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That probably was the thing that surprised me the most the first time I went to Japan. I expected that mobile phones would be sleek little things, but instead found quite bulky -- and often boxy -- looking things. Still, I think I would still prefer them over the selection I have here in the States with Verizon.

hmm? phones in singapore can disable the cam noise by switching the phone to Silent mode ... did you try that? maybe it might work

Phones here in the States are crap. Put crap with crap service and you get a contract agreement full of crap. Phones in Japan might be bland but we're still catching up to mobile technology over there. The only great phone I can think of now is the iPhone but even that works on crappity crap crap service. Would've been nice if it were on Sprint or Verizon (though verizon is pretty known for downgrading phones til they're craptastic). Even if the iPhone is nice, it's still a crappity attempt at besting a Treo or a blackberry.

Contented with my Sony Ericsson w850i but doubt that soon i'll be bored. The lack of bigger size screen and the blinking backlight is already boring me... but I hope this'll be my last phone.

we have a wide variety and choices of mobile phones and you can choose phones from a lot of mobile phone manufacturers from Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Samsung, etc.

and i thought japanese mobile phones are superior in terms of functionality and form factor but i guess i'm wrong lolz XDDD

Used to think tat Japanese phone very cool few years ago when they have 3G! But now! their design sux and when i have so many choices Nokia, Sony Erricson, Motorola and those Smartphone from TW!

I think japanese phone are too darn big!!!!!!! All their size like PDA phone! I like my phone to be slim and cool! No a brick tat we break through my pocket!

Admittedly I want my phone to have a decent battery life and be failry easy to text (and of course make phonecalls) other then that it has to be small..and believe me they are hard to find...like you mentioned a lot are comparable to a brick. My GF has one which can hold 2 SIM cards so now she only has to carry around 1 phone rather then the 2 she used to lug around. DOPOD and PHS are popular here.

Well Europe has dozens and dozens of mobile phones to choose of all trademarks being the best Nokia and LG. There isn't a single day that we don't a new mobile phone on the stores (ok I'm exaggerating a bit). The phones are very nice and cool with loads of stuff inside, everyone here as at least two mobile phones, since there are many at lower prices and very good.

The trademarks I recommend here are Nokia and LG but Sony is getting good to, Motorola is starting to decrease its sales here because the phones tend to die pretty quick and Nokia ones last longer, my Nokia 6600 has already three years and hasn't had a single problem, is a fat phone but really damn good. I like them a bit heavy so that I know I have it in my pocket.

In in the UK, so the selection is OK, but not great and all the phones cost an arm, leg and left nut unless you tie yourself to a contract!

I do like the samsung sliding designs tho. I've always hated the clamshell design and phones with the buttons on the front are often pressed to make accidental calls!

Second comment:

The sim card can be removed easily here and if you have a free mobile phone you can as many sim cards as you want.

We maybe not as advanced in technology as Japan and Korea are but I'm damn proud that we have one the best mobile phones market in the world and one of the best trademarks ^^

LOL I still find Japanese phones generally more aesthetically pleasing vs the phone available in Singapore, though it's improving a lot now. Hahah, I love slightly chunky phones so maybe that's why?

Europe gets alot of the great stuff (I disagree with erdpilz). We might be slightly behind technologically, but we have ALOT of choice, telephones from Europe, Taiwan, Japan, and the USA.

And no annoying sound when you take a picture with the camera.

In Hong Kong, phone selections are awesome. You can get nearly any type of phone, and at a really cheap price, with excellent contract. Of course, sim cards are exchangeable, so the phone can work in every country whilst using said country's sim cards.

we can disable the camera sound over here.

anyway we have a wide selection of mobile phones in singapore. new models seems to come out like every week.

most people here change their phone often, there are some who buy a new phone every few months.

for me i buy a new model every 2 years when my contract is up. buying a new phone when renewing contracts is cheaper.

We have quite a decent variety of phone. I'm still waiting for the razr V9 to be out. But still somehow i really wish to own a japanese phone.

You could try the Samsung SGH-U100. It's about 5.9mm thick, and it's pretty simple; camera, music, and calls and SMS.

