Cost of Cell Phones with Subscription

I was having a problem figuring the cost of the actual cell phone at the time one sign up for a plan. For some reason I cant get any solid figures.

Maybe someone here has experience in this. I will be in Japan for half a year so I plan to go with either SoftBank (whiteplan) or a small plan from AU KDDI.

I suspect I cannot afford an insanely amazing phone, but I hope to get a pretty decent one.

Thanks

Since you will only be in Japan for 6 months then you should purchase your phone without any discounts and the just pay monthly rates. The typical phone will cost about 30000 yen, and anywhere from 2000-5000 yen a month.

Or a better option for you may be to purchase a prepaid phone. Those are typically around 10000 yen for the phone and you recharge it as you go in increments of 3000-5000 yen.

I forgot to mention that making a contract (1-2 years) will not benefit your situation. You will get a discount on your phone purchase but basically be charged the same amount when you cancel your phone before the contract ends.

With Softbank, you have to pay for the phone at sign-up--whether you sign a 2-year contract or not. The lower-end phones cost about 30,000 yen. If you sign a 2-year contract, you still have to pay for the phone up front but you get the cheaper phones for free by getting a 1,250 yen discount every month for 2 years.

Actually with all companies you have to pay for the phone when signing up. However if you make a 1-2 year contract the price of the phone will be discounted, and the cost is distributed over the length of the contract (usually in the form of higher per monthly rates). If you cancel mid contract you will have a large cancellation fee that varies based on how much of the contract you completed.

Is the cancellation fee just the remainder of the cost of the phone plus the discounts used? Or do they charge an additional fee?

Jerome,

I was checking the softbank catalogue and it seems they have an installment plan like you described where you get a monthly discount for 2 years to offset the cost of the phone. I couldn't find in the pages of fine print what would happen if you cancel but i'd imagine that it you basically forfeit the disocunts.

AU on the otherhand charges a cancellation fee based on time left on your contract. Its was something like 20000 yen if you have 1+ yrs left, 10000 yen for 6 mo - 1 yr, and 5000 under 6 mo.