E-sim phones in Canada, Can prepaid Canadian plans be loaded?

[powerscol]

I hope this is the correct place to post this.

OK I am shopping a new cell phone as my iPhone SE gen 1 is outdated and does not work in some areas now (AT7T carrier). However the new I phones iPhone 14 and up are E-sim, meaning the have built in sim cards and the sim card is not replaceable.

On my last trip we got a prepaid Canada plan (Lucky) to work in Canada, but it was a replacement sim card. So the question is if I have an E-sim card phone can I still get a prepaid plan to load and work in Canada or elsewhere in case I decided to travel more.?

Right now I am looking at a Galaxy S23 ultra or the iPhone 15 pro max, The Galaxy uses the std sim card, iPhone is E-sim. I want good photos and long battery life - especially on standby. The battery lime on my SE is down to a few days.

Now the iPhone 15 line in Canada has the std sim card verses E-sim. Does anyone know of a Canada retailer that can sell me and ship to me an unlocked iphone sim version. Or is there a big duty fee?

Thanks for any help as I am a smart phone dummy.

PS - Is anyone using the cell service Ting? https://tingmobile.com/ They have some very cheap plans and use Verizon and T-mobile networks. However they don't work with e-sim phones yet.

 

[MoonShadow_1911]

I hope this is the correct place to post this.

OK I am shopping a new cell phone as my iPhone SE gen 1 is outdated and does not work in some areas now (AT7T carrier). However the new I phones iPhone 14 and up are E-sim, meaning the have built in sim cards and the sim card is not replaceable.

On my last trip we got a prepaid Canada plan (Lucky) to work in Canada, but it was a replacement sim card. So the question is if I have an E-sim card phone can I still get a prepaid plan to load and work in Canada or elsewhere in case I decided to travel more.?

Right now I am looking at a Galaxy S23 ultra or the iPhone 15 pro max, The Galaxy uses the std sim card, iPhone is E-sim. I want good photos and long battery life - especially on standby. The battery lime on my SE is down to a few days.

Now the iPhone 15 line in Canada has the std sim card verses E-sim. Does anyone know of a Canada retailer that can sell me and ship to me an unlocked iphone sim version. Or is there a big duty fee?

Thanks for any help as I am a smart phone dummy.

PS - Is anyone using the cell service Ting? https://tingmobile.com/ They have some very cheap plans and use Verizon and T-mobile networks. However they don't work with e-sim phones yet.

I use Holafly when I travel internationally. Any eSim provider will work just fine. Infact, you can have a good number if eSims on your phone, you just switch between them.

 

[FT4NOW]

Galaxy will also support esims if you want one for Canada travel.

 

[jkwilson]

Many US plans include Canada and Mexico. I travel to Canada once or twice a year and just use my Verizon phone and my friend uses his AT&T phone.

 

[Scott'n'Wendy]

Does anyone know of a Canada retailer that can sell me and ship to me an unlocked iphone sim version. Or is there a big duty fee?

If you need it, I can arrange to buy the phone for you and mail it, but there must be an easier way. I think it is just a matter of carriers that have agreements to work together in the two countries?
You can also get a dual sim phone. Pretty common now.

 

[powerscol]

Scott
Thanks I will keep this in mind. Tomorrow I will be out checking out Verison and T-Mobile and the phones I an considering. I want to make sure it fits my pocket and I can actually use it.. My daughters friend has a galaxy s23 ultra and loves it. Ill PM you later

Folks to clarify I am looking for a new phone that still uses the sim card, so If I travel I can swap cards and be good. However I am learning the E-sim phoned can have multiple carriers on the internal sim card so I cold just add a Canada carrier(if Canada carriers use E-sim) . It is an evolving thing and I need to read up more. This is all new to me.

Thanks for the feed back

PS One big question. As most phones don't have an SD card anymore. how much internal storage is enough. 256. 512, or more. I am just not familiar on how much room pictures take up.

Thanks

 

[MoonShadow_1911]

Scott
Thanks I will keep this in mind. Tomorrow I will be out checking out Verison and T-Mobile and the phones I an considering. I want to make sure it fits my pocket and I can actually use it.. My daughters friend has a galaxy s23 ultra and loves it. Ill PM you later

Folks to clarify I am looking for a new phone that still uses the sim card, so If I travel I can swap cards and be good. However I am learning the E-sim phoned can have multiple carriers on the internal sim card so I cold just add a Canada carrier(if Canada carriers use E-sim) . It is an evolving thing and I need to read up more. This is all new to me.

