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PopAlongKid | on: Using eSIMs with devices that only have a physical SIM slot via a 9eSIM SIM car
I wish I knew if this would have helped me on a recent trip out of the U.S. In preparation, I upgraded my older, low-end smartphone to one with a more recent version of Android, NFC (for tap-to-pay), a headphone jack, and support for two physical SIMs.

So when I arrived at my destination, I was able to purchase a 30-day SIM for a local phone number and data, but my primary SIM was useless outside of the U.S. so no access to my primary phone number (I ended up using WhatsApp a lot). My carrier (Boost Mobile) advertised an add-on for "Global Roaming", but despite non-trivial time spent reading and talking to them on the phone, I got merely a vague impression that only an eSIM would have allowed me to continue to use my primary number out of the country. Would this solution have worked for me?

Meanwhile, I still have the (now deactivated) second SIM in my phone, hope that is not a security risk of some kind.

doix | parent | next
I really don't see the connection between an eSIM and your SIM not working abroad here.

All an eSIM does is replace a physical one with a "digital" one. You'd still be using your carrier in these places. For your sim to work, your carrier would need to have agreements in place with providers in the country you're in. And then they'd charge you an extortionate amount of money to making any calls or use any data.

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goda90 | parent | next
Another factor for international travel is whether you phone has the right bands to get signal. My carrier claims to have international roaming, but I look up what bands my model phone has and what the country I'm going to uses and I pretty much would not get signal anyway.
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someplaceguy | parent
Recently I tried to reinstall an eSIM on my Android phone while overseas but was told by my carrier that the eSIM can only be activated while connected to antennas located in the carrier's country, i.e. it can't be activated overseas, despite my plan supporting call roaming and both countries being in the EU.

I don't know whether this is carrier-specific or the same for all carriers.

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arccy | root | parent
I think almost all carriers require this. I've seen mentions that the Google Fi eSIM requires US towers to activate, but can be moved / reinstalled later without them (didn't test it though).
terinjokes | root | parent
Just an end user, so don't quote me on this, but I think that requirement was largely a legacy Sprint requirement.

I've purchased newer Pixel devices from my local shop and activated Google Fi just fine overseas. (with the caveat that I might not have all of T-Mobile's bands if I'm back in the US).