Which is Better? Pocket WiFi vs SIM / eSIM for Japan in 2024
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- čas přidán 31. 05. 2024
- Stay connected to the internet on your Japan trip with a pocket WiFi or data SIM card / eSIM. We go through the details of our experience and help you make the right decision for your trip! Best pocket WiFi: www.sakuramobile.jp/joji808-top Favorite eSIM for data: few.cellulardata.ubigi.com/?P... Favorite SIM for data: www.mobal.com/japan-sim-card/... GoogleFi fi.google.com/ Referral: K61DXJ
00:00 Intro of options
00:30 Is your phone unlocked?
00:38 What is an unlocked phone?
01:23 Pocket WiFi ( Mobile HotPSpot)
01:45 Benefits of a Pocket WiFi
02:19 Cons of a Pocket WiFi
03:07 Where to rent a Pocket WiFi
08:08 Pocket WiFi Tips
09:24 Google Fi
13:37 SIM / eSIM
14:23 Pros of SIM Cards
14:52 Cons of SIM Cards
16:05 Get A Local Japanese Number
16:48 eSIMs
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🌺 ABOUT US
Aloha! We are a worldschooling family with three young kids. Our home base is the beautiful island of Oahu, Hawaii. We've been living a nomadic lifestyle for the past 15 years. We hope to inspire you to begin your own quest!
Thank you for the thorough and informative video. Also love that crazy hair cut man.
I used a pocket WiFi at the summit of Mt Fuji in the middle of an ice storm, and the pocket WiFi worked!
Wow! Thanks for sharing!
Which one did u use
Thank you for the information .
This is such an awesome and informative video. Thank you sir!
Thank you! Just what I needed to know. Heading to Japan this July! Great idea of getting with JR rail pass and having it delivered to your accommodation! Will save me a lot of stress at the airport.
You are the best explanation, your voice is clear and easy to understand. Thank a lot
Very informative! Thank you!
Thanks for the Google Fi info.
You're the first person to cover this that I've found.
Just subscribed! Your videos have been really helpful. Keep up the good work!
Thank you!
Fantastic. Very helpful.
So helpful. Thank you!
Many thanks for the informative and greatly articulated video.
Thank you so much for this video! It’s very helpful and informative especially for a first time traveler like me to Japan.
Thanks for details, just planning my trip on Oct.😊
You’re welcome 😊 Let us know if you have other questions about Japan that we haven't covered yet!
Thanks for the GoogleFi recommendation. Saved a bit on this tip.
Very helpful, thanks!
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you for your research and clear explanations, it has helped my travel preparations for a group trip immensely.
Good, solid advice. Thanks.
Thank you!!
Where I'm from, my airport provides the service of rental and return of the wifi device. Pretty easy to connect to, and for the first time, I had a troubleshooting session for the device solved in just 30 mins.
Really pretty handy. Most of us carry portable batteries anyway, so another small gadget block isn't a big deal.
Wow! Fantastic research clearly explained. What a gift. You're the best. Thanks!
THANKS TOM!!
Thanks for the advice. I’m on my way to Japan now. Currently on the plane 😂
Such a great video, well explained, very comprehensive. I am a Japanese person having lived away from Japan for so long -- now trying to visit Japan with a whole family who's not from there. I learned a lot. Thank you!
Glad it was helpful! Let us know if you have other questions. We have a ton of content on Japan and adding new stuff all the time :)
Thanks for this! I last visited Japan in 1993 and cell phone service wasn't an issue back then. Headed back to Japan this summer for a race. :)
Thanks for the tip on Ubigi!
Great video, chock full of options especially for those of us who aren’t tech savvy. This will be essential when I return to Japan and east Asia.
Thank you for the comment! Please let us know if you have any questions as we are making a lot more content and happy to help!
Excellent video. With data only plans there are apps you can use to make phone calls.
Dear Kensho, Great Video!!! During my last 3 stays in Japan I have used pocket wife. No issues, stronly recommended! In two weeks I'm going again to my favourite country, Japan. I want to try e-sim for my iPhone 14 PM. Ubigi looks intersting.
Awesome! Let us know how it goes with your iPhone and Ubigi!
Soo good video! Thanks a lot!
Glad you liked it!
