It was not until relatively recently that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) was opened up for tourism.
It took until 2019 before tourist visas were issued.
Previously, primarily those visiting the Kingdom for work, Hajj, or Umrah could enter the country.
Saudi Arabia has always been an interesting case in terms of mobile telecommunications.
It has been in the top 15 with the fastest speeds for the longest (with a few of its neighboring Gulf states).
So, I wanted to try out the Saudi networks for the longest.
In Saudi Arabia, I tried out three Saudi SIM cards, including Zain Saudi Arabia, and seven travel eSIMs (Saudi Arabia-only ones, regional ones & a global one).
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).
The same can be said about Saudi Arabia, where SIM cards are not too expensive – even the tourist ones or those sold at international airports.
Zain, from Kuwait, is active in various African and Middle Eastern countries.
It is either the best or the worst in a country.
So, is Zain the best in Saudi Arabia? Let's find out.
Original publication: 15th of January 2024. Last updated: 29th of February 2024.
Who is Zain Saudi Arabia?
Zain Saudi Arabia (KSA), just Zain, is the smallest mobile operator in Saudi Arabia.
It was also the last mobile operator to enter the Saudi market (excluding Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs)).
In Saudi Arabia, you have three mobile operators and three Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) offering prepaid services easily accessible to travelers:
- STC KSA
- Mobily
- Zain KSA
- Jawwy (STC KSA sub-brand)
- Lebara Mobile KSA (Mobily MVNO)
- Virgin Mobile KSA (STC KSA MVNO)
As you know, I tested the other two mobile operators during my stay in Saudi Arabia. You can read them here: STC Saudi Arabia & Mobily.
The first section of this review will be about Zain's coverage, but here is a quick overview of the frequencies used by Zain:
- 2G: 900 MHz & 1800 MHz
- 3G: 900 MHz & 2100 MHz
- 4G/LTE: 800 MHz (Band 20), 900 MHz (Band 8), 1800 MHz (Band 3), 2100 MHz (Band 1) & 2600 MHz (Band 38)
- 5G NR: 2500 MHz (n41) & 3500 MHz (n78)
Followed by the APN settings:
- Name: zain-gprs
- APN: zain
Note: leave anything not mentioned above untouched.
Zain Saudi Arabia Coverage + My Experience
Depending on who you ask, coverage is more important than the speed you can get with a mobile operator.
Some others may value speed more (because they stay in urban areas where coverage is expected, for example).
A balance of both is essential (although I focus on speed slightly more than coverage – I am not an off-the-beaten-track kind of guy).
So, how good or bad is Zain Saudi Arabia's coverage?
Fantastic, you can say – but you should not expect anything in deserts.
With that, I mean not being near a paved road or something. You will still have reception there if people live nearby or it is a tourist attraction. But if you go to the middle of nowhere, expect no reception at all.
But even then, you will have close to perfect reception in populated areas with any Saudi mobile operator (all with an availability score of more than 95.7% – Zain having the lowest).
When looking at 5G NR availability, Zain has the worst availability (19.9%).
But that does not mean much when Mobily (review) and STC Saudi Arabia (review) are only slightly ahead (20.8% and 22%, respectively.
Those are excellent figures, but how was my coverage experience with Zain?
Honestly, it was perfect – although I was in Jeddah/Saudi Arabia shorter than I would have wanted to be, affecting the results.
Initially, I was supposed to be in Riyadh for two days. Because I wanted to visit my friend, Majed, in Qatar instead, I chose Jeddah as a long layover (24 hours). Saudia thought our afternoon flight to Casablanca (Morocco) was scheduled at a sensible time and pushed it to the early morning. To make things worse, the drive from the airport to the hotel took 1:30 hours instead of 30 minutes due to rush hour and multiple accidents – even less time in the Kingdom 🥲. Oh yeah, people drive like maniacs in KSA!
But yeah, I had no reception issues with Zain – and I was on 5G NR more often than expected.
Below is a Zain coverage map before I tell you how to get a Zain SIM card and how much they cost.
How to Get a Zain Saudi Arabia SIM Card (or eSIM) + Prices
You can get a Zain Saudi Arabia SIM card at Zain stores and international airports, including Jeddah-King Abdulaziz International Airport (JED).
Unlike most countries, including those in neighboring Middle Eastern/Gulf countries, I do not actively discourage you from getting a SIM card at a Saudi airport.
