Mexico is one of those countries that is actually particularly easy to get coverage in. Especially if you’re traveling to Mexico from the US or Canada. At the same time if you’re traveling to Mexico, and you know how to speak Spanish, getting a SIM card on the street and having coverage that way is also a very effortless thing to do. Chorro Fon, from the Airalo eSIM Marketplace is one of the newer options out there for tourists that want to get local coverage on their trip to Mexico. What we want to do here is walk you through all of the options that are going to be on the table for you.
As is the case with virtually all of the articles on the site, we may favor a particular option. At the end of the day, it’s highly unlikely that one option is going to be the very best way to get coverage for all travelers. Hence the variety of coverage options that are available. The way you travel, where you’re coming from, where you’re going to, and how long you’re going to be there are all variables that could alter the final result for you. What we can say right off the bat about Chorro Fon is that it is a true way to get coverage in Mexico; it’s by no means a scam or anything like that. From there though, the gloves are off, and we want to take you on this journey to help you figure out if Chorro Fon the eSIM for Mexico, is a good option for you.
- Chorro Fon Prices & Coverage Options
- How Chorro Fon Prices Stack Up Against Other Coverage Options
- Why Getting An eSIM Makes Sense
- Regular SIM Card Option Pros & Cons
- What Type of Traveler Can Truly Benefit From Choro Fon?
- Other Coverage Options On The Table
Chorro Fon Prices & Coverage Options
What Choro Fon offers is really simple; there are only two coverage options that you currently need to know about. The first option is 1GB of data for $9.50. Keep in mind that this price tag is relevant as of June 9th 2022. The price could fluctuate in the coming months or years. What you’re getting there is 1GB of pure data for right under 10 dollars. The credit validity is only 7 days. With that option you’ll be ok for 7 days if you make sure to turn on the wifi whenever possible. Just a reminder also these are data only options. All of the eSIMs that Airalo offers operate this way. At least as far as we are aware of.
The second option that you’re going to have is to go ahead and buy the 3GB option for $27. If you’re going to be in Mexico for more than a week it could make way more sense to go with this option. Just because the credit validity is going to be 30 days. So you’re essentially getting the same amount of data that you would be getting on the local SIM card options that are available. With a long credit validity to the point where you’re not going to have to worry about recharging for the duration of your stay. These are a couple of factors that we recently believe play in favor of Chorro Fon, and what it brings to the table. If you’re an Airalo user it could make total sense. Even if it’s not the low cost option.
How Chorro Fon Prices Stack Up Against Other Coverage Options
US travelers are going to have Mexico coverage included in their plans. Most of the wireless service providers in the country offer unlimited talk and text in Mexico and Canada to unlimited plan holders. That means that you don’t need an eSIM to use your phone in Mexico right? Maybe not, the thing is speed, and coverage can be very shaky for users on their regular plans. For example after using only 0.5GB a day of data on your regular plan you’ll only be able to use data at 2G speeds. Buying a travel pass for Mexico for extra speed costs you at least 5 dollars a day. You can manage your regular plan, and Choro fon to make sure that you always have high speed data coverage while in Mexico.
As far as other local coverage options go for travelers from anywhere you could always get a local SIM card from popular Mexican service provider Telcel. A medium tier plan with them is going to cost you right around 10USD, and you’ll get 3GB of data for 30 days. On top of that you do have calls locally, and to the United States and Canada. As things stand right now though, you are only able to access this coverage option through a regular SIM card. With a dual SIM phone you could potentially apply the same strategy of combining both coverage options.
Why Getting An eSIM Makes Sense
With a regular SIM card plan from a local service provider you seem to get more than you do with Choro Fon. That very well may be the case, but we still want to talk about why getting an eSIM may make way more sense. Particularly if you’re a traveler that doesn’t speak the local language and doesn’t feel like dealing with regular SIM cards makes too much sense. That’s actually right on cue with what our point is. You’re paying for the comfort of knowing that you can make the purchase through an app. You don’t have to head down to a store to talk to people in a language that is not your native tongue and try to make sure that you don’t get scammed.
