If you are a traveller to Malaysia, you might be spoilt for choice for the amount of telco operators and plans. MAXIS, being the leading operator has one of the better coverage and highest download speed in Malaysia, based on OpenSignal report.
The Maxis Hotlink RED sim card is available in the KLIA or any of it’s retailers in the country. We got hold the most basic SIM for RM 10 (~USD2.39/SGD 3.28).
The RM 10 SIM card comes with 5 days of
- FREE Basic Internet
- 300MB Internet (valid 2 days)
- More value now at RM5 credit
(valid 5 days)
- Call: 15sen/30 sec
(all local network) - SMS: 15sen/sms
(all local network)
The SIM card has a validity of 55 days after I checked with various online sources as I couldn’t find this information on it’s website.
Although it was not mentioned to me when I purchase the SIM, the card is full of surprises. One of such is that it has a monthly 10 GB add on for Facebook. That is to say, you can effectively use it for 5 days to watch videos or even stream Facebook live without worrying of it bursting the 300 MB of basic internet.
Another good news is that after you blew your 300 MB of local data, you will still be able to send data text through whatsapp. Voice calls won’t work as the data rate dropped to 0.02 Mbps. Facebook speed isn’t affected at all and we can still stream videos and do facebook messenger voice calls without any issues as data is deducted from the 10 GB.
There is an app which records your usage and SMS alerts you when you are about to reach the quota.
On the next page, we check out the performance of the SIM card at crowded shopping district at Bukit Bintang near Pavillion Mall.
We did a test near Pavillion and the speed is decent. Although there is LTE+, we are not greeted with speeds above 60 Mbps.
After we finished the 300 MB, the speed dropped to 0.02 Mbps
What happens if you require more data for your photos upload while on the move? Here are some top up options available :
There are also Rewards which you can claim to offset your purchase.
[nextpage title=”Conclusion”]The prepaid SIM is really a good alternative to spending money on data roam with your own SIM card. Top up options are plenty and can be made using credit/debit cards. Top up value can be used to purchase more data or passes.
I would say for RM10, this is really way cheaper than data roaming as most people use Social media more than downloads. Unless you are just there to run speedtests, a 300 MB for a 2 to 3 days stay is more than enough as you can still rely on the WIFI in hotels to upload your pictures or videos.
The SIM auto deactivates on the sixth day and a termination date is 50 days later. If you do not Top up through credit/debit/bank/topup card, the number will be deactivated. This SIM might not be suitable for frequent travellers as you will need to top up to extend the validity every RM 10 for an extension of 55 days. If not, this is definitely the card of choice for good coverage and speed.