Nomad eSIM Review: Regional Plan Tested in Portugal, Germany and Denmark

I tested Nomad’s Europe eSIM across Portugal, Germany and Denmark on an iPhone 15 Pro, checking real download speeds, hotspot performance, installation and customer support along the way. If you’re planning a Euro summer trip or a multi-country vacation from the US or Canada and searching for an eSIM, this covers what actually mattered during testing.

Based on this testing, Nomad stood out as a strong pick for multi-country Europe trips, particularly if you’d rather pay for the data you actually need than commit to an unlimited plan. Here’s what stood out, what’s worth knowing before you buy, and where it might not be the right fit.

What is Nomad eSIM?

Nomad eSIM is a data-only eSIM provider covering more than 200 destinations, with plans priced by data amount, country or region. You buy a plan through the app or website, install it before you travel, and it activates automatically once you land and connect to a local network.

There’s no physical SIM to swap and no store visit required. You install the eSIM digitally, and it sits alongside your regular SIM so you can keep your home number for calls and texts while using Nomad eSIM for data.

Setup took me about two minutes on an iPhone 15 Pro, and it installed without issue on every other phone I tried it on too.

If you want to try it yourself, Nomadwise readers get 15% off Nomad eSIM plans with the code NOMADWISE15.

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Nomad eSIM plan examples: Europe and Latin America

I tested Nomad’s Europe eSIM hands-on across three countries, and pricing for that plan is below. Nomad also offers a number of other strong regional plans beyond Europe, including Latin America. I haven’t tested that plan personally, but I’ve included pricing for reference since it’s a common route for North American travellers too.

Europe eSIM pricing

Nomad eSIM actually sells two different Europe plans with different country coverage. Details on that in the table below.

Nomad eSIM Europe plan pricing as of August 2026.

Pricing for both packages is very similar, and at the 10GB tier both plans cost exactly the same, so which one to pick comes down entirely to coverage, not price. For context, Nomad eSIM’s pricing here sits toward the affordable end for fixed data eSIMs, and it’s meaningfully cheaper than unlimited plans from other providers if you don’t actually need unlimited data for your trip.

Nomadwise readers get 15% off any 1GB to 50GB Nomad eSIM plan with the code NOMADWISE15.

The 35 vs 36 country plan difference

This is the one thing worth reading carefully before you buy. The two Europe plans sound almost identical, but they’re not the same list plus one country: some destinations are swapped out entirely:

• 35-country plan includes Gibraltar and San Marino
• 36-country plan swaps those for the Canary Islands, Northern Cyprus and Turkey instead

If your itinerary includes any of those five places specifically, check the country list before buying rather than assuming the bigger number covers everything the smaller one does.

Latin America eSIM pricing

If your trip is heading to Latin America instead, Nomad eSIM covers 17 countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela:

Worth knowing: Latin America runs noticeably more per GB than Europe, with the 10GB tier at $39 versus $23. It also lands in the middle of the pack price wise for the region, matched almost exactly by at least one other fixed data provider. I haven’t tested this plan personally, so this is pricing and coverage only, not a performance verdict.

Installing and setting up Nomad eSIM

Getting started was straightforward. I downloaded the Nomad eSIM app on my iPhone 15 Pro and signed in with Apple, which took seconds and didn’t require setting up a separate password.

Before buying, Nomad eSIM lets you check network information for each country, which is a nice touch most competitors skip. For Portugal, the app listed MEO and Sonaecom as network partners with 5G support. In practice, my eSIM ended up connecting to NOS instead. This didn’t cause any problems, but it’s worth knowing that the network shown before purchase isn’t always the one you’ll actually connect to.

After choosing the 10GB Europe plan, checkout only took a few seconds. The app then showed an “Install eSIM” button, and through that launched Apple’s native eSIM installation flow.

The whole process, from tapping install to having a working eSIM, took about two minutes. It installed just as smoothly on every other phone I tried it on.

A couple of small things worth flagging:

• Straight after installing, the eSIM showed up on my iPhone under the generic name “Travel BICS” rather than “Nomad eSIM”. Easy enough to rename manually, but can be a little confusing if you have multiple eSIMs installed.
• The Nomad eSIM app displayed “Plan not started yet” immediately after installation, which briefly made it seem like another step was needed. Checking my iPhone’s settings directly showed the eSIM was already active. It was only a minor delay rather than an actual problem.