For us, the Airalo options are truly a safer bet for tourists. It’s a better way to actually monitor the data that you have available to you. You don’t have to go through the hassle of making a SIM switch or trying to get people to understand what you want. Is there a premium for that if you will, that you’ll have to pay? Right now we would definitely have to say that there is. However, when we’ve traveled to countries that we didn’t know the language or the customs of, the eSIM option just ends up taking away potential headaches. A lot of times as a traveler that’s certainly something that you’re looking for.
Regular SIM Card Option Pros & Cons
We’ve made it pretty clear to this point that you can get a local regular SIM card for quite a bit less than what you’ll have to pay for the Choro Fon eSIM. That’s the big pro that you’ll have with that option. The second biggest benefit that you’ll have is the fact that you can make calls with the regular SIM card that you can buy from the Mexican service provider Telcel. If you’re going to go that path we do recommend Telcel just because it has the most extensive coverage and you can recharge virtually anywhere. Those are certainly two big pros as well, but there are other options on the market. In fact with Telcel you can get a SIM card for even less than the 10USD that we talked about. It’s just that the 10USD option gives you essentially equal data compared to Choro Fon.
Is there a downside to these cards though? For one you have to go through the process of inserting the SIM card. If you don’t have a dual SIM phone that means that even if you could get coverage from your regular service provider you would essentially have to choose to forfeit it in favor of using the local SIM card. That would mean that you would have to keep track of your regular SIM card. If you lose it you can lose your data. Also, you do have to go out and get the actual card at a store. At least the first time around, and that can be an issue for some people as well. If you’re not keen to be poking around the inside of your phone it’s not the best deal out there.
What Type of Traveler Can Truly Benefit From Choro Fon?
There are certain ways to get coverage abroad that are essentially better suited for a very specific type of traveler. We don’t necessarily feel that this is the case with Chorro Fon. In the sense that it can cater to many different types of travelers. For the most part though, we would say that if you’re a traveler that wants to keep things simple and doesn’t mind paying a little extra on the side to be able to handle things comfortably if you will then Chorro Fon. We certainly do believe that these eSIM options are going to be the future of getting coverage when traveling. In countries like Mexico though it would be dumb not to recognize that the price tag on these services is still bit steep compared to the other options that you may have.
Maybe though you don’t want to have to deal with telling a store clerk that you want a SIM card. Then going on ahead and having to insert the SIM card. By the way, in any instance having an unlocked phone is a basic necessity. With Chorro Fon you may be able to get coverage on a locked phone. Since it’s a data only plan that you can activate online. However, we do feel that the best way to go about things is to make sure that you have an unlocked phone that you can use. Even if you just buy a burner phone for that particular trip.
Other Coverage Options On The Table
Are there other viable coverage options other than the ones that we’ve already discussed? Well you could get a portable wifi device and use that around Mexico. Those types of devices are the perfect example of a coverage option that is best suited for a very specific type of traveler. Since the rates for that type of coverage are also quite steep. However, if you are traveling with a large group or with just a couple of people who need coverage on multiple devices this could be a good option to look into.
The only other thing that we think about is just using your regular coverage. This is going to work ok if you’re from the US. Other than that, though, this piece of advice probably doesn’t apply to you at all. With US users if you can limit the amount of time that you use your phone to literally a couple of minutes a day you may be fine. You won’t have to deal with the speed drop off and things like that. Definitely you’d have to make sure that you never go on Youtube or any of the other apps that use up a ton of data. Unless you are ok with having to pay the travel pass to get more high speed data. That’s going to cost you around 5 dollars a day!
Chorro Fon – eSIM for Mexico: Conclusion
To be 100% honest about it right now the price tag has travelers who want to use this option paying a premium for the service that many people won’t find necessary. If you speak Spanish and you can switch a SIM card you can get better deals. You only need to speak Spanish once because you can recharge your prepaid plan online with Telcel after that. Having said this, we certainly still believe that it’s a good option for someone who doesn’t want to make things too complicated for themselves. You can buy the eSIM before you even arrive in Mexico and then just activate it through the Airalo site.
We have the feeling that this is going to become a more viable option as time goes on. The price tags on local coverage and what the eSIM is going for these days has to come down at some point. Airalo does operate over market price at times, and it’s ok in most cases because it’s a bit of a premium service that you’re getting. The thing is, when it comes to Mexico the price difference in our book at least is still rather steep. At the end of the day though, our job is to give you a set of options and put things as bluntly as we can. We hope that we did that here!