PSA: How to Add eSIM Capability to Non-eSIM Phones/ Review of "Switch eSIM by Plan B" Adapter

I've just added eSIM capability to my mobile phone, a Moto G14 that doesn't have inbuilt eSIM capability.

This is an explainer for OzBargainers (and anyone else on the internet) who wants to use eSIMs, but their phone doesn't have eSIM capability. Note this won't work on every phone, more info below.

How I did it: I installed an eSIM adapter, that looks like an ordinary physical-type SIM card, but is "configurable", so you can download eSIM profiles onto it. And then your phone thinks it's an ordinary physical SIM, except that you can use an app on that phone to select which eSIM you want to use, download eSIMs to the adapter, and delete eSIMs when they expire.

I'm aware of four brands of eSIM adapter (as of May 2025): "esim.me", "5ber", "JMP", and "Switch eSIM by Plan B". These are briefly described in this post. I chose the "Switch eSIM by Plan B" adapter, for five reasons:

• It looks like it will work on my mobile phone (you download their app to check compatibility).
• Their online support answered my questions promptly (via a WhatsApp chat).
• It's the equal-cheapest option at the moment.
• Nobody else said they have it, so I get to "explore" and let everyone else know how it goes
• They don't charge money to make changes to your eSIMs, as one adapter does and one partially does.

The adapter arrived in the mail today, and I got it up and running (with the help of the online support) in about two hours. It wasn't all smooth sailing. I'll describe the "journey" I took to get it working, you can skip to the TLDR; version at the bottom if you think this post is already too long.

The Long Version

The TLDR; version is below.

First thing I did was to install the app, which supposedly tells you if your phone will let the app "talk" to the eSIM adapter. Here's what I saw on the "phone" menu. I didn't know if that meant my phone was compatible; support said "If you see SIM option under Slot State, it is compatible", and confirmed that my screenshot meant my phone is compatible. On this phone I can see "Slot State SIM1,SIM2", meaning both SIM slots will be able to talk to the eSIM adaptor. I also installed the app on an old 2019 Android 9 phone, it says "Slot State -" and pops up a message saying not compatible if I try to go to the eSIM menu.

I ordered the eSIM adaptor ten days ago, and it arrived today. It came from Shanghai (China) via ePacket, and arrived in a cardboard box about the size of a paperback novel. Inside the box was a bubble-wrap bag, inside that was an envelope, and inside that was a card holding the eSIM adapter and an ejection tool.

My phone is a dual-SIM (physical SIM) type, so I put the adapter in the empty SIM slot and powered the phone on. The app showed exactly the same as before, here's what I see on both of the eSIM pages. I check the PlanB website, they have a few suggestions, none worked, and they were a bit confusing. Plan B's online support gave me a longer list of suggestions, including multiple phone reboots, force-closing the app a few times, deleting and reinstalling the app from Google Play, and a link to install the app from an APK file. The first three options didn't make any change, but the final option (installing from APK) did. After I installed from APK and started the app, here's what I see on the Phone Menu and the eSIM menu. That "+" at the bottom of the eSIM menu lets you scan a QR code or manually type in the details, I chose to scan a QR code as the other option looked confusing.

And here's where I hit a second roadblock: I was getting this error message. I worked this one out myself, in all the phone reboots I had turned off mobile data and WiFi. To download an eSIM to your eSIM adapter, you need an internet connection to do the download! The QR code only tells the app where on the internet to download the eSIM from, it doesn't contain the eSIM itself. So I turned on WiFi, scanned the QR code, and 30 seconds later the eSIM was installed. The app shows a list of the eSIMs installed (one eSIM in my case), each with a switch on the right to enable the eSIM. You can only enable one eSIM on the eSIM adapter at a time, turning one "on" will turn off any other eSIM that was previously "on".

I was still not getting internet data - I had one more step to go. in your phone's menus, you have to set the eSIM adapter to be the SIM used for data, and it has to have roaming enabled. I turned off WiFi to be sure, and crossed my fingers. About 30 seconds later the signal bargraph at the top of my mobile's screen went from empty to 3 of 4 bars, and the scrolling message said I was connected to Telstra. Data works! I can browse OzBargain on my mobile!

To be absolutely sure, I powered off my mobile and removed the other SIM, leaving only the eSIM adapter in my phone. Powered up again, with WiFi turned off, and I can still browse OzBargain!

However, webpages load slower than normal, which is to be expected for the eSIM I installed. That eSIM is from https://roamless.com/, and although eSimDB says the breakout for internet data is in Singapore, I checked on https://www.deviceinfo.me/ and it said "You're in Mauritius"! If you want faster data, choose an eSIM with internet breakout in whichever country you want to use the eSIM in.

That "You're in Mauritius" photo is of my old 2019 Android 9 phone. Although it can't run the app to install eSIMs and select which one is "in use", it is quite happy to use the eSIM adapter as though it's a normal SIM, but it appears I'm stuck on whichever eSIM I selected last. There's a video on YouTube of someone configuring the adapter on their phone and then installing it in a portable WiFi Hotspot, showing how it can be used in anything that takes an ordinary SIM. However you may have difficulty if you need to punch the adaptor out in nano size to fit in your phone for configuring, and then try to use the adapter in something that wants a mini-size SIM or micro-size SIM.

Note that there are two types of eSIM adapter sold by Plan B:

• the "Switch Pro" (22 AUD) can only have its settings changed by the Android app
• the "Switch Max" (34 AUD) can be changed by the Android app and by an iOS (iPhone) app.

Both have a shipping fee of 16 AUD. Note they don't appear to have a PayPal option for the purchase.

As I use very little mobile data, I'm going to use this adapter to get my phone usage charges below $7/month, using the plan described here.

TLDR; version:

• The "Switch by Plan B" eSIM adapter works. I installed an eSIM and used mobile data through the eSIM.
• The eSIM I tested with is from https://roamless.com/, and data through it is a bit slower than using "normal" Australian 4G data, as the connection to the internet is in Mauritius (an island near Africa).
• The app is confusing to use, but Plan B's online support is good.
• The eSIM adapter cost me $38 AUD including shipping, and was delivered in ten days.