AT&T Adds New eSIM Free Trial Program as It Looks to Rival T-Mobile, Verizon

Those thinking of switching to AT&T finally have a simpler way to try out the carrier's network. On Tuesday, the company officially announced its aptly named "Try AT&T" program that lets you trial the network for up to 30 days by downloading an eSIM. 

The new option will exist inside the company's myAT&T app and work with unlocked iPhones dating back to 2018's iPhone XS, XS Max and XR. The carrier says it will open the program up to Android phones in 2025. 

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Once in the app, simply select "start your trial" and the app will download a virtual eSIM to provide access to the carrier's service. Like T-Mobile and Verizon, the program will utilize eSIMs to let you see how AT&T compares to your existing service while still keeping that line active. 

The carrier does not require a credit card or credit check to sign up for the trial, which will run for up to 30 days. You will get 100GB of data (including 5G access), unlimited talk and text (including texting to "more than 230 countries") plus an additional 25GB of hotspot data for connecting other devices like laptops or tablets. The latter is unique for trial programs that often limited data just to the device itself without the ability to share it. 

As with similar programs, after your trial is up, you'll have to wait 12 months before trying it again. 

The move to add this type of eSIM-based sampling of its network is overdue, as AT&T has lagged behind its rivals in trials for years. T-Mobile has long offered a network sampling program, adding support for eSIMs in 2021 before later expanding its "Network Pass" option to let people try its network for free for three months back in 2022. Verizon started a similar program (for 30 days) with its own sampling program back in 2022. 

Other smaller providers, such as Visible (owned by Verizon) and Cricket (owned by AT&T), offer their own trial programs, but those trials have generally been capped at around two weeks.