Asia eSIM for multi-stop trips across 28 countries, Tokyo to Sydney

Asian trips are rarely one country. It's Tokyo then Seoul, Bangkok then Bali, Singapore on the way to Sydney, and every airport has a SIM counter waiting to sell you a fresh start. An Asia eSIM that covers the whole route is the point of this plan: 28 countries on one eSIM, from Japan and South Korea through Southeast Asia and India to Central Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, with the phone switching networks by itself at each arrival. Add it at home, on Wi-Fi, and it's live the moment you land in the first of them.

Below: how the Asia plan works, how to set it up before you fly, exactly which countries it covers and which it doesn't, the one thing to know about mainland China, and what to expect from coverage on the islands and in the mountains.

Asian trips tend to be multi-stop, and most travel eSIMs want a fresh profile at every airport. KnowRoaming doesn't. You add the KnowRoaming eSIM, called KR.One, to your phone once, then add a plan per trip: one country for a single-city break, the Asia plan when the route runs through several, and next year's trip on the same eSIM. Nothing to scan again, nothing to delete when you get home.

The plan's days start when you turn it on and connect in any country on the plan, not at checkout. Buy it weeks ahead, add it at home, and a delayed flight costs you nothing. The full rule is in what plan validity means and when it starts.

Choose a fixed plan for a set amount of data at the lowest overall price, or an unlimited plan when you'd rather not count. Unlimited plans give you 5 GB a day at full speed, then a slower speed until the allowance resets the next day. If a fixed plan runs low, top up in the app and the extra data lands on the same eSIM.

See it in two minutes: Meet KR.One, iPhone setup with KR.One, or Samsung setup with KR.One.

Do this at home on Wi-Fi. It takes about a minute.

Before you leave

1. Get the KnowRoaming app (available on iOS and Android) and choose your Asia plan.
2. Tap Add. First time on this phone? The app adds KR.One and your Asia plan together. Already have KR.One? Only the plan is added, with nothing to scan.
3. Leave data roaming off on the KnowRoaming line until you land, and turn it off on your home line too so it doesn't run up charges in the background. Steps are in turning off roaming on your home line.

When you land

1. Turn the plan on in the app, then turn data roaming on for the KnowRoaming line. That setting lives in your phone, so the app can't flip it for you.
2. Give the phone a minute to find the network. If nothing happens, turn airplane mode on for 30 seconds and off again.

Prefer a QR code? The checkout page and your confirmation email both carry one; scan it from your phone's settings. Every tap, by device, is in adding your eSIM on iPhone, adding your eSIM on Android, and adding your eSIM on Samsung, or watch the iPhone QR walkthrough or the Samsung QR walkthrough. Still no signal after landing? Work through the no-signal checklist.

East Asia: China, Hong Kong, Japan, Macao, Mongolia, South Korea, and Taiwan.

Southeast Asia: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

South Asia: Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan.

Central Asia and the Caucasus: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

Oceania: Australia and New Zealand.

That's 28 countries on one plan with one data balance. The full list is also on the plan card above, under "Where this eSIM works"; check it against your route before you buy.

Five KnowRoaming destinations in the region are sold as their own plans and are not on this one: Afghanistan, Bhutan, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Timor-Leste. A Maldives stopover or a Sri Lanka leg needs that country's own plan, added to the same eSIM in about a minute in the app.

Australia and New Zealand are on the plan, which surprises people. If the trip is only those two, the Oceania plan is the smaller, cheaper fit. Read crossing into a border country your plan doesn't include before a route that crosses into a country the plan doesn't include.

Mainland China blocks a range of foreign sites and apps at the network level, including Google, Gmail, Google Maps, and WhatsApp, regardless of which carrier or plan you use. If you rely on any of them, set up a VPN before you fly; it isn't something a data plan can work around. Hong Kong and Macao are not affected. The China page has the detail.

Japan runs on transit cards that load into a phone wallet; Singapore and Australia take a contactless card on the gates; Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia run on QR payment apps that usually need a local account, so cards and cash fill the gap; India's UPI QR codes are everywhere and mostly closed to visitors; and Central Asia is still largely cash.

None of that needs a local number, but all of it needs data: the wallet top-up, the bank's card approval, the ride app, the translation of a menu. That is the plan's job on a multi-country trip, and the reason an unlimited plan, with 5 GB a day at full speed, suits a route with a lot of moving parts.

In every country the plan connects to a local partner network, with 5G in 16 of the 28, including Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Australia, and New Zealand, and 4G LTE in the rest, including India, Nepal, Cambodia, Laos, and Central Asia. Your phone picks the network automatically once the plan is on; there is nothing to choose by hand.

Coverage thins where you'd expect: on the smaller islands of Indonesia and the Philippines once you leave the resort areas, on Himalayan treks above the last villages, and across the steppe and desert routes of Mongolia and Central Asia. Download offline maps for those legs and treat trekking days as offline.

Most phones sold since 2019 support eSIM, including iPhone XS and later and most Android flagships from the same window. Check yours before you add a plan; it takes a few seconds. On iPhone, go to Settings, General, About and look for an EID or Available SIM. On Android, go to Settings, Network & Internet, SIMs and look for an option to add an eSIM. On Samsung, dial *#06# and look for an EID.

Your phone also needs to be carrier-unlocked. If you're not sure, carrier-locked vs unlocked: how to tell shows you where to look.

Adding an Asia plan doesn't touch your regular SIM. Calls and texts on your usual number keep working exactly as before. The new plan handles data while you're there, and most phones run both at once without you doing anything else. Bank codes and two-factor texts still arrive on your home number, as long as that line stays switched on.

For Asia the alternatives are a home-carrier roaming pass that resets at every border, an airport SIM counter at each arrival, or hotel Wi-Fi that stops at the lobby. An Asia plan added at home beats all three: one price agreed before you fly, live the second you land, and one plan across every stop on the route.

Real travelers rate KnowRoaming 4.5 out of 5 on Reviews.io. More than a decade in travel connectivity, more than 200 destinations, and support that doesn't clock off: WhatsApp and live chat, any time, any day.

One plan. No roaming surprises. Live the moment you land.

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4.5 out of 5 on Reviews.io. 200+ destinations. Support that doesn't clock off.