# Need International Cell Phone Advice **URL:** \ **Category:** Tech\ **Created:** [November 9, 2020, 4:16am UTC](https://community.nomadgate.com/t/need-international-cell-phone-advice/30182 "2020-11-09T04:16:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rosadellacasa](https://community.nomadgate.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@rosadellacasa](https://community.nomadgate.com/u/rosadellacasa)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 4:16am UTC](https://community.nomadgate.com/t/need-international-cell-phone-advice/30182/1 "2020-11-09T04:16:58Z")
Need Advice. I am about to purchase a new cell phone and I foresee living in several countries within the next few years. Presently they include the USA, Mexico, Uruguay, Columbia, Portugal (including the Azores), [Malta](https://nomadgate.com/malta/), and Italy. I have been reading up on dual sim card phones and they appear to offer a lot of flexibility. Can anyone provide advice on what I should be looking for besides ensuring frequency compatibility? Any advice greatly appreciated. Thanks, Rosa ---
**Author:** ![kostanos](https://community.nomadgate.com/user_avatar/community.nomadgate.com/kostanos/32/3639_2.png) [@kostanos](https://community.nomadgate.com/u/kostanos)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2020, 11:42am UTC](https://community.nomadgate.com/t/need-international-cell-phone-advice/30182/2 "2020-11-12T11:42:34Z")
Hi, I’m using Google Fi for more than a year already, and very happy with it. Now adding my wife to the plan. With wife I’ll pay $35 per month + $10 for each GB of data. It supports 200+ countries. I personally tested it in Germany, Ukraine, Turkey, Dominican Republic, Belgium, it works awesome. But you can only activate it in US. I ordered the phone to my US friend, he received it, activated it, and brought it to me to Dominican Republic. ---
**Author:** ![rosadellacasa](https://community.nomadgate.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@rosadellacasa](https://community.nomadgate.com/u/rosadellacasa)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2020, 4:43pm UTC](https://community.nomadgate.com/t/need-international-cell-phone-advice/30182/3 "2020-11-12T16:43:14Z")
Thank you for the advice, it sounds like it should work in the countries I want to travel to in the near future. I will look into this immediately. Greatly appreciated, Rosa ---
**Author:** ![jrcork](https://community.nomadgate.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@jrcork](https://community.nomadgate.com/u/jrcork)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2020, 1:50pm UTC](https://community.nomadgate.com/t/need-international-cell-phone-advice/30182/4 "2020-11-15T13:50:45Z")
Hi Rosa, I also travel a lot, and have a dual SIM phone. I keep my main simcard, the number that hasn’t changed for years, in one of the slots. This is the number used by banks, etc, for 2-step authorisations, and the number that most people know I can always be contacted on. In the second slot I use a simcard that I pick up in whichever country I’m in at the time. Depending on where that is, these sims can be picked up quite cheaply, and often have much more generous data allowances than your ‘home’ sim. In India, for example, you would get 1.5GB per day, plus calls and texts, for something like US$6 or 7 a month. Tether that to your laptop, and away you go! My phone, if you’re interested, is a Nokia 5.1 Plus, bought online in NZ for about US$130. Very convenient and not expensive. There are lots of others available. Good luck, John C ---
**Author:** ![rosadellacasa](https://community.nomadgate.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@rosadellacasa](https://community.nomadgate.com/u/rosadellacasa)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2020, 2:26am UTC](https://community.nomadgate.com/t/need-international-cell-phone-advice/30182/5 "2020-11-16T02:26:58Z")
This is exactly what I needed to know. I can’t wait to start traveling again. This is fantastic news. I will be much better prepared this time around Thank you!!! ---
**Author:** ![bukzin](https://community.nomadgate.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@bukzin](https://community.nomadgate.com/u/bukzin)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 12:55am UTC](https://community.nomadgate.com/t/need-international-cell-phone-advice/30182/6 "2022-01-18T00:55:43Z")
I am also a Google Fi user. There is a limit to how long you can use their service while out of the US. I understand Fi will cancel service if you move to another country and don’t return often enough to the US. Look into that. ---
**Author:** ![rosadellacasa](https://community.nomadgate.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@rosadellacasa](https://community.nomadgate.com/u/rosadellacasa)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 4:59am UTC](https://community.nomadgate.com/t/need-international-cell-phone-advice/30182/7 "2022-01-18T04:59:52Z")
Thank you for the heads up. I hadn’t heard this before. ---
**Author:** ![bukzin](https://community.nomadgate.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@bukzin](https://community.nomadgate.com/u/bukzin)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 6:05am UTC](https://community.nomadgate.com/t/need-international-cell-phone-advice/30182/8 "2022-01-18T06:05:57Z")
You should also look into eSIM’s. They are downloadable to most modern phones. Very affordable and lots of choices. [Airalo.com](http://Airalo.com) is one of many suppliers. ---
**Author:** ![bukzin](https://community.nomadgate.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@bukzin](https://community.nomadgate.com/u/bukzin)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 4:44pm UTC](https://community.nomadgate.com/t/need-international-cell-phone-advice/30182/9 "2022-01-18T16:44:32Z")
Found a nice write up on how eSIM’s work and their value to travelers and expats. [https://www.airalo.com/blog/how-esim-works](https://www.airalo.com/blog/how-esim-works) I understand [Flexiroam.com](http://Flexiroam.com) may have better pricing though. ---
