Google Pixel is the easiest brand to answer for. Every Pixel from the Pixel 3 onwards has eSIM, including the cheaper a-series models and the Fold. Google builds one version of each phone for almost every market, so there is far less regional variation than with other Android makers.
Check this phone in one tap
Let the page work out which handset you are on, or type the model. It answers straight away, and it tells you how sure it is.
Pixels that support eSIM
Pixel 3 and 3 XL, Pixel 4 and 4 XL, Pixel 5, Pixel 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 in all their variants, every a-series model from the 3a onwards, and Pixel Fold.
Pixels that do not
Pixel 2 and the original Pixel.
The one early exception
Some Pixel 3 units sold in a few markets through particular carriers had eSIM restricted at launch. It is an old phone now and unlikely to be the one you are travelling with, but if you are on a Pixel 3 it is worth running the check below rather than assuming.
How to check your Pixel
Open Settings → Network & internet → SIMs. If there is an option to Download a SIM instead or to add an eSIM, you are set. On a phone with no SIM card inserted the same screen offers to set up an eSIM directly.
The check that always works
Open your phone's dialler and type *#06#. You do not need to press call. A panel appears with your device identifiers. If one of them is labelled EID, a 32-digit number, your phone has eSIM hardware. No EID means no eSIM.
This works on any phone, any brand, any region, and it is the only check that cannot be thrown off by a model name that was sold in several different versions.
Why Pixels are good travel phones
Beyond eSIM support being near universal across the range, Pixels get Android updates directly from Google for several years, which keeps the eSIM handling current. Switching between your home line and a travel plan is handled in the same SIMs screen, and you can leave both active at once so calls and messages still reach your usual number while data runs over the travel plan.
What if your phone does not support eSIM?
Then a travel eSIM is not an option for that handset, and no app or update will change it: the eSIM chip is physical hardware. Your realistic choices are a local physical SIM bought on arrival, your own operator's roaming package, or using an older eSIM-capable phone as a second device. If you are close to replacing the phone anyway, every current flagship and most current mid-range models have eSIM built in.