Thank you!!! Going with the Wi-Fi modem
Glad to help! Enjoy your trip.
I just traveled to Japan from India last week.. went through your video and decided to use UBIGI eSIM… must say the network was fantastic and very competitively priced. It took only 10 minutes for setup. No hassle for pick up and drop off of pocket Wi-Fi. Thank you so much for guiding me.
Hi, so glad to know this! Thank you for sharing your experience :) BTW, I'll be testing a variety of different eSIMs in Japan very soon!
Hi, so did you use both esim and pocket wifi ?
@@nilofaurashik6967 Hi I used only UBIGI eSIM and trust me it was enough unless your data requirement is enormously high which might drain your phone’s battery life.
Hi!
We’re planning to go to Japan during March. Could you help us out to plan our trip?
Great advice
For ATT customers: if you purchased your phone from ATT on a payment plan, you need to fully pay it off before it can be unlocked. To unlock, you have to request it from ATT, usually approved within 24 hrs
Hi, good to know, thanks for sharing this information!
THANKS FOR SHARING THE VIDEO ! HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOUR FAMILY AND ALL THE BEST WISHES IN 2024.
Thank you! Happy new year.
Just ran across your channel. Thank you for great info. I want to second Google Fi for international travel (thanks for the thumbs up on Fi in Japan, my next destination ). I have been a Fi customer since day one and have had seamless connections throughout Europe and the UK. As I stood up upon landing in Munich in Nov and turned off airplane mode, I received a text that the door had closed on my connecting flight. A very quick network connection (and it was expected news). And I agree that customer service, which was once the best, is now nonexistent beyond the FAQ.
Thank you for your detailed explanation. I didnt know there are a lot of options. And the pros and cons of each! Im planning to use my TMobile plan and rent a pocket wifi just in case 😁
Glad it was helpful! Your plan sounds solid. Have a great trip!
Wow, thanks for this informative vid on wifi/esim, it is so helpful!! I'll be in Japan this June and is struggling on getting data/eSim for my Samsung 23 Ultra, which has the eSim capacity from ATT. Japan is my go-to country every year.
I have a 22 Ultra and will be going with an esim! As soon as i found out, you can use a hotspot with esim it made since to use esim for my little group. it's basically a pocket wifi, and it's $17 for 10gbs
@@mebeeingb2421 Ok Cool, please let me know when your JP on the Esim and which provider with your 22 Ultra, mine is 23 Ultra. I'll be in JP in June. Thanks.
The problem I had with pocket wi-fi is that if you are part of a group and are sharing a hotspot if you get separated from each other only the person who has the hotspot will have internet. If you are depending on the hotspot to communicate with each other then you are basically screwed.
The T-Mobile International plan works great in Japan. But, I also got a esim for a local number with Au. They've got good rates/plans as well.
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for this clear and helpful video. I've decided to go with the Ninja WiFi, since I'll have my iPad and my iPhone, and I'll have a friend with me as well. I think my AT&T phone might still be locked, but I'll check just out of curiosity.
Great video. Very informative. In Canada, all phones since 2017 are UNLOCKED, so it is more flexible. Yet, it was good to hear that almost all eSims are DATA-only (didn't know this).
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks a lot for the video. It really helped. I choosed ninja pocket wifi I hope it works great!
Did it work?
I actually used a pocket wifi that my sister rented while in Florence. It was an awesome experience to have one. So thank you for telling us that you can get one in Japan and even delivered at your hotel 👍
Glad to have helped!
We found the setup for our sim a little troublesome at first but then the instructions made sense and we just missed a few steps, but after that both phones were connected and did not need to be around the wifi hotspot to be connected.
We debated initially getting a wifi hotspot, but then decided that since I go out in the mornings for coffee and exploration that if the other person woke up early that they may explore about too and need internet, this and the fact that we only need to worry about charging out phones and not the wifi hotspot so we each can just focus on our device and charge it with a battery pack when needed.
Different situations might make it more viable for a hotspot such as having a family all using it, but if you're just solo or 2 people I think a sim is way more convenient.
Great explanations for everything though!
Thanks for sharing your experience! It all helps everyone!
