eSIM on realme, Tecno, Infinix, ZTE, Asus, HMD, TCL

Very few of them. On 27 October 2026, the official spec pages of realme, Tecno, Infinix, ZTE/nubia, Asus, HMD (Nokia) and TCL confirmed eSIM on fewer than 20 current or recent phones between them, and on several of those only in some countries: realme's 16 series has it on European units only, Tecno and Infinix say availability depends on the country and carrier, and we found no ZTE or nubia phone with eSIM at all. If your phone is a budget model from one of these brands, the honest default answer is no eSIM; the tables below tell you the exceptions.

We read each manufacturer's own spec page for every model listed here and recorded what the SIM line says. A model only appears as "eSIM: yes" when the manufacturer's page says so. For Samsung, Pixel, Xiaomi and the other big names, see our full Android eSIM guide; for the reasons some versions of a phone lack the chip, see why regional variants lack eSIM hardware.

Which of these brands have eSIM phones at all?

All seven brands except ZTE/nubia have at least one phone with eSIM, but in every case it is a handful of mid-range or flagship models, never the cheap volume sellers. Here is the picture brand by brand, before the detailed tables.

The pattern matches what we see across Android: eSIM arrives first on phones designed for Europe, where carriers such as Orange, Vodafone and Telekom have offered eSIM for years, and last on phones built to hit a low price in markets where carriers rarely sell eSIM. Our guide to eSIM on phones under €300 covers Samsung, Motorola and Xiaomi's budget lines.

How to tell from the spec sheet (and from the phone)

Manufacturers write the SIM line in different ways, but the word you are looking for is always eSIM. These are the exact wordings we found on 27 October 2026:

• eSIM present: HMD writes "Nano SIM, eSIM"; Asus writes "Slot 1: Nano SIM card, Slot 2: Nano SIM card, eSIM support"; realme's EU pages write "eSIM: Supported".
• eSIM absent: "2 Nano SIM Card Slots" (realme), "Dual SIM (nano SIM + nano SIM)" (nubia), "Nano Sim" (HMD) or, very clearly, "Not Support eSIM" (realme C100 5G).
• eSIM depends on where you are: realme's global page for the 16 Pro says "Unsupported (Europe supports eSIM)"; the 16 Pro+ page says "EU: Supported, Other: Unsupported". Tecno and Infinix add a footnote saying availability depends on country and carrier.

"Dual SIM" on its own does not mean eSIM: most phones from these brands are dual SIM with two physical trays. Also check which country's version of the site you are reading. realme, Asus and Infinix all run separate regional sites, and the same model can have a different SIM line on each.

Checking the phone in your hand

1. Open Settings and look for the SIM menu. On phones close to stock Android, such as HMD's, Google documents the path as Settings > Network & internet > SIMs > Add SIM (Pixel Phone Help, Android 12 or later). realme, Tecno, Infinix and nubia use their own Android skins with different labels: search Settings for "eSIM".
2. If an option to download or add an eSIM appears, the hardware is there and enabled for your region.
3. Look for an EID (the eSIM chip's 32-digit number) in the phone information section of Settings. Our guide to finding the EID explains where each brand puts it.
4. No eSIM option and no EID usually means no eSIM chip, or a regional version where it is switched off. Our guide to a missing eSIM option walks through the other causes, such as a carrier lock.

realme: eSIM on the 16 series, European units only

realme's only confirmed eSIM phones are the realme 16 5G, 16 Pro 5G and 16 Pro+ 5G, and only the versions sold in Europe. The global spec page for the 16 Pro is explicit: "eSIM: Unsupported (Europe supports eSIM)" (realme global). The Indian 16 Pro page lists a nano-SIM only.

The 14 Pro, 14 Pro+ and GT 7 are widely reported to have eSIM on European units, and our own realme device page lists them. On 27 October 2026, though, realme's European spec pages for these three were offline and the global pages (for example the 14 Pro+) list two nano-SIM slots without mentioning eSIM. If you own one, check the phone itself as described above. Narzo and C-series phones have no eSIM listed.

Tecno and Infinix: one series each, region by region

Tecno and Infinix, both owned by Transsion and sold mostly in Africa, South Asia and the Middle East, each have a single recent line that mentions eSIM, and both attach a regional warning.

"Depends on country and carrier" means two things in practice. The firmware for your market may hide the eSIM menu, and even when it shows, your carrier must be willing to issue an eSIM profile. In Nigeria, Kenya, Pakistan or Bangladesh, where these phones sell most, check with your carrier before you buy. A NOTE 60 Pro bought in one country and used in another may also behave differently from the reviews you read.

A caution on Infinix: its spec pages load in the browser and redirect you to your country's site, so we read them through their indexed text rather than directly. Treat the Infinix rows as "Infinix says yes, with conditions" and confirm on your own phone.