What bothers me most about the provider-lock on Japanese phones is that the lock-in is required by law! In short, the law-makers are in the pockets of the corporations, and the corporations wanted to make sure that no one decided to break the ranks and serve the customer by encouraging competition.

I happen to think that Japan has far more attractive designs in general. I am astounded, though, that they are not only so thick, but also generally have such awkward keypads.

I have a RAZR, and I love how thin it is. It's attractive and unobtrusive. I would trade it for a Japanese phone in a heartbeat, though, because of it's absolutely horrible interface and software functionality. So I'm waiting for an iPhone with HDSPA (3G) and, I hope, Japanese input support. I'm actually kind of excited about it now that they've announced a third-party SDK and that the ability to put my own music as ringtones has been cracked.

One thing that I believe will hurt the iPhone in the Japanese market is its lack of a loop-connector hole to attach cell phone accessories to. I can't believe they released the iPhone into ANY market without one of those. Even if cell phone accessories aren't as popular outside of Japan, all iPhones look exactly the same with the screen dark!

I sell cell phones over here and we have a lot of imported unlocked phones so that you can just put your own sim card into it and it still works without having to extend contracts. I can turn off the camera noise on my RAZR. I always thought Japan would have pretty stylish phones, but I guess companies have chosen function over style.

I've got a samsung 706sc. It was the thinnest reasonably priced phone around when I was looking for one. Doesn't have a lot of features compared with the others on the market but it's certainly got more than my phone in Australia had. The only criticism I have is that it doesn't do predictive text in English.

I think the next model out is even thinner again and probably has more features.

Well, i really want to have one of the J-phone.
It looks so cool to me.
Especially i want a Panasonic Foma which appear of Final Fantasy VII AC.

Phones here in Australia are generally decent, and probabily similar to phones released in Europe and USA. Most locked phones can be unlocked by ringing the service provider. However specific phones that are exclusive to the network or some branded phones cannot be unlocked.
I myself own a Softbank 709SC here in Australia (unlocked^^) and its decent, I have to say though Jphones are really restrictive with content>.,

This phones kick my ngage ass, U_U

i want a new phone!!!

Japanese phones are dull my ass!

They are freaking awesome! I want to go to Japan and buy one of their phones to use here! Although all the extra features won't be used at all.

But it still looks awesome!

I still like my Talby. :] They don't make them anymore.

I dunno... I liked the japanese phones.
Though admitedly, they do have different designs from the western models.
What I did like was the plastic models available on most stores in Akiba... it's nice to "test" them.

Problem on japanese cellphones is: either you like the "brick" model... usually flip, not very thin, usually tall (even more now with TV tuners and such), or you're screwed.

For instance, I didn't see a single cellphone that looked like my SonyEricson (W810i) or anything on that size, apart from very subpar cellphones.

That's kinda bummer. The sim locking is a bitch also.

But I seriously don't think an iPhone will be the solution also... I mean, it's also brick sized, and it won't have the resources to use the best stuff the japanese cellphone market has to offer.

Don't really like Motorola, but SonyErisson and Nokia western models are nice because of variety... lots of sizes/shapes/resources to choose.

I do love the look of Japanese phones a lot, so I still think the phones we have here are not bad at all.

I have a T-Mobile Dash and it serves me pretty well.
It's thin enough for me, has internet capabilities, camera isn't too shabby, basically it has all my needs and was one of the only few good looking ones last year.
However I did want the cell phone Chiaki used in the Nodame Cantabile Live Action, something about its blockiness.

ye the iphone totally rules right now.

At least you guys have doCOmo. We're still stuck with GSM and "oh wow 3G lol". >_

Any phone you showed on this news are MUCH better looking then ANY phone here in US, including our OMG, "out of the world amazing" iPhone.
I still don't get besides the touch screen, what is so "great" about the iPhone in here. Slow EDGE network, build-in application is NOT exciting at all. Check out all those cool app. and REAL 3G Video-conference phone in Japan.
Just like while we're raving about Hybrid cars in the US like something totally new, Toyota is celebrating 10 yrs anniversary of their Prius.... sigh....

Japanese phones, crap? Are you mad? You can watch TV, pay for stuff, flip the screen, and a 5.1 MP digital camera?? Sheesh....!