😂Q la
Thank you so much for this video. Based on your advice I researched and rented 3 pocket wifi units for my family members when we were travelling Japan over Christmas 2023 (last month). The service was seemless - pick up at Narita airport and drop off by post. Speeds were super fast all the time. Now we’ve moved onto South Korea I wish I had rented a pocket wifi here. Instead I went with an eSIM and it’s really not the same. I’ve had to top up twice on an Unlimited plan because outside of your fast speed usage is just dead air slow. None of the tours, restaurants etc needed a SK number either.
Your videos and tips have been spot on.
What we didn’t appreciate was how busy travelling in Japan over the Christmas to NYs period actually is. Very exciting and crazy. I don’t think you can know unless you experience it as we did. So much so that we couldn’t get seats on the Shinkansen even with our JR passes because they were all booked. To get from Kyoto to Hakata to pick up the JR Beetle we had to travel by Nozomi. It was extra on top of our JR passes but it wasn’t a problem for us as meeting our ferry to Busan became the priority. So some smart planning across this timeframe is absolutely necessary I think. Luckily we got the last 3 seats on the Nozomi across different carriages but we got there and happily. We are still travelling but just wanted to say thank you for your help. I’ll never book an eSIM again. Pocket wifi all the way 🤗
Hi, thank you for comment :) And thank you for sharing your experience. It's true that New Years time is the most crowded on trains in Japan. I'm sorry to hear about your experience but glad you figure it out and was able to ride the Nozomi!
Have a great time in S. Korea!
Thank you
Glad to hear that Google Fi works well in Japan. Traveling there next week for the first time and haven't seen any mention of it (just pocket WiFi) so I was worried it wouldn't work. I've used Fi for the past year, and have done international trips to Peru and Mexico. It does take 10-15 minutes to connect once in a new country, but usually, in that time we are still deplaning and walking to immigration, so a phone connection isn't as necessary. It's just so nice not needing to think about it when traveling (unlike when I had Verizon and had to pick the days I would use my cell phone in order to avoid extra charges).
Since you are already a user you will notice that it connects pretty quickly in Japan. Have a great trip!
I'm a frequent traveler to Japan, and I use Google Fi to stay in touch with the U.S. and HIS Mobile for Japan-side calls (two separate phones). Google Fi kicks in immediately every time my plane lands in Japan and is good to go while taxing to the gate. I carry the second phone so that people within Japan need not call international to reach me as being required to ring my Google Fi number.
Edit** you answered my question at the end. Thanks!
Great, let us know if you have further questions!
I used to rent WiFi every time I went back to Japan. Nowadays I just use the roaming service that my carrier provides. It’s the easiest. なんの問題も無いです。
I got an eSim data with Ubigi which is an international provider. It was a very convenient and seamless experience, also affordable. I will probably use them again on my second trip to Japan. I don’t do phone calls as I use app calling when I am there. Great video!
Aweseome! Thank you for sharing your experience! And thank for watching :)
You phone needs to be unlocked for esim as well or no?
Ubigi has been great for me as well.
Thanks.
You're welcome!
On my previous trips, I've always gone with the pocket wifi mainly because I didn't have the option for buying a local SIM due to my phone being locked. Its worked great for us (group of 4) for the most part except for instances like when someone gets separated and we can't find them and can't contact them since they're out of range of the pocket wifi, or if one of two people choose to do something else. On a recent solo trip to the UK and France, I opted to go with AT&T's international day pass which was $10 per day since when doing research for local pocket wifi, I found that they were around $8 a day. I figured for just a bit extra a day, I don't need to carry around an extra device and worry about it's battery and by using the international day pass, I get to keep my own number and my phone just works as it does when I'm home. I had no issues with connectivity even when I ventured out of the big city areas. Whenever I return to Japan, I will probably still get a pocket wifi with my friends as we're sharing the cost, but I will activate the international day pass should I need it.
Thanks for sharing your experience!
I am going to Japan in a week and a half. I also use AT&T and plan to use the international day pass when I got here. I hope it works well.
@@PrinceDavid I did some research and read on forums that it works especially well in big cities. As I mentioned it worked great in Paris and even when I was in the North East of France in the Normandy area, it worked like a charm. So easy too. Once you land, your phone just searches for the local network and bam, you're connected!
@@PrinceDavid How did it work out for you?
