Esim for prepaid android customers

Isn't this stupid? Does apple pay for banning other esim phones?

Why does tmobile sell pixels if you don't can't support their capabilities?

I have a T-Mobile Connect (prepaid) plan on a Google Pixel 4a 5G and am receiving an error trying to switch from physical SIM to eSIM.  I need to do this because my other carrier (SFR in France) does not support eSIM.  A major reason I bought the Pixel was eSIM Support.

Your post is more than one year old.  Is that still true?  I read the documentation very carefully and it appears that my device should be eligible:

The page at https://www.t-mobile.com/support/devices/t-mobile-esim under “What smartphones are compatible with eSIM?” says “Currently, iPhone XS and newer models, Pixel 3 and newer models, Samsung Galaxy Note20 & Note20 Ultra, and Motorola Razr 5G are compatible with the T-Mobile eSIM solution.”, so I’m good there.  The question “I’m a T-Mobile Prepaid customer. Can I activate an eSIM on my compatible phone?” is answered “Prepaid customers using eSIM capable iOS phones can activate a line of service on eSIM in the T-Mobile eSIM app. eSIM for Prepaid customers using Samsung Note20 or Note20 Ultra is not available at this time.”, so that is also ok.

The error message says: “There is an issue with your SIM profile… Subject Code 8.1.1 Reason Code 3.8” and suggests providing the EID number to customer service, but they won’t accept it.

If I must have a postpaid account or iPhone to activate eSIM, could I switch to postpaid, activate eSIM, then switch back to prepaid the following month?

Alternatively, could I activate eSIM on a borrowed iPhone, then immediately transfer the account back to the Pixel, keeping the eSIM capability?

Or, any other suggestions (other than leaving T-Mobile)?

@magentatechie , many thanks for the prompt reply.  We have two Google Pixel 4a (5G) devices (and two prepaid accounts) that we would like to convert to eSIM.  We would not be using any iOS devices.  I have a few additional questions:

1. At a retail location, can they set up the eSIMs to replace the physical SIMs on the existing accounts (similar to if I lost the physical SIMs)?  If so, what costs (if any) apply?
2. If not, if I visit the store and open two new prepaid accounts with eSIMs, what costs apply (other than the first month’s service)?  Do I have to buy SIM starter kits?
3. Once the new eSIM prepaid accounts are open (before the old accounts have expired), can they port the numbers from the old accounts to the new?