Will my Samsung Galaxy Note 3 work in Japan?

Hi,

I've been searching all day for this specific model, but could not find an answer. I don't know much about bands and frequencies, and I've been finding a lot of contradictory information on various sites.

I'm moving to Japan in 2 weeks for a year in a student visa, and I just got this phone recently, and I love it a lot so I don't really want to trade.. It is the SM-N9005 (Quadband) model, and these are the frequencies that show up in the store's website:

GSM / GPRS / EDGE (850 / 900 / 1 800 / 1 900 MHz)
LTE (800 / 850 / 900 / 1 800 / 2 100 / 2 600 MHz)
HSPA+ (850 / 900 / 1 900 / 2 100 MHz)

A friend of mine who currently resides in Japan has a working Samsung Galaxy S4 through Softbank, and a friend of his has a Galaxy model too (can't remember which right now) through Docomo. So he says mine should work fine with either.

Can anyone confirm this to me? I'd hate to get there and not be able to use the phone... I've also read 4G might not work, but as long as voice + 3G works I'm good, I've never felt the need of using 4G in my country so I should be fine.

Thank you very much for your attention!

It should work fine assuming that it is unlocked. Have you considered what carrier you'll go with though? I'd probably recommend b-mobile because of their voice/data sims.

http://www.bmobile.ne.jp/lineup.html

Hi yllwsmrf, thanks for your reply!

Yes, it is unlocked. I've been thinking B-Mobile too, I've read they are a reseller for Docomo, is that correct?

Since I'm going for a year, and their SIM plans for long term are all in Japanese, I think I'll have to wait until I'm there, go to a store where they can speak english and get it done there I guess.

Or you can go with theses guys if you dont call a lot than this should be fine and cheaper than going to an pre paid planned.
http://www.mobell.co.jp/mobal/domestic-cell-phone/

and get yourself an and pocket wifi http://www.letinternetjp.com/en/index.html

This is what i am doing once i hit japan in 6 days ! OMG 6 days to go ! ill be living in japan for 18 months.

Hi Super zero! Thanks, I'll check that out! I'll probably use the phone more for Internet than calling so it might fit my needs.

I'm flying to Japan in 7 days, for a minimum of a year, super excited! Good luck to you!