First-hand test of the China version of iPhone Air at its launch: We've visited all the major carriers and experienced all the pitfalls of eSIM for you.

Mainland eSIM

A Long and Arduous Road

The first mobile phone without a physical SIM card slot in the domestic market has finally arrived: it's the iPhone Air.

In the past few days, ifanr got a mainland version of the iPhone Air and deeply experienced the complete eSIM card activation process of mainland Chinese operators at several business halls in Guangzhou. We also had in - depth conversations with multiple operators' personnel who understand the eSIM business and consulted on the key issues that everyone is concerned about.

Let me give you a spoiler. Since the business is in its early stage of operation and there are policy restrictions, the overall experience of the mainland eSIM is not very ideal or smooth. However, the efficiency of the handling process is still good. Here, we'd like to give a thumbs - up to the staff of the three operators who received us.

How to convert a physical card to an eSIM?

We first went to the headquarters business hall of Guangdong Unicom and brought our mobile phones and the editor's ID card as required. The whole handling process is basically the same as that of handling a physical SIM card business. Submit the ID, report the old number, and the staff will write the eSIM into the mobile phone.

Actually, the whole writing process only took less than 5 minutes, and the efficiency is quite good. The rest of the time was mainly spent on the staff's introduction, our signing of the agreement, and our asking a lot of questions. I believe that as the staff accumulates more handling experience, the speed will be faster.

During the process, we need to sign and authorize some notice documents, and the staff will also keep photos of the ID card and the person as a record.

Until the eSIM is activated, our old mobile phone with the physical card can still be used. Once activated, the physical card will be immediately shut down.

It should be noted that although the operators said in the announcement that cross - regional handling is possible, in our actual handling process, the cross - provincial eSIM conversion business still doesn't work: Editor A's Unicom number belongs to Beijing, and it couldn't be converted to an eSIM at the business hall in Guangzhou (so we replaced Editor A with Editor B from Guangzhou to handle it).

This experience is definitely not very friendly to friends floating in big cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. If you don't live in the area where your number belongs and want to try out the eSIM as soon as possible, you may have to go back to the area where your number belongs.

But according to our judgment, the operators definitely won't hold on to the current situation forever. Theoretically, when the eSIM business is officially rolled out, the policies will also be updated, and cross - regional handling should also be available.

What about roaming and foreign cards?

At the business hall, ifanr asked all the questions related to roaming and foreign cards as much as possible. Unfortunately, since the business was launched too quickly, many staff members couldn't give perfect answers. What we can be sure of is:

First of all, after activating the eSIM with the mainland version of the iPhone Air, overseas roaming is exactly the same as that with the physical card in the past, and there will be no perceptible difference in the experience.

The overseas version of the iPhone Air really can't write and activate the eSIM card service of mainland Chinese operators.

Moreover, the mainland version of the iPhone Air can't write the eSIM card of foreign operators within the mainland.

Finally, regarding the issue of mainland mobile phones handling eSIM cards of overseas operators during overseas trips, this question is beyond the scope of what domestic operators can answer, so we didn't get an answer. And due to time constraints, we haven't had time to take the mainland version of the model overseas for actual card - handling tests.

But according to previous public information, the mainland version of the iPhone Air model A3518 is a full - network - compatible phone, and its frequency band support covers the operators of mainstream countries and regions in the world. So theoretically, it should be possible to handle cards overseas.

Do you need to change the package when switching to an eSIM?

Many readers have reported the issue of package fees to us. In fact, there's no need to worry at all.

First of all, there is no additional fee for converting from a physical card to an eSIM.

However, at a certain business hall, we encountered a situation where a 20 - yuan handling fee was charged first, but it was refunded through the original payment method after the completion of the process. This may be due to the specific business process or for the convenience of handling. If you encounter a similar situation when handling, you don't have to worry. Theoretically, the three major operators don't charge for this.

Secondly, the original package can be directly retained without changing the package or paying extra. This also applies to the integrated packages of broadband + mobile phone cards.

However, if you have already handled an eSIM and later want to switch back to a physical card, you need to pay the handling fee as required by the business hall. This is because the business hall needs to make a new card, and the physical card that has been shut down before can't be re - enabled.

Finally, we also asked the business hall about the situation of the "one - number, dual - terminal" service for Apple Watch/tablets. All three operators said that they haven't received relevant notices yet, and there will be updates only after the official release of the iPhone Air. Therefore, for users in this regard, if you have a strong need for the "one - number, dual - terminal" service, our conservative suggestion is to wait and keep an eye on the operators' announcements.

How to migrate the eSIM when the phone is damaged or replaced?

On this point, ifanr got clear answers from the business halls of the three major operators:

Whether your iPhone Air needs to be repaired or you want to upgrade to a new phone in the future — as long as you need to migrate the eSIM to a new phone or temporarily switch back to a physical SIM card, you must go to the business hall in person with your phone and ID card to handle it offline...

At that time, the staff will assist you in unbinding the eSIM, handling a new physical card, or re - downloading and activating the eSIM card on the new eSIM - enabled phone.

It should be noted that as of now, the policy of the three major operators for card replacement is that "each person can replace the card up to 5 times a month", and this card - migration process will consume one of these times (if you migrate the card back after the original phone is repaired, it will also consume a time).

Is the card - activation and card - replacement process smooth?

One of our editors has previously handled more than a dozen eSIM cards from various countries and regions, and is currently using seven or eight of them. He is already a user of the Hong Kong version of the iPhone Air, and there are multiple eSIM cards written in his phone.

He believes that compared with the experience of registering, activating, and switching eSIMs of overseas operators, handling the eSIM on this mainland version of the iPhone Air is really more troublesome.

Mainly because at present, the eSIM business handling is strongly bound to the offline business hall. Moreover, it's also very troublesome to migrate or replace the card after activation. You can imagine that on October 22, the official release day of the mainland version of the iPhone Air, and for some time after that, the business halls will face an unusually high flow of people in recent years.

We had conversations with multiple front - line handling personnel and back - end personnel. They said that since the release of the mainland version of the iPhone Air was sudden and the eSIM mobile phone business was launched too quickly, the training period was very short, so it's inevitable that there will be some in - proficiency. They hope that users can understand and be tolerant.

Here, ifanr wants to say that no matter how bad the handling experience of the mainland eSIM is and how unsatisfactory the policies are, it's not the fault of the front - line staff in the business halls. They are just like us, ordinary workers. If you go to the business hall with your new phone, we hope you can be more understanding towards the staff.

The above is ifanr's experience of handling the eSIM card with the mainland version of the iPhone Air. If we were to summarize it in one sentence, it would be "except for the inconvenient parts, everything else is quite convenient"...

This article is from the WeChat official account "ifanr". Authors: Ma Fuyao, Zhang Zhanyu, Jonathan He, Du Chen. Republished by 36Kr with authorization.