Review: Yesim, Airalo, & FlexiRoam Global eSIMs tested in Central America
On a recent trip to Central America, we did a deep-dive on esims.AI Verified Partners Yesim, Airalo and FlexiRoam, testing the following 3 eSIMs in Belize on the DigiCell and Smart LTE networks.
Yesim Global Package 3GB
3 GB
Valid for 30 days
Covers 163 countries
Airalo Discover - 20 GB
20 GB
Valid for 365 days
Covers 149 countries
Flexiroam Global Plan
20 GB
Valid for 365 days
Covers 160 countries
Let's take a look at the experience with each provider, before we summarize our findings at the end of the review.
Yesim
Yesim is a global provider of eSIM solutions, and claims 1M+ users on their website. esims.AI has featured Yesim products for quite some time, so we were happy to take a Yesim eSIM for a test drive. Yesim offers a number of interesting features, including:
- Phone numbers in Netherlands, Israel and United States.
- An useful app to install and manage your eSIM profile, see how much data is remaining in your eSIM data plan, and to easily purchase new plans.
- A built-in VPN to use to encrypt your internet traffic.
- Interesting payment options including Binance, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, plus Visa and MasterCard.
- The ability to use hotspots even on unlimited packages.
Purchase and Activation
The purchasing process with Yesim was very straight forward, and was done in their app after purchasing. Make sure to use the code ESIMITY to save 3 Euros on your purchase.
Very quickly after purchase, we received a confirmation email with instructions on what to do next. We appreciated the inclusion of a QR code in the email, along with installation instructions for Apple and Android devices.
The app also offered clear instructions for activating and using our Yesim eSIM, as well as setting up our iPhone with a default line and the eSIM data plan. Too often, we find people get confused on how to set up their device to use their eSIM plan, so it was nice to see this included front and centre in the Yeism App. We also appreciate the clear and personalized installation instructions, plus the ability to send the QR code to someone else.
There were no issues activating the Global data plan purchased, and it quickly connected to Telcell in Mexico and activated before we crossed the border into Belize.
Performance
We conducted 3 speed tests on the Belizean telco DigiCell, the leading provider in Belize. Our Yesim eSIM did not work on Smart, the other carrier available in Belize.
As you can see below, the results were a little mixed, with downloads averaging in the mid 20's if you exclude the outlier, and uploads averaging in the mid teens. These are somewhat slow for an incumbent's LTE network in our opinion, but it is worth noting the speeds are comparable to other speed tests we conducted in Europe last year.
| Speedtest | Speedtest Results (Down/Up/Ping) |
| Test 1 (Digicell) | 32.23 Mbps / 20.25 Mbps / 354 ms |
| Test 2 (Digicell) | 2.24 Mbps / 14.64 Mbps / 352 ms |
| Test 3 (Digicell) | 11.54 Mbps / 12.50 Mbps / 339 ms |
As with our other reviews, we did note that Yesim's internet breakout or gateway (below) was located in Poland, regardless of our test location in Central America. This did contribute to the slightly higher ping times above, even though the eSIM did provide reasonable speed and a generally good user experience. We did not test video or audio calls using the eSIM, but the ping times were still much lower than those we saw in our 3 Hong Kong eSIM review.
This would suggest the eSIM is better suited to use in Europe if you are wanting to do IP video or audio calls, given its European gateway. That said, we did not really notice any delays during general usage of the eSIM with the 350ms latency.
User Experience
We thought Yesim's native app experience was quite polished, making it very easy to purchase a new eSIM and to check your current usage and remaining data. When checking the data usage against our iPhone's built-in data tracking, the two were aligned.
Yesim also provides a VPN with the app, if for whatever reason you want to use this feature. We thought this was a slightly odd feature to include in an eSIM app, although we can see a scenario where you typically don't use a VPN but may want to when travelling in certain countries with increased surveillance.
Yesim Global Package 3GB
3 GB
Valid for 30 days
Covers 163 countries
Airalo
Airalo is probably one of the most well-known eSIM providers in the world, and was one of the first to enter the market (claiming 10M+ users), so we were expecting a trouble-free experience. Airalo offers travellers eSIMs in 200+ countries and regions.
Airalo offers the following features:
- A useful app to install and manage your eSIM profile, see how much data is remaining in your eSIM data plan, and to easily purchase new plans.
- The ability to use hotspots even on unlimited packages.
- A wide variety of packages that include voice including global packages with global voice calls.
Purchase and Activation
The purchasing process with Airalo was fairly simple, and we purchased this Airalo eSIM on the web.
We soon received a confirmation email, which contained an order summary and had some video attachments on how to install the eSIM. Somewhat annoyingly, it did not include a QR code or any manual installation instructions, and clicking the Install eSIM button took to us to a web page that required login. This process could be simplified, and makes the eSIM installation process take longer. We don't see any reason why Airalo does not include activation information directly in the email.
Performance
As our Airalo eSIM provided coverage on both Belizean network operators DigiCell and Smart, we speed tested the eSIM on both networks. We were initially quite happy the Airalo eSIM worked on multiple networks (in comparison to the Yesim eSIM), although that changed fairly quickly once we saw the performance.
