Rakuten Mobile's 7 Weaknesses, Examined Honestly: What You Trade for the Price
What do you give up for the cheapness? Six months on it as our main line, seven weaknesses with zero apologetics — each with a realistic fix and who can live with it.
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MobileRakuten Mobile's upsides are obvious from the price table. What's not obvious is what you sacrifice — and finding out after contracting is too late. So here's everything we disliked across six months as our main line, no apologetics.
Each weakness comes with a realistic fix and who can tolerate it. For the balanced verdict see the main Rakuten Mobile review; for detailed speed data, the speed-testing note.
Understand first, then sign
¥1,078–3,278/month
Rakuten Saikyo Plan (tax incl.) — sign only after understanding the trade-offs
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The full weakness list in 30 seconds
| Weakness | Severity | Fixable? |
|---|---|---|
| ① Deep-building/underground coverage | High (environmental) | △ On-site test + Wi-Fi |
| ② Noon slowdown | Medium | ○ Shift heavy traffic |
| ③ Rakuten Link quality variance | High (use-dependent) | △ Fall back to paid standard calls |
| ④ No fallback in outages | Medium | ○ Dual SIM |
| ⑤ Perks skew time-limited points | Low | ○ Spending plan |
| ⑥ Thin store/support network | Medium | ○ Irrelevant if you self-serve online |
| ⑦ Fiddly campaign conditions | Low | ○ Pre-checking |
①② Coverage and congestion: the big two, honestly
The two contract-stoppers. Based on six months of measurements (details in the speed note):
- Even post-platinum-band, some deep-building zones and underground malls drop to single-digit Mbps
- Noon dips to an 18Mbps average at the station front (template) — SNS fine, video downloads painful
- Fix: live-test at work, home and your commute for a few days before deciding (¥0 cancellation = low risk)
- Fix: facility Wi-Fi indoors is the practical answer
- Livable for: city-centric lives with short stints underground or deep indoors
③ Rakuten Link's quality variance
The headline free-calling feature rides the data connection, and quality varies with it.
- Weak-signal spots bring dropouts and lag — quality tracks the connection completely
- Caller-ID display and voicemail behavior can differ from standard calls
- Fix: use the standard dialer (paid, ¥22/30s) for important work calls
- Fix: heavy callers can add the 15-minute flat-rate option
- Livable for: LINE-centric callers whose phone calls are short logistics
④–⑦ The rest, with fixes
- ④ A single Rakuten line strands you in an outage → dual SIM with a cheap backup line is the standard play
- ⑤ Perks come as time-limited points → set them against the monthly bill for guaranteed burn-down
- ⑥ Fewer carrier shops than the majors → irrelevant if you handle everything online; counter-service people should check for a nearby store first
- ⑦ Campaign conditions (dedicated links, Link calls) are fiddly → follow our campaign playbook and nothing drops
Why we stayed anyway: what the trade buys
Having listed everything, here's why our main line is still Rakuten Mobile.
- Unlimited at ¥3,278 is under half the majors — tens of thousands of yen a year beats the workaround effort
- Unlimited tethering also retires the pocket-Wi-Fi bill
- SPU +4x makes it effectively cheaper still for Ichiba shoppers
- ¥0 cancellation makes try-and-return genuinely easy
- Coverage keeps improving — current measurements beat six-month-old reviews
Pre-contract checklist: just these five
- 1. Are home, work and your commute inside Rakuten's area on the official map?
- 2. Have you live-tested inside the buildings you spend hours in?
- 3. Heavy work caller? Have you tried Rakuten Link in your own settings?
- 4. Decided whether to run an outage backup (second line)?
- 5. Checked the campaign conditions on the official page?
Kelebihan (yang kami suka)
- Five of seven weaknesses yield to knowledge and light effort
- ¥0 cancellation makes try-first genuinely low-risk
- Unlimited at ¥3,278 stays cheapest even pricing in the workarounds
- Coverage keeps improving — the trajectory is positive
Kekurangan (yang perlu diperhatikan)
- Deep-building/underground coverage never fully resolves
- Rakuten Link quality is environment-dependent and unpredictable
- The noon slowdown runs larger than the majors'
- Thin store network for counter-service people
Rekaman pengujian (kami benar-benar mengukur)
Semua foto diambil di ruang pengujian rumah kami.
| Weakness | Fix | Verified |
|---|---|---|
| Deep-building coverage | On-site test + Wi-Fi | 90% of daily life fine |
| Noon slowdown | Shift heavy traffic | SNS/messaging stayed usable |
| Link variance | Standard calls for key calls | Split use ended complaints |
| Outage risk | Dual SIM | Backup switch rehearsed |
| Time-limited points | Burn via the bill | Zero expiry maintained |
Pertanyaan umum
What is Rakuten Mobile's biggest weakness?
The two environmental ones: deep-building/underground coverage and Rakuten Link's quality variance. Neither fully vanishes with workarounds, so the only reliable judgment is an on-site test in your own zones. With ¥0 cancellation, trying for a few days and walking away is low-risk.
Why do people say 'avoid Rakuten Mobile'?
Mostly leftover impressions from the early years of poor coverage. Post-platinum-band, indoor pickup trends better, and our six months found 90% of daily life fine. The deep-building/underground weakness persists though — so the accurate take is 'depends on your zones', not 'for everyone'.
I'm worried about outages. Any defense?
Dual SIM — add a cheap second carrier's line on an eSIM-capable phone. With a low-base-fee backup, a Rakuten-side outage doesn't strand you. Rakuten itself supports eSIM, so configurations are flexible.
Can Rakuten Link handle work calls?
Fine for short logistics, but quality tracks the connection — for important negotiations or long calls, split duties with the standard dialer (¥22/30s, or the 15-minute flat-rate option). We use standard calls for first contacts ourselves.
So who can actually live with the weaknesses?
People who ① live city-centric with little time deep indoors or underground, ② call mostly via LINE or in short bursts, and ③ can self-serve online. If you can't compromise on coverage or call quality at all, a major carrier or its online plan (ahamo etc.) fits better.
Related notes
Mobile
6 Months on Rakuten Mobile as Our Main Line: What ¥3,278 Unlimited Really Gets You
4.2Mobile
Rakuten Mobile Speed, Measured for 6 Months: Where It Connects, Where It Doesn't, and What Helps
4.2Mobile
Rakuten Mobile vs ahamo: We Ran Both Lines Side by Side | Unlimited Data or Docomo Reliability?
4.3Mobile
The Rakuten Mobile Campaign Playbook: The Mikitani Campaign and How Not to Drop the Points
4.4
💴 Based on a self-paid contract in our own name, used six months as our main line in 2026.