One practical note on timing: if you’re not planning to use your eSIM straight away, Nomad eSIM activates plans automatically 60 days after purchase, even if you haven’t connected to a network yet. Buy it too far in advance of your trip and you could burn through validity before you land.

How fast is Nomad eSIM? Real speed test results

Nomad eSIM’s speeds varied a lot by country. That’s normal for eSIMs, since performance depends more on the local network partner than on Nomad eSIM itself, but the range I saw was still worth documenting properly.

Portugal speed test

My first speed test in Portugal, connected to the NOS network on 5G, came back at 32.3 Mbps download and 23 Mbps upload. A later test dropped further to around 22 Mbps download.

That’s on the low side for an eSIM, so I contacted Nomad eSIM’s support team to see what was going on (more on that in the next section). The fix was simple: switching my iPhone from 5G Auto to 4G/LTE took download speeds from roughly 22 Mbps up to 91.2 Mbps, still on the same NOS connection.

The lesson here is a useful one beyond just Nomad eSIM: 5G isn’t automatically the faster option. On this particular connection, 4G performed close to four times better.

Germany speed test

In Germany, Nomad eSIM reached 106.45 Mbps download with no connectivity issues on the Vodafone network.

Denmark speed test

Copenhagen produced the strongest result by far. Connected to Norlys, the eSIM hit 771 Mbps download and 354 Mbps upload, easily the fastest of the three countries tested.

Nomad eSIM speed test results by country

Hotspot performance

Hotspot speeds were noticeably lower than the direct phone connection in both countries where I tested it.

In Portugal, hotspotting a laptop through my iPhone produced around 33.03 Mbps download and 2.24 Mbps upload. In everyday use, browsing and YouTube worked fine, and video streaming had no problems. The main limitation was the low upload speed. Anyone doing heavy file uploads or cloud backups over hotspot would likely notice it.

In Denmark, hotspot performance was much stronger at around 79.74 Mbps, more than enough for typical remote work.

What this means if you’re planning a trip

Speeds on Nomad eSIM depend heavily on where you’re travelling and which local network your eSIM connects to. Portugal’s initial results were unremarkable, but that wasn’t really a story about Nomad eSIM being slow. Germany and Denmark both performed well, and the Portugal issue had a quick fix once identified. If you’re heading to multiple countries on one trip, expect some variation between them rather than a single consistent speed.

Nomad eSIM customer support: how it handled a real issue

Since my initial Portugal speeds were underwhelming, I got a first-hand look at Nomad eSIM’s support in action rather than just reading about it.

I reached support through the live chat inside the Nomad eSIM app. It started with an AI assistant, which is standard for most eSIM providers now. What stood out was that asking to speak to a human moved me straight into a human support queue, rather than trapping me in an extended automated troubleshooting loop first.

From there, the conversation involved some back and forth. I sent a few screenshots, and it took a bit of time to land on an answer, so this wasn’t an instant fix. But the support representative eventually identified the actual cause: my iPhone was set to 5G Auto, and switching it to 4G/LTE was the fix. That single change took my download speed from around 22 Mbps to 91.2 Mbps, still on the same NOS network in Portugal.

Troubleshooting took a bit of patience, but the outcome was a genuine four times improvement in speed from one setting change, which is about as good an outcome as a support interaction can have.

The Nomad eSIM app: more than just plan management

Nomad’s app has more personality than most eSIM apps I’ve used, for better or worse depending on what you personally prefer.

One of the first things I saw after setting up my account was Nomad eSIM’s check-in and rewards system. The app encourages travellers to start weekly check-ins, with a reward for each one. In practice, checking in just meant opening the feature and tapping a button. My first check-in unlocked a 100MB add-on data reward, valid for just over a month, followed by an offer for 25% off add-on eSIMs.

Beyond check-ins, the app includes:

• Rewards and coins
• A free 1GB trial eSIM offer for new customers
• Referral discounts for sharing Nomad eSIM with friends
• Regular promotional offers

None of this affects the actual mobile connection. It’s an engagement layer on top of a fairly standard eSIM product, and whether it adds value really comes down to personal taste. If you like collecting perks and checking in on an app before a trip, it’s a nice bonus. If you just want to buy a plan and forget about it, you can safely ignore all of it and the eSIM works exactly the same either way.

