Freetel Samurai Kiwami (One Series)

[Bri the Tech Guy]

Hello All,

A search in the Devices forum turns up nothing for Freetel at all, which is a bit of a surprise. While I know that their direct US presence is virtually nil there seems to exist a small gray market for their devices here.

Just curious if anyone on here has had direct experience with devices from Freetel, which designs and builds in Japan?

There is currently an eBay seller out of Texas who must have gotten a large number of Freetel Samurai Kiwami (One Series on manufacturer website) phones, which were quite expensive when they hit the street a couple of years ago and have very decent specs, particularly in regard to the cameras. At less than $100 (but not much) it's something I'd consider experimenting with just because I'd love to have a much larger screen than the 5.1" on my Samsung Galaxy S7. (I'm getting old and my reading glasses are not always immediately available.)

I am specifically wondering how well they work with T-Mobile's 4G LTE network here in the USA and whether the GPS is any good?

Even feedback on how any recent Freetel device "plays with" T-Mobile's network here in the USA would be appreciated.

 

[Bri the Tech Guy]

I don't normally do "bump" posts, but I'll make an exception just hoping that a new someone, or someone who's not logged in for a long time (such as myself, prior to the other day), may have jumped into the fray.

After talking with someone on xda-developers.com who had one I decided to roll the dice and get one. But we can't be the only two in the country that have them.

Right now I'm wondering if there's any reasonable option for getting the device beyond Android 5.1 (Lollipop). The device manufacturer released a Marshmallow ROM for it in Japan, but it doesn't appear to have had an international version released. I also have not seen anything other than a single custom ROM out there, and it has a "bad rap" from some who have tried it.

 

[Jfalls63]

Never heard of Freetel, but looking here
https://willmyphonework.net
Only compatible with T-Mobile 2g.

 

[Bri the Tech Guy]

The problem being that there was a US version, and the owner I've already talked to has confirmed it has 4G LTE reception on T-Mobile's US network.

I will, of course, report back once I have it in my hand and have popped in the SIM card.

A great many of the sites such as the one you refer to use data from a single version of the phone made for its initial market. In the case of the Freetel Samurai Kiwami that was Japan, and if this somehow turns out to be a Japanese version it won't work, but the seller (who's got them for sale on eBay, Walmart.com, and several other websites - he must have cornered the US market when Freetel dropped out [and it appears it has]) states it does have 4G LTE connectivity and several reviewers state the same.

 

[jdyeah]

I have the Freetel Samurai Kiwami.

Nice looking phone out of the box. I used it on AT&T and had no problem getting LTE on it. It's a bit slow if you are running demanding apps.

For $100 though, you can't go wrong with it. As long as you don't mind the size (its huge).

 

[mikedt]

The Freetel website is in Japanese only. Are they selling them in the US now, or is it grey import from Japan?