iPhone 5 Out in Japan, But Lines Are Small and Prices Are Higher

Posted by Kyle Yates in Featured, Kansai Technology

Softbank launched the new iPhone 5 yesterday. A few hours after the stores opened, I went to a Softbank branch to see how things were going. When I arrived, there were no lines of people waiting for the iPhone. However, all of the Softbank staff, a total of four people, were busy with customers. I was the only customer not being waited on. About 15 minutes later, finally one available staff member came over to me to ask if he could help me.

While I was waiting, I looked around at the new iPhones they had on display.

The new iPhone 5 is a nice piece of technology. I played around with the phone to see how well it worked. Apps and graphics opened up quickly. The phone felt lighter than my iPhone 4, but I couldn’t really tell how much lighter it was because of the cable Softbank has attached to the sample unit. It’s definitely thinner and the screen feels a bit smoother when swiping. Overall, I liked the phone.

Now would I buy one? Yes, but…

Softbank has changed their service plans. They used to offer ¥0-¥4980 monthly unlimited service plan and a flat rate monthly service plan that was around ¥4980 or so. Anyone with an iPhone 5 now has to pay ¥5460+315+980+¥2570-¥2140 which equals a total of ¥6755 per month, plus the cost of phone calls to users outside Softbank. If a buyer chooses to get the larger 32 gigabyte iPhone 5, they will have to pay an additional ¥430 per month for 25 months.

If would not buy the 16 gigabyte phone. Why?

The 16 would be way too small since the iPhone 5 camera is now 8 megapixels and apps are now slightly larger in size with the latest larger screen. Anyone with a 16 would be constantly juggling apps, photos and videos around or have to upload constantly to the Cloud. This is going to be a huge issue in the future as more and more people find it hard to store the pictures and videos they take. But that’s another article!

If you have an older iPhone, especially a 3G, 3GS or 4, upgrading would bring you much improvement in speed and technology and allow you to do much more than your current iPhone allows you to do. But it is going to cost you a little more money…at least for now…until 4G and Cloud pricing comes down to earth.