LG OZ phone -- Will it work in Japan?

[releasethedogs]

Going to japan soon, will my LG OZ phone work there? Any one know or know how to find out?

[jdniii]

I've been several times and LG works but will be in roaming.  You can text and call but it was fairly pricey ( I don't remember exactly how much but it was around 1,000 won a minute).

[sheila]

When I went, my OZ Ice Cream 1 LG phone didn't work in Japan twice, Saipan, China, and the US even though they assured me that everything would be fine since I'm on a monthly payment plan, not pay as you go. I'm skeptical at this point as to whether my new touch phone will work anywhere else.

[Hollowman]

A lot of phones won't work in Japan. My Korean phone didn't work, but my UK one did. If you have a credit card, you can rent a phone and some of the rates are pretty good. I didn't have a credit card, but I had a friend with a spare phone who sorted me out. If you don't have a credit card, or a good friend, one of the booths at the airport (maybe SoftBank) had a cash system, but it was expensive.

[willinkorea]

I was in Japan in January, and as the previously poster mentioned, I was able to use it. I've actually been able to use my LG OZ phone in Hong Kong and parts of China as well. As you'd expect, pretty steep though...

Friends with different phone models using LG OZ haven't been so successful, though. I bring my UK phone with me just in case, and this works in most countries (although just texting in Korea).

[releasethedogs]

sounds like hit or miss  ::)

[jdniii]

really? It worked for me and even knew I was in Japan (when I dialed it would say call to Japan before I entered the number). Maybe it varies by phone?

[mini_apple]

It varies by phone. If you call the LG customer service line, the rep can tell you whether or not your model will work in the country you are going to. If it won't work, they have a rental service at Incheon airport to get a phone that will work abroad still using your number and be billed on your plan. I did this over the winter on a month-long trip to Europe. The rental rate was fairly reasonable; I think I paid around 90,000 extra for a month's worth of use. For a shorter trip it would obviously be much less.

[Paul]

All the new models should work there. The big stumbling block is your plan, as this determines what you can do there. For me, on a cheap, shitty LG plan on an equally shitty Anycall GlorMagic Hole handset, I was able to receive calls and messages in roaming mode. However, I was unable to make outgoing calls, unless they were directed back to Korea. Thus, using the handset in country was impossible. Hypothetically, if I had a International Calling Card purchased in Korea on me, I may have been able to dial that number, then enter a local number and route a call from Japan to Japan via Korea in case of trouble. I dread to think of the cost though.

[josefk]

pricey. best option is get a softbank pay as you go phone - available at convenience stores like Lawson

[Paul]

Do they still even sell those? When I was living there, the Softbank prepaid had taken on a near-mythical status because Softbank were not willing to state it was discontinued but even if you went to one of their flagship stores the same old "sold out, get a plan" story would be thrown at you day in, day out. I knew a sum total of one person who'd found one and his was old, old stock in what was a fairly out-of-the-way community.