Let's go over these one by one: > Scanning the QR code to install the esim requires internet - it can't activate the sim card to get internet unless it already

Let's go over these one by one: > Scanning the QR code to install the esim requires internet - it can't activate the sim card to get internet unless it already has internet. Seems like a bit of an oversight! Not an oversight at all. The key exchange has to happen online, as key material is generated on-device, not delivered in the QR code. > Once provisioned, the mobile network doesn't actually activate your account for a few hours. Kinda takes away the benefit of 'one click and go'. That is absolutely your operator's issue; I've been up and running in 60 seconds. > The phone is hardcoded to only support 4G via esim, although the phone itself supports 5G if you use a physical sim on the same mobile network. Nobody on the forums has managed to make it work. Which phone is this? I get 5G via eSIM on my Pixel 5, and it works fine on all 5G-capable iPhones too. > If you damage the phone, there is no way to transfer the esim to a new phone. I assumed it would transfer over automatically as part of backup/restore, either via cable or cloud backup, but no. Nope; the secret key never leaves the phone. Contact your operator and they send you a new QR, which for me took five minutes and I had the QR in my email inbox. > The mobile network has no ability to transfer the sim over either. Apparently their software doesn't allow it. See above. > The only way is to transfer to a physical sim, wait for it to arrive, then mark the physical sim as lost, and then reorder an esim. Great - that takes 4 days, during which you have no service. Sounds like you should pick an operator that doesn't suck quite as much.