It’s been a long time since my last post about eUICCs. A lot things have changed since then.

Major changes

5ber.eSIM has gone bankrupt and it’s said that their employees’ insurance was in debt for months before the entire company went collapsed. However, the technical team has started a new company called XeSIM. It’s fundamentally the exact same thing as original 5ber.eSIM, same solution, same card manufactured by Eastcompeace. DON’T BUY IT.

New players

9eSIM

9eSIM has slowly taken a quite big part of the market share for their great cards. They have three versions (as for now).

Version Number	Manufacturer	Country of Origin	Capacity	ARA-M	Price	Max Profile Count
v0	Eastcompeace	China	420 KB	N/A	Basically free*	15
v1	?	?	?	1 MB	N/A	?
v2	Kigen	the UK	1520 KB	d1c0f48b370e74d4ea4770ed4c3cd70a3198d31f	20 US$	50
v3	Kigen	the UK	1500 KB	d1c0f48b370e74d4ea4770ed4c3cd70a3198d31f	24 US$	50

What is ARA-M? What role does it play in removable eSIMs?

Simply put, ARA-M acts as a firewall for removable eSIM cards, preventing unauthorized applications from reading or writing data on the card.

What is SE (Secure Element)?

SE is an independent hardware module designed to securely store and process sensitive data, ensuring its protection. In eSIMs, SE functions similarly to the core component of a traditional SIM card but offers enhanced flexibility and security. Within eSIMs, SE not only stores carrier profiles but also manages security operations related to network connectivity.

ARA-M is a security mechanism that governs read/write permissions for data within the SE, ensuring only authorized apps can access or modify the data.

For example: When attempting to write a new eSIM profile, the access controller queries ARA-M. Based on the permission rules returned by ARA-M, it verifies whether the app seeking to read/write the card is authorized. This process prevents malicious programs from unauthorized data access, safeguarding against eSIM card loss or data leaks. Wenziwanka (archived on February 19, 2025)

The v1 is not in sale so there’s nothing I can say about it. The v0 is essentially a Eastcompeace card, nothing special.

And the v2 and v3 is essentially the same except for that v3 has an STK menu which lets you control the module on iOS, just like what eSTK does.

I only have a v2.

Sakura

There’re multiple versions of Sakura cards, but put simply, they are the products from Eastcompeace themselves.

It’s not possible to buy one from ECP directly, but it’s easy to get one from resellers simply. It’s basically free, but no ARA-M is available for v0 cards. It’s available for future generations but I’ve never tried them, so no comments.

Fun fact: many so-called travel eSIM provider, they also provide physical SIM cards, and it’s highly likely that the card being shipped to you is just an Eastcompeace-made eUICC with their profile written in it.

Thales

THALES, the company acquired Gemalto a year ago, is a company that makes great smartcards. It’s highly likely that your bank card is manufactured by them too (just see if there’s a word THALES on the back of your card).

Thales is similar to Eastcompeace, it doesn’t sell products to the end-customer. The reason why I can get one is through Flexiroam. Flexiroam is a travel eSIM provider. With that said, they also provide physical SIMs. And, you may have guessed it, this card is the card they shipped to me via UPS.

Also a fun fact: Some Mastercard holders may eligible for free cards and free shipping. They ship their cards from Malaysia, using UPS Saver.

What am I using

I’m currently using eSTK.me cards, just because I personally think that it’s pretty easy to use.

Recommendations?

NOTE: I’m not affiliated with any of the companies above.

For end-users, I would say a 9eSIM v2/v3 or a eSTK would be the best choice. They both offered easy-to-use apps, optionally STK menu provided and no card readers are required (with STK menu, iOS users can control the card too. 9eSIM v2 requires an OMAPI-enabled Android phone if you don’t have a card reader. Basically any modern Android phone should be capable of that.)

If you think you are savvy enough, then feel free to get some ARA-M-less cards, which are those products that looked like engineering samples. They work most of the times, but it’s unlikely that you can seek any help unless you happen to find some community that’s also investigating.

Some profiles do cause some cards to BRICK, always keep an eye on the community and firmware updates :)

Don’t buy

Don’t buy 5ber or XeSIM.

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