China SIM Card 1GB 4G LTE data + 50 mins local calls or 100 texts,! Free Incoming Calls and Texts

Followed the instructions about activating prior to leaving and whole process was easy. My iPhone 7s plus worked perfectly with the included 1GB of data. Was able to make and receive calls, although I only made a few because I used skype and FaceTime most of the time. Only frustration was access to YouTube and gmail are currently blocked in China (bing worked). I never confirmed this but was told by a colleague that if I had used my US providers international plan than I would have been able to access gmail (but if I had done that then it would have cost a lot me money). One more positive, as I was transiting in HK airport I was still able to use the sim, it used up the stored credit much faster but worked for a couple of urgent texts from on board plane that I forgot to send while connected the the HK airport wifi.

I bought this card so I can receive free text messages from my banks in China. It was a pain to get it to work, but it is working now, so nothing much to complain about. Here is my experience. It used to be very easy to use the card. Insert the card to an unlocked GSM phone, the text message is coming. Not any more. Their policy is not consistent. Something is working does not mean it will continue to work. I got a card in 2016, and had pretty good experience using it, but later on I forgot to pay the annual fee to keep the number, so I lost the number. I really need a Chinese phone number and reliably receive text message on it, so in 2018 I bought another one. The user experience was a completely different story this time. No network. Their new policy requires the card to be used in China first to activate the international roaming. Ok no big deal, I mailed the card to China and had relatives use the card, then mail it back me. Still no network. Called customer service and learned that I need to put 300RMB onto my account for international roaming to start. Sounds like a scam to me but based on my previous experience I trust them on this. After $60 later, I am getting messages. It has like 10 min delay but it ok. td;lr Free roaming text is working in USA, but need about $100 upfront and a month of time to get it to work. Then $20/year to keep the number. Expensive but reliable. Great customer service.

SIM card worked great for 3 days then the data stopped working completely. I used 257 mb of the allotted 1 GB included with the card. Would not recommend this card. Did not work. That simple.

If you're traveling to China and don't want to roam on your US-based cell plan, this is your best bet, assuming you have an unlocked LTE phone that works on China Unicom's 4G LTE network. (SIM-free iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, and SE bought from Apple in the U.S. all work. SIM-free iPhone 5s and 5c should also work. Unlocked AT&T or T-Mobile iPhones of the above models will work. IPhones prior to 5s (5, 4s, ...) will give you voice but not LTE data, maybe 3G or 2G data. Android phones bought outside of China mostly will NOT work; you'll have to find out if your Android phone can be used in China and in particular can work on China Unicom's network. Many might give you 1G or 2G data speeds but definitely not LTE.) The reason you want to get this instead of waiting until you land in China is, since last year, Chinese authorities have made it very difficult to foreigners to buy SIM cards, espeically via official channels. This card charges more than a card you get in China but in dollar terms the markup is not too steep, and you just can't beat the convenience. (Also, SIM cards sold in China are locally oriented, meaning you pay roaming charges for voice and data outside of the locality where you buy them. This is a national card for all of mainland China -- not including HK or Macau or, of course, Taiwan. A different card gives you 2GB of LTE data plus 100 free calls to the U.S. from China plus calls and texts inside of mainland China; see my review there.) Lvycom, the seller, responded to my activation email within 5 minutes and told me my number was activated. I waited a few hours, then inserted the SIM into a SIM-free iPhone 6s Plus (turn off the phone before you insert the SIM!!). I turned on my iPhone and within 5 minutes I was roaming on the AT&T network. Per Lvycom instructions, I turned off cellular data on my 6s Plus; will turn it on when traveling in China. With this particular SIM card, you get 1GB of LTE data and 50 minutes of outgoing calls in mainland China, plus free incoming calls and texts. Outside of China (USA, HK, Japan, etc....) you only get free incoming SMS texts. You can refill on voice and data (separately) on Lvycom's partner website. The card expires 90 days after activation, which is important due to Chinese regulations that blacklist people who buy SIM cards but let the cards lapse without cancelling the account at an official store. I bought this so we could use FaceTime, iMessage and WeChat when traveling in China and when we can't find Wi-Fi. While we haven't used China Unicom's LTE yet, independent reviews from within China give high marks to the carrier's new LTE networks. Lvycom has friendly support in English via email. This is probably the best and most reliable Chinese SIM card you can get here in the U.S.