Thanks for the feed back

PS One big question. As most phones don't have an SD card anymore. how much internal storage is enough. 256. 512, or more. I am just not familiar on how much room pictures take up.

Thanks

First question, are you looking to stay with iOS or move to Android?

I ask because there is a learning curve for switching Operation System environments. The most common company, going either direction is, "I can do this with my old phone, why can't my new phone do it" and " how do you do this on my new phone, on my old phone I just did this..."

That piece aside, both ecosystems come with some kind of cloud storage that you can purchase to store photos. iOS comes with iCloud. Samsung comes with Microsoft OneDrive. Both are pretty small storage plans and you will want to pay for more storage.

Another consideration is setting up the new device. You can't use iCloud to transfer your old photos to a Samsung, but with Samsung's Smart Switch, it makes it a little bit easier, it doesn't work all the time.

So, unless you download all of your photos to s computer, either through iTunes or trying to email them, one at a time, to yourself, the really isn't any guarantee to get them all.

If you stay with iOS, when you activate and setup your new phone, if you use your existing account and don't create a new one, it will make the transfer easier. You did say you have the first generation iPhone SE. Can you still get updates for the OS? (Go to settings -> General -> Software Update.) If so, you will want to make sure the phone is up to date, that will make the transfer go as smoothly as possible.

Now, to address your storage question. Do you take tons off pictures, with the default settings, or do you tweak the settings? Do you delete photos you don't want, or keep them all with the intent to delete some of them later (and, like me, forget)? In either case, the more storage, the better. If you don't take a bunch of photos, then 128-256 gb of storage should suit you fine.

 

[powerscol]

First question, are you looking to stay with iOS or move to Android?

I ask because there is a learning curve for switching Operation System environments. The most common company, going either direction is, "I can do this with my old phone, why can't my new phone do it" and " how do you do this on my new phone, on my old phone I just did this..."

That piece aside, both ecosystems come with some kind of cloud storage that you can purchase to store photos. iOS comes with iCloud. Samsung comes with Microsoft OneDrive. Both are pretty small storage plans and you will want to pay for more storage.

Another consideration is setting up the new device. You can't use iCloud to transfer your old photos to a Samsung, but with Samsung's Smart Switch, it makes it a little bit easier, it doesn't work all the time.

So, unless you download all of your photos to s computer, either through iTunes or trying to email them, one at a time, to yourself, the really isn't any guarantee to get them all.

If you stay with iOS, when you activate and setup your new phone, if you use your existing account and don't create a new one, it will make the transfer easier. You did say you have the first generation iPhone SE. Can you still get updates for the OS? (Go to settings -> General -> Software Update.) If so, you will want to make sure the phone is up to date, that will make the transfer go as smoothly as possible.

Now, to address your storage question. Do you take tons off pictures, with the default settings, or do you tweak the settings? Do you delete photos you don't want, or keep them all with the intent to delete some of them later (and, like me, forget)? In either case, the more storage, the better. If you don't take a bunch of photos, then 128-256 gb of storage should suit you fine.

Thanks Mark - I just learned a lot from you response
Safe travels

 

[kb0zke]

Thanks for this discussion. We'll be buying new iPhones later this year, and in January be will begin our big trip to Alaska. The plan is to cross into Canada right after Memorial Day, so this discussion is very timely. Lots of questions to be asking before we get the new phones.

 

[powerscol]

Thanks for this discussion. We'll be buying new iPhones later this year, and in January be will begin our big trip to Alaska. The plan is to cross into Canada right after Memorial Day, so this discussion is very timely. Lots of questions to be asking before we get the new phones.

David
Many of the providers here say thier phones and plans will work in Ca, Trust me, most don't except populated areas, or have high roaming charges

We got this plan at a Walmart https://www.luckymobile.ca/ worked even in the far Yukon. There are others too, but it got us by going through Canada to Alaska and back. I did some digging - most Canada providers are e-sim compatible.

One tip - unless you want to see Calgary or eastern parts of Canada cross over from Washington state and follow the roads North and tie into the Alcan Highway just west of Watson Lakes. Most beautiful part of Canada. And go slow - road damage is a killer on the truck and trailer. Also take you time.

On edit I will also be getting the iPhone 15 pro Max.