I will be moving to Japan and I am not a big fan of iOS. I want to buy an android phone in my country (coz I don't want shutter sound) and is compatible with Japanese SIM. Also, a brand for which Japan has good service support for the phone. Please suggest what affordable models/brands I could buy. What else to take care of?
by Fat_nerd_girl
18 comments
Many Android phones will enable the shutter sound once you insert a Japanese SIM, so buying it outside of Japan will not help. I highly recommend buying the phone in Japan, because otherwise you’ll be unable to use the train IC card on your phone.
>compatible with Japanese SIM
A sim card is a sim card…
>has good service support for the phone
You are buying the phone in your country… you wont get support. Did you mean support for your data+voice plan?
Look into ahamo. Its cheap and has good service.
I guess samsung is the safest choice. You can get support anywhere in the world.
Main problem is buying phones outside of Japan, you cannot use Japans nfc hardware for things like SUICA.
So your choice is use a transit card or buy a Japanese phone with shutter. … Or an iPhone because global iphone have SONY nfc hardware built in .
You know, funnily my Android phone started playing shutter sounds after I entered Japan on my last trip.
My wife’s Android didn’t.
So it’s not entirely avoidable just by buying your phone outside.
I’ve heard, if you want to use your phone as an IC card, and you want to buy it abroad, you have to get an iPhone or Google Pixel (and jump a few hoops, including rooting your device: https://github.com/kormax/osaifu-keitai-google-pixel).
To be fair, it’s probably better for your own sanity to buy it in Japan.
Buy phone here , then you can use mobile ic cards which is so kuch better than the physical ones
iPhone so you can use suica.
> I want to buy an android phone in my country (coz I don’t want shutter sound)
It will be enabled if u put a Japanese SIM. doesnt matter where it’s bought.
>is compatible with Japanese SIM
Most phones are compatible with the top 3 Japanese SIM, but usually people use low cost MVNOs which are best compatible with phones sold in Japan only.
[Most Important] Non Japanese androids don’t come with Felica chip, and u will need it if u plan to live here. Buy a Pixel in Japan is your best bet.
Google pixel
I bought my pixel in Australia but since inserting a Japanese sim, it has the shutter sound. Also foreign google pixels cant use mobile suica without rooting. Do with that what you will
Rakuten
If your phone is unlocked, it will almost 100% work in japan. As long as it has LTE it will work when you put a japanese SIM in it, you most probably don’t need a new phone.
As for plans, Rakuten is the cheapest with shittiest reception, but it works great where it works. You also have unlimited calls via Rakuten Link.
UQ (au’s cheap branch) is the second cheapest and signal reception is pretty good.
Then Yahoo (Softbank’s cheap branch), almost the same.
Ahamo (docomo’s cheap branch) is cheap too, but there’s no in-person service.
Then don’t even consider docomo, au, Softbank, they’re expensive as fuck, not worth it.
I bought a Samsung phone in Japan and just followed this to turn off the shutter sound; worked flawlessly :3
[https://www.reddit.com/r/S21Ultra/comments/t3grv7/heres_how_to_turn_off_camera_shutter_sound_on/](https://www.reddit.com/r/S21Ultra/comments/t3grv7/heres_how_to_turn_off_camera_shutter_sound_on/)
Late model Samsung. No mobile SUICA, that’s all.
If you like tinkering, just get a pixel and root it. I have a US pixel with suica enabled and the shutter sound muted. Rooting does takes some tinkering to get tap to pay working, but I just use my garmin watch for that.
To be honest, the shutter sound is not that bad. Would I miss it? Definitely not. But it’s also not worth going really out of your way to prevent it
If your phone is global, then you don’t have to buy a new phone. When I arrived here, I kept using my Brazilian phone and it worked fine with my Japanese provider (UQ Mobile back then). Shutter sound was still disabled, with that phone and with my current Chinese phone.
The only thing that’s disabled in foreign Android phones is Felica, which is Japan’s NFC used for digital money and train passes like Suica. I don’t have a credit card since it’s basically impossible to get one after a couple months here and I have a physical Icoca so I live just fine with a foreign phone and PayPay.
Buy your Android phone in Japan, it will allow the chip that is used for IC Cards to be activated, meaning you can use the digital Suica, Passmo, or Icaco card.
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