Airalo and Orange data plans and speed

You don't need data to navigate. All of the other things you mention are fairly data light, so as long as you have a 4g signal you'll be ok

It's coverage maps you need to look at for any of the companies you're considering.

Great! Thanks!

Airalo is not a telephony / internet provider but an intermediary that provides Esim cards.
It is a company based in Singapore.

If you take an Esim card from Airalo your telephone will depend on the network of one of the main French providers: Orange, SFR, Bouygues or Free.

Orange is the largest telecommunications operator provider in France

Personally, I will never buy a mobile plan for France or Europ from a company based in Singapore. It's like going to a Turkish company to buy a SIM card to travel to Argentina.

So, choose Orange, you will also have the possibility of going to local Orange stores if you need technical assistance.

WhileJolui has good points, I have used Airalo for data in a fairly wide array of countries with no speed problems: Sitting in Albania now on Vodafone, Greece, Hungary, Poland, France, England, Scotland, Ireland, Spain, Germany, and maybe elsewhere. Your phone just finds the best signal wherever you are and uses that. You just have to be aware Airalo does not provide a telephone number.

You can download Google maps with your destinations saved - that gives you a backup if you have no signal somewhere (has happened a couple of times to me in remote locations).

So, Orange is good if you need a phone number and Airalo has great coverage and is cheaper if you only need data.

Airalo may be cheaper but if the question is how fast is Airalo compared to another provider, the answer is that Airalo connects your phone to other providers' networks and has no network of its own. So the speed will depend on this other provider (which, in France, could be Orange, I don't know).

To reduce your data consumption you can pre-download map areas from Google Maps when you are connected via wifi.
Other map and navigation applications such HERE WeGo allow you to pre-download the map of an entire country.

And if you have accounts on social networks, facebook; twitter, Instagram or gmail, etc. also pay attention to the data that your phone can consume in the background.

Even if you don't use it, it can go up to several gigabytes per month.

Thanks a lot for the input