Phone Galapagos: Japan Mobile Megathread

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Inspect Your Gadgets > Phone Galapagos: Japan Mobile Megathread

Tea.EarlGrey.Hot.: Mar 3, 2007; "I'd like to get my hands on that fellow Earl Grey and tell him a thing or two about tea leaves."

zmcnulty posted:

If at all possible, wait until May 1st, since handsets sold after this date will be subject to new regulations requiring carriers to unlock the phone if requested. The law won't apply to phones sold before this date.

For that matter screw Softbank altogether, especially if you don't owe any money on your current phone. Rakuten Mobile for example has 10GB per month, includes tethering, for 2960 yen.

Hopefully I will get a chance to revisit the OP some time soon. Lots of new options already available and several more on the horizon.

I have a friend in Japan that isn't super technically savvy and needs to get a SIM card for one year max. I usually suggest b-mobile's free data, but she actually needs minutes so she can call family. She's also got a pretty low budget, somewhere between 3000-4000yen (after taxes). I'm a little out of my element here and she needs some sort of phone service before Monday (Japanese time zone). She has an iPhone 5S.

Would the Rakuten Mobile option you mentioned above be suitable? I can't really guide her through the process as I haven't used it myself.

# ¿ Apr 3, 2015 08:36

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# ¿ May 17, 2024 18:47

Tea.EarlGrey.Hot.: Mar 3, 2007; "I'd like to get my hands on that fellow Earl Grey and tell him a thing or two about tea leaves."

Anaxite posted:

b-mobile's SIM cards do include calling features, but you don't automatically get minutes. Rather, you pay for calling and the price isn't great from a cell phone.

Where is her family located? I think international calling is going to be expensive with any plan. The best bet might be getting a data SIM and calling from a Skype subscription/Google Hangouts/whatever other fancy VoIP service.

Yeah, what I meant was there wasn't a voice allowance. She balked at the price per second, so I figured a different SIM might be in order. :shobon:

She has family inside and outside of Japan. I guess I'll see if she can handle VoIP.

Stringent posted:

Have her get in touch with this guy http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3707512&perpage=40&pagenumber=4#post443588416

This would be perfect if she wasn't in Kansai.

Thanks though.

# ¿ Apr 4, 2015 18:05

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