Im not really an expert on the matter though. My phone is pay-as-you-go and is about 4 years old. It rings people, texts people and has a colour screen. I dont really want much more than that for the size that it is. Modern phones have too much crap in them and the size just baloons.

Theres a nice new sony ericson one out that is mega thin though. Not very hardwearing, as my mate broke his just by dropping it on the floor from hand height.

Question for you danny - WHY do 99.99% of all japanese folk have flipping / clamshell phones? Its as if compact, regular phones are uncool or something....

yeah. any phone is japan is better than phones in here in the US. geeze you guys can even buy at the vending machines with your cell. what's next? im so jealous.

All the 'new' phones here are several years old. We just got the original RAZR recently...They want $200 for it on a 3 year plan. It's quite literally cheaper to order it online without a plan from a bigger city like Vancouver. I bought a phone a year ago and it was dead within a month. I tried to return it, but apparently they had changed their policy since the time I bought it and so it was now covered for only 2 days instead 30. >.<

I had to spend $100 buying a 4 year old cell from someone else that wasn't using it anymore.

I actually like chunky phones :p

but I want a japanese phone cos they look cooler than the chunky phones we have here.
any ideas if japanese phones can work with SIM cards in Singapore?

actually here in argentina the most of the phones are like 3 years old, or more, and the most of the population still use B&W phones...

this being 'europe' since when is anything "cool" here?? & if its cool then whats stopping companies like Sony overcharging us by almost 40%??? if its cool, its expensive & if its expensive that means we have to spend more hours in the office & more hours in the office means no sex! & no sex means no gurlfriend/wife

so yeah how uncool is cool?

welcome to the Uk.

I think phones here are pretty cool. That´s probably because I´m from a "phone-country". Everyone has a nice looking and pretty new phone. They are cheap too.

I thought that j phones were awsome danny like in densha otoko or this dorama ...cant remember its name but you post a video ^^ ..but with this post im getting quite disapointed mobile services around here are not good and my phone makes a monkey sound when i take a picture and i was interested too in how to disable that crap

japanese phones are the best of the best in the mobile phone industry, IMO. I like their insanely large screens. phones here are very expensive and most people only change phones once in two, three years.

Wow you actually dislike the design of japanese phones? You prefer something like a razor instead? cellphones in NA are always lagging behind. I would kill for a japanese phone :O~

We always get the last on phones...haha I have a razor and until recent weeks I thought it was crap

I'm glad we have the latest and coolest designs here in Europe. ^^ Those J phones look horrible and totally unoriginal (read utterly boring). I didn't know that Casio is a mobile phone manufacturer as well, Casio only sells digital cameras, calculators and voice recorders over here. ^^" Hey Danny, if you're looking for a thin slider phone with a 3.2 megapixel camera (and a lot more stuff), I recommend you take a look at the Samsung U700. ;)

Currently using my Sony Ericsson P1i, although I would prefer the Sharp 912SH. Too bad it's only usable in Japan!

America has some pretty cool phones, Motorola and LG seem to be goign at each others throats over here. I had an LG Chocolate before, and a Tréo 750 which rocked. Now I have an iPhone and it is easily the coolest phone i have ever had.

obentou: I'm a P1i user too ;)

Well, those designs are not my favorite (Samsung makes cool-looking ones in my opinion) but there is way worse in that category.

No removable SIM cards?! Japan must not have many (if any) cellphone thieves for that to be this way.

And... for those noisy integrated cameras, maybe they are made to prevent perverted photographers to fulfill their dreams (and to try to be "1337 pantsu-seeker ninjas").

To think that here in Singapore we're also considering adopting the Japanese 'phone payment' style...

If you're looking for a stylish phone with Western influences and flair, and also with Japanese eccentricity and ethnicity, a Sony Ericsson is for you. (The end product of the fusion of a Western and a Japanese electronics company)

A friend of mine uses a Walkman model (Sony products are very reliable by the way. Those reliable Japanese!) that is ultra slim and compact, easy to use, and has all the necessary things you'll need, with nothing redundant (the Walkman function is NOT redundant). Not sure of the model number though.

