I will focus on how Airalo Discover eSIM works in Indonesia in this article. I spent several days in this country of a thousand islands and thoroughly tested the performance of mobile data, the seamless exchange of SMS, and the quality of voice calls.
Disclaimer: Some links in this article contain affiliate links. If you click on the link and purchase any service, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.
I visited several places in Indonesia. In addition, I tried several eSIM products, which you can read about in these articles:
Reviews: eSIM for Indonesia
Buying an Airalo Discover eSIM is more complicated because it needs identity verification. You can find more information about this product and why it is necessary to verify identity in this article.
More about eSIM technology and other companies is in this article. In this blogpost, you will find advice on choosing a suitable product for a trip abroad. All eSIM reviews are available here.
Airalo Discount Code
If you use my Airalo code SANDRA4293 you can get $3 off or 15% discount (link to the discount here) on your first eSIM.
If you already have an existing account you can get 10% discount on eSIMs US$10+ using this link.
Airalo Applications
Airalo has apps where you can buy new plans or track the usage of your existing plans. Below are the links where you can download them:
For Google Play click here.
For Apple Store click here.
Airalo Products for Indonesia
Airalo offers three types of products for Indonesia. The first product is the Airalo Indotel eSIM. It is a data plan specifically for use in Indonesia.
The second type of product is Airalo Asialink, which can be used in 18 countries on the Asian continent. These include Bangladesh, China, Philippines, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Cambodia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
The third type is “Global eSIMs”, and Airalo offers two variants. The first is only data packages from 1 to 20 GB. In March and April 2024, these data eSIMs could be used in 124 countries.
The second variant also contains calls and SMS on top of data. The plans include voice calls (from 10 minutes up to 200 minutes), SMS (from 10 SMS up to 200 SMS), and mobile data (from 1 GB to 20 GB). These eSIM cards come with the Austrian phone number +43. In March and April 2024, these data eSIMs could be used in 125 countries.
Detailed instructions on creating an account and buying a data package can be found in this article.
Price
At the time of my trip, Airalo offered six Discover products. Each product had a different amount of mobile data, minutes for calls and SMS – from 1GB, 10 minutes, 10 SMS (for $15) to 20 GB, 200 minutes, 200 SMS (for $89). The validity of the plans was from 7 to 365 days.
What phones support eSIM?
With this technology’s growing popularity, more and more phones and tablets are on the market that support it. When buying a phone, you should ask the seller if the phone supports eSIM. Airalo regularly updates the list of supported devices, so it is better to check their official support page.
Mobile operators in Indonesia and connection type
Indonesia has four mobile operators: Indosat or IOH (Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison), Smartfen, Telkomsel, and XL Axiata. Airalo Discover eSIM can be used on the Telkomsel, 3, and Indosat networks. It’s interesting to note that Airalo lists 3 as a separate operator, even though this operator merged with Indosat and Ooredoo.
Indonesia has many islands, and some areas may not have network coverage. I recommend checking out nperf.com for more information.
Connection type
Airalo’s website indicates 4G coverage for Indosat, 5G for Telkomsel and 3. Still, the signal availability varies by location, as shown on the maps provided.
eSIM Activation
The activation and validity period of the data package starts as soon as the eSIM is connected to the supported network, in this case, Telkomsel, 3 or Indosat.
My Airalo Discover eSIM experience
My data plan
Buying an Airalo Discover eSIM is more complicated as it requires identity verification. I bought Airalo Discover eSIM with 3GB of data, 30 minutes and 30 SMS. This plan was valid for 30 days. The price was $36 (approximately £29). After applying the discount code, it is possible to have this package for $33 (approximately £26).
Network registration
I enabled Airalo Discover eSIM in the phone settings. It took about four minutes for the Airalo Discover eSIM to register to network 3 (it showed up as Tri). After enabling mobile data, the 5G icon appeared.
I was surprised that I did not receive a welcome SMS.
Functionality
This time, I decided to focus on making calls and sending SMS messages. I started with an outgoing call and made sure to use the correct country code, which is essential for international calls. For example, the UK uses the country code +44.
Madiscoveredies are phasing out 2G and 3G networks traditionally used for voice calls. Instead, 4G networks use VoLTE (Voice over LTE), where mobile data is utilised for making calls. It’s essential to ensure that the phone uses mobile data during the call and is not connected to Wi-Fi.
I attempted to call various numbers, including the Indonesian numbers for SriLankan Airline and Garuda Airline helpdesk. Still, unfortunately, I didn’t even hear a dial tone. I even tried calling the SriLankan Airlines branch in Abu Dhabi, a number that had worked for me in the past, but still no success.
As I tried to find the root cause, I restarted the phone, but it didn’t resolve the issue. Whenever something doesn’t work, I try turning it off and on again.
I reported this problem in the app and hope the issue has been resolved.
Speed
I did not test the speed.Top-ups
Buying additional data was easy. After clicking “My eSIM” and “TOP UP”, I saw these six plans.
Conclusion
My experience with the Airalo Discover eSIM was quite disappointing. I purchased it primarily for SMS and calls, so I was dismayed that making calls to local or international numbers was not functional. Thankfully, I didn’t encounter a situation where I urgently needed to call someone.
When I was writing this article, I realised I had forgotten to test the functionality of sending and receiving SMS.
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
| Three options – local Indotel, regional Asialink and global Discover eSIM | Voice calls not working |
| Voice calls and SMS support | No Unlimited Data bundle |
| Different sizes of data offered – from 1GB to 20GB | |
| Different validity periods of data plans – from 7 to 365 days | |
| Simple process for top-up |
What is your experience with eSIM in the Indonesia? Do you have a favourite one?
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