**Author:** ![rosadellacasa](https://community.nomadgate.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@rosadellacasa](https://community.nomadgate.com/u/rosadellacasa)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 5:57pm UTC](https://community.nomadgate.com/t/need-international-cell-phone-advice/30182/10 "2022-01-18T17:57:33Z")
thank you, I greatly appreciate the information. ---
**Author:** ![anon16151502](https://community.nomadgate.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/c57346/32.png) [@anon16151502](https://community.nomadgate.com/u/anon16151502)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 7:17pm UTC](https://community.nomadgate.com/t/need-international-cell-phone-advice/30182/11 "2022-01-18T19:17:03Z")
As with most things in life, its a “you get what you pay for” situation. Ideally I would like a EU e-Sim card with pay and you go. E.g., I pay 10 Euros for the esim and get a phone number and then only pay when I make or receive calls/texts. I am sure such a thing exists but I have not found it yet. Most of the services I have seen want a monthly fee to maintain the account such as 12 euros a month. This is a lot when I only have less than 5 calls/texts a month. EU has standardized roaming rates in the EEA so it should not matter from which country you get the sim card, unless you want a specific country (vanity) number. I did find a service that gives a eSim for an EU phone number from the country of your choice and costs roughly $7 a month. So far the service seems to work fine but it is a bit convoluted in how their backend system works and routes calls. I suppose this is why the prices are what they are. But it does accomplish what I need in terms of having a phone number for a relatively low cost, and is more or less pay as you use. After I have tried it a bit I can report back. ---
**Author:** ![jb4422](https://community.nomadgate.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/ec9cab/32.png) [@jb4422](https://community.nomadgate.com/u/jb4422)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 8:16pm UTC](https://community.nomadgate.com/t/need-international-cell-phone-advice/30182/12 "2022-01-18T20:16:48Z")
Look at the sim from [onesimcard.com](http://onesimcard.com). The per-use charges might be higher but the carry cost is basically zero as long as you don’t mind having a number based in [Estonia](https://nomadgate.com/estonia/) (if you want one in .pt then it’s $2/mo plus you pay for relay costs essentially). The question is whether anyone is going to get upset about dialing to [Estonia](https://nomadgate.com/estonia/). but I had one for a long time and they only ask you use it once every two years. minutes cost more than other plans but you didn’t say anything about using it a lot, I assume the point is to simply have a fixed phone number. that said, I thought you could get a vodafone sim and all you have to do is put $10 on it every 6 months or the like to keep it active, which you can theoretically do from remote. I haven’t cared enough to really dig into it at this point. ---
**Author:** ![anon16151502](https://community.nomadgate.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/c57346/32.png) [@anon16151502](https://community.nomadgate.com/u/anon16151502)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 8:22pm UTC](https://community.nomadgate.com/t/need-international-cell-phone-advice/30182/13 "2022-01-18T20:22:05Z")
Yes. I will look at vodafone sim. I assume this is much easier and cheaper to pull off if one is actually at a store in the EU. I will try that next time I am there. Basically, for others what you need to make this process as simple as possible are 3 things: 1. carrier unlocked phone 2. phone supporting dual sim cards (either physical or esim) 3. phone supporting eSim card . See here [eSIM Compatible Phones List | Updated April 2025 - Holafly](https://esim.holafly.com/how-to/esim-phones/) There are a lot of article out there explaining all of this so I won’t rehash it. ---
**Author:** ![rosadellacasa](https://community.nomadgate.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@rosadellacasa](https://community.nomadgate.com/u/rosadellacasa)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2022, 12:59am UTC](https://community.nomadgate.com/t/need-international-cell-phone-advice/30182/14 "2022-01-19T00:59:06Z")
I purposely purchased a OnePlus 8T phone because it was unlocked with 2 physical sim card slots. All of these suggestions are great and I will look into them and figure out my best option. Please continue to let me know your experiences with this. thank you ---
**Author:** ![bukzin](https://community.nomadgate.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@bukzin](https://community.nomadgate.com/u/bukzin)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2022, 4:12am UTC](https://community.nomadgate.com/t/need-international-cell-phone-advice/30182/15 "2022-01-19T04:12:40Z")
I just bought a Global Data package (7GB, good for 360 days, works world wide) Got it for future travel. Seemed like a good deal for $40. US [Flexiroam.com](http://flexiroam.com/) Never tried that outfit before, hope it works a promised. ---
**Author:** ![rosadellacasa](https://community.nomadgate.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@rosadellacasa](https://community.nomadgate.com/u/rosadellacasa)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2022, 4:08pm UTC](https://community.nomadgate.com/t/need-international-cell-phone-advice/30182/16 "2022-03-17T16:08:40Z")
I will definitely look into it. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![beganzone](https://community.nomadgate.com/user_avatar/community.nomadgate.com/beganzone/32/9994_2.png) [@beganzone](https://community.nomadgate.com/u/beganzone)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2026, 8:51am UTC](https://community.nomadgate.com/t/need-international-cell-phone-advice/30182/17 "2026-03-14T08:51:50Z")
If you’re buying a new phone anyway, make sure it supports eSIM. It simplifies international travel a lot. Instead of dealing with different carriers or swapping SIM cards every time you cross a border, you can just activate a data plan digitally. I’ve used services like [Nomad](https://www.nomadesim.com/) and [Skyalo](https://skyalo.com/en) in [Portugal](https://nomadgate.com/portugal/) and [USA](https://nomadgate.com/united-states/) and they worked surprisingly well. Much easier than relying on one international carrier plan.