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iPhone 6 (and other smartphones)


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Thanks. So a kishu henkan gets me that discount then... that is good. That makes a fair bit of difference...

Hahaha! You do proof reading? Please tell me it's not in English?! I don't think I've ever seen a single post from you that doesn't have at least a good chunk of it that is incomprehensible.  

The reviews are out on the big tech sites now. I'll order one for my missus when I get the time. 25,000 back for the 5 means au are paying my missus 10,000 yen to upgrade to the 6 (and stay with them, of course).

 

For myself, I've come to a decision and it is to wait :lol:

I'm going to see what the new Nexus is like next month. If its too expensive I'll get the current one, which should be cheaper then anyway.

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My wife has decided to finally get a smartphone. I have a iPhone 5. We are currently with Softbank because of the free calls between our phones. My daughter also has my old iphone 4 with the free service of calling our two numbers only. I'm wondering if we should just continue on as is or try switching to something better or even more economical. I'm kind of a big dummy when it comes to plans, switching carriers...sims...paybacks... and all that. Man, it's confusing.

 

Anyone know of a page or site explaining the options available to us here in Japan..??

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By far the best thing to do, without a doubt, is to go into the shop and ask questions. Only then will you get a clear (hopefully) understanding. And often it'll be a rather attractive young lady explaining to you as well.

 

:)

 

Info without the interactive talking questions element is just confusing however much you look at it. Smokes and mirrors and 'each case is different' etc.

 

I highly recommend not looking at info and just go. Ask tons of questions to get a clear idea. It's near impossible to get a clear picture without, er, drilling the staff.

 

But obviously you should be moving away from Softbank, that's a given! :doh:

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I was on softbank and switched to AU. Bill automatically went down by about 2000 month per month... and that was also a switch from a dumb phone to a smart one. I've heard the same thing from several other people as well. I hate(d) softbank.

 

With this 25,000Y back thing I'm thinking about making the switch as well. According to the payment simulator on the AU website my monthly bill will actually go down by almost 1,000Y / month by switching. Strange that.

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My wife has decided to finally get a smartphone. I have a iPhone 5. We are currently with Softbank because of the free calls between our phones. My daughter also has my old iphone 4 with the free service of calling our two numbers only. I'm wondering if we should just continue on as is or try switching to something better or even more economical. I'm kind of a big dummy when it comes to plans, switching carriers...sims...paybacks... and all that. Man, it's confusing.

 

Anyone know of a page or site explaining the options available to us here in Japan..??

 

There are so many options and different ways of using them (x amount of calls to different groups people, y data a month) that no one can explain them all. For paybacks and stuff, it will depend when the individual contracts are up and how "invested" you are in one company's stuff. Your iphones are "invested" in Softbank because they won't work as well on another carrier and you are "invested" in Softbank itself because you'll have to pay to leave outside the one chance you get every two years. Free calls are becoming a less important bonus though, especially with family members on smartphones, because there are many Skype-like services you can use for free. Major non-business call users (i.e., women) also like to use Line now which is free. For multiple smartphones in the same family, some companies offer a nice discount. Au does, but you have to use their optic fiber Internet and its not available where I live.

 

If its a case of simply getting a smartphone, someone like Biglobe will give you a smartphone handset with a regular number and 2GB (1GB + 1GB free for a years' commitment) of data a month for about 4000 a month plus calls. If you call more, Y! Mobile will give you 300 free calls a month and 1GB data for 3000 a month. Shop around and the phone set should be free or 20,000 yen max. A Nexus 5 is free if you're coming from au or docomo (not softbank because they are part of the same group). While these options may only seem 3000 or so cheaper than the cheapest deals on au/softbank etc. that's 3000 every month, so 36,000 a year.

 

I'm going to get a U mobile sim which is 2200 a month for 3GB of data and a phone number. Calls are 20 yen for 30 seconds, so maybe 200 a month for me if I call my wife on Line. A pretty good handset, say Nexus 5, to use on it is 30,000, which assuming two years usage is 1250 a month, so about 3800 a month for phone+handset. I pay about 2500 now just for phone and incoming emails. 3GB a month on au with an Iphone 5s thrown in would cost about 7,400, though I would get free calls. An Iphone 6 would be about 8,000 a month, 4000 a month more which over two years is getting close to 100,000 yen. Note that au/softbank Iphones will probably not work with cheap sims when you go overseas. They will probably be difficult to work with cheap sims in Japan as well. You also have to stick around for two years to collect the full discount that makes the phone plus service 8000 a month. If you leave early, you will have to pay off the remaining balance on the phone, a phone that is locked and probably won't work with another carrier.

 

Lots of the big denki stores now sell sim free phones and sims, so you can ask about them and what they do at Yodobashi, Bic Camera etc.

