I recently visited Germany and decided to try a product from Nomad. It is a company that offers data eSIM products worldwide, similar to Airalo, Keepgo, and Holafly. I will review my experience with Nomad Germany eSIM in this blog post. If you are interested in comparing Airalo Hallo! Mobil and Nomad Germany eSIMs, check out my experience with Airalo 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.
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.
German operators Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, E-Plus and O2 have their own eSIM products. However, the advantage of Nomad (Airalo, Keepgo, Holafly, etc.) is that they support access to multiple mobile networks in Germany.
Nomad discount code
Clicking on this link, you will visit the Nomad page. If you use my Nomad code LEOS92MM, you will get $3 off your first eSIM purchase.
Nomad data plans for Germany
Nomad offers two types of data plans for Germany. The first product is called Nomad Germany. It is a data plan specifically for use in Germany. The second product type is Nomad Europe, which can be used in 30 or 35 European countries.
Since I planned to stay only in Germany, I decided to try the Nomad Germany plan.
Nomad Germany Price
Nomad offers several data packages that differ in the amount of data provided, the validity time and supported operators. More information about this product will be displayed after clicking “Plan Details”. “Available Network” contains a list of operators whose mobile network you can use in Germany.
Before buying, check the information about the mobile network under “Network”. Choosing a product for multiple mobile networks, “Multiple carriers”, is more advantageous than just one operator.
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. Alternatively, check the list in this article.
Mobile operators in Germany and type of connection
Germany has four leading mobile operators – Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, O2 and E-Plus. The Nomad Germany data package can be used in the network of three of them – Vodafone, E-Plus, and O2. Each operator has different service coverage inside buildings, cities, or the country.
Connection type
Currently, operators offer 5G mainly for their customers. Nomad is not a mobile operator and does not own a mobile network. For its services, it uses the mobile network from operators in the country where it provides services. In the technical information for this data package, Nomad mentions 4G/LTE network support.
Activation
Unlike competitors, Nomad products must be activated within 30 days of purchase. The activation and validity period of the data package starts as soon as the eSIM is connected to a supported network for the first time.
My experience with Nomad Germany
My data plan
I planned to stay in Germany for only 5 days. When buying an eSIM, I decided between 1, 3 and 5 GB. I finally bought a 3GB data plan.
Network registration
My phone supports the use of two SIMs at once. Before travelling to Germany, I enabled the Nomad Germany eSIM as a second eSIM in the phone settings.
After landing in Germany and turning off the flight mode, I watched how quickly both (e)SIMs could register into the mobile network. My home SIM card was the first one. The Nomad eSIM registered to the Vodafone network 20 seconds later, and the 4+ icon appeared in the top corner of the screen. Too bad that 5G was not supported.
Coverage
During my stay in Germany, I only visited Berlin. However, my experience was different every day. The first day, my phone used the Vodafone mobile network. I had no problems with websites or social networks, everything loaded immediately.
However, the situation deteriorated rapidly the next day. As I rested on a bench near the Brandenburg Gate, my phone did not show me new posts on Instagram, nor did it open websites. The mobile network indicator showed that I was using the O2 network. After manually changing the mobile network in the phone settings to Vodafone, everything started working again.
On the third day, my phone even switched to O2’s 2G network. The mobile network from O2 is really a disaster in Berlin and should be avoided.
Speed
The image below shows the speed test result from Ookla from the Vodafone network.
Top-ups
Buying additional data is simple. Just click on “Add more data”.
Conclusion
I have mixed feelings about Nomad Germany. Before buying the eSIM from them, I was almost discouraged by the activation period of 30 days. One never knows what can happen, and the trip could be postponed by a month. Another negative experience was the O2 mobile network. Even after manually selecting the Vodafone mobile network, my phone reverted to the O2 network.
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|
| Two options for Germany – German eSIM and Europe eSIM | Limited time for activation – 30 days from buying |
| Fast registration to the network | Terrible experience on the O2 network |
| Support of several mobile operators in the country | |
| Different data offered in the data plans – from 1 to 20 GB |
