For most of us, travelling abroad without our favourite playlists on Apple Music or Spotify is simply unthinkable. But thanks to the outdated roaming model, you have to keep track of every megabyte and lower the sound quality to save on data. Otherwise you could face a hefty bill.
To avoid this, your connection is worth planning in advance with your digital habits in mind. The solution? A new generation of eSIM providers such as one of the pioneers of the travel eSIM market, the innovative Swiss company Yesim.
Holiday by the meter: how roaming forces you to save on mobile internet
Roaming emerged in the 1990s, when the usual scenario for using a phone abroad involved the occasional call and text message. Today the situation has changed dramatically, with dozens of apps requiring a constant connection to the network.
However, roaming packages do not cover this need at all, as we can see from the example of streaming.
High-quality music quickly eats through mobile data
A convenient starting point is Spotify Premium's popular Very High mode. According to the service itself, listening to music at a bitrate of 320 kbps uses roughly 144 MB of data per hour. When switching to lossless, consumption grows much faster. For instance, a three-minute track on Apple Music in Lossless takes up around 36 MB, while in Hi-Res Lossless it is about 145 MB. The habit of listening to music in good quality can therefore become the main consumer of data on a trip.
When sound quality becomes a matter of tariff
We have already established that Hi-Res Lossless is a fairly demanding mode. Now let us try to match its "appetite" against some roaming tariffs. For example, the British mobile operator O2 offers packages for Zone 2 (which includes 48 countries, among them the popular Turkey and Thailand) of 1 GB for £9, 3 GB for £20 and 5 GB for £29.
If you listen to Apple Music in Lossless quality, the entire 5 GB package can be used up in just 7 hours. And that's without using any other online services, like maps, which you could well need on holiday. As a result, you're forced to lower the streaming quality or give up music altogether.
Connectivity without the saving mode: what a travel eSIM changes
You can listen to music in the same quality as at home if you have chosen a travel eSIM. No, this service does not in itself reduce data consumption in Apple Music and similar services, but it does allow you to plan your connection in advance under conditions that will provide maximum comfort.
Planning your connection before you even fly
First, let's get to grips with the terms. An eSIM is a microchip built into a device onto which mobile operator profiles are downloaded and activated remotely. Travel eSIM providers build a global service for travellers on this technological foundation: an app, a tariff range, partner operators and technical support.
A travel eSIM lets you plan your connection long before a trip. The traveller chooses a country or region, a fixed or unlimited data package for the required period, installs the eSIM profile before the trip and activates the connection as soon as they land. The final cost of the service is known in advance – no queues at the airport and no unexpected roaming bills.
One route, different prices
Of all the advantages of a travel eSIM, the most important are the more attractive prices. The difference from traditional roaming can be seen clearly on a single route, for example a week-long trip to Thailand.
O2 offers a Travel Bolt On for £7 per day. Seven days of use will cost £49. With Yesim, an unlimited package for Thailand for 7 days costs less than half the price – £20.16. In the same way, you can also compare the difference between fixed packages. With O2, as we have already mentioned, the 5 GB package costs £29. With Yesim, a similar package of 5 GB and 30 days will cost only £6.30.
Yesim: the Swiss standard of travel connectivity
The Swiss company Yesim became one of the pioneers of the travel Yesim market, largely defined its modern shape and, since 2019, has provided reliable connectivity across 200 destinations to more than 4 million people.
The traveller's high level of trust in Yesim is demonstrated by its partnership with the World Players Super League — the largest golf tour, which holds more than 1800 tournaments in 50+ countries. Yesim has become WPSL's official global partner for the provision of eSIM cards, providing athletes and fans with uninterrupted mobile connectivity during their trips around the world.
Broad coverage and a flexible tariff range
Yesim allows you to choose the optimal tariffs for any route: local ones for a single country, regional ones for several and global ones for trips around the world. For example, the Global Package tariff covers over 80 countries, while the Global Plus Package extends the geography to 140+ countries. Maximum flexibility is provided by the Pay & Fly tariff with its pay-as-you-go model. It is ideal for those who do not like to worry about the details: one eSIM for 170+ countries, paying only for the data actually used.
Innovative technologies for travellers' convenience
SwitchLess Networks technology automatically selects the network with the best signal among 800+ partner operators. For music streaming this means that playback will not be interrupted even on remote beaches and crowded festivals, where access to the network from a single operator is not always stable.
How to try it without much expense
You can assess the quality of the connection with a trial tariff plan of 500 MB for a token fee of £0.45. If you are using Yesim for the first time, you can also get a 15% discount with the promo code GETYESIM15.
Conclusion
A travel eSIM fits the modern digital trip better because it lets you plan the most suitable network connection for you in advance and freely listen to Spotify or Apple Music in the quality you are used to.
Yesim has made this freedom one of its key goals. "Reliable and simple internet access abroad has become a basic necessity. We believe that staying connected while travelling should become easier and more affordable, not harder," explains Dmitri Verbovski, founder and CEO of Yesim. Take your music on the road – and leave the roaming limits at home.
