superangrypenguin

Whatever the one is that you can buy at the Sheraton HKG in the biz center....get that one. Great deal. Loved it.

heraclitus

I went to the Nobletime electronics shop in the arrivals area and one thing led to another and I ended up with a $288 prepaid SIM in my phone

I should've just went to 7-Eleven!

jamar

I got by the first time with roaming from my home carrier until I could get to the market at Sham Shui Po MTR. Then I bought a small stack of SIMs so I wouldn't have to make the trip out there again for a while. HK, mainland, Japan, all covered.

drvannostren

Wow that is absolutely brilliant and at a good price too. I'd suggest to them maybe up it by $20HKD and make it 7 days but hey, I would buy one of these.

Headed to HK in Feb on ANA (in case anyone knows if they have something similar, doubt it) 5 days, I don't need any calling, if it's there great but what I want is whatsapp and FAST data (I assume HK has great data, but after having 3G which didn't even work in SJO I figure I better say fast) so that I can google stuff on the fly, maybe use translator apps and maps for sure.

Is this 1010 store still the best option? Or is this tourist one?

If I'm reading the tourist one right $118HKD ($20 CAD) gets you 5GB data and $48 worth of calling basically. Which looks like it includes calling to Canada. But I'm also not sure where this was available...HKT shop between arrivals A/B? Sounds like there's a ton of options but that this one is pretty good. Otherwise just head to 7-11? FWIW, iPhone 6+ unlocked of course.

kalderlake

I flew ANA YVR to HKG (great trip, start to finish, BTW) in September and they didn't offer anything like that then.

I wound up buying a sim card from CSL on Johnson Road in Wan Chai. "All in one" for $180 HKD.

4G, and they deducted the data plan from the up-front fee.

They installed it, got it up and running.

Worked fine for the week I was there (Google maps for the most part, but also some surfing, streaming), and allowed me to call back to Canada every day without any problems.

(I think it was available at the airport--I found two separate shops at the airport, but they were jammed, and I was tired and decided to go to my hotel, get some sleep and buy the next morning.)

drvannostren

I just saw this CSL Tourist Sim Card on NCIX (Canadian computer/accessories retailer) so Igrabbed one on their website. $19.99 + tax, free shipping, with the 8 day play. It said it was $5 off, but $20 is basically $118HKD so I figure even if I didn't save any money at least I should be able to get off the plane and have this thing kick off right away.

Sidebar, it's amazing the difference, in HK you can get 5 GB of data for $20 on a tourist card, whereas 5GB of data in Canada would cost me $30 on top of a minimum $70 cell plan. Even in Colombia, sure you can get data fairly cheap, but I don't think they even really sell more than 1Gb. But then Whatsapp/Facebook is often unlimited which is what I'm using it most for. But I really wanna make sure I've got maps/yelp/google all without depending on trying to find wifi.

Thanks for the headsup as always FT

heraclitus

It's worth noting that if you just need a phone for basic calls, Google mapping and web access, double check to see if your hotel has in-room smartphones available for use. These have become very common in HK, even in mid-range 3* type hotels. The usual Handy brand sets come with unlimited data and free calls, so it obviates the need for a local SIM unless you specifically need to have your phone.

Bbusyb

I was in HKG for a day last month before heading to the mainland for a hectic week and picked up my sim from the 7-11 landside after customs.

I had spent quite a bit of time researching which sim to get as I needed something that would work in HK as well as China and more critically had a decent price for the data.

I ended up going with the China Unicom" Cross Border King Dual Extra" Sim as it came with both HK and China Numbers and offered a 500Mb data for HK$68 which worked in both places. It also offers a decent discounted international calling plan if you active it.

The best part was that because the Sim was from HK, I continued to be able to use all my google services (Mail, Hangouts, search, Maps) when in china while my colleague with a local Chines Sim (From China Unicom as well ) could not get through.

The other nice thing was then when I ran out of credit, i could just top up online, (Though the site was in Chinese, with google translate, i could muddle through)

MDWCommuter

We just got back from a stay at the Grand Hyatt HKG and they offer a free 4G Alcatel phone that offers free calls and unlimited data. You can even turn it into a hotspot if you're only interested in data for other devices. A tremendous amenity if you're staying at the hotel.

bocastephen

Is the conventional wisdom now to stick with the CSL product for roaming on the mainland vs a China Unicom or similar SIM to avoid firewall issues?

I have a 24hr stop in HK enroute to PVG and I want to pick up a SIM card I can use in HK and around Shanghai with LTE (Xperia Z5 Premium from Singapore), about 1GB of data (5 days), hotspotable and no Chinese firewalls.

Is it best to just buy it in 7Eleven, or is there a suite of different products to choose from? I noticed some of the CSL cards had a different price structure and very low data allowances for mainland China roaming...so I want to be sure and get the right card.

Coolers

I've used http://www.cugstore.com/hk_en/data-c...7days-1gb.html with no problems. Be aware it's data only though.

AFAIK any China SIM you purchase in HK will get around the Great Firewall, even if it's issued by a mainland operator.

bocastephen

Thank you - this looks like what I need except it doesn't appear to be LTE, unless 42mbps is LTE. I need the fast data for VOIP calling, and since I use Google Hangouts dialer for inbound/outbound calls, I need to be sure there is no firewall blocking.

Coolers

42mbps would translate to HSDPA, not LTE. That said, normal functioning HSDPA is more than fast enough to place calls with. While I cannot comment specifically on Hangouts, all my Whatsapp voice calls were perfectly fine.

All Google apps functioned normally on my Android phone, including Maps, Gmail, and Hangouts (chat).

bocastephen

This looks like a similar product and uses the same APN - except it's for China, but it seems to show LTE available. I wonder if the card you suggest would include LTE on a compatible phone on 3GNET APN.

http://www.loyomobile.com/products/4...ta-prepaid-sim

Coolers

I've never seen such a card available for sale here in HK. Be certain it's not a mainland sim that would be subject to the usual Google and firewall issues.