Thanks Paul!

As long as the phone has unlocked SIM/eSIMs and works with Verizon (the Moto G Power 5G looks like it ticks both boxes), the answer to your question is yes, and you’ve probably got two options about how you do it.

You can either get an eSIM version of your existing Verizon line and buy physical local SIM cards overseas like you’ve done in the past, or you can have a physical Verizon SIM and buy eSIMs (either cheap data-only travel eSIMs like I mention in the article, or (sometimes) local prepaid eSIMs) when you’re traveling.

I tend to gravitate towards travel eSIMs while traveling these days, just because it saves a bunch of hassle when I first arrive, but that’s because I now rarely need a local phone number to be contacted on and can make outbound calls using e.g. Google Voice or Skype for a few cents a minute to pretty much anywhere. If you do need a local number, look at either physical SIMs or prepaid eSIM service from one of the local carriers.

Hope that’s useful!

As long as your phone isn’t locked to your carrier, then yes, you should be able to use both eSIM and physical SIM with either domestic or international carriers. If you’re buying the phone from the manufacturer, there shouldn’t be an issue, but if you’re buying it from your carrier, do be sure to check with them that both SIMs are fully unlocked from day one.

@Paul
re: “I’m hoping to find a list of specific model numbers i.e. with a focus on what models have 2 physical SIM card slots versus 1 physical plus 1 eSIM etc.”
You might check the specs on GSM Arena once the phone launches. They usually spell out the model numbers and SIM configs

Thank you John and Dave! I’d consider buying an international variant of a phone, but they seem hard to identify. I’m hoping to find a list of specific model numbers i.e. with a focus on what models have 2 physical SIM card slots versus 1 physical plus 1 eSIM etc.

Yes, agreed. I talked about this in the article, and in more detail in our US SIM card piece in relation to international visitors bringing their phones to the US, but it applies equally to anyone in the US who buys an international phone model.

P.S. @Paul, if you already have the SIM and plan on moving it from your present phone to the new phone, and the new phone is not VoLTE-certified, AT&T will probably lock the SIM until you move it to an authorized phone. T-mobile might not complain, but you would likely have dropped in/out calling and voice mail issues; T-mobile still has a 2G network, but coverage may be very spotty.

@Paul, if you’re planning to buy an international variant of a phone, you might want to run the exact model number past your chosen carrier to make sure it has been certified with their network for VoiceOverLTE (VoLTE) calling. If it hasn’t been, the carrier won’t allow activation. All new activations on all U.S. carriers require VoLTE now. AT&T and Verizon, as I understand it, are especially picky about which devices they will approve; T-mobile less so, but the device still needs to have been certified for their version of VoLTE.

From what I’ve read from people in the US who have received pre-orders of the S23 already, it looks like it’s one eSIM and one physical slot in that region.