Editors' PickMobile
6 months on Rakuten Mobile as our main line
Read the testing notes →Speed measured at home, stations, and underground. What ¥3,278 unlimited really delivers — and its weak spots.
Best Buys of 2026 — Announced
The products truly worth buying,
all in one notebook.
Memochan buys every product with our own money and uses it for weeks before picking the Best Products of 2026. These are honest testing notes you won't find on any spec sheet.
- Products tested
- 312
- Total testing time
- 1,840 hrs
- Free samples accepted
- $0
Our promise
How Memochan Tests
We never review products for advertisers. We buy under the same conditions as our readers and use products in a real home, just like you would.
- 1
We buy everything ourselves
We never accept free samples or sponsored review requests from manufacturers. Every product is purchased at retail with our own money, just like our readers.
- 2
We measure real-world use
We don't copy spec sheets. Using sound meters, power meters, lux meters, and stopwatches, we record real measurements over weeks of daily use at home.
- 3
We publish every note
The good and the disappointing both go straight into our testing notes. Test conditions, measurement methods, and purchase dates are always disclosed.
Latest reviews
Latest Testing Notes
The products we can most confidently recommend right now, by category. Every one was purchased and tested by us.
Editors' Pick
Best Buy 2026Credit Card
One year on the Rakuten Card: every point counted
Read the testing notes →No annual fee, 1% back. A full year of statements shows the real return — and the traps to avoid.
Best ValueMagazines
Rakuten Magazine: how much our paper bill shrank
Read the testing notes →1,300+ titles for ¥572 a month. Three months of reading logs show who actually comes out ahead.
Travel
A year of hotel bookings, price-checked every time
Read the testing notes →The same hotel compared with rival sites at every booking. What the 5-and-0-day coupons really save.
eBooks
Rakuten Kobo vs Kindle: 3 months side by side
Read the testing notes →The same 42 books price-checked weekly on both stores. Coupons and points decide the winner.
Salon Booking
Six months of Rakuten Beauty bookings, logged
Read the testing notes →Every booking and point recorded: a 9.7% effective return — and when the incumbent still wins.
* Product links are affiliate links. We may earn a commission on purchases.
Travel services
Travel Service Testing Notes
Booking sites, cheap flights, travel eSIMs — tested with the same self-funded standards as everything else.
Travel
A Year on Jalan.net — Price-Checked Against Rakuten Travel Every Time
Travel
Yahoo! Travel, Tested: How Far PayPay Point Rewards Cut the Real Price
Overseas Hotels
Agoda, Actually Used Abroad: Why It's Cheap — and What to Watch
Cheap Flights
AirTrip, Tested: Is It Really Cheaper Once the Handling Fee Lands?
Luxury Hotels
Ikyu.com, Tested on a Luxury Ryokan: Curation and Instant Point Discounts
Airport Transfer