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Ubigi eSIM Review: Does it work well?
Read our Ubigi eSIM review and find out what the company offers with their data plans, customer service, refund policies, and more!
April 22, 2024
+1M
Unlimited data
Limitless data plans in more than 170 destinations
Holafly saves you +30% compared to other roaming fees
Plans that may interest you
If you plan to travel and want to take Ubigi with you, chances are you need to check for a Ubigi eSIM review. With a proper review, you can learn about what Ubigi offers regarding data, network coverage, prices, etc. So, keep reading to see what the company offers with our Ubigi review.
What is Ubigi?
Ubigi is a brand managed by Transatel. This is the brand they use to offer cellular connectivity at a worldwide level. Currently, Ubigi offers eSIMs in more than 200 destinations.
Focusing on providing people with mobile internet wherever they go, Ubigi has been growing its eSIM market. In addition to cell phones, Ubigi eSIMs work on other devices, such as PCs, cars, and smartwatches.
For people interested in getting an eSIM from Ubigi, they manage an e-commerce website plus an app for Android and iOS for travelers to get their preferred data package.
Now that we know what Ubigi does let’s move forward with the features it offers.
Ubigi review: Features
Currently, Ubigi is known for offering eSIMs for travelers. As said before, these work in different types of devices, varying from cell phones, cars, PCs, tablets, and even smartwatches, and that’s the main service they offer to people.
With this service, travelers will find a variety of data plans. These vary in duration and price. But what network does it use? How good is the signal when abroad? Or what about the customer service?
Let’s dive into the details and see how good the Ubigi features are in 2024.
Network Coverage and Quality
As for coverage, Ubigi is present in more than 200 destinations. These destinations are based in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Americas, the Caribbean, the Middle East, and Oceania.
With this coverage, the Ubigi eSIM connects travelers to many important destinations. There are different data plans, and depending on the country, these will work with local carriers. For example, the USA eSIM works with the T-Mobile network.
So, how good is the coverage in a certain location? It will depend on the local carrier Ubigi works with. You can check the information about the data plan and check the coverage map to see how far it goes.
Overall, Ubigi provides 4G and 5G connections in huge cities, but if people go further, like in rural or remote areas, the connection will likely drop to 3G. Of course, this will depend on the local carrier, so always check this information before buying. Ubigi has information about each carrier they are partnered with on their website.
Data Plans and Prices
Let’s move on to data plans and prices. The first thing people need to know is that Ubigi doesn’t offer unlimited data plans. In this Ubigi eSIM review, we’ll talk about limited data plans.
- Data plans: Ubigi offers three types of data plans. These are one-off, monthly, and annual data plans. Depending on what a traveler needs, each one will be a better option for them.
- One-off Ubigi plans: These data plans work for a specific amount of time. Depending on the duration of the package, people will get from 1 to 10GB of mobile data to spend.
- Monthly Ubigi plans: With monthly plans, travelers will get a specific amount of data per month. These plans are valid for as long as people decide to pay for them. These plans vary from 5 to 20GB of mobile data.
- Annual plans: These data plans require a monthly payment, making them a good option for long-stay travelers. These data plans include from 2 to 20GB of mobile data per month.
When choosing any of the data plans available, people have to check whether they are purchasing an eSIM for a single destination, for a region, or for a worldwide data package.
There’s a huge variety of prices in terms of costs. There are eSIMs that cost $2 and include 500 MB of data, while other data plans cost up to $158 per month and include 20 GB of mobile data. There are no hidden fees or additional charges when purchasing an eSIM from Ubigi.
As for the data, the company only works with limited packages. Therefore, there are no limitations on speeds or something similar. As soon as the package is over, people must get a new eSIM to stay connected while traveling abroad.
The last thing to mention about Ubigi’s data plans is that they don’t offer phone calls or text messages. Their service is focused on data packages, so that’s important to know.
Customer Service and Technical Support
Customer service from Ubigi needs a bit of improvement. There’s a “live chat” option available on the website, but it is not available 24/7. The button is always there, but not always there’s someone to answer.
If a traveler comes across an issue and finds the live chat unavailable, Ubigi will make them wait for a few hours, depending on how late the query was sent. There’s no additional way to contact them, at least for now.
So, while customer support might be helpful for what users need, the response times make it one of the features that need improvement.
If people contact Ubigi during their working hours, there’s someone available to help the user. That is something worth mentioning in this Ubigi eSIM review. The response time is also lower, as it will take a maximum of a few minutes to get help rather than a few hours.