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My wife has decided to finally get a smartphone. I have a iPhone 5. We are currently with Softbank because of the free calls between our phones. My daughter also has my old iphone 4 with the free service of calling our two numbers only. I'm wondering if we should just continue on as is or try switching to something better or even more economical. I'm kind of a big dummy when it comes to plans, switching carriers...sims...paybacks... and all that. Man, it's confusing.

 

Anyone know of a page or site explaining the options available to us here in Japan..??

 

There are so many options and different ways of using them (x amount of calls to different groups people, y data a month) that no one can explain them all. For paybacks and stuff, it will depend when the individual contracts are up and how "invested" you are in one company's stuff. Your iphones are "invested" in Softbank because they won't work as well on another carrier and you are "invested" in Softbank itself because you'll have to pay to leave outside the one chance you get every two years. Free calls are becoming a less important bonus though, especially with family members on smartphones, because there are many Skype-like services you can use for free. Major non-business call users (i.e., women) also like to use Line now which is free. For multiple smartphones in the same family, some companies offer a nice discount. Au does, but you have to use their optic fiber Internet and its not available where I live.

 

If its a case of simply getting a smartphone, someone like Biglobe will give you a smartphone handset with a regular number and 2GB (1GB + 1GB free for a years' commitment) of data a month for about 4000 a month plus calls. If you call more, Y! Mobile will give you 300 free calls a month and 1GB data for 3000 a month. Shop around and the phone set should be free or 20,000 yen max. A Nexus 5 is free if you're coming from au or docomo (not softbank because they are part of the same group). While these options may only seem 3000 or so cheaper than the cheapest deals on au/softbank etc. that's 3000 every month, so 36,000 a year.

 

I'm going to get a U mobile sim which is 2200 a month for 3GB of data and a phone number. Calls are 20 yen for 30 seconds, so maybe 200 a month for me if I call my wife on Line. A pretty good handset, say Nexus 5, to use on it is 30,000, which assuming two years usage is 1250 a month, so about 3800 a month for phone+handset. I pay about 2500 now just for phone and incoming emails. 3GB a month on au with an Iphone 5s thrown in would cost about 7,400, though I would get free calls. An Iphone 6 would be about 8,000 a month, 4000 a month more which over two years is getting close to 100,000 yen. Note that au/softbank Iphones will probably not work with cheap sims when you go overseas. They will probably be difficult to work with cheap sims in Japan as well. You also have to stick around for two years to collect the full discount that makes the phone plus service 8000 a month. If you leave early, you will have to pay off the remaining balance on the phone, a phone that is locked and probably won't work with another carrier.

 

Lots of the big denki stores now sell sim free phones and sims, so you can ask about them and what they do at Yodobashi, Bic Camera etc.

 

Cheers Mr Wiggles...thanks for the advice. Still confusing as all hell though especially considering making the wrong choice in a carrier and appropriate plan can mean A LOT of money wasted.

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Wiggles, have you looked at the new plans being offered by AU? It looks like they're offering really similar deals to the ones you are talking about. For example, 2 gigs (+1 gig free if you sign up before Oct) for 3,500Y. The plan I looked at was only 5,600Y/month including the cost of the phone (16gb). Seems like they are trying to compete with the companies you have mentioned.

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Sounds like you've found a rogue au shop there. Go for it! I was in last week and the woman there said the only way to limit data to something cheaper than the regular 5000yen/7GB was to go kakehodai which is 3000 off the bat. My missus calls a lot, so it'll be good for her, but not for me because I'm grumpy and never call anyone. Once I get a smartphone, I just want a regular mobile number for incoming calls and will use a VoIP thing like Skype out or Line Phone to call out. Line is 390 yen a month for 60 minutes to other keitais.

 

Sticking with au, but a couple of weeks ago, it sounds like they sent out what looks like junk mail but was actually "fast coupons" worth up to 20,000 off a new phone, redeemable on the new Iphone. On 2ch, people said it has something to do with au's Iphone 5 having a crap antenna and a limited area for LTE reception, leading to lots of complaints. The higher trade-in price for the 5 than the 5c/5s is supposed to be for the same reason. The criteria for who got a coupon sound a bit mysterious and I don't think we got one :(, but there is no 4G where we live so we wouldn't have been affected by any problems with that. If you're on au, check your mail to see if you got one.

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Got my new phone.

 

How bizarre is this:

 

Before:

Two year old iPhone 5 32GB

Monthly paying around 9500 yen on average but differed a bit each month as I was paying for every call.

 

Now:

New iPhone 6 Plus 64GB

The first 8(.2) months the monthly charge will be 5400 yen.  

After that, it will settle to about 9300 yen.  

That includes as many calls as I want.

 

Quite how getting a brand new phone can be considerably cheaper than continiuing with the old one is a bit beyond me, even looking at all the silly complicated numbers, but I won't complain.

 

They even gave me a present... a mobile charger thing that had a charge stamp of 6500 yen on it.

 

Cheers!!

 

:)

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