Can the GNex be used in Japan?

[nickmo]

Hey, my brother is in the marines and is going to be spending a good majority of the next 2 years in Japan. I have been trying to do research on the mobile networks in Japan, but it has been confusing. What we are looking for is a phone that he can order right now, have delivered in the USA, use on a network(likely GSM?) and then when he goes to Japan he can use on a Japanese network.

My initial thought was to get the Samsung Galaxy Nexus directly from Google. No contracts, decent price, etc. But I am unsure whether or not it will run on any Japanese networks. If it does, which one will it run on? Does anyone have any experience with mobile networks in Japan? Same frequencies as the US? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Biggnaa20]

I don't think so.

Last time I was in Japan, the technology was different, and they used a totally different standard on the Island. I'm almost certain that they don't use GSM over there. At that time, Japanese phones were far ahead of what we had in the states though. He might want to pick up a toy for the two years.

Look at this link. Hopefully it's helpful.

Cell Phones in Japan

 

[nickmo]

Thanks for the info!

So it looks like there may not be many cross-compatible phones.

 

[jim302]

Japan doesn't have GSM 2G EDGE or GPRS but they do have UMTS 2100 (Band I) which the Galaxy Nexus supports. So yes it will work on the SoftBank or NTT DoCoMo networks.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Biggnaa20]

Japan doesn't have GSM 2G EDGE or GPRS but they do have UMTS 2100 (Band I) which the Galaxy Nexus supports. So yes it will work on the SoftBank or NTT DoCoMo networks.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

Is this voice only? Or voice and data? Do you know what kinda speeds he'll get if it does support data?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Android Central Forums

 

[nickmo]

^ good question