Mostly because they are not overpriced (the so-called tourist/convenience tax) compared to the official prices.
Not only is it more convenient to get a SIM card at an airport because the employees there are efficient and proficient with the activation process (at least at Jeddah Airport), but the waiting time can be significantly shorter than at a Zain store.
In normal Zain stores, all types of customers go to the store to deal with their issues or purchases. Some inquiries can take ages to resolve, and there are not always enough employees to help you. At airports, the staff members deal with tourists wanting SIM cards – quicker and easier than dealing with a complicated billing inquiry, for example.
But that does not mean you will be done within a minute at airports… but it will be faster than you think (especially compared to airports worldwide).
I bought my SIM card at Jeddah-King Abdulaziz International Airport (JED).
The guide above covers all you need to know about buying a SIM card at that airport, including options from other mobile operators. I encourage you to read if you fly into Jeddah and want to compare Zain's offers with its competition.
There, it sells a combination of airport-only and regular plans (the latter without surcharges, although only the mid-range and expensive ones are available).
If you want more choices, go to a regular Mobily store in Jeddah proper or wherever your final destination is).
During Hajj, Zain gass Hajj plans.
Although it has an Umrah SIM card, it is not worth your money – see below:
Anyway, at Jeddah Airport, Zain will have a piece of paper with all its plans: ones with international call credit and others without.
The following five plans without international call credit are sold by Zain at Jeddah Airport:
| Price | Data 1 | Social Data 2 | Local Minutes | Validity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 120 SAR | 25 GB | 25 GB | 800 minutes | 28 days |
| 150 SAR | 25 GB | Unlimited | 1200 minutes | 28 days |
| 180 SAR | 50 GB | Unlimited | 1200 minutes | 28 days |
| 230 SAR | 100 GB | Unlimited | 1200 minutes | 28 days |
| 410 SAR | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | 28 days |
1 5G NR access
2 for Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, WhatsApp & YouTube
Then you have these two plans with international calls:
| Price | Data 1 | Social Data | Local/International Minutes | Validity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 115 SAR | 20 GB | 20 GB 2 | 500 minutes 4 | 28 days |
| 150 SAR | 25 GB | Unlimited 3 | 350 minutes 5 | 28 days |
1 5G NR access
2 for Facebook, Skype & YouTube
3 for Facebook, Snapchat & WhatsApp
4 for local use and to Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Kuwait, Pakistan, Sudan & Yemen
5 for local use and to Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates & Yemen
Officially, the prices of all plans listed above prices are VAT-exclusive, so you would need to add an extra 15%.
But I was charged the quoted price when I bought my SIM card.
So either the prices are VAT-inclusive, or the employee forgot to charge me VAT 😳.
Tourists are not exempt from VAT because STC KSA charged me VAT when I bought a SIM card from them.
Anyway, I bought the 120 SAR SIM card with 25 GB of data because I had less than 24 hours in Jeddah.
I paid by card, but you can pay by cash if you want, but only in Saudi Riyal (SAR)).
Because I flew with Saudia and had an onward flight with it too (within 96 hours/4 days), I was eligible for a reduced stopover visa (94 SAR/25 USD) instead of the regular tourist (e)Visa (535 SAR/142 USD – multiple entries for up to 90 days each stay within a year).
If you fly with Flynas or Saudia (like I did) with Saudi Arabia as a stopover and not as a final destination (so from country A flying to Saudi Arabia for less than 96 to country B with the same airline (Flynas or Saudi), you can get the Stopover Visa for free. But fees may apply. I had to pay 94 SAR because I booked my flights before the 90-day timeframe. Although others claim these “free” visas have not been free for a while.
If a visa label has been attached to your passport, you only have to show that one.
Biometrics, your fingerprint(s), are also captured as part of Saudi Arabia's SIM card registration laws.
Zain captures your right thumb.
Once all is settled, the SIM card is handed to you… and you have to figure things out yourself.
Well, not really – the SIM card is ready to go once they hand it to you.
But almost all mobile operators selling SIM cards at airports, and even regular stores, I have been to at least want to confirm your SIM card work.
This was not the case with the Zain employees at Jeddah Airport 🗿.
That is all I needed to do to get my Zain SIM card.
As I said, more options should be available if you get a Zain SIM card from a regular Zain store (so not at an airport).
