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I bought unlimited for one day. Throttling speed was so obvious, can't go above 200 kb/s. Regardless of advertising 5g, esim connected on LTE network.
Complete waste of money.
I’ve used Billion Connect for multiple eSims abroad now, and I’ve found them great every time. Their customer service responds pretty quickly to any issues, and the sims are cheap and work well. Be aware the sims are mostly based in Hong Kong so if you’re geographically far from there the latency might be a little high, and you may need a VPN for things like TikTok to work, but I’ve had very few issues.
The sim worked fine, but be aware that Yoho count their days as 00:00-23:59, so if you buy a sim in the afternoon or evening, the last few hours of that purchase day will count as 1 day. I was cut off nearly a full day early because I bought it in the evening.
Easy to use, decent speeds (not particularly fast but not frustratingly slow either). But this eSIM uses roaming via Hong Kong, so I wasn't able to use ChatGPT which was a bummer.
So far all the esims I've got with mobimatter worked flawless, in Taiwan I had to adjust the connection network manually once, but it was a minor issue.
Got the 20GB esim for Philippines, speed was so slow, mostly unusable, avoid
I could use via Android App.
Operator was Singapore carrier.
Speed was not so fast, but there was no complain.
Despite being at the airport, the connection was nonexistent, and even when it did connect, it was too slow to even check emails. It seems to go through 1010, a Hong Kong communication service, but it was completely useless in the Philippines! Should not be sold! I don't even want to give it one star. I ended up buying a new esim from AIRALO using the airport WiFi, which worked smoothly.
Nomad eSIM was easy to buy, easy to use (you just activate the plan from app and turn on data roaming) but in the Philippines it was definitely not that fast.
The one I bought from Nomad connected to Globe 4G, but was actually roaming via Hong Kong (provider called 1010 / csl).
I tried to use tethering at the airport on my way back but the network was sooo slow for some reason. Maybe just the airport, not sure.
Airalo worked okay at least in Manila. But speed is not that high at all and upload speed can be quite slow sometimes. I used it only for messaging, maps, Grab, etc. so was okay for me.
It's a roaming network provided by Singtel so it goes through Singapore with latency of a bit shy of 100ms.
If you don't mind the task of getting a local SIM and swapping it in your phone, you'll get better deal and better latency for sure. But as far as prepaid eSIM goes, Airalo does a decent job I think. You just have to lower your expectation a bit.
I was in Manila, El Nido and Coron. It worked well enough in Manila that I had no complaints. In El Nido, I had to manually select a network for it to work. Leaving it on automatic on the phone will choose the wrong network. In Coron, I had no reception once outside the main town. My wife had a physical SIM card and she had no issues.
There are more than 100 travel eSIM providers and over 3,400 prepaid data plans available for use in the Philippines. With this wide variety of options, finding an eSIM that matches your needs is straightforward.
Unlimited‑data eSIM plans are available for travelers in the Philippines from several providers. Roamify, Truely, Billion Connect, abesteSIM, MicroEsim, Yoho Mobile, and Yesim all offer plans that advertise no data cap for validity periods from one to thirty days. Each plan allows device tethering, though the speed can be throttled; abesteSIM and Yoho Mobile specifically mention a speed cap of 5 Mbps while the other providers note that speed may be reduced during peak usage. The overall price spectrum for these unlimited‑data options ranges from approximately $3.00 USD for the most economical Roamify plan to about $117.19 USD for the premium abesteSIM offering. Travelers should assess their data needs and select a plan that provides sufficient bandwidth for their intended usage.
In the Philippines, the primary Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) providing mobile services are:
Smart Communications: A subsidiary of PLDT Inc., offering a comprehensive range of mobile services, including voice and data, with extensive coverage across the country.
Globe Telecom: Part of the Ayala Corporation, providing a variety of mobile services with a strong presence in both urban and rural areas.
DITO Telecommunity: The newest major player in the market, focusing on expanding its 4G and 5G networks to enhance nationwide coverage.
Additionally, the Philippines hosts several Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs), which offer mobile services by leasing access from major carriers. For example, GOMO! operates on Globe's infrastructure, providing data-centric plans without expiry dates. It's important to note that most travel eSIMs rely on MNO infrastructure rather than MVNOs.
Summarized by Gen AI. Last updated: