E-sim vs physical sim

I happen to have my unlocked old Iphone 6, and am wondering about the merits of buying a sim card for it, vs. buying an e-sim...

Since an eSIM will not work in your (very) old iPhone 6, buying one for that phone seems like it would be a poor choice. Proceed to Plan B.

You will always get better value by purchasing a physical Data SIM card in Italy from either TIM or Vodafone - which is your only option for your 6, anyway.

Data eSIMs are inexpensive enough that I don't understand not going that route.

Regardless of whether you go SIM or eSIM, your phone must be unlocked.

Last year my wife and I toured for six weeks on two eSims without issue - I recommend them now to anyone. I like that I can arrange the eSim entirely at home, and I don't have to spend time in a phone shop for a physical sim when I arrive in country. Two thoughts though:

• The data-only eSims (the majority) are inexpensive and work well for what you describe - staying in touch with each other or local contacts or friends/family over WhatsApp, and/or accessing the internet, etc. However, having an eSim with limited phone capabilities is advantageous for one reason - calling ahead for restaurant reservations. We found last fall that reaching out to restaurants on WhatsApp sometimes works, sometimes doesn't work, and calling on their main phone number was problematic on a data-only eSim.
• The only disadvantage to an eSim is that their timeframes are often limited to 30 days or less. If your trip is longer than that, you'll have to reload the eSim at some point but that's usually a straight-forward process using the relevant mobile app for the eSim provider. I just wish that the notable providers would consider a timeframe longer than 30 days.

having an eSim with limited phone capabilities is advantageous for one reason - calling ahead for restaurant reservations

As I've mentioned elsewhere, I've addressed this problem by maintaining a Google Voice account that allows me to make voice calls using a data-only SIM. The cost is something like a penny US per minute, which is in my mind negligible.

@periscope- actually when I’ve been to Italy the last two times I used esim and had much better service than using a regular sim. Aside from which esim don’t need to worry about losing it but iPhone6 isn’t compatible.

Thanks, the e-sim for our newer phones looks like the way to go. I tried downloading google maps for offline use on my old phone (iphone 6), and found its software could not be updated to support this. But there is a bewildering variety of e-sims to choose from. for an iphone 13: Orange, Holafly, Airalo, Tim, Vodafone, etc., etc. Any help with choosing the best value for 14 days in Italy for reliability and ease of installation and use and cost of data would be appreciated.

Well you'll have to do some leg-work now. I seriously doubt there's anyone on the board who has tried all of those providers in Italy specifically and can give an honest comparison opinion SO go to each of the providers you've listed and chart out all the options available to you THEN pick one.

I've had great success with Nomad data-only eSIMs in Spain, France, the UK and Ireland. Also in Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Finland and Estonia. But not yet in Italy. I will gain that experience this summer.

Ease of use and customer support have been superb.

I gather you can also make voice calls with a data only e-sim using WhatsApp, and not just on WiFi, but with an e-sim cellular data internet connection. I should investigate if a Google Voice account has further advantages, as per jphbucks post. Nomad also looks good--thanks for the tip.

Departing for Italy in April. Looking to utilize an esim for the first time and it looks like I'll try Airalo. Gets good reviews and there are Utube videos to help out.

Just a note that voice calls on WhatsApp will require that the other user is also on WhatsApp; not a standard phone line, so far ar I'm aware.
I used an Orange Holiday eSim last year for a month. It worked quite well for data and the few times I needed a voice call.