@@joits it worked out perfectly! I turned on roaming on my iPhone then as soon as I landed on Japan and took off airport mode it worked! No 5G but it still worked.
google fi was excellent during my first trip to Japan! worked perfectly, and I'll be using it again for my upcoming return.
Thanks for sharing!
So do you just activate the plan before you fly out or when do you activate Google Fi? I have Verizon but confirmed my phone is NOT locked. When should I do the Google Fi plan?
Exactly the video I needed. Thank you. I’m going to have to buy a new phone!
Let us know if you have further questions.
esim worked perfect for me
Thanks for sharing!
Just signed up for Google Fi to my unlocked Samsung S21 Ultra, funny seeing two antenna signals on my phone. I added a 2nd number vs transferring my existing. I'm on T-Mobile and told there is decent coverage in Japan but I didn't want to risk it. Thanks for the info. I'll try to remember to come back here and post my experience when I get back from Japan in a few months.
Please do share how it goes!
Awesome info. When u coming bck to Malaysia ?
Very soon!
I’ve been to Japan first time in 2015 and pocket wifi was a great solution because I was always with my wife! Now that we are visiting again next month we will be more people and we will also have children so I am considering getting 3 esims just in case we separate and we need to communicate.
Sounds like a good plan!
I just had the bad experience of a closed "Mobal" counter pick up at Narita Japan. Wasn't expecting a 3 hour (ridiculous) line up to clear customs. Having said that, Mobal would be wise to extend their service counter hours or have some way of easily collecting the Sim at the airport. Something like a scaled down Amazon pick up locker.
HI, terribly sorry to hear about your experience. They are supposed to have good customer service so I hope they can help you get your SIM elsewhere. Thanks for sharing your experience! I hope your trip is amazing from this point forward!
Went to Japan in May 2023. I have an old plan from TMobile which included basic LTE roaming for free. It was good enough for basic browsing on my phone, checking train schedules, buying tickets, messaging and even FaceTime. My kids got the 4G Sakura sim from haneda airport which now I think we should not have gotten.
Hi, thanks for sharing your experience! It all helps! Sakura mobile is a good option! I have been testing it out for the past two months and it has been great!
Going to Japan this May and will be getting a pocket wifi for me and SIM card for my wife. We probably will be using the pocket wifi most of the time but having a SIM card for my wife's phone is for when if we got separated. I also have T-mobile and get an unlimited but slow (256kbps) internet connection all over the world (I've used it in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand). It is good enough for using messenger, light browsing, using maps, etc. The pocket wifi in Japan is really good and I've used it on Shinkansen under an underground tunnel and still get 3-4 bars.
Have a wonderful time in Japan!
I live in Melbourne Australia , I travel to japan often each time is 4 weeks . I purchase Docomo SIM card in Australia, they are on line sale and cost $80.00 Australia ( $54 usd ) unlimited data for 30 days , far cheaper than roaming . You must order them fews weeks before you leave home , normally it’s arrived in a week after you order and paid . This way made everything easy once you in japan just swap the SIM cards and activate . There is an instruction come with the SIM card to activated your docomo sim or you can ask Docomo mobile staff at the airport help you to activated.
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks!
Happy to help :)
Excellent content as always! The only point I would add about the SIM card is verifying if the device works in the expected frequencies (Hz). After some research I realized my phone doesn't support all the mobile frequencies from the Japanese telecom companies... So, pocket wifi is probably the best solution for my scenario - even though I would prefer not carrying an extra device.
Thanks for sharing!
Mobal is great. used it last august for a month. down side, if you text/call your friends & family back at home, it'll show as unknown number bc you most likely never stored their numbers in your contacts with a country code. kind of annoying but the reliable data and service mobal provides is worth it
I used a sim and had mobal (data only), and was able to have it delivered to the US was nice. Was able to set it up in 5 minutes in line for the JR pass redemption.
Great! Thank you for sharing your experience!
for my situation I used pocket wifi. i bought it from amazon and when i arrived to asia i bought the data plan in the pocket wifi app and it worked seamlessly. the pocket wifi acts as a router and uses the cell towers that are around you
cons it may be bulky carrying it with a portable battery charger but it’s a small trade off since we were out for most of the day.
both my partner and i haven’t paid off our phones yet so unlocking wasn’t an option.
i also didn’t want to deal with the hassle of buying an e sim at the airport after an 14 hr flight. it’s one less thing you have to worry about. strongly recommend 😊
Thanks for sharing your experience!