I could not use this card with my Verizon Samsung Galaxy S7 in China. This may not be the fault of the card itself, but a fault with Verizon's internal software for the S7. However, I wish that there would have been some instruction on how to change the settings on my phone prior to departure to China. Verizon was not helpful at all regarding this, as I called them specifically to ask them about this because I had a similar problem with a local sim card that I bought in China on a previous trip. Voice and Text worked perfectly right after I inserted the card into my phone and restarted it. However, data was an issue, and it did not work the entire time I was there. Upon researching the issue when I returned from China (can't use google in china), it appears that you need to change your APN settings (still not sure exactly to what) in order to get the data working on the Verizon Samsung Galaxy S7. Luckily I had brought an extra iPhone 6 (also a Verizon phone) that I had with me (just incase I had problems, which I did), and I popped the thing into that phone and it worked perfectly. I ended up having to use my iPhone and connect to it with my Galaxy S7 in order for the phone to function (all my relevant apps, e-mails, etc were on my S7). I know that this is not the fault of the card itself, but the fault of the phone and the carrier. However, it would have been nice if there were some instructions provided for Verizon android phones in general, as there are a lot of us out there. Giving it 3 stars because it worked with my iPhone, but couldn't get the thing to work with my S7. Would have been 5 stars if I was an iPhone user.

The Good: It worked in all the large cities we visited in the Mainland. It gave us 4G LTE service and enough data to satisfy what we needed to accomplish. Often the 4G was faster than the WiFi available. I was able to send and receive phone calls and texts without issue. The Bad: As soon as you land in China and turn on the phone. 1) You get texts in all Chinese Characters. So if you have trouble with character reading like me, you need an app like 'Han-BaoBao'. Of course you might think of Google, but google is blocked. Each time you land in a new city, I would get a 'Welcome to the new city'. 2) Almost immediately, if not immediately, the sim-service started texting that I needed to 'pop-up' the card for more 'minutes'. That I was less than '5%' of my plan. Since I was just in Beijing for 2 days, and hadn't hardly used my 50mins. I began to think the Sim Card was a 'Scam'. and that I had been had, maybe I bought a dud. But then later, I got these texts everytime I turned on the phone, or went to a new city. So I just ignored them, and found that there purpose was to lure me into giving them more money. I did not give them any more money, the phone continued to work for 3 weeks no problem, all while it kept reporting this annoying message. 3) There was a quick way to find how much 'Data' you had used, but not a quick way to find how much 'Mins' or 'Texts' I had used. For 'Data', you just sent a text like '2228' to '10010' and it responds. Although you again, you have to wade through some Chinese Characters. 4) I wish the phone would worked in Hong Kong too, but maybe that was asking too much. It is a different territory. So I suppose this should be ignored. When I turned on the phone in Hong Kong, it wanted me to add money for 'International Roaming'. I just turned it off, and put my 'American Sim' back in. And that was the last leg of my Chinese travel.

I bought 2 of them before we go to China, one for me, one for my husband, both worked as long as you have an unlocked phone. HOWEVER, it states 50 mins local calls and 100 text msg were NOT correct, both of us barely used any data since we can get wi-fi most of the time, I sent 2 text messages and by the third day the balance were only 6 yuan (It told me I had full balance on the first day which was like 50 yuan). My husband were same way, actually he barely used any of it, not even a phone call or text, and the balance were just gone for no reason. I then went to China Unicom local office and try to get a statement, I was told that those sim card could not provide usage details, unless I call or contact the original seller office which located in Sichuan. I was told by the local office that those SIM cards can be associate with serious scams, since lots of things in China (Wechat, Alipay, etc) associate with your phone number, there is a chance that your private information can be stolen. Anyway, we had a fun trip but dealing with this SIM cards issue were not fun, I wish I didn't purchase them at all.

Very happy with this purchase! After researching the many options for phoning home from China, the easiest and most affordable choice was to use an app like Skype, Whatsapp, or WeChat with a China data plan rather than getting an expensive international calling plan. Why need data? Yes, you can try to find a hotspot or use your hotel wifi (sloowww) but for the price, this is so much more convenient. This card is great because you can get it and register it before you leave on your trip. The card came fast, very easy to install, instructions were well written, and customer service was amazing! The card was activated within an hour. If you want to check your balance while in the US (not required for activation, just if you're curious), you do need to access the AT&T or T-Mobile GSM networks. My phone was an old Verizon Motorola Razr, which was blocked from the AT&T and T-Mobile networks even though it was unlocked and dual band, but I knew the card worked because a message popped up in Chinese when the card was activated. I just couldn't check the balance from the US on that phone. Once I landed in China and turned off airplane mode, I was in business! Speeds were at least H+. Customer service was great when I had questions about why I couldn't check the balance; essentially real-time and in perfect English. FYI, your passport is required by the government and anyone who sells you a card without asking for it is sketchy. The card will deactivate automatically after 90 days (a convenience for us and another requirement). Would definitely buy this again.