I'm of an iPhone - what to buy and which carrier to use, smartphone life in Japan (as of December, 2014)

So you want to get a smartphone in Japan? What should you go with? Today I would like to write a little guide to smartphone life in Japan, and in it I will incorporate what I've learned using both android and Apple smartphones on all three of the major carriers.

Question 1: Android or iOS?

I could go over all the differences between the two smartphone operating systems, but I'm guessing most people here already know something about them. If not, the easy thing to remember is that android phones are more customizable: you can add little widgets to show your calendar, the weather, etc. at all times. iPhones have more apps in the store, but this isn't a big issue anymore, IMO. And while the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are really great when it comes to stability, the built-in camera, and battery life, a lot of android phones in Japan are about as good, and many are waterproof as well.

For me the real tipping point on why I chose to get an iPhone 6+ was two issues. First, with an iPhone you get regular updates from Apple. Especially in Japan carriers are very fond of letting android phones languish with no updates at all. And the 2nd is apps, but not in numbers. In Japan many apps for android phones that are available in the US just never appear in the Japanese app store. The same is true on iOS but getting around it isn't as much of an issue. Also, but not quite as big of a deal, is the carrier apps. On android in Japan you're stuck with a bunch of crapware from day one that you can't delete, but on iOS you never have to worry about this at all.

Mainly I'd say grab a phone and pick it up. Does it fit your hand well? How big is the battery? Is the screen the right size for you? Then make the choice. If you do go with an android phone, go with one that's running the latest version of android (4.4 or higher, or if you can get one on 5+ even better), and I would pick a major brand like Samsung or Sony if you're going Japanese because they will tend to update their phones the earliest. If you're going with an iPhone pick a 6 or a 6+. In Japan the way they price handsets it's almost always pointless to not get a top-tier phone.

Question 2: Which carrier?

OK, now which of the big three should you go for? The base cost is the same for docomo, au and SoftBank: you end up paying about 8,000 yen a month for unlimited talk time and 5gig of data, plus whatever the handset fee is (in Japan you almost never pay up front, instead the cost of the handset is divided up over 2 years). Which that kind of sucks. It's damn expensive and who talks on their phones anyway?

Fortunately for antisocial people like me there is an option. For now anyway, SoftBank and au are offering a 7gig data plan with no minutes for around 7,000 a month. Which lets you go mostly nuts when it comes to data usage, but I did come close to going over in November. They also let you freely call people during the day if you're on the same carrier.

SoftBank and au also have a deal where you get around ¥1,500 back if you have internet at home through an affiliate company. For me this makes my total bill under ¥6,000, but it required me to have a cable TV + landline phone + internet setup at home, so the total savings ends up being less.

SoftBank also has 2 other cool features. First, if you do get their unlimited talk plan, you only get 5gig of data, but they let you carry over unused data to the next month. So by going light one month you can have tons the next. That's cool. And even better is if you're in the US because SoftBank bought Sprint you can use your phone freely. So IMO if you're American and plan on getting a free-talk plan, it's a no brainer. You just have to make sure you get a compatible handset (which is just the iPhone 6 and 6+ right now).

Oh, and for the people who want unlimited talk + more data, the three all offer several tiers of data, but they charge quite a bit. If you are getting multiple handsets on one plan, though, it becomes cheaper as you can divide up the data. Also, it is possible docomo has a discount with a home internet provider but I couldn't find any info on their page.

Aren't there any other options?

Yes. You can get a phone through emobile Y!mobile. You can also get a super cheapo phone and buy data as you use it from several companies. For more info, check this site: Japan Mobile Tech (a cool blog that keeps up to date with all kinds of info on using SIM-free phones in Japan and stuff like that).

Personal Reflections

Now, I'd like to add some more personal thoughts on the matter.

I was an iPhone user from when they first came out in Japan. I got a white 3G model a week after they launched and used it mostly happily for around a year and a half. Why did I change? Curiosity, mainly, and because the iPhone 3G's GPS always sucked in Japan. So I switched to a HTC Desire on SoftBank, and was very happy with it. After rooting it and tweaking it to hell the battery life was awesome and the GPS was accurate. Unfortunately it had next to no free memory, so it got really tiring deciding which app to delete when I got a new one.

After that I picked up (stupidly) a Samsung Galaxy s2. Wow, was that a piece of shit. The new Samsungs are all pretty awesome, but this one was bad in every way besides memory. After a year I dumped it and got an LG Optimus G... which was less shitty. OK, no it was pretty good. It was an LTE phone and the camera worked well, but Japanese text input sucked as did the GPS, and the battery was always just so-so.

So after all that and seeing the new crop of phones this summer, I decided to go back to the iPhone waters. Why? As I said above, for updates. But also because I wanted to be able to have decent English and Japanese input without having to switch keyboards. I also heard that newer iPhones have great cameras, so I wanted to check that out, too.

How has life with an iPhone been, after years of being on android? For the most part, great.

The two big pleasant surprises have been the GPS and camera. The GPS on the iPhone 6+ is just insane. On my last two phones it was barely usable at all; now I pull up the maps app and 95% of the time it's very obvious the phone knows exactly where I am. For me that makes having a map app on a phone useful for the first time in ages. The camera is also good. The pics on this post were all taken with my 6+, all using the default camera app and shot with no extra support or anything.

Also, I have to say the battery life on the 6+ is really good. If I game a lot I can drain it down, but in my two typical scenarios: at work checking email and maybe reading the news and looking at Facebook while on my break; or on weekends using it to listen to music or podcasts on the train, read news, and use the map while wandering around Tokyo, it rarely gets below 70% when I go to bed at night. But then this is what any of the good chunky-ass phablets should offer for battery life.

As for the size... yes, it is big. Too big I would say. If the 6+ was a half inch smaller with a similar battery and weighed just as much it would be the perfect phone. Alas the 6 regular has a much smaller battery, too small screen (for me), and no image stabilization for the camera, so I had to get a 6+, but every time I find myself choosing to not wear my jeans that are a bit slim, and I know my phone choice is dictating my wardrobe, a little imaginary Nelson pops up over my shoulder and laughs, "Ha ha!" It doesn't happen all the time, but it does happen, so for that reason I can say the 6+ isn't for everyone.

For me it's the best choice for right now. And I think anyone who went with an iPhone 6 or 6+ (especially if you're an American and you go for SoftBank) would be happy. Otherwise, go for:

On au get a Galaxy Note or an Xperia Z3.
On SoftBank get a Z3.
On docomo get a Z3, a Note Edge, or a Galaxy S5 Active.