Mobile-phones in Japan are all cool.
I love them all.
But, can't use in Taiwan.
How pity it is....

My softbank phone I use in Japan can disable the camera sound when you take a picture, never heard of anyone's being locked until now actually? My friend with 902i can turn her sound off too.

But I agree with some things :) J phones are extremly overrated. Things are so restrictive!!

Those "bulky" cameras looks nice to me. I like having some bulk and all the features a phone can have.

I wish they had the stylings of that Final Fantasy 7 phone though. Function + style.

I kinda like the phones in Japan, too bad I can't use them here. I also like them a bulkier
like in Japan, and their screen is much bigger then the clamshells here. I've got a Sharp 770SH
because Sharp is the brand of those from NTT Docomo and it looks a bit like them ;p (and it's 3G, unfortunately no japanese fonts..)
But they are a pain when you bring them to Japan, it's not that you can only call 911, but that the
phone is constantly trying to find a usable service, which results in the battery being dead after only 1 day while it normally lasts more than a week...

@squee
Well, There certainly can't use 3G outside Japan, as Japan uses
a different system called FOMA, while the west uses UMTS, which is not compatible. But I'm not sure about basic phone services like 2G, but I don't think so as I couldn't use mine in Japan (which has both).

@AndyH
Clamshells have a bigger screens than regular ones ;p

i remember my sis telling me that japanese throw away their phone into the rubbish bin when they think they don't like them.. it's quite a waste in that way..

You know, I understand that different people have different opinions...but how tight do your pants have to be to think *any* of those phones are thick? They look pretty thin to me but then again I was never the type to want something so thin I'd forget I had it.

And for the record...Western phones = Fail. All they can think to do is shove some weak mp3 playing function into them to make them "cool". Which for me is a waste of time unless its got 30GBs of more....making it a waste of time...pretty much all the time because the capacity is rarely past even a GB.

The iPhone is a step in the right direction but its Apple and you can only choose from one service if you get one so the fail is still of epic proportions.

Maybe if Creative releases a version...

Every friend I know who owns razr HATES it, so maybe that'll make you feel better.

I think the japanese phones are actually quite good. They look a lot more refined then the phones over here in Australia. Every next person has an N95 or Razor these days.

I use the 903SH by Vodafone/Softbank. It's unlocked for me to use in Au, but the net features do not work. Probably one of the best phones I got as I love the flip design. Also the 3.2MP camera is very handy for taking stuff randomly.

Only now do 3.2MP cameras become common in Australia. IT is so behind with phones :(

We need a West & East phone hybrid.
Mix the best from both hemisphere to created an super phone.

Also, you should wait till the 2nd generation iPhone comes out.
The first generation sucks. The internet connection is really slow, the touch screen system is not really sensitive.

You should get a multi-touch PC or Mac when they come out in few years!

Cell phones in America always concentrate on form rather than function. I'd rather have a phone with a bunch of features than one thats had a small upgrade but its "better" because its smaller or thinner. I ended up getting a smartphone after seeing Verizon's best phones (what the sales rep told me) were the chocolate and the razr2. I do own a Vodafone K.K./Softbank 703SHf and a 902T and i'd love to see phones in America with screens like the 902T. As far as the camera shutter sound goes, I haven't encountered one phone that didn't allow you to turn it off. If it were possible to use them here I'd totally get an AU phone or a current Softbank. With that said, the Samsung SCH-U900 does look promising so we'll see what happens.

I wonder how popular bluetooth headsets are in Japan. I've only seen them in Japanese gadget magazines.

I like the phones they have in Japan, much better selection than North America. Most have the distinct formfactor : long and rectangular. I also found that usually, the edges are less rounded off than other countries. Makes it look sharp and professional IMO

your right about the companies cramming useless things into phones, but i personally LOVE japanese phones, i always have

I actually think the phones in Japan are a lot better looking and designed better compared to the crap I can get in the states.

Danny, I thought you have an iphone? anyway, I always love Japanese phones because of the stuff they put in. Here in Sydney, we get the usual stuff like yours but not as hightech. I love getting different phones but just can't kept stacking them up at home. currently use a palm treo 650 (dinosaur / brick phone) without a sim card, & a nokia 6300, its pretty slim. But really, you don't want it too slim. a friend have Sony Ericsson w880i from 3 mobile network, too hard to sms for a guy. I suppose for people not living here you'd think we got lots of nice phones, & its vice versa for us.

