A Brand New Phone
The state of the mobile phone. In Japan it’s amazing how ubiquitous the mobile phone is. It seems that everyone over the age of 15 is probably carrying one around and even some who are younger. I had never been a big fan of them myself and lasted a full year here without one. Eventually I had to bend though, and I picked up a P11 model from Tuka, the cheapest of the cheap and relatively uninspiring from the technological point of view. I had a phone and was now reachable I thought, and that should be enough.
Now, closing in on 3 years later, I have finally upgraded and changed providers in the process. I’m sure I’ll be paying more for my new P505iS but here, at the 3 week mark, I have to say I’m feeling pretty satisfied. First off, a quick overview of the available providers and then my initial thoughts on my new phone. Just keep in mind that this is from my personal research and errors may be plentiful.
DoCoMo - Generally seen as the leader in the Japanese mobile phone arena and with good cause. They tend to have the widest coverage and the best reception. The designs are generally pretty good and the prices aren’t too out of line. They offer service on two separate networks, the older MOVA and the newer FOMA. They both have their ups and downs though. The big idea with FOMA is that it makes more intelligent use of the available bandwidth. This results in cheaper downloads and clearer reception. You pay less per packet most likely because they are routing data based on what it is. If this is indeed the case it means that they can give priority to talk-connections and things like email and sending of photos won’t bog down the network. The downside with FOMA is the signal strength. All the FOMA phones I played with failed to get reception in my office which is in the basement of a large building. Every MOVA phone I played with worked swimmingly, even underground.
AU - The only provider (that I know of) to provide a phone with a stylus. I didn’t experiment with it so I can’t say much more about it than that, except that it’s big. They are incorporating Bluetooth into some of their phones and they have the biggest camera available in mobile land at a whopping 3.2 mega pixels. Yes, that’s on a mobile phone! The rest of their lineup is decently designed and their monthly charges are very similar to DoCoMo. Their coverage isn’t as good as DoCoMo but the reception in downtown Kyoto is arguably better.
Vodofone - In my opinion, these guys have the nicest designs. Very clean lines and a very nice feel to them. They offer TV reception on some models and FM tuners as well. The quality of the photos that I saw from these phones was also excellent. Once known as J-Phone before a buyout/merger with a British telecom giant they have the unique benefit of full English manuals and service lines for those of us more comfortable exploring and inquiring in something other than Japanese. The major drawback and eventual reason that I didn’t go with Vodofone is that I couldn’t get a signal in my office. Unfortunate but a definite deal breaker.
Tuka - The little guy in the market, Tuka isn’t known for its technical prowess. What they do have is lower monthly prices on relatively simple models. Like all the big boys these phones will handle email just fine. They don’t offer much in the way of cameras though and what they do have currently tops out a 0.3 mega pixels. If what you really want is, you know, something to make calls with, then Tuka will get the job done. In the end though, they didn’t pass my office reception test.
What it came down to for me was pretty simple. I wanted a phone that could get reception in my office and take decent photos. I tend to leave my digital camera at home most days but I’m rarely without my phone. While Tuka had served me well for the last two years, having to step outside the office to check my messages felt like something of an insult. That left me with only AU and DoCoMo to choose from. My flashy little P505iS is from DoCoMo. I think I may even be a happy camper.