Lastly, this customer support method is also available on their app. But it works in the same way, so remember that.
Contract and Cancellation Policies
When discussing the Ubigi eSIM review, it’s important to understand how the company handles its contracts and cancellation policies.
While browsing through the FAQ site of Ubigi, there are few references to refunds and contracts. For those who bought the wrong eSIM, the company is allowed to make a change for the correct data package, but this process has to be done after the purchase, as it’s mandatory from Ubigi.
As for Ubigi’s cancellation policies, there’s nothing to worry about. If people decide to cancel their eSIM, there aren’t hidden fees for not using it during the whole package duration, but there are no refunds for this reason either.
The only reason why Ubigi can process a refund is before people start to use their eSIM. Once people have installed their eSIMs, they have to use the service. Also, refunds have to be requested within a period of 14 days after the purchase!
In case you have doubts about whether you can get a refund, you have to contact Ubigi customer support. Their refund policies are not clear enough.
Ubigi eSIM review: Opinions
“For ease of use & set up, I’d give Ubigi 5 stars. But I’ve gotten the 10gb/$10 30day UK plan & after 7 days, I’m down to 3gb & this is after being EXTREMELY conscious of the data I spend (staying off tiktok/instagram/emails etc.) I use between 7-13gb in a MONTH back home, so I simply don’t understand how it’s dipping this fast out here after my careful diligence.” – Customer on Trustpilot.
“When used in London, the connection will be unavailable when there are large crowds, ex. Google Maps cannot be used. There is no phone number provided and Bolt cannot be set up.” – Julia on Trustpilot.
“Good service but please make the login process simpler on the app. On Android I have to enter userid and password each time. Your competition make this much simpler. User experience is everything.” – Ben on Trustpilot.
“Service was a little slow in some places, but it was very reliable. Ran out of data due to one app draining 80% of my data in a matter of minutes, but that was entirely my fault, and refilling the data plan was super easy to do. So glad I used Ubigi instead of paying $10/day for an international data plan with my provider.” – Customer L on Trustpilot.
Alternative to Ubigi: Holafly eSIM with Unlimited data
After reading the Ubigi review, you might want to consider some alternatives. One favorite alternative for travelers is Holafly, an international online store that offers eSIMs in more than 170 destinations.
The idea of using the Holafly eSIM for traveling comes with enjoying two important features: unlimited data and data sharing. That way, travelers won’t have to spend a lot of money to stay connected abroad!
To understand more about this side-to-side comparison, here’s a list of what both companies offer:
| Features | Holafly | Ubigi |
| Data plans | Unlimited and limited data plans | Limited data plans |
| Coverage | 170+ destinations | 200+ destinations |
| Prices | $6 to $139 | $2 to $158 |
| Easiness of use | Easy to purchase through appFaster purchase processBetter customer service in different languages | Requires a registration to buy an eSIMLacks proper customer serviceUnclear refund policy |
| Data sharing | Available on some unlimited plans | Available with all limited data plans |
| Types of plans | Single-country and regional data plans | Single-country, regional, and global data plans |
Conclusions about the Ubigi eSIM review
Let’s start with a conclusion on the advantages and disadvantages related to Ubigi eSIM.
- Advantages:
- Variety of data plans.
- Cheap data plans.
- Available in 200+ destinations.
- Global data plans available.
- Works on different devices.
- Disadvantages:
- Unclear refund policy on what cases people can request one.
- Only one channel to get customer support that’s not available 24/7.
- Ubigi eSIM price for some data plans is too high.
- Lacks of phone calls, text messages, and unlimited data.
- Only available to use in two different languages.
Overall, Ubigi has some strong points, but there’s still room for improvement, especially in how it treats its customers.
Compared to Holafly, Ubigi still has a lot to offer. Truth be told, if someone is looking for long-time eSIMs, Ubigi is a better option than Holafly, but the data package prices from the company are way too high, making Holafly a better option to stay connected with unlimited data.
Ubigi has a lot of room for improvement in terms of customer support. Compared to Holafly, where customer support is always active and has several channels to contact, Ubigi only has one and is not always active.
So, based on their reviews, Ubigi is a good option for travelers, but while making a deep Ubigi eSIM review, it’s fair to say that other companies are better options for travelers. In this case, Holafly!
FAQs
Yes. Ubigi has a 4.2 rating on Trustpilot, which makes it a reputable and reliable eSIM service. Still, they have features to improve.
Yes. There are different data plans available that work with T-Mobile networks.
No. Ubigi only works with data packages. They don’t offer phone calls, only through VOIP.