Smart
| Speedtest | Speedtest Results (Down/Up/Ping) |
| Test 1 (SMART) | 0.04 Mbps / 5.35 Mbps / 227 ms |
| Test 2 (SMART) | 0.01 Mbps / 5.47 Mbps / 220 ms |
The results for the Airalo eSIM running on Smart can only be described as abysmal, and the eSIM was basically unusable on Smart. We found this very odd given our tests were all completed with full LTE signal strength. Airalo has a fairly good reputation, so we put this down to the Smart network, particularly as the result on DigiCell was much better.
DigiCell
| Speedtest | Speedtest Results (Down/Up/Ping) |
| Test 1 (Digicell) | 11.96 Mbps / 3.87 Mbps / 243 ms |
| Test 2 (Digicell) | 20.09 Mbps / 8.67 Mbps / 233 ms |
The Airalo eSIM performed significantly better on the DigiCell network, with an average around 15Mbps. That said, we were somewhat disappointed with the performance compared to Yesim, especially given the internet gateway was located Texas, USA - much closer to our geographical location in Belize than Warsaw, Poland.
User Experience
Airalo has a very easy to use website and an accompanying app. We were easily able to log in to both the website and the app and see current usage data, and purchase new eSIMs or data add-ons to the existing eSIM we had.
Airalo Discover - 20 GB
20 GB
Valid for 365 days
Covers 149 countries
FlexiRoam
Flexiroam is a Hong Kong and Malaysia-based leading eSIM provider whose network spans 520 network operators in over 200 countries and territories. FlexiRoam.
We tested the following FlexiRoam eSIM in Belize in September 2024.
Flexiroam Global Plan
20 GB
Valid for 365 days
Covers 160 countries
Purchase and Activation
Purchasing the FlexiRoam eSIM was on the FlexiRoam Website was not a particularly easy process. Our tester initially used Apple Pay to attempt to checkout the cart, and even though Apple Pay appeared to process the payment successfully, the checkout process did not complete.
This resulted in trying to get in touch with FlexiRoam to inquire about the status of the eSIM, as the charge appeared as pending and our tester did not want to get charged twice. This was a frustrating process, waiting for FlexiRoam to respond, given their operations are in Malaysia.
Eventually the response was provided that the charge was only a hold, and would be reversed.
We then purchased a second time via the FlexiRoam website, this time checking out directly with a credit card. Soon after that, the activation email was received.
We then scanned the QR code, and the eSIM was activated without issue.
Performance
Unfortunately we were unable to test the performance of the FlexiRoam eSIM as it suddenly stopped working after a day or two and around 50MB of data transfer, although we were able to see that it did provide coverage on both networks in Belize.
We then reached out to FlexiRoam support again via email and WhatsApp, where we were directed to modify certain settings on the iPhone, including adding an APN to the LTE settings, and changing the Voice & Data settings to LTE from 5G Auto. We do not think it should be necessary to modify phone settings, and our experience with numerous eSIMs has been they come with the correct settings to function
Unfortunately this did not resolve the problem, and we eventually asked for a refund after 48 hours going back and forward with FlexiRoam. Unfortunately, FlexiRoam customer support was unable to immediately provide that refund despite an unsuccessful resolution to the problem, further frustrating our tester, who then purchased the Airalo eSIM we reviewed above.
After waiting around 48 hours for approval, FlexiRoam support did eventually provide a refund to our tester - but we think should have happened a little earlier.
Our experience does not appear to be the typical experience, and there are indeed many stories of people being happy with FlexiRoam eSIM technology.
Value for Money
Obviously we tested two 20GB eSIMs with 365 day validity against the Yesim 3GB valid for 30 days, so the smaller package costs far more per GB.
Yesim Global Package 3GB
3 GB
Valid for 30 days
Covers 163 countries
Airalo Discover - 20 GB
20 GB
Valid for 365 days
Covers 149 countries
Flexiroam Global Plan
20 GB
Valid for 365 days
Covers 160 countries
Depending on your travel plans, it may make more sense to purchase a Global eSIM plan, rather than regional or country-specific eSIM plans. On this trip, it made sense more sense for us to purchase longer-term eSIM plans, which are only available in global packages. This also gives the added benefit of being able to travel to other countries.
In this case, the Airalo Discover - 20 GB is the clear winner in value for money, especially as the FlexiRoam eSIM did not really work. If it had worked properly, the FlexiRoam eSIM would have been marginally better value than Airalo after discount coupons were applied.
Conclusion
We were impressed with the overall experience of both Yesim and Airalo, and were not that impressed with FlexiRoam's purchasing problems, after-sales support or refund promptness.
Yesim had marginally better average speed that Airalo, although the difference is not that significant. There is no perceivable difference in every day use between the Yesim or Airalo, while using them on the DigiCell network. Both companies have a simple purchasing experience, provided clear activation instructions via a variety of methods, and had well polished mobile apps to support the experience.