ZTE and nubia: no eSIM phone found

We did not find a single ZTE or nubia phone with eSIM on ztedevices.com on 27 October 2026. The nubia Z70 Ultra's spec sheet lists "Dual SIM (nano SIM + nano SIM)" (ZTE Devices), and the product pages for the nubia Z80 Ultra, Z70S Ultra, Flip 2 5G, Focus 2 Ultra 5G, Air, Neo 3 5G, V80 Max, A57 and Music 2, and for the ZTE Blade V70, A76 5G and A35, do not mention eSIM anywhere.

We could not check Japan-market models sold through Japanese carriers, so those may differ. Gaming phones under the REDMAGIC name are sold separately and are not covered here. If you need eSIM, none of ZTE's global phones is a safe buy. ZTE's useful contribution for travellers is elsewhere: it makes 4G and 5G pocket Wi-Fi routers (ZTE mobile internet range) that work with any local SIM.

Asus: the Zenfone 12 Ultra only, and no ROG Phone

The Zenfone 12 Ultra is the only Asus phone whose spec page lists eSIM. Asus describes it as "Dual-SIM / Dual-Standby support, Slot 1: Nano SIM card, Slot 2: Nano SIM card, eSIM support" (Asus). The Japanese page adds an important detail: eSIM and slot 2 are exclusive, so turning on the eSIM disables the nano-SIM in slot 2 (Asus Japan). You get two lines at a time, not three.

This corrects a common assumption: an expensive gaming phone is not an eSIM phone. Asus's US and UK sites did not list the Zenfone 12 Ultra on 27 October 2026, so buyers there would be importing a European or Asian unit. Check that its bands suit your carrier.

HMD and Nokia: the mid-range models have it, the cheap ones do not

HMD, which makes both Nokia-branded and HMD-branded phones, has the clearest split of any brand here: its repairable mid-range phones list "Nano SIM, eSIM", its entry-level phones list "Nano Sim" only. All values below come from HMD's international spec pages.

The HMD Key, Arc and Aura² run "Android 14 (Go edition)" (HMD Key), Google's version of Android for low-memory phones. None of the Go-edition phones we checked from any of these brands lists eSIM, so if a phone runs Android Go, assume it has no eSIM. The XR21's "2 SIMs max" means you can use the eSIM plus one nano-SIM, or two nano-SIMs, but not all three together.

TCL: two NXTPAPER models

TCL's European site lists eSIM on two phones: the TCL 50 Pro NXTPAPER 5G and the TCL NXTPAPER 60 Ultra. The 50 Pro's feature list includes "eSIM: Convenient and secure" (TCL). The 60 Ultra page promises "Dynamic eSIM flexibility", with a footnote: "eSIM availability vary by model device" (TCL).

TCL's US store sells a different line-up (such as the NXTPAPER 60 XE and 50 XL NXTPAPER 5G) that the European pages do not cover, so check the US spec sheet or the carrier that sold the phone. If you are choosing a European phone with eSIM in this price range, the Fairphone models on our list (Fairphone 4, 5 and Gen. 6) and some Moto G models are also worth a look.

Your phone has no eSIM: what to do instead

If your phone has no eSIM, the two practical answers abroad are a local physical SIM or a pocket Wi-Fi router; neither needs eSIM, and both usually cost less than roaming.

1. Use a local or travel physical SIM. Most of the phones above have two nano-SIM slots: keep your home SIM in slot 1 for calls and texts, and put a local prepaid SIM in slot 2 for data. Expect to show your passport when you buy one. Our destination guides compare them, for example every way to get online in Morocco.
2. Use a pocket Wi-Fi (mobile hotspot router). A 4G or 5G router takes a local SIM and shares the connection over Wi-Fi with your phone, tablet and laptop. Your phone only needs Wi-Fi, so the absence of eSIM stops mattering.
3. Use a second phone that has eSIM. An older eSIM phone in your bag can run a travel eSIM and share it as a hotspot.
4. Check whether your carrier can unlock the phone. A local SIM only works if the phone is not locked to your home carrier: see do you need an unlocked phone.

What does not work: no app or update can add eSIM to a phone that has no eSIM chip. And when you buy your next phone, look for "eSIM" in the SIM line of the spec page for your own region, not the global page.

How we checked

On 27 October 2026 we opened the official spec or product page for every model in this guide on realme.com, tecno-mobile.com and mobile-phantom.com, infinixmobility.com, ztedevices.com, asus.com and rog.asus.com, hmd.com and tcl.com, and recorded the SIM line word for word. We used each brand's European or international pages, plus regional pages where they differ (realme India, Asus Japan).

We list a model as having eSIM only when the manufacturer's page says so. Third-party eSIM sellers' compatibility lists, forum posts and spec aggregators were not used as proof; where they disagree with the manufacturer, we say so (realme 14 Pro, 14 Pro+, GT 7). Infinix's pages render in the browser and redirect by country, so for Infinix we relied on their indexed text. Menu labels come from Google's Pixel Phone Help (Android 12 or later).

Next step: check the phone in your hand with our list of eSIM-compatible devices, and if the eSIM option is missing on a phone that should have it, follow our guide to a missing eSIM option.