Which one did you buy?
Thank you so much for your channel & info. I would love to go back to Japan at least once as an adult. I could be wrong or not getting all my info straight but it just seems like Japan makes it so cumbersome & convoluted to travel there? Everything seems so segmented. “Get this, but not that, can’t go here, can’t go there, got it buy it here, can’t buy it there, turn this on but not before this time & can’t use it after that time ect ect”!! LOL!
What a super informative video. You know it's great when I come to learn about ABC and learn about XYZ.
I have heard of GoogleFi but since it was never a great option to use as our main plan here in the US, I didn't think of it for international travel! It sounds like a tremendous option to stay connected with a local number while traveling!
I've used both pocket wifi/SIM when traveling internationally. Actually the first time, I opted for pocket wifi in Iceland. It was incredible. Blazing fast. Allowed us to connect not just our phones, but computers etc. Then I've mostly used SIMs in Europe. It was usually cheaper from the options I found, and worked just fine for us.
However, this is the first time we are really traveling to a country where my expectation is there to be a huge language barrier for me to overcome and I mostly opted for the pocket wifi on softbank because it was only $17 for a week, and this way I can also use it for my computer. No brainer!
Hi, thank you for the kinds words! And thank you for sharing your experience! Very much appreciated :)
Beautiful footage @ 2:00min , can you share what camera & setup & settings you used? I really like how high up you get, assume maybe a monopod pole or?
Thanks! That was filmed with an Insta360 on a selfie stick. www.amazon.com/shop/kenshoquest/list/1GK1WDK926USP?ref_=cm_sw_r_mwn_aipsflist_aipsfkenshoquest_T2TSBV53CQQ9MNGSMD7Z
I rent my Wi-Fi from my local JTB or H.I.S. Travel agency at home in Honolulu. You take it with you and as soon as your plane touches down, you have Wi-Fi. Also, you don’t have to worry about the office not being open if your flight is delayed. When your trip is over, you simply carry it home with you and return it at the agency office. Portable charger and insurance included in price. Best Wi-Fi option for me, no worries.
Thanks for sharing! 🏝
For me, it’s Airalo e-sim, it’s fast. I’m not going to pay $10/day with added fees. I've always use it whenever I go to Japan 🇯🇵
I used an eSim in my Pixel8 phone the past few weeks when traveling in Asia. That one had a local phone#, but I never used it to call. And to call home I needed to turn it off. I think for tourists a non-call eSim might be ideal.
The last time that somebody from our family went to Japan, we decided to go with the esim solution. All activated by QR code and had data as soon as it was permitted
Thanks for sharing your experience!
I'm going this Tuesday thinking of going to esim also which one did you get ?
hi, curious that i found a local pocket wifi with on fair usage policy and cheaper price than ninja wifi. I think its slower than Ninja tho. Thankyou for your recommendations!
If you get a Pocket WiFi make sure to disable photo cloud sync like iPhoto to iCloud. Otherwise you could quickly get throttled taking photos and video all day
If getting a data only plan make sure you and your contacts install WhatsApp for voice (and txt) over the internet. WhatsApp is ubiquitous in Asia
Excellent advice, thanks for sharing!
E-sim is the way to go. No pick up, no delivery, no pin, no problem. And with Whats App and Messenger, the only think you need is a data plan.
I have used both during my trips there. I prefer the sim card over the pocket wifi. The pocket wifi was an additional gadget that needs to be carried everywhere we go. The sim card is a one time installation and then forget about it during the trip. No need to recharge it separately.
Can these sim cards work on an old Iphone? Such as the SE?
@@amyr3285 Yes, you can as long it is an unlocked iPhone. I have the first generation iPhone SE.
@@as-1982 Do you have to remove your existing sim card (for your home country) to put in the Japanese sim?
Tmobile has a plan for 30 bucks I think I use it over seas all the time and no change in plan or Sim card needed. Just land and it sends a text saying welcome japan, Korea, Etc And roll unlimited data
That's awesome, thanks for sharing!!
