Should I buy my Samsung phone in Korea before I move to Japan?

13 comments

1. This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.

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   **Should I buy my Samsung phone in Korea before I move to Japan?**

   I am a South Korean who will move to Japan for college next month.

   I don’t know if I should buy my Samsung phone here in Korea first, then move to Japan.

   If I get the phone in Japan I can do NFC payments there since it has the felica chip, but the price looks too steep, and they are all carrier locked, which means I have to pay a fee and get a no contract version.

   Even if I get a contract version, I cannot fill the 2 years since I have to leave in 1.5 years.

   Would I get a better deal by buying the phone in Korea?

   I am looking at Samsung Store and Coupang deals.

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2. I think nowadays the carrier didn’t really lock the phone anymore? When I bought mine (paid in full), they unlocked it on the day I purchased the phone and I can just change the carrier anytime.

   But yeah if you are concerned about the deal, I guess you have more options in South Korea.

3. In my opinion the NFC payments are pretty important here but as far as I understand it, that would be the only thing you would be missing using a South Korean phone
   (I am not an expert, just experience using a Singapore pixel mobile phone in Japan.)

4. I’ve lived in Japan for 4 years with a Samsung from Hong Kong, not once have I ever regretted not being able to use NFC payments. Also, I’m not sure about South Korea, but all phones in Japan play a shutter sound when you take a photo and you can’t turn it off. That might be a negative for you, because it sounds pretty annoying.

5. I don’t think carrier locking is there any new phone contracts in Japan. I myself have bought Samsung S22 through a carrier and it’s fully unlocked

   So kindly check again on this point

6. All phones have to be unlocked by the carrier these days. You can buy a Pixel straight from Google too

7. You can get the A53 or A54 unlocked from Samsung on Amazon Japan. They sell it direct but it is more expensive. If you go via carrier, you can get a cheaper sony in Rakuten that has NFC. Even better, get a pixel via Google and you gave the best phone unlocked

8. If you’re concerned on the price (based on your comments), then it sounds like your decision is made 😉 Bring your phone with & just find a cheap provider.

9. NFC is indeed very convenient since you can put all kinds of cards into it – and Apple pay!

   But I heard that is only for iOS users.

   Also, people here are so used to shutter sound. They might take one look at you for a split second to make sure you’re not taking anything you’re not supposed and move on with their lives. Living here for awhile and you would appreciate shutter sound too (probably).

10. I’ve been in and out of Osaka for years and never needed my phone for travel. I just use a physical ICOCA card. My phone is a Xaomi (Android) phone I bought in Malaysia. It works perfectly fine for PayWave payments at grocery stores, 7-11, Family Mart etc. The only place I had an issue was at Yodobashi Camera House as they only accept Japanese CC via Google Wallet. It’s weird though as they have no problem using physical foreign credit cards .

11. I think that IC card payment on your phone is 100% worth it. I would personally buy a Japanese market phone just for it — and I have. I still kept a physical Suica card as a spare, but mobile payment is absolutely indispensable in this age.

12. NFC is really important, especially with the current chip shortage.

    I was a Samsung fangirl ever since the S3, and I gave up using Samsung phones here. I use a Sony Xperia 1, now. It’s honestly a better phone, it (for some reason) doesn’t have a shutter sound, and if I break it, I can actually get it fixed here. Getting a Samsung phone fixed here is ludicrously expensive because of how unpopular they are. In fact, I believe Samsung phones in Japan are still carrier-locked, and you have to get them unlocked by the carrier. That’s what the representative in the Harajuku Samsung store told me, at least.

13. Wait… I’m confused by the comments. Are you not able to use contactless payment (Google Pay/Virtual Suica) without a Japan-Issued phone??