Android vs iPhone in Japan

[TheNiceGuy]

Hello all
I currently have an iPhone 8+ from SoftBank. I hate all the restrictions. I used to be fairly tech savvy (jail broke an iPhone years ago), although I haven’t kept up on phone trends. Never had an Android before. Can it easily do all the stuff I want without jailbreak etc? For example, record phone calls, easy file transfer, no iTunes esc middleman software, normal headphones, download BitTorrent, maybe SD cards, etc?
Do the Japanese providers nerf or otherwise restrict the phones in anyway?
Also, which large screen android is best bang for buck right now?
Cheers!

 

[mikeymikec]

Easy file transfer / no iTunes-esque middleman / normal headphones / sd cards:

Yes, though the last two greatly depend on the manufacturer of the phone for obvious reasons.

If you want as few software restrictions as possible, I'd ask the question about which phone manufacturers provide as vanilla a version of Android as possible (e.g. Samsung historically has made lot of OS modifications), and stick to the most vanilla versions as possible.

Record phone calls / Bittorrent: I've never tried, I assume there's an app for it.

One thing I'd recommend is trying to get as new a version of Android coming with the phone as you can.

Also, the site gsmarena.com is really handy for comparing phone specs.

 

[TheNiceGuy]

Awesome I’ll check it out thanks

 

[Zaap]

Generally speaking, you're probably likely to find all those things easier on Android than iOS.

For something like recording phone calls though, I'd really look into it. There are legal/privacy issues recording calls and later versions of Android have made it more difficult. (Google blocking the ability). Check the laws in Japan. Workarounds may require the phone be rooted, or running an Android version pre-blocking.

In my experience, Samsung, even though customising the UI quite a bit, doesn't do too much crippling of Android features. I'd avoid the cheaper brands like BLU who do cripple their crappy, outdated versions of Android. Also be careful with really cheap Chinese brands who do similar.

I'd advise start with the exact phone you want and then check sites like XDA developers if people are using it to do the things you want to.

Bit torrent apps are available for Android on the Play Store. I think it can be done on iOS also, with a bit of third party trickery but I've never used iOS for that.

Some Android phones still have headphone jack and SD card slot, though both are fading fast.

You definitely don't need heavy handed apps like iTunes with Android. Though honestly, file transfer is a bit of a fuzzy area with Android. I've always found a good solution, but it differs depending on phone model, Android version, host platform (PC or Mac) etc.

On PC you just plug the phone in, it's file system is seen like drives and you can transfer files. Or so it's supposed to work. I've found sometimes nothing I do can get this to work reliably and I still need some third party driver or app. Other times it really is plug and play.

I've found the application HandShaker to be the absolute best file transfer tool. (There are PC and Mac versions but I've only used Mac). Always, something WILL work fine, it's just which of the available tools you'll need with your exact phone OS(s) and computer combination.

 

[TheNiceGuy]

Generally speaking, you're probably likely to find all those things easier on Android than iOS.

For something like recording phone calls though, I'd really look into it. There are legal/privacy issues recording calls and later versions of Android have made it more difficult. (Google blocking the ability). Check the laws in Japan. Workarounds may require the phone be rooted, or running an Android version pre-blocking.

In my experience, Samsung, even though customising the UI quite a bit, doesn't do too much crippling of Android features. I'd avoid the cheaper brands like BLU who do cripple their crappy, outdated versions of Android. Also be careful with really cheap Chinese brands who do similar.

I'd advise start with the exact phone you want and then check sites like XDA developers if people are using it to do the things you want to.

Bit torrent apps are available for Android on the Play Store. I think it can be done on iOS also, with a bit of third party trickery but I've never used iOS for that.

Some Android phones still have headphone jack and SD card slot, though both are fading fast.

You definitely don't need heavy handed apps like iTunes with Android. Though honestly, file transfer is a bit of a fuzzy area with Android. I've always found a good solution, but it differs depending on phone model, Android version, host platform (PC or Mac) etc.

On PC you just plug the phone in, it's file system is seen like drives and you can transfer files. Or so it's supposed to work. I've found sometimes nothing I do can get this to work reliably and I still need some third party driver or app. Other times it really is plug and play.

I've found the application HandShaker to be the absolute best file transfer tool. (There are PC and Mac versions but I've only used Mac). Always, something WILL work fine, it's just which of the available tools you'll need with your exact phone OS(s) and computer combination.

Thank you so much for the comprehensive write up!