One practical note on browsing plans: Nomad eSIM splits its offerings into single-country and regional plans, and some regions appear under abbreviations like SG-MY-TH rather than a readable name. It’s not a dealbreaker, but it does mean double-checking exactly what you’re buying before you confirm.

Nomad eSIM: pros and cons

Based on installation, real-world testing across three countries, hotspot performance and a genuine support interaction, here’s how Nomad eSIM performed overall.

Pros

• Fast, simple installation. Setup took about two minutes and worked without issue on every phone I tried it on.
• Reliable everyday use. No connectivity problems over several days of normal use, including Spotify, Google Maps, WhatsApp and video calls.
• Strong speeds in some locations. Germany reached over 100 Mbps, and Denmark hit an exceptional 771 Mbps download.
• Genuinely helpful support. The support team correctly diagnosed the Portugal speed issue and helped boost download speed nearly fourfold with one settings change.
• Easy human handoff. Asking to speak to a person moved me straight into a human queue instead of stalling in automated troubleshooting.
• Useful data tracking. The app shows remaining data down to the exact days and hours left, useful for knowing if your plan will last until you head home.
• Hotspot supported. Worked in both Portugal and Denmark, with Denmark’s hotspot speed comfortably fast enough for remote work.
• Multi-country reliability. One eSIM worked across Portugal, Germany and Denmark without needing to switch or reinstall.
• Free 1GB trial available. A low-risk way to test the service before committing to a paid plan.

Cons

• The 35 vs 36 country Europe plans aren’t clearly explained on first sight. The difference in coverage (Gibraltar and San Marino vs the Canary Islands, Northern Cyprus and Turkey) is easy to miss unless you check the country list closely.
• Initial Portugal speeds were weak. Around 22 to 32 Mbps before the fix, requiring a support conversation and a manual settings change to resolve.
• Hotspot upload speeds can be slow. Portugal’s hotspot upload came in at just 2.24 Mbps, noticeably limiting for cloud backups or large file uploads.
• “Unlimited” has a daily cap. The Unlimited Europe plan includes 2GB of high-speed data per day before throttling to 1 Mbps, worth knowing before you buy expecting truly unrestricted data.
• Minor setup confusion. The eSIM initially appeared as “Travel BICS” rather than “Nomad eSIM”, and the app briefly showed “Plan not started yet” after a successful install.
• Some regional plan names aren’t intuitive. Abbreviations can make it harder to know what you’re buying.

Final verdict: is Nomad eSIM worth it?

Based on this testing, Nomad eSIM is a strong pick for multi-country Europe travel. It combines competitive fixed-data pricing, installation that took about two minutes, hotspot support and reliable connectivity across three different local networks in Portugal, Germany and Denmark, and support successfully resolved the only performance issue I ran into. The app also makes it easy to track exactly how much data and validity you have left.

Speeds varied a lot by location, which is expected with any eSIM but still worth being upfront about. Portugal started slow at around 22 to 32 Mbps, though Nomad eSIM’s support team helped push that up to 91.2 Mbps with a single settings change. Germany comfortably passed 100 Mbps, and Denmark was in a different league entirely at 771 Mbps download.

Hotspotting worked in both countries I tested, though speeds dropped compared to using the phone directly, and Portugal’s upload speed in particular was on the slow side for heavier work like cloud backups.

The app itself stands out from most competitors thanks to check-ins, rewards, coins and a free trial offer. None of that improves your actual connection, but it’s a nice touch if you enjoy that kind of thing, and easy to ignore if you don’t.

The main thing to get right before buying is picking the correct Europe plan. The 35-country and 36-country options sound nearly identical but cover different territories, so it’s worth checking the country list rather than assuming the bigger number covers everything.

Travellers who’d rather pay for the data they actually use than commit to an unlimited plan should find Nomad eSIM particularly good value, especially for a Euro summer trip from the US or Canada. If your next trip is somewhere else entirely, Nomad eSIM also runs regional plans for other destinations, including Latin America, worth checking if that’s where you’re headed.

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