USA is a unique market that has stuck with physical and single SIM card support in smartphones for a long time, even as the rest of the world has progressed onto dual SIM card slots (as default) as well as widespread eSIM support. But this situation is slowly changing for the US too. The newly launched Samsung Galaxy S22 series in the US comes with eSIM support out-of-the-box, unlocking benefits such as two networks on the same phone, and more.

As we can confirm from the Galaxy S22 Ultra (unlocked) unit that we have in our hand, users will get an option to add an eSIM to the device.

If you recall, the last-gen Galaxy S21 series did not launch with eSIM and dual SIM support in the US. However, with the One UI 4 update for the device, eSIM functionality was added for the region. With the Galaxy S22 series, we can confirm that eSIM and consequently dual SIM functionality (physical nano-SIM + eSIM) is available on the unlocked models in the US. We do not have confirmed information across all carriers in the US, but we've seen carrier variants of the Galaxy S21 series receive this functionality with their One UI 4.0 update. Since the Galaxy S22 series launches with One UI 4.1 out of the box, we're optimistic about the carrier variants too.

With eSIM functionality, users will be able to add the phone to their network without requiring a physical SIM card. Opinion is split on how useful eSIMs are, especially if you frequently hop phones. But considering that they open up the possibility of using a second network on the same phone with the SIM card slot, eSIM becomes a valid option to consider for people who don't want to run two phones. It also makes network testing easier, as you can install an eSIM profile for a particular network and pay for service for a small period of time, like a month.