Japanese market smartphone in Uk

[scottmk1]

I have bought a Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact smartphone which has been imported from Japan. I can put my O2 SIM card in and it gets a signal but still has the Japanese carrier logo in the top right hand corner (NTT Docomo). It also doesn’t want to connect to 4g despite there being a good network signal here.

Is there any way to wipe it if all the Japanese stuff and make it Uk spec at all? I had one of these phones before and like it so would be good to get this one working properly.

 

[voipio]

Has it been locked to a network? A restrictive practice employed by the mobile operators to stop you using your phone on other networks, so they can make neough money from your contract to pay the true cost of the phone. If so, have you been able to unlock it?

 

[scottmk1]

I don’t think it’s locked? How would I know?

 

[Seadog]

I don’t think it’s locked? How would I know?

It won't connect to other networks

 

[scottmk1]

As I said in my original post it connects to the O2 network but still says it’s on the NTT Docomo network.

 

[voipio]

Talk to O2 about lack of 4G access. One thing to try first, if it's an Android phone, is to ensure Mobile Data is enabled, using the drag-down menu from top of screen. The icon for this is an up arrow next to a down arrow. Oh, and ensure Flight Mode is off.

 

[frank horton]

go to a phone repair shop run buy Foreigners....they will know how to sort it.....

 

[masleeve]

Get it unlocked first, some Japanese phones won't have 3g as it's end of life for them .( I see you are in Scotland like me so that may be an issue in someplaces)
The network identifier (NTT) may not disappear when unlocked it may need a firmware upgrade.
Your local phone shop may be able to help.
A case of suck it and see.

 

[500e]

As I said in my original post it connects to the O2 network but still says it’s on the NTT Docomo network.

Seing the network is not the same as it connecting

 

[Lewis_RX8]

you could try plugging it into the computer , download sonys operating system and then wipe the phone and install the operating system you downloaded for the UK

Then hopefully it will boot up on UK mode rather than jap , I used then when buying a phone from china

 

[scottmk1]

Ok thanks, generally 4G is good here on O2 and my last XZ2 was fine. I’ll contact a couple of local shops to see if they can do it.

 

[scottmk1]

you could try plugging it into the computer , download sonys operating system and then wipe the phone and install the operating system you downloaded for the UK

Then hopefully it will boot up on UK mode rather than jap , I used then when buying a phone from china

I’ll look into that too

 

[PhillipM]

Probably needs rooting and a clean android install, it'll be a carrier specific/modded version.

 

[mike os]

Are all data networks the same these days ?

 

[scottmk1]

No idea about that

 

[Misterg]

Are all data networks the same these days ?

I don't know a huge amount about it, but I don't believe so.

Japanese LTE frequency allocations for 4G will almost certainly be different to UK/Europe (Japan is in ITU region 3, UK/EU is in region 1)

If anyone wants to do some digging...

OP may get lucky by installing UK / EU firmware (if it can be obtained), but very much a S--t or Bust option.

 

[scottmk1]

All sounds very high tech, I wish a proper UK version was still available for this phone

 

[masleeve]

Are all data networks the same these days ?

Subtle differences in bands ,some are only for certain telcos in japan, Europe is more uniform ,America is quite different

 

[mike os]

Subtle differences in bands ,some are only for certain telcos in japan, Europe is more uniform ,America is quite different

That was what I thought .., may be the reason the phone won’t function?