Thank you for opening my message.
I currently have an s9 AU unlocked bought 2nd hand. Looking to upgrade to an s21.
I am with Rakuten Mobile, but after navigating it seems that I can’t use an s21 on the Rakuten network if I switch.
Going to the traditional shops, I would be charged from ¥10,000/month (including phone payments covering the ¥99,000 phone price) while I can easily buy a Sim-free s21 for around ¥75,000.
However…..I am so confused as to on what networks I can use either the Docomo, AU, Korean model etc….
Currently the AU model is looking the most affordable.
I’ve been redirected to POVO, UQ, etc….
But difficult to confirm for s21 in particular as everything seems built for Iphone.
18 comments
I’ve been using my international S21 on docomo network with IIJMIO for over a year. Works fine.
If you can buy an actual AU-branded S21 (Galaxy SCG09), you should use it with MVNO/carrier which would offer au lines, like povo, UQ, or any of the MVNOs that offer a choice of docomo/au lines.
Anyway, my SM-G991B/DS works fine for my purposes.
You can check the bands here (not sure how accurate this info is): https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s21_5g-10626.php
international G991B comes up as supporting 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 32, 38, 39, 40, 41, 66 for 4G/LTE.
https://simfree-pc.net/docomo-band-summary/ https://simfree-pc.net/au-band-summary/
Looks like even docomo-branded galaxy doesn’t support the missing bands https://www.docomo.ne.jp/binary/pdf/support/product/band.pdf – and people use it, so you should be fine.
tl;dr even if you get international model it covers like 90% of both au and docomo bands, so you can choose any provider you want.
Just anecdotal, but my simfree Galaxy Note 9 has worked just fine with Rakuten Mobile for years – however it doesn’t have a 5G modem, which is probably the issue with the S21 here.
Wife using docomo sim.
Sim free galaxy S20+
Just switched to Ahamo a month ago from line mobile. Should have done it much sooner
Korean bought S9 and I’m with Ahamo
Mobal. Cheap, can “pause”, no contract, SoftBank number.
Sim free Galaxy S20 FE using with Nuro Mobile on DoCoMo network.
S20fe with ymobile and it works kinda fine i guess? Feels like my note9 had faster internet with the same SIM tho.
The au version (SCG09) should work on Rakuten.
The simplest way is to cross check the bands supported by whichever S21 version you’re getting against the bands operated by a given carrier.
The au version supports band 3 and 18, which means it can connect to both Rakuten’s own towers, and KDDI’s towers wherever roaming is still enabled.
The docomo version only supports band 3, so you’ll be unable to connect to the KDDI network outside of Rakuten’s coverage area.
Line mobile
Been with B-mobile since 2014. Their customer service is non-existent but their price plans
are quite reasonable and the service as a whole is reliable.
I got my current phone, S8 from Expansys
Note 20 Ultra here on B-mobile, working fine.
Been with B-mobile for 7 or 8 years across multiple Galaxy and Note devices, never an issue.
Japanese phones suck. Just buy an international version of whatever phone you want. Never had a problem with AU, UQ, Rakuten so far. No bloatware comes pre-installed.
[IIJmio’s Gigaplan SIM](https://www.iijmio.jp/gigaplan/) – using Docomo’s network, 5GB/month, phone number, all for ~¥1000.
I use Mobal on my Galaxy S9. It’s an unlocked Docomo.
Mineo for several years. No problems.
IIJmio has been good for me.
I pay $2,000 a month because I never use my phone.
Ocn, really cheap