Saily eSIM Review

If you’ve been a traveller for some time, you’ll know the fun of haggling with a host of SIM card stalls as soon as you hit your destination airport.

The trouble with these is they’ve often all agreed to charge the same high price.

Getting information about what the SIM offers in terms of data, speeds and more can be a hassle, especially if there’s a language barrier.

Couple this with pushy salespeople and it can all be more hassle than it’s worth.

In the last few years, eSIMs have become popular. They’re virtual SIM cards you can activate before you travel without the need for a physical SIM card.

They’re also often much cheaper than physical SIM cards at your destination country.

I recently had the opportunity to head to Japan, so rather than pay for a $20+ SIM card in Japan I opted to give Saily from NordVPN a whirl.

At my request for testing, the Saily service was provided free of charge from Saily.

How easy was it to set-up Saily?

At the time of testing Saily, I also had the opportunity to give one of their competitors’ eSIMs a try, from rival VPN provider, ExpressVPN. Theirs is simply called “Holiday”.

I tell you this because when I originally tested the service last year Saily had opted to use an app installation and configuration style. This means you need to install an app to make use of the service.

At first I thought this was a little overkill, considering I would just prefer to pop some settings in like with other eSIM providers.

However, after using the system I came to value the app eSIM method. Holiday.com have now followed suit and gone the app route too.

Installing the Saily app is just like any other. It’s available for both Android and iPhone. I made use of the Android app.

Once you’ve logged into your account setting up and activating the eSIM is essentially one-click. The app took care of all the set-up and the eSIM was ready to use once I hit Japan.

I did have to head to the internet/network settings to disable my physical sim and enable the eSIM once I landed in Japan as the app didn’t manage those settings for me.

I put the app through its paces again in 2026 on a trip to Malaysia, and the same one-click setup held up on Android. No changes to the process, no new friction.

How did Saily perform?

I spent around a week in Japan mostly around the Osaka and Kyoto areas, both city and more out-of-the-way destinations.

Using Saily worked perfectly, aside from physically high locations that didn’t have network access I didn’t notice any connectivity issues.

I was able to send and receive messages on WhatsApp and other messaging apps, access social media on Facebook and more and generally make use of everyday browsing as if I was at home using my real-world physical sim.

I also tested Saily more recently on a 5 day trip to Malaysia with a 10GB package. Same result as Japan, it simply worked. No dropouts, no manual fiddling, and the connection held up across the whole trip.

Surprisingly, using an eSIM from Saily was both effortless and worked without interruption.

Features of Saily I liked

As I said earlier, I wasn’t overly keen on the app method of eSIM management, it seemed like overkill.

However, there were a few features that really stood out that wouldn’t have been possible without an app.

It goes without saying that the one-click installation is worth its weight in gold for all users, but especially if you have an aversion to technology. If you can click a button, you can set up the eSIM.

The second feature which I found extremely useful is you can use Virtual Locations. This means you can make your connection appear as if you’re physically somewhere else.

As I was in Japan I could make my connection appear in Thailand, the UK, the US or basically anywhere else in the world.

This is somewhat like a VPN but without the encryption features.

However, Saily claims because you’re using a mobile network, the need for end-to-end encryption isn’t necessary for normal users, and I would agree.

Consider this more as a useful feature for accessing location-specific content like your home bank account, home services or streaming services like Netflix and others from other countries.

As of 2026, Virtual Locations now sits inside a broader Security section in the app, alongside a few other toggles that weren’t there when I first tested Saily.

Finally, the ability to monitor the data you have left is possible via the app. Simply opening it presented me with the amount of data I had used out of the total data package.

I found this extremely useful in monitoring my data usage so I wasn’t going to run out. However, you can add data at a later date if you did run out.

Saily has also added the option to get an incoming phone number since I first reviewed the service. Worth noting this is limited to US numbers, but the number itself can be used to receive calls and texts no matter which country you’re physically in.

The Security section also now includes Adult Site Blocking, an Ad Blocker and Web Protection.

