

4G/LTE reception is so good in Singapore that I thought 3G did not exist anymore (until the Airalo Discover Global and Alosim eSIMs were stuck at 3G a few times 😩).

Surprisingly, Singtel is lacking in terms of 5G NR availability with an availability percentage of 29.1%, behind M1 Singapore (29.4%) and StarHub (32.2%).

In terms of speed, Singtel has the fastest download speed, with a median download speed of 119.66 Mbps, ahead of StarHub (85.88 Mbps), M1 Singapore (51.69 Mbps) & SIMBA Singapore (formerly TPG Telecom – 23.37 Mbps).

The same can be said about upload speeds, where Singtel is leading the pack (20.91 Mbps), followed by StarHub (16.34 Mbps), M1 Singapore (15.41 Mbps) & Simba Singapore (3.57 Mbps).

I did speed tests with the Speedtest app throughout Singapore.

For reference, I consider an average download speed of 25 Mbps and an average of 10 Mbps upload speed fast enough.

Preferably, download speeds should be 100 Mbps+ on 4G/LTE… but we are not there yet 🗿.

But why these averages?

A download speed of more than 25 Mbps is enough to video stream content @ 4k resolution.

Social media sites that allow for live streaming, like Facebook Live, recommend an upload speed of at least 10 Mbps.

So, that is why – but that does not mean that a download speed of less than 100 Mbps excited me 😏.

But Australia spoiled… everything slower than 300 Mbps is slow now 🤣.

The Ubigi eSIM test was the lite version of my Singaporean SIM card and travel eSIM series.

Meaning I only tested a handful of eSIMs in January 2023, while the extended tests happened in March 2023.

And because I did my tests at different locations in January compared to March, I will compare the results only with the Simba Singapore (formerly TPG Telecom) and other travel eSIMs I tested in January.

Okay, that is enough background information – let's get started.

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Ubigi eSIM in Singapore Speed Test Results

Singapore is one most densely populated countries, behind Macau and Monaco.

But I never found Singapore as crowded as Hong Kong for some reason (you struggle to walk on the pavement because there are so many people around – you will be pushed a few times (unintentionally) 😵‍💫).

Besides having the world's best airport, in my opinion, Singapore has a lot to offer.

Fantastic food, unique attractions (Cloud Forest, Gardens by the Bay & Supertree Grove) & even Universal Studios for those who are into that.

And there are many other things to do in the country.

But this is not a travel blog… I review SIM cards and eSIMs instead – you will have to find another blog for travel recommendations 😜.

Let's see how the Ubigi eSIM performed throughout the country:

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My Overall Experience with the Ubigi eSIM in Singapore – Is It Any Good?

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Other Singaporean eSIM Reviews (Airalo, aloSIM, eSIM2FLY (SimOptions), Nomad & Simify)

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