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I heard from friends that physical Suica cards tend to be difficult to obtain these days at times, but digital one isn't at all. Took me roughly a minute to cr
by filoleg 1mo ago
I heard from friends that physical Suica cards tend to be difficult to obtain these days at times, but digital one isn't at all.
Took me roughly a minute to create one within Apple Wallet ahead of my trip, and that was it. Didn't need to install any apps or register on any websites, because creating a Suica card is natively supported in the wallet app.
Idk how the situation is like with Suica card on Android though, outside of the fact that unless the phone was purchased in Japan, it will typically lack the necessary hardware for it (which isn't a concern with iPhones, because all regional versions include it).
- alerighi 1mo agoWell you can get it only in some kind of machines, and you need to pay it cash. Also you need to use cash to charge it, and you can charge it minimum by 1000 or 500 yen at a time depending on the station, not less. The digital version only works on iPhones, since Android phones sold outside Japan doesn't have the Felica chip, or if they have it (e.g. Google Pixel) is disabled in EU/US firmware because the manufacturer doesn't want to pay a fee for every phone to Sony for something 99.999% of people that will never travel to Japan would use.
- filoleg 1mo ago> Well you can get it only in some kind of machines, and you need to pay it cash. Also you need to use cash to charge it Totally forgot about that aspect, you are 100% correct. I remember traveling with my friend who had a physical card, and more than once we had to reroute to a nearby kiosk and wait in line, so he could recharge the balance on the card. Apple Wallet felt more convenient, because recharging it was as simple as picking the amount to recharge and hitting "submit."
- kelnos 1mo agoMany Android phones have the hardware, regardless of where they are sold, but it's disabled for non-Japanese SKUs so the manufacturer can avoid paying the licensing fees for it.
- filoleg 1mo agoThanks for bringing this up, I actually had no idea it was simply disabled, and assumed it was simply not included at all (for whichever miniscule savings it would bring). Your explanation makes more sense, because it is definitely cheaper/easier to just disable (but include) that hardware to avoid licensing fees (as opposed to having an additional factory manufacturing line just to produce the SKUs that physically exclude that hardware).