Hi everyone, I'm new here but will probably be using this site a WHOLE lot. I was wondering...NTT Docomo's new 905 lineup for November are all 3G+GSM phones, so I know that means they can be used outside Japan. What I want to know is, can they be unlocked? I have a currently disabled account in Canada, and my gf has an account with NTT, but can I use that phone on the network here (if anyone else is from Canada, it's Rogers) or is it completely unlockable? I know it's probably too early to ask, as most of the 905 lineup isn't even available, but I thought I'd take a shot.

I work at a phone shop in the UK, and im getting so bored of all the handset we have here. Its all slides these days and even the iphone is getting a bit bland now!

Did my research and found a softbank 812SH, which i really like. Could someone answer me whether i could get this to work in the UK? I heard the whole system in japan is different to the ones in the UK?

There is one Japanese phone that had my interest, it's that phone used by Cloud in FF VII Advent Children.

Wish I can get one here... mind you, I am not a cell phone fan, for me, the most important thing is the phone works, that's all.. but I still want CLoud's phone..

mobile phone in indonesia... it sucks
i like japanese phone more

Can sometimes flash the phone so it wont make noise when take photo or to allow using mp3 as ringtone.

because my old sony W810i with Rogers had it set so only can use midi ringtone and forced to have shutter sound. after flashing it to manufacture settings, both of those problems fixed + more.

..Wait- thick? My phone is a Motorola E680i!! THAT'S thick ('~')

Also, I can't seem to get why people like slim phones.. Tell me! ('~')

"More phones which all look the same. We need the iPhone to come and save us." -dannychoo.com

You have got to be kidding right? The phones in the states suck. While japan is rolling with 5.1 camera phones, the States has just gotten up to 2. Jap phones mabye a bit bigger but they still round-house kick the States crappy phones anyday.

Just got myself a W580i, camera sux like no tomorrow, but decent phone ingeneral.

Man, i;ve been constantly searching everywhere to get a japanese phone to work in the UK. The one i'm interested in is the panasonic 706p or something similar. There are hardly any flip phones in the UK right now, all slides and candy bar shaped ones. Does anyone know from japan where and if possible if i could get hold of one of these phones to work in the UK GSM network? Having no luck finding these online, japanese phones just don't seem to be the kinda thing people sell online!!

"Can you disable the noise of the camera in phones in your region?"

Yes, It is possible to turn off the camera capture noice in Finland(silent mode on phone or then deactivate from camera menu)

I really want a Japanese Phone but since I live outside of Japan they don't work I believe there are a few phone companies that have phones that work outside Japan. But the pictures my friend showed they weren't that nice.I also think slims are nice but I like it when they alot of gadgets as well.

You can get keitais in singapore but they need to be unlock by either hyper-sim or software unlocked. Being a unlock, some of the function are locked up still...
Personally i own a Toshiba 911T, its consider a full unlock(Software) with only MMS and GPRS lockup.

id love to have AALLLL those fones...

Well I'm happy that those phones are awesome, wouldn't mind buying one. My phone right now is the LGTu500 series...still asian -_-

i want the red one >.>

Singapore has such a horrible lineup of models... never liked them. But when I went to Japan last month.. I drooled. Sony Ericsson was releasing sexy phones only in Japan, like the w61s and w62s. Singapore will never see them. Never. Ever.

So I'm sticking to the next best thing, a LG KF 350 Ice Cream phone >__>

anyone has any idea where to get a jap phone in Singapore? far east?

personally invested in the SHARP SH906i... although i live in canada, half of it's functionality is crippled, but it's the looks that count =D

LoL looks like 64% of the people who read this think that cell-phones in their region is CRAP lol

the phones in my region are just plain pathetic and they cost a bomb.

but the japanese make phones look like the icing on the cake because they are better equipped and cost a whole let less than our phones do.

And what about iPhone? It seems to me this gadget is the most stylish ever designed. And the price is quite acceptable.

Cell phones in the US are all crap(even the Iphone).