Which Phone for Japan? and UK

dazsly · 3 Feb 2006 at 20:59

Hi I want to get a phone on contract no more than £20 per month that will work in japan on 3g or whatever as I am going there soon for a holiday but I would like to use it in the uk when I get back as well, I believe vodaphone have a network there, also I would like cheaper international calls and access to web i.e html / wifi or similar anyone have any suggestions??

Thanks

daz · 5 Feb 2006 at 02:14

I'm pretty sure Japan doesn't use GSM... I think it uses CDMA, our phones dont support that.

Tunney · 5 Feb 2006 at 10:34

Japan doesn't have GSM, but it does have WCDMA/UMTS - the same standard as the UK uses for 3G. Vodafone KK uses straight UMTS and NTT DoCoMo uses FOMA - which is now compatible with UMTS. A 3G phone from the UK will work on either network.

As for phone suggestions, the only 3G phone with WiFi at the moment is the rather large HTC Universal (aka O2 Exec, Orange M5000, etc, etc, etc). Nokia has about 5 3G models with WiFi due out in the next couple of months but when they'll actually appear is anyone's guess.

If you don't mind losing WiFi, then I'm a big fan of the Nokia N70. Other people seem to be liking the Motorola V3x too.

jhmaeng · 5 Feb 2006 at 20:56

You don't really say how long you plan to stay there, but assuming you'll be there for about 2 weeks at least:

1. Roaming costs to/from Japan will be an absolute killer, so I'm assuming you plan to get a prepaid SIM card while you're there. The only exception is Vodafone Passport which will allow you to use your free minutes in the UK for calls to/from the UK, providing you are using one of Vodafone's partner networks (in Japan, it's Vodafone KK) and pay a connection charge of 75p per call. But even then, it's quite a hefty charge so it's still only a temporary solution.

2. It's not as straightforward to buy a pre-pay SIM card in Japan as it is in the UK apparently - you have to have a Japanese address and register it in person (or some other combination of awkward procedures). I suggest you investigate before actually heading over there.

If you're only going to be there for a few days - basically, take any 3G (W-CDMA) phone and it will be able to roam in Japan.

dazsly · 6 Feb 2006 at 14:06

Hi thanks for your help, I have gone for the sony erricson w900i and vodafone so I will enable the passport on it to use over in japan, I should be able just to hook upto vodafone kk there.

jhmaeng · 7 Feb 2006 at 00:40

Be careful it stays on Vodafone KK, though - because most phones are quite happy to pick up any network that has a signal whilst in roaming. And if you happen to make/take a call whilst your phone decided to use NTT, you will be charged a fat wad.