I want to get a new phone, that both has the Japanese NFC (Suica), and is sim-free (not locked to a carrier). So on Amazon I found some Docomo branded Samsung phones for sale (ブランド: ノーブランド品, 無線通信会社: Docomo) which I assume must support Japanese NFC, but I wonder if anyone knows if I can use them with any sim? And in this case what does the Docomo branding actually entail, any particular disadvantages?
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Any specific links? docomo (until recently, it seems?) used to rebrand with a “Galaxy” logo and model# would be SC-XXY where XX is a number and Y is a letter. In general unless specifically sold as used docomo model, I wouldn’t trust anything on amazon as naving NFC. Better look for a specific docomo/au model on yahoo auctions/mercari and buy there. i.e. S22 is SC-51C
They are usually unlocked. The DoCoMo bit just means it was made for that network so if you have a SIM from Docomo or an MVNO using Docomo this is your best bet for compatibility. It will work with other network SIMs but I’d look for AU or Softbank phones if I was on those networks.
Look for シムロック解除済み which means it’s a carrier phone that’s been unlocked. This is different from sim free which is a factory unlocked phone.
Docomo branded phones are you can get support from docomo shop, it’s been tested to work on Docomo bands, some models have Docomo specific band support, it has the Docomo services preinstalled, you can usually do a payment plan for the device and trade it in for a new device after XX months. Most of these don’t apply to when you buy a used phone off Amazon or Mercari but these are the general benefits of carrier phones