As a traveler or someone doing Hajj or Umrah, it may be more challenging to get a normal Mobily plan instead of a visitor package – you may have to go to multiple shops to get what you want.
But if you eventually manage, cheaper plans may be available.
I encourage you to check out my Saudi Arabia SIM card buying guide to explore all your options.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot – does Zain have eSIMs for prepaid customers?
Yes, it does. But they are not sold at airports (such as Jeddah Airport) – you need to visit a Zain store.
And they are often unavailable for tourist plans – only regular prepaid plans.
You can also consider a travel eSIM from Airalo, Alosim, Holafly, or Nomad – all of which I also tried out (including regional and global eSIMs).
You can read more about them in my Saudi Arabia eSIM buying guide or individual reviews (on the Saudi Arabia review page).
Zain Saudi Arabia Top-Up, Recharge & Balance Check
Zain top-up vouchers are sold in Zain stores and many other establishments, such as kiosks, gas stations, and grocery stores.
The following top-up cards are available:
| Top-Up | Credit After Tax |
|---|---|
| 20 SAR | 17.39 SAR |
| 30 SAR | 26.08 SAR |
| 50 SAR | 43.47 SAR |
| 100 SAR | 86.95 SAR |
| 300 SAR | 260.87 SAR |
The following online or eTop Up options are available:
| Top-Up | Credit |
|---|---|
| 20 SAR | 17.39 SAR |
| 34.50 SAR | 30 SAR |
| 57.50 SAR | 50 SAR |
| 115 SAR | 100 SAR |
| 345 SAR | 300 SAR |
To top up your Zain SIM card, dial *141*VoucherCode#.
For example, if your voucher code is 123456, you would dial *141*123456#.
You can also tell the salesperson how much credit you want, your phone number, pay, and they will top up your SIM card with the POS system.
You can also recharge online with (international) debit and credit cards.
Dial *142# to check your Zain balance.
You can also top up and check your balance on the Zain SA app (Android/iOS/Huawei AppGallery).
Zain Saudi Arabia Speed Test Results in Saudi Arabia
Zain Saudi Arabia is regarded as the slowest mobile operator in Saudi Arabia in Q4 2023 by Opensignal.
Hold on… do not disregard Zain yet… the bar is set high in Saudi Arabia.
With a 5G NR average download speed of 198.20 Mbps, Zain was slightly slower than Mobily (210.90 Mbps – review) and STC Saudi Arabia (242.40 Mbps – review).
When looking at 4G/LTE average download speeds, Zain was significantly behind Mobily (38 Mbps) and STC KSA (40.20 Mbps).
In terms of uploading, Zain still has the slowest average (6.80 Mbps), behind Mobily (8.90 Mbps) and STC KSA (11.10 Mbps).
And on 5G NR, Zain is also the slowest (17.60 Mbps), trailing Mobily (23.80 Mbps) and STC KSA (25.10 Mbps).
I suspect all these numbers to be higher due to Opensignal having far fewer data points than Speedtest (which did not have a report out for the country at the time of writing).
So you can expect even faster speeds with Zain, STC KSA & Mobily 😎.
One thing I like about Zain, and all the Saudi mobile operators, is that 5G NR is available to prepaid customers without additional costs.
You do not have to get the most expensive plan to access its 5G NR network (unlike some other mobile operators worldwide).
Or worse, that feature being restricted to postpaid customers.
So, during my short time in Jeddah, I had 5G NR access with my tourist SIM card (which cost 120 SAR, if you remember).
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 Zain performed in Jeddah.
Zain Saudi Arabia in Jeddah Speed Test Results
Even though my time in Jeddah was not as long as I planned, I did as many tests as possible.
However, this resulted in the results being more unreliable than usual.
At least I have a reason to revisit Saudi Arabia 😎.
Zain Saudi Arabia SIM cards could be bought in the arrivals hall of Jeddah-King Abdulaziz International Airport (not at baggage claim as with some other airports).
As a result, I only tested at five locations with Saudi SIM cards (whereas I could test at seven with my travel eSIMs because I pre-installed them and used them upon arrival).
So here are the results:
Fast speeds with Zain Saudi Arabia in Jeddah.
Even with the limited results I got, Mobily was surprisingly fast.
But in terms of download speeds, it was never faster than STC KSA or Mobily.
In fact, it was often the slowest 😔.
But not so slow that you should avoid Zain for being a snail.
Let's go through each test location because there are only five anyway.
