Switching from your old device to a shiny new Android phone is always a nerve-wracking experience, but it is a tad bit smoother when you upgrade within the same brand. With eSIMs, this process was set to become much easier. However, you still need to de-register an eSIM on the older device before you can reactivate it on the new one. Google has been working on a convenient process to transfer eSIMs from one device to another, or convert your old physical SIM (pSIM) to an eSIM. But we are now realizing Samsung beat it to the punch with One UI 5.1.

Google has been developing the eSIM transfer workflow since around February this year, when Android 14 QPR beta builds contained code preparing for a SIM-less future. We eagerly awaited the launch of the Pixel 7a and now the Pixel 8. Meanwhile, Samsung dropped One UI 5.1 in the same month, making both these features accessible to several models around the world — a change which recently caught the attention of Android alpha geek Mishaal Rahman.

SIM Conversion on One UI

In the US, Samsung already supported effortless eSIM transfers on Verizon, but One UI 5.1 broadened carrier support significantly. However, to transfer eSIMs, you need compatible Samsung devices, and both of them should be running One UI 5.1 or a newer build. The same prerequisites apply if you plan to convert a pSIM to an eSIM. Presently, the list of compatible devices is pretty short, comprising the Galaxy S21, S22, and S23 series, along with the Z Fold 3, Flip 3, Fold 4, and Flip 4, and the Note 20 models.

The option to initiate the transfer or conversion is located under Settings → Connections → SIM manager, but before you initiate the process, there are downsides you should know about. For starters, the list of compatible devices is short because they have to support at least One UI 5.1. We hope this OS requirement doesn’t change down the road, because it would make it harder for people to switch to a new device if the older one stops receiving software updates.

Additionally, at least one user on X notes you cannot set up one eSIM for calling and another exclusively for mobile data. Samsung forces you to use one SIM for both, as mentioned on the SIM transfer support page. However, on the bright side, the same user also claims Auto Data Switching is unavailable in the US, but support documentation suggests One UI automatically uses the secondary SIM for data if the preferred eSIM cannot connect to the network.

Samsung doesn’t allow setting up one SIM for calling and another for data

If you can live with these limitations, switching to an eSIM is a step in the right direction. Although this is a Samsung-exclusive feature at the moment, other OEMs will hopefully follow in Google’s footsteps after Android 14 launches later this year. The update will bring support for convenient eSIM switching and pSIM to eSIM conversion to the masses. But with Samsung now one step ahead, it will be interesting to see if Google does anything differently.