Cheap 2nd hand ESim phone - help!!

rothchick

As title says….I  need a cheap eSIM compatible android to use in Australia. Any suggestions? 

Thank you 

flaneurs_lobster

Can't recommend since I've not owned one but a-Googling says the Moto G54 5G is the cheapest eSIM compatible phone.

There's probably cheaper from the never-heard-of them end of eBay/Amazon.

£140 at Argos (new). 

Cisco001

Are you staying in Aus? Or just on holiday?
I think they block foreign phone.

flaneurs_lobster

Cisco001 said:

Are you staying in Aus? Or just on holiday?
I think they block foreign phone.

Don't think so. You may be thinking of the need to register with ID when buying a PAYG SIM, but that's very much the norm in most of the world.

A UK PAYM roaming deal will work. 

outtatune

flaneurs_lobster said:

Cisco001 said:

Are you staying in Aus? Or just on holiday?
I think they block foreign phone.

Don't think so. You may be thinking of the need to register with ID when buying a PAYG SIM, but that's very much the norm in most of the world.

A UK PAYM roaming deal will work. 

Nope, they really do block any handset except a whitelist of local devices certified as compatible. Their 3G shutdown has been a disaster for consumers.
https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/australias-3g-shutdown-why-your-4g5g-phone-is-now-blocked,19159

OP, you'd probably be better off asking on a forum for immigrants living in Aus (they will probably call themselves 'ex-pats' though).

flaneurs_lobster

outtatune said:

flaneurs_lobster said:

Cisco001 said:

Are you staying in Aus? Or just on holiday?
I think they block foreign phone.

Don't think so. You may be thinking of the need to register with ID when buying a PAYG SIM, but that's very much the norm in most of the world.

A UK PAYM roaming deal will work. 

Nope, they really do block any handset except a whitelist of local devices certified as compatible. Their 3G shutdown has been a disaster for consumers.
https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/australias-3g-shutdown-why-your-4g5g-phone-is-now-blocked,19159

OP, you'd probably be better off asking on a forum for immigrants living in Aus (they will probably call themselves 'ex-pats' though).

Wow, I stand corrected. When I was last in Aus there were none of these problems. Planning another trip later this year.

Sounds like they've made an utter balls of the 3g shutoff, especially having no 2g network to fall back to.

flaneurs_lobster

flaneurs_lobster said:

Can't recommend since I've not owned one but a-Googling says the Moto G54 5G is the cheapest eSIM compatible phone.

There's probably cheaper from the never-heard-of them end of eBay/Amazon.

£140 at Argos (new). 

Having looked at Vodafone AUS's list of approved (ie will work) phones, the Moto G54 5G isn't there. Phones that are there would have to be checked to make sure that the actual variant (not just the model number) is compliant.

Can't be bothered checking the other AUS networks but given @outtatune's heads-up about the problems with phones being provisioned for 4G voice I'd be wary of any cheap UK purchase working in AUS. Just getting a data connection would probably be less of an issue.

outtatune

No, any handset that the telco decides is 'not compatible' is entirely blocked: no calls, SMS, data, anything. You will be able to get data over wifi, nothing else. You might as well not put a sim in it.

And just because your phone is listed as compatible it doesn't mean that the telco won't block it. They are blocking phones that are on their own compatibility lists simply because they were bought from one of the other AUS telcos.

rothchick

Thanks everyone. This is a question for a friend who is going there for a 3 week holiday and her current Samsung doesn’t have eSIM- I will look over the link sent. What a shame they make it so complicated! We live in a digital world now