At Albaik (located at Nahdat at Talif), I got a download speed of 131.18 Mbps (5G).
This was faster than Mobily (69.02 Mbps (5G)) but way slower than STC KSA (225.54 Mbps (5G)).
The same happened at Novotel Jeddah Tahlia, where I got a download speed of 268.88 Mbps (5G) with Zain.
And only 149.38 Mbps (5G) with Mobily but 668.09 Mbps (5G) with STC KSA.
What a remarkable result 🤯.
There were the only 5G NR results I had with Zain – the other three were on 4G/LTE… and they made Zain the slowest among the three mobile operators: 18.95 Mbps at the international arrivals hall of Jeddah-King Abdulaziz International Airport, 63.55 at Prince Majid Park & 123.94 Mbps at Red Sea Mall.
Mobily was the fastest at the airport (141.37 Mbps (5G)) and Red Sea Mall (213.25 Mbps (5G)), while STC KSA outdid the others at Prince Majid Park (300.30 Mbps (4G)).
All the travel eSIMs I tested in Jeddah (seven) used the Zain network or defaulted to it while also having access to another network (Mobily – once could also use STC KSA).
Their performance was often worse than Zain's, but that is because those eSIMs roam on the network instead of being native customers.
Even then, the average download speeds ranged from 41.59 Mbps (Airalo Discover) to 127.45 Mbps (Alosim Saudi Arabia).
Yes, a travel eSIM had a faster average download speed than Zain (121.30 Mbps) 🗿.
Even then, that is a fantastic result (compared to figures worldwide).
Regarding uploading, there is not much to say – all results were faster than 13 Mbps (with 13.54 Mbps being the lowest (4G at the airport) and 33.93 Mbps being the highest (4G at Red Sea Mall).
Zain did slightly better than Mobily (20.68 Mbps) but a bit worse than STC KSA (31.14 Mbps).
So yeah, you will be fine with the Zain SIM card in Jeddah.
My Overall Experience with Zain Saudi Arabia – Is It Worth Your Money?
I would recommend Mobily, but it would NOT be one of my top recommendations for anyone wanting to buy a Saudi SIM card.
Getting a Zain SIM card at Jeddah-King Abdulaziz International Airport was easy, and the activation process was smooth and quick.
This can be the opposite during peak airport hours (especially during Hajj at Jeddah Airport).
If you do not want to buy a SIM card at the airport, you may have to deal with (even) longer queues, depending on the Mobily store you visit.
Regardless of your plan, you will have 5G NR access on the Zain network without paying a surcharge (assuming your phone supports 5G NR).
Even though Zain is regarded as having the worst coverage, you should have no trouble having a cellular connection in populated areas.
If you go to the middle of a desert where nobody lives except nothing.
Zain's plans sold at the airport were reasonably priced for airport SIM cards (starting from 115 SAR).
However, STC Saudi Arabia (review) sold a plan for almost half the price with about the same benefits.
And it has a better network than Zain – you would think the latter would try to compete on price 🤔.
Taking the five speed tests into account, I had an average download speed of 121.30 Mbps and a median download speed of 123.94 Mbps with Zain – the slowest of all the Saudi SIM cards I tested.
When looking at upload speeds, I had an average upload speed of 26.47 Mbps and a median upload speed of 29.41 Mbps with Zain – again, both being the slowest in the Kingdom.
Many travel eSIMs, including those I tested in the country, can access the Zain and Mobily (review) networks.
We determined that Zain's network is alright but not the best (but the bar is high in Saudi Arabia 🤪).
With excellent coverage, reasonably priced data-featured prepaid plans/tourist SIM cards & fast (5G NR) speeds, there is not much to complain about Zain – but better options are available.
Saudi Arabia SIM Card & eSIM Reviews
Besides Zain Saudi Arabia, I also tested STC Saudi Arabia and Mobily in the Kingdom.
I encourage you to read those reviews to decide which Saudi SIM card suits your needs.
>>> STC Saudi Arabia | Mobily <<<
Besides Saudi SIM cards, I also tried various travel eSIMs from Airalo, Alosim, Holafly & Nomad.
You can find those below.
>>> Airalo Red Sand (Saudi Arabia) 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 | Nomad Middle East eSIM in Saudi Arabia <<<
- Check out my eSIM reviews page if you want to read all the other eSIM reviews I have written, including those I tested in other Middle Eastern countries.
