Install a USA eSIM on Any Android Phone
Xiaomi, OPPO, Motorola, Honor: the eSIM install pattern that works across Android skins, plus the roaming switch to flip when you land in the US.
Updated August 24, 2026
Half the phones sold worldwide are neither iPhones nor the two Android brands with pages of their own, and their owners land in the United States with the same problem as everyone else. Home carriers put the US in their most expensive roaming band, so a week of ordinary use — maps, messages, boarding passes, a video call home — is billed at a rate designed to discourage exactly that. The workarounds after landing are thin: terminal Wi-Fi does not follow you outside, and a US prepaid SIM means finding a store, waiting your turn, and at some carriers showing identification.
Doing it in advance is simply easier. Buy in the USA eSIM app, install the line over home Wi-Fi, leave it switched off, and turn it on when the wheels are down. Validity starts with the line’s first connection to a US network and not at purchase, so there is no advantage in waiting — particularly if the US is a connection rather than a destination and your window between gates is short. Plans are listed on pricing; the guides index has the device-specific versions of this page.
This page deliberately avoids pretending there is one Android. Xiaomi’s HyperOS, OPPO’s ColorOS, Motorola’s near-stock build and Honor’s MagicOS all reach the same standard eSIM mechanism through different words and menu depths, and any single tap sequence we printed would be wrong for a large share of readers. Use the pattern instead — Settings, then Network or Connections, then the SIM screen, then add or download a SIM. Before any of that, dial *#06#: an EID under the IMEI is the only proof that your variant has the hardware. Owners of a Samsung or a Pixel get the exact taps on those pages.
Two facts we repeat on every page because they change how people plan. The plan is data-only and carries no US phone number, which matters more in the States than in most places: local services often want a US number for a verification code or a callback, and a data eSIM has none to offer. Your own number keeps working on your own SIM. And American coverage is uneven by geography rather than by provider — excellent in cities, along the interstates and in most towns, patchy in parts of the mountain west, in canyon country and inside several national parks. No SIM changes where towers were built. Download offline maps before driving into one of those areas, and use the included hotspot to keep a laptop or the rest of the car online everywhere else.
Installation steps
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Step 1
Confirm the phone can do this at all
Open the dialler and type *#06#. An EID under the IMEI means eSIM hardware is present; no EID means it is not, whatever the spec sheet said about the model in general. Variants differ by market, so your own handset is the only reliable source.
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Step 2
Buy your plan in the USA eSIM app
Complete the purchase and the QR code plus manual activation details appear under your order. They stay there, so nothing is lost if the first attempt fails.
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Step 3
Get on Wi-Fi and stay on it
The install pulls a profile down over the internet, so do it at home rather than in a US arrivals hall. Being early costs no plan time: validity begins at the line's first connection to a US network, not at checkout.
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Step 4
Find the eSIM screen using Settings search
Skins differ enough that one tap sequence would be wrong for half of readers. Use the search box at the top of Settings: type eSIM, then SIM if that returns nothing.
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Step 5
Or follow the general pattern by hand
The structure is the same underneath the branding: Settings, then Network & internet or Connections, then SIM manager, SIM cards or Mobile network. Inside is an option to add or download a SIM, sometimes behind a plus icon.
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Step 6
Scan the QR code or type the details
Point the camera at the code on another screen. With no second screen, look for manual entry — often behind a link reading Need help — and copy the SM-DP+ address and activation code from the app.
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Step 7
Name the line and leave it disabled
Label it USA, keep your existing SIM as the default for calls and texts, and switch the new line off until you land. It uses nothing while it sits idle.
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Step 8
On arrival: enable, select for data, allow roaming
Turn the USA line on, set mobile data to use it, and enable roaming for that line specifically — on most skins the switch sits inside the line's own settings, on some under Mobile networks. Roaming is the permission a line needs to attach to a visited network, and on a prepaid US plan it adds nothing. Keep the same switch off for your home SIM, which your own carrier does bill.
Troubleshooting
My Settings look nothing like these instructions.
Expected. Every manufacturer reskins Android and moves things between versions, which is why the Settings search box is the reliable route: type eSIM, then SIM. What you want is a screen listing your SIM lines with an option to add or download one. The process underneath is standardised even where the labels are not.
Will the plan give me a US phone number?
No. It carries data only, so there is no US number on it and no way to add one. Your own number stays on your own SIM and keeps receiving calls and texts as normal. Plan for that in the United States, where services often expect a US number for a verification text or a callback — delivery apps, some restaurant systems, a rental car counter.
How reliable is coverage across the country?
Very good in cities, along the interstates and in most towns. Genuinely patchy in stretches of the mountain west, in canyon country and inside several national parks. That reflects where towers were built across a very large country, not the SIM you chose; a local prepaid SIM would behave the same. Download offline maps before any park leg of a drive.
The QR code will not scan on my phone.
Turn the brightness up on the screen displaying the code, hold the phone steady around 20-30 cm back, and keep glare off it. If the camera still refuses, switch to manual entry and copy the SM-DP+ address and activation code from your order — the same profile installs.
The install fails, or the option is missing entirely.
First check *#06# for an EID. If there is none, the handset cannot take an eSIM. If there is one, the usual culprits are unstable Wi-Fi during the download or a carrier lock from the operator who sold the phone. Restart and retry on a stable network; if it keeps failing, ask your operator about unlocking before you travel.
I have landed in the US and there is still no data.
Confirm the line is enabled, selected for mobile data, and has roaming switched on. Then toggle Airplane mode to force a fresh search. If it stays empty, open that line's network settings, turn off automatic selection, choose an available network manually, let it register, and set selection back to automatic.