How the service though?
Was able to upload to Flickr and watch videos so good so far
It works good my friend has used it. My Verizon didn’t work at all I was thinking changing my plan.
It is slower that using an esim or pocket wifi though.
These days eSims have gotten crazy convenient. Airalo has 10 GB for $9 in Japan, and I've used the same app for Australia and Europe, which makes it easy to have them all in one place. Just save offline/print a copy of the activation instructions to make sure you don't forget a step. And if you are going to two countries on one trip, only add one esim at a time in the order that you need them, since some phones will only allow one at a time and don't allow you to remove and re-add one if you enable them in the wrong order.
Thanks for sharing your tips!
I just got back from 10 days in Japan last week. My mobile plan comes with 5GB of high speed data while roaming internationally (including Japan), then throttled to 256kbps after using the 5GB. This was more than enough for my daughters though my son did go over the allotment by day 7. I paid $50 for an additional 15GB of high speed data for me and my wife and that was more than enough. I used WiFi wherever available and I had no issues.
If your carrier does have such options I would opt for renting the wifi.
Awesome, thank you for sharing!
A Young what carrier specifically do you use?
Thanks for this very informative video! I purchased an eSim plan with Airalo, but never got it to activate (I think there was a glitch in my installation). Hoping to be able to activate it on my next trip to Japan.
You're welcome! Let us know how it goes with Airalo and if you have any questions. We'll also be doing a comparison review with them included.
Just subscribed! Super helpful
Looking to travel to Japan for 40 days! Is there no truly unlimited data plans for Mobil wifi? The throttle seems terrible. Thanks again
Hi, thanks for subscribing :) 40 days will be awesome! And correct, no truly unlimited plan that I am aware of. They all go by the fair usage policy. However, unless you using over 3GB of data/day then you should be fine. If you need more per day Ninja WiFi has plans up to 10GB/day. Otherwise, we like to take advantage of our accommodations wifi whenever we can. Usually faster in hotels vs Airbnbs.
Got back yesterday. AT&T International Plan is $10 a day and $5 more for a second line. Worked perfectly.
Thanks for sharing!
I just used my cell phone in Japan and while I had trouble accessing some free wifi, I was able to use them for my two overnight trips there. I didnt get any SIM or pocket wifi while I was there. If I was there longer I may have gotten a pocket wifi or a SIM card. But my phone worked fine without any for my two short stays.
Great, thanks for letting us know how it worked for you!
Lol Google fi service is amazing idk what issues you've had. I've never once had issues and I've been with them since the alpha days when they first started
personally, in 2019, i used a pocket wifi and a travel data sim from my country(singapore)
the pocket wifi device also doubled as a powerbank.
as for throttling, the pocket wifi did it to me after i tried streaming my walk. so probably the upload amount is the main issue.
the reason why i got both because i was using a Huawei phone, so some mobile frequency coverage is kinda spotty.
i did pack my old sony C3 just in case, which i did use on my second day with the travel sim. better speeds over all as a second hotspot device. when you hit the daily limit, which you will get a SMS to buy certain 3/5/7/30 day "data packages".
Thank you for sharing your experience!
Huawei have dual sim slot. Why the need for pocket wifi? Im usin p30 pro. Used singtel on primary and metfone, digi on secondary if im in cambodia or msia.
@@Rudyjosephjr the second sim slot is for my 256GB micro SD...
@@eisenklad why keep data in removable drive. I suggest you export all via usb c to external drive. Besides huawei have 256 or 512gb build in.
Excellent video. I am travelling to Japan in Nov. My question is, even that I have a different carrier like Boost mobile I can have a second plan like the google fi ?
Hi, glad it is helpful :) Regarding your question, yes, it doesn't matter who your current carrier is. As long as your phone is unlocked, you can switch or add a second plan. It's easiest if you have either a dual SIM phone or eSIM.
We're in Japan now, and set up Google Fi before we left. Very great suggestion (for us)! Our phones are compatible with the service (Pixel 6 Pro), so it was easy to set up with a virtual SIM. Not sure how it would be if we needed a physical SIM or had compatibility issues with the phone.
Glad it’s working out well for you!
