I know it's an odd question, but where I live phones get stolen often. My phone doesn't have the option for an eSim, which is a problem because 90% of the time when a thief steals a phone they take out the SIM card immediately, meaning I wouldn't be able to remotely lock or wipe my phone.
Should I consider glueing the SIM tray shut? Or are there alternative less permanent measures I can take to keep my device secure?
Of course nothing will work if the SIM is removed, no new SIM is inserted, and they don’t connect it to Wi-Fi. But at that point, whoever has it also isn’t using the device either are they?
There is no way to have a device know it is stolen and wiped without it being able to get that notification from somewhere.
If that device is connected back to the Internet though, all of the find my device services work just fine, and you can queue a wipe to wait for the device to be online again. None of them are reliant on your SIM or phone number, they all use the MEID/IMEI and your Apple/Google/Samsung/etc. account to manage it.