As the title says, my cellphone just up and died today. It took a nasty fall with me a few months back in the rain and was already on its last leg, so I’m not horribly surprised. My issue is with the prices of the phones right now. While Japan already has the usual 15% or higher markup on technology, there has been no budge in the price on the S23 Ultra.
I remember seeing the crazy prices online for $600 (for US versions) during the holidays when it normally retails for around $1100 or so for the 512Gb. However, the smaller model here has stayed basically static at around $1300. They offer an option to basically lease it for half the price and to turn it back in after 2 years, but I just don’t get that. I usually keep my phones for years, so I do want to purchase it outright.
Anyway, has anyone had any luck buying a Samsung Galaxy phone not officially from Docomo and getting it to work? They have huge disclaimers of while it might work, they don’t promise full usage or any usage for that matter. I guess I’d like to know more than a “maybe” or “I think so.”
Sorry if this seems whiny. I have a perfectly mint and working Galaxy Note 8 that I love and the service person told me when switching to Docomo it would work, only to find out after the fact that it doesn’t work with their system (only the Docomo Note 8 works). Still a bit bitter about it.
3 comments
I bought a Galaxy Flip 3 from the US a year ago for ~$500 plus shipping and tax and have been using it here just fine on Rakuten’s MVNO, which goes through Docomo. So it should be fine with a real Docomo contract.
And I’m 100% satisfied with my decision to get the Flip for its form factor. Being foldable, it fits in my pocket so much better than regular smartphones do. For someone who isn’t glued to their phone all day and doesn’t mind flipping it open each time, it’s a fantastic phone.
Samsung phones don’t have the best track record for carrying Japanese network frequencies, and they’re not super popular outside of the very budget ones.
If you want Android, Google Pixel. Check with your service provider’s website if they can use them sim-free, but most likely they can.
I think Google Pixels are pretty decent phones for the price. The Pixel 6a is a good mid-range phone. If you want a better camera and performance Pixel 7 is pretty good. I have a Pixel 7 Pro, which has a zoom lens. Since it is from Google, it has a clean version of Android without any bloatware from phone manufacturers or network providers.