I’m heading back home to the UK for a week soon and am looking to upgrade my phone (currently using Huawei P30 pro) but I noticed androids bought outside of Japan don’t have FeliCa capabilities, so I can’t use my phone for quicker transactions. I was considering getting a new phone when I went back (was considering Google Pixel 7) but I remember hearing that iPhone 8 had the technology regardless of where you bought it. Is this still the case for the iPhone 13 or 14? If this is the case, I might just get an iPhone when I get back home (I used to use iPhones before my Huawei).
Also, as an extra question, is it easy to change store location on iPhone? If I buy my phone in the UK it’ll solely use the UK’s store but since I live in Japan, would I be able to change it over? Was able to do it on Android after a long process, but wanted to check if it was possible on iPhones too.
7 comments
Yes you can.
iPhones (today) are pretty much the same no matter where they are purchased.
For both questions yes. You can change the phone (and store) region within 2 mins IIRC
My US 13 works just fine.
Just in case you weren’t aware, the Google Pixel 7 is also sold in Japan…
Yes. Foreign iPhones work fine with Suica.
You can use your phone for “quicker transactions” if it has NFC eg debit card, credit card etc. A lack of Felica will only prevent you using Japan specific travel/IC cards and the like. I don’t really need that so it doesn’t bother me but when I finally upgrade my UK phone here I’ll be looking for a Japanese one that has the correct 4G and 5G bands along with Felica.
iPhone’s luckily have Osaifu Keitai no matter where you purchased it. Androids on the other hand – they need to be bought in Japan to have Osaifu Keitai.