Does the Galaxy S23 have eSIM?

Yes, with one exception on the label

The Galaxy S23 supports eSIM alongside a physical SIM — unless it was sold in mainland China, where Samsung ships it with eSIM disabled. That is the single caveat our data records against this model, and it carries forward to the S24 and S25 as well.

For most readers the exception is irrelevant and the answer is simply yes. For anyone who bought their handset in China, imported one, or is looking at a second-hand listing of uncertain origin, it is the whole story.

The same phone, behaving differently

A model name is not one product. It is a family of market variants, and what goes into each is shaped by local regulation, carrier requirements and certification. eSIM is one of the features that gets switched by market, and mainland China is the case we have recorded for this line.

"Disabled" is the accurate word and we will not stretch it further. Whether the chip is absent or present-but-switched-off is not something we can verify from the outside, and it makes no practical difference: you cannot install a travel profile on one of these handsets.

Working out where yours was sold

If you bought the phone yourself, you know. If you didn't, two things narrow it down.

The model number, in Settings under About phone and printed on the box. Market variants share the marketing name and differ in the model number, so that string is what identifies which version you have.

The EID test, which is faster and more definitive. Dial *#06#. If an EID appears next to the IMEI, you have a usable eSIM. If there is no EID, no amount of research into model numbers will change that.

Buying second-hand or imported

Marketplace listings rarely state which market a handset originally came from, and sellers often do not know. If you are specifically buying an S23 in order to use eSIM, there is a simple way to protect yourself: ask the seller to dial *#06# and send a photograph of the panel with the EID visible.

It takes them ten seconds. A seller who won't do it has told you something useful, and a listing that says "supports eSIM" without evidence is repeating a spec sheet for a variant they may not be holding.

The same applies to a phone bought new from a grey importer rather than a domestic retailer. Imported stock is imported from somewhere, and the price is usually lower for a reason. That reason is often nothing worse than currency and tax, but the market variant question is worth resolving before the money moves rather than after the box is open.

Travelling to China is a different question

Worth being precise, because these two get conflated constantly. The restriction concerns where the handset was sold, not where you take it. An S23 bought in Europe or the US keeps its eSIM when it lands in Shanghai — the phone does not change because you crossed a border.

Whether a particular travel plan actually gives you working data there is a question about the plan's coverage and terms, not about the phone. That is worth reading carefully before you pay; our comparison is where we look at what is on offer, and how we test sets out what we check.

If you have a Chinese-market S23

Use the tray. The handset still takes a physical SIM, which means a local prepaid SIM anywhere you travel and no functional disadvantage beyond having to buy it in a shop rather than online. Our country guides carry the ID requirements and going rates — Japan and South Korea are two worth reading before you land.

The full compatibility list covers the rest of the Samsung range.