Holafly is a brand new startup eSIM knowledge plan firm primarily based out of Dublin. I believed their service appeared fascinating, particularly since lots of their knowledge plans are limitless, embrace some calling minutes, and the costs are reasonably priced.
However I’ve discovered that there can usually be technical quirks when utilizing any worldwide eSIM knowledge plan so I wished to do a hands-on Holafly eSIM Evaluation to see how they stacked up towards different eSIM knowledge plans I’ve utilized in Europe.
Are you simply involved in seeing how Holafly carried out once I used it in Italy? Click on right here to leap straight to the Holafly Actual-World Efficiency part.
Save 5% in your order at Holafly with the code: THESAVVYBACKPACKER
How I Examined My Holafly eSIM & Why Belief Me
For this Holafly take a look at, I used Holafly’s 15-day limitless knowledge eSIM plan on my iPhone 14 Professional for a two-week journey to Italy. This journey was break up between Rome and Naples however I took frequent day journeys outdoors the cities (Capri, Pompeii, on the prepare between Rome and Naples, and so on.).
Throughout previous journeys to Europe, I’ve examined the Orange Vacation Europe knowledge plan and the Bouygues Telecom Trip Pay as you go Information Plan. I’ve additionally tried utilizing T-Cellular’s worldwide knowledge plan (the cell service I take advantage of at residence).
I’ve additionally written extensively about utilizing knowledge plans in Europe so try The Savvy Backpacker’s Information To Utilizing Information Plans in Europe and How To Purchase A SIM Card and Information Plan in Europe.
Holafly Plan Choices, Costs, and Nation Protection
Okay, let’s dive into how Holafly works and belongings you would possibly need to know earlier than shopping for their service.
Holafly’s Limitless Information Plan Costs
Holafly’s Europe and North America eSIM plans all include limitless knowledge with customizable days—from 1 as much as 90 days (so that you solely pay for what you want).
Holafly’s per-day value will get cheaper because the plan size will increase, so a 7-day plan is about $4.27/day and the 21-day plan is about $3/day. You’ll need to poke across the Holafly web site to see the precise specifics of your vacation spot’s knowledge package deal choices.
NOTE: I’m all the time slightly skeptical about “limitless” knowledge plans as a result of native suppliers would possibly throttle knowledge if the consumer begins consuming extra knowledge—for instance, your knowledge would possibly get slowed down for those who stream a number of Netflix, and so on. I’ve by no means skilled any knowledge throttling nevertheless it’s one thing to remember.
Nation/Area Choices
Holafly gives eSIM knowledge plans for over 200 locations—go to the Holafly web site to see the total listing of nations they cowl.
As talked about earlier than, I examined their Italy eSIM however Holafly additionally gives a “Europe” eSIM that covers greater than 40 European nations—together with Turkey, United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, France, Germany, Greece, Andorra, Portugal, Netherlands, Eire, Serbia, Norway, Poland, Iceland, Austria, Croatia, Sweden, Bulgaria, Belgium, Macedonia, Malta, Denmark, Cyprus, Hungary, Romania, Czech Republic, Finland, Monaco, Lithuania, Ukraine, Latvia, Estonia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Isle of Man, Luxembourg, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein.
What Cellular Networks Does Holafly Use?
Holafly isn’t a cell supplier—i.e. they don’t personal the cell towers. Holafly merely companions with native suppliers and primarily rents bandwidth from these massive corporations. So, in Italy for instance, you’re truly linked to the Wind Tre community (in France you connect with SFR, the US is AT&T, Germany is T-Cellular, and so on.).
Normally, you’ll get the identical service and speeds as everybody else on the community however throughout heavy community utilization, some customers report barely slower speeds (once more, this varies by community).
[DISCONTINUED] European Telephone Quantity With 60 Minutes of Calling Credit score
UPDATE: In June 2023 Holafly up to date their European eSIM knowledge plans to incorporate a European telephone quantity which incorporates 60 minutes value of calling to different European telephones. Nonetheless, it seems as if this service has been discontinued as of the summer time of 2024.
Setting Up, Putting in, and Activating Your Holafly Service
UPDATE (March 2024): Apple’s iOS 17.4 replace included a terrific new automated eSIM set up and activation characteristic—making organising and managing your eSIM a lot simpler. Merely comply with the prompts in your telephone and it’ll stroll you thru the method.
It’s necessary to not activate your Holafly eSIM till you’re at your vacation spot.
That mentioned, this course of is slightly complicated since you’ll be able to set up the eSIM whilst you’re residence however then it’s sort of simple to by accident activate the service whilst you’re setting all the things up.
If unsure, wait to put in your Holifly eSIM till the morning of your flight—this fashion you received’t eat an excessive amount of into your plan’s validity interval for those who do by accident activate your plan too early.
So on this part, I’ll attempt to stroll you thru the method of putting in the eSIM after which activating the service.
Putting in and Activating Your Holafly eSIM
As soon as you buy your Holafly knowledge package deal, you’ll get an e mail with a QR code (you can too kind in a code for those who can’t scan the QR code). You merely scan the QR code together with your telephone and it walks you thru the activation course of.
Your telephone will immediate you to make a couple of setting modifications after which your service is activated. It’ll robotically connect with the native supplier.
It was surprisingly easy.
Holafly eSIM Actual World Efficiency
I used to be skeptical of Holafly earlier than utilizing their service (particularly since they provide “limitless knowledge”) however I used to be extraordinarily proud of Holafly’s efficiency. I largely received 5G speeds however typically received LTE/4G speeds—I by no means observed any knowledge throttling.
My Google Maps/Google searches labored flawlessly, my iMessage by no means had any points sending images and movies, all my social media posts went via rapidly, and my cell knowledge by no means had any points. I’ll be aware that I by no means used Holafly to stream massive quantities of information, so I can’t touch upon how that may have an effect on efficiency.
In brief, my Holafly knowledge labored very effectively for your complete two weeks of my journey to Italy.
Naturally, I can’t touch upon how Holafly works in different components of the world however I’m assured that it’ll work equally all through Europe and different developed nations.
Is Holafly A Good Deal and My Last Ideas
I believe Holafly is a superb deal for vacationers who need an reasonably priced, no-hassle worldwide knowledge plan that gives nice velocity and a very reasonable value. I used to be severely anticipating to have sluggish speeds (or at the least some sort of points) however all the things labored tremendous effectively.
And Holafly is much more spectacular now that their European plans include a European telephone quantity.
My 15-day service was $50.9—which comes out to mainly $3.39 a day (they’ve plan choices that vary from 1 day to 90 days). Most individuals’s home carriers will cost $10+/day for worldwide service and knowledge speeds are sometimes nonetheless sluggish so $3/day is a superb deal.
Save 5% in your order at Holafly with the code: THESAVVYBACKPACKER
James Feess is the creator of The Savvy Backpacker and the creator of the e book “The Savvy Backpacker’s Information To Europe On A Price range”. He is been running a blog about finances journey in Europe since 2010.
No Humorous Enterprise
The Savvy Backpacker is reader-supported. Which means once you purchase merchandise/companies via hyperlinks on the location, I could earn an affiliate fee—it doesn’t price you something additional and it helps assist the location.
Thanks For Studying! — James
Questions? Be taught extra about our Strict Promoting Coverage and How To Help Us.