Hi there, your video is very helpful. I have a question that if I have T-mobile will covering WiFi In Japan, do I need to buy E SIM card? Thank you very much! 👍
@@thaomai8112 If you have an international T-mobile plan covering Japan, that should work instead of getting an E SIM.
@@KenshoQuest thank you very much for your response 👍 your video is very helpful 👍
Where in Japan have you been using it?
One of the reasons my friends and I stay with T-Mobile is cause we get unlimited low-speed data while roaming in foreign nations. It's enough for maps, messages, email, browsing the web, but not really good for video. It's "okay" for music depending on the stream quality. We used it a lot in Japan simply because getting a data plan there is impossible for foreigners and carrying around a wifi hotspot was ridiculous. We just used our phones for free.
Thank you for sharing your experience!
But how did you watch hd porn then??
Thanks so much for this thorough video. It is very helpful. @kenshoquest What about AnyFoneJapan?
Hi, thanks for watching! We have not tried Anyfone but have added it to our list of services to try. However, a quick look at their website, they look pretty good. However, their return and pickup locations may be limited depending on your journey. Let us know if you have further questions :)
I have Google Fi, so I see no reason to do anything. I get the same $10/GB/month and unlimited text, and I can use WhatsApp or LINE to avoid paying for calls. I also have a vpn so public wifi's lack of security isn't an issue.
If I somehow see myself using data a lot, I may consider portable wifi if it turns out to be the cheaper option and isn't a burden to carry and recharge.
EDIT: You covered it starting at 9:24 lol, cheers! 😊
This was super informative! Though I do have one question: Since my iPhone was purchased from a T-Mobile store, would it still be considered “locked” even if there is an easy way to switch out my SIM card and replace it with a Japanese eSIM card during my trip?
Otherwise, thanks! Can’t wait for my trip in October! 😄🎌
Hi, glad it is helpful :) Regarding your phone being locked, it's hard to say. If you are in the U.S. then I would contact T-Mobile and ask them. By default, your phone will be locked if you signed up for a plan regardless if you can take out your SIM. Let me know if you need further clarification :)
Thank you for the great video as usual! I’m thinking it would be good to be able to call local numbers in Japan (for e.g., hotels, restaurants etc.) while there. Is there a way to achieve this with only a data connection, as getting a local Japanese number seems to be an hassle, especially for a short trip?
HI, thanks for the nice comment :) Many establishments use Line App. So if you know their ID you can message them that way. If you are staying at a hotel you can always ask them to place a call for you. But the best would be an actual number. I realize you have a short trip but the company Mobal I mention in the video is very good. We recently tested them out for two months and the service was easy to set up and worked great. You can pick it up at the airport upon arrival or have it delivered.
Thanks, I understand. Yes, ours is a 12-13 day trip. I guess I could also use Skype calling to call Japanese numbers. Do you think that’ll work well?
i bpught 2 prepaid sim cards from japan experience
Pocket wi-fi 100%. Works everywhere and for multiple devices at once.
I used data roaming for 2 days, then got a data sim from Bic Camera at my convenience. My network charges $5 for a day of data roaming, but I was only charged for 1 day of use 😛
Thank you for sharing your experience! BIC Camera is a good option in a pinch!
Love your videos, wish I found them sooner. Question about the return of the pocket wifi. My group is arriving in Haneda but departing in Narita. Do you know if there is any problem with returning the device at a different airport? Thanks!
It should be fine. The pocket WiFi usually comes with an addressed return envelope, so you can also drop it in the mail to return.
i used Sakura 2x and it is really fast and reliable.
Thanks for sharing! Very helpful :)
I got pocket wifi. I pick it up in JAL ABC counter in airport. Then they give use return envelope. I just put the wifi pouch (pocket wifi, chargers) inside the envelope and seal it. They already have the sticker for the return address. So I just drop it inside a mailbox in a convenience store at the airport.
Great video, just an fyi...Verizon unlocks phones 60 days after purchase now, even if on a device payment plan. This makes e-sims much more attractive.
Hi, thanks for sharing this! Super helpful to know!
It's so rare to have a locked phone now a day in most countries. Phone is use to communicate between the companions in the trip, wifi will never be my any choices when abroad. my first choice will be eSIm and Simcard will be the last option I will use.