I switched all three on during testing and didn’t run into any issues, though I’d treat them as a convenient bonus rather than the main reason to choose Saily, VPN level content filtering isn’t really the point of an eSIM.

What about Saily Perks?

Saily has also introduced a Perks system, offering things like an Airport Lounge Pass, fast-track security and airport transfers.

I didn’t make use of any of these during testing since they come at an extra cost, and I can’t say whether they work out cheaper than booking the same services directly.

If you’re already using Saily for data, they’re worth a look, but I’d shop around before booking rather than assuming they’re the best price.

What I disliked about Saily

In all honesty, I couldn’t actually find anything to dislike about Saily.

At first I wasn’t overly keen about using an app, it felt like bloatware, something that wasn’t necessary.

However, after using the additional features and with the ease of set-up I was swayed to think it wasn’t so bad after all.

If I had to nit-pick then I would say that if you really wanted to avoid using the app then setting up manually can be a little confusing.

I couldn’t easily find the settings on the Saily site to set up the eSIM manually. Whether that was oversight on my part or it’s intentionally designed that way to push you towards the app is difficult to say.

One thing that used to be a downside for eSIMs generally, Saily included, was having no local phone number for calls. That’s changed somewhat now Saily offers an incoming number, though it’s currently limited to US numbers only. If you’re travelling with a friend or need a proper local number in the country you’re visiting, that gap still exists.

The other thing I’d flag from more recent testing, data is tied to the country you buy it for and can’t be moved across borders.

On my Malaysia trip I had 10GB and finished with 9.26GB unused, but couldn’t shift that leftover data to a neighbouring country, so it was effectively lost.

My advice is to buy less than you think you’ll need and top up using the Add Data option if you run low, rather than overbuying up front.

How does the price compare to other eSIMs?

At the same time of testing Saily, I also tested Holiday.com from ExpressVPN.

It’s difficult to compare the prices side-by-side because they offer slightly different package set-ups. So I’ll do my best to contrast some of the similar offerings.

For Japan at least, Saily’s cheapest package remains 7 days and 1GB of data, costing US$3.99, the same as when I originally tested it.

If you need more data, Saily’s 30 day packages are priced at US$7.99 for 3GB, US$10.99 for 5GB, US$17.99 for 10GB and US$24.99 for 20GB.

The 10GB and 20GB options have both crept up slightly since my original review, when they were priced at US$17.09 and US$23.74.

Saily’s unlimited option has also changed.

It’s now priced at US$48.99 for 15 days, up from US$46.54 when I first reviewed it, and the tier now caps high speed data at 5GB a day before dropping to a slower speed rather than staying uncapped throughout.

Holiday.com has changed its pricing model since I first compared it here too. Rather than the fixed data tiers I originally tested against, ExpressVPN has moved Holiday.com over to unlimited data plans priced by the number of days, similar to Saily’s unlimited tier.

Both providers offer multiple options such as worldwide access, regional access and specific country access.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for an easy to use eSIM that will allow you to make use of internet data while in another country then in my opinion, Saily is a good bet.

If you want to avoid the need to install an additional app then Saily probably isn’t for you. However, in my experience the app makes set-up much more user-friendly and offers some beneficial additional features that wouldn’t otherwise be available.

Pricing compared to turning up in a country and buying a SIM is much more advantageous and you don’t need to worry about being overcharged by SIM card touts.

One downside with eSIMs in general, Saily included until recently, was having no local phone number for calling. Saily now offers an incoming number, though it’s currently limited to US numbers, so if you need a local number for whatever reason, you’ll be out of luck here.

However, with apps like Whatsapp, Line, Messenger and all the others most people can make calls via these without issue.

Having now tested Saily twice, once in Japan and again in Malaysia, I’ve found the experience consistent both times, which counts for a lot with eSIM providers.

Overall I enjoyed making use of Saily and I’ll definitely be considering using them again for future travel.

If you’re heading off overseas and can’t access internet from your home sim then I highly recommend Saily.