How We Review Products

Our first reviews are on the way

We are preparing our first full reviews, and they will appear on this page as soon as they are published. Until then, this page explains how we test and judge the products we review, so you know what to expect and can hold our reviews to these standards when they arrive.

Our review principles

• Real use comes first. We use products the way you would: as a daily phone, a work laptop, headphones on the commute or the router that runs a busy home. Where it is practical, we add repeatable checks so products can be compared fairly.
• We take the time to form a fair view. A full review is based on extended use, not a first impression. If we have only spent a short time with a product, we call the article a first look or hands-on, not a review.
• We judge against the price. A good product at the wrong price is not a good buy, so we weigh what you get for what you pay.
• We say who it is for. The best product for one person can be the wrong one for another. Our verdicts explain who should buy a product and who should skip it.
• We are clear about the downsides. Every product has compromises, and we describe them plainly.
• We check claims instead of copying them. We compare the manufacturer’s claims with what we see in use.

What we look at in each category

Phones

• Build, durability and water resistance
• Display quality, including how readable it is outdoors
• Performance in everyday apps and demanding games, including how warm the phone gets
• Battery life across a normal day of use, and charging speed
• Camera results in daylight, low light, portraits and video, judged by the photos rather than the spec sheet
• Software, pre-installed apps, and how many years of updates and security patches the maker promises
• Call quality, speakers and connectivity

Laptops

• Build quality, weight, keyboard, trackpad and ports
• Screen quality for work, photos and video
• Performance in everyday tasks and heavier work, such as photo and video editing or gaming where relevant
• Fan noise and heat under load
• Battery life in real use, and charging
• Webcam, microphones and speakers for video calls
• Upgrade and repair options, and pre-installed software

Audio

• Sound quality across different kinds of music, podcasts and calls
• Noise cancellation and transparency modes, where offered
• Comfort and fit over long listening sessions
• Microphone quality on calls
• Battery life, the charging case and charging speed
• Connection stability, multi-device pairing and app features
• Controls, build quality and water resistance

Routers and mesh Wi-Fi

• Setup, and the quality of the app or web interface
• Real-world speed and coverage in different rooms, including through walls and floors
• Stability over days of use with many devices connected
• Security features, default settings and how long firmware updates are provided
• Parental controls, guest networks and other useful extras
• Whether key features require a paid subscription

Gaming gear

This covers consoles, handhelds, controllers, headsets, keyboards, mice and gaming monitors.

• Performance and responsiveness across a range of games
• Comfort and ergonomics over long sessions
• Build quality, and how well it stands up to heavy use
• Software, customization and compatibility across platforms
• For monitors: motion clarity, refresh rate, color and brightness
• Battery life and connection reliability for wireless devices

Smart home

• Setup, and how easy the app is to use day to day
• Reliability, including how quickly devices respond and whether they stay connected
• Compatibility with major platforms and standards, such as Matter, where supported
• Privacy, including what data is collected, whether local control is available and whether an account is required
• Security updates, and how long the maker supports the device
• Subscription costs needed to unlock key features
• How well it works for everyone in the home, not just the person who set it up

How we reach a verdict

We do not use a numeric score or star rating. Instead, each review ends with a written verdict that covers:

• a clear bottom line: whether we recommend the product, recommend it for certain people, or suggest you look elsewhere
• its main strengths and weaknesses
• who the product is best for, and who should skip it
• the rivals worth considering instead

We would rather explain a judgment in plain words than reduce it to a number that hides the trade-offs. If we ever introduce a scoring system, we will explain exactly how it works on this page first.

How we compare against rivals

A review only means something in context. For each product, we compare it with the alternatives a buyer is likely to consider, usually:

• direct rivals at a similar price
• the previous model, so you know whether an upgrade is worth it
• a cheaper option, when it gets you most of the way there
• a more expensive option, when it is clearly better

Where we have tested rivals ourselves, we compare them directly. Where we have not, we say so and base the comparison on specifications and credible sources. Because prices change often, we compare products at their typical selling prices rather than one-off deals, and we note when a price change affects our verdict.

Review samples, loans and purchases

We get products for review in three ways: we buy them, a manufacturer or retailer lends them to us, or a manufacturer sends a sample for us to keep.

• No strings attached. We accept samples and loans only on the understanding that the company has no say over our review, does not see it before publication and cannot ask for changes.
• Loans go back. When a product is on loan, we return it once testing is finished, unless the lender agrees that we can keep it for longer-term testing.
• We tell you how we got it. Each review states whether we bought the product or it was supplied by the manufacturer or a retailer.
• Samples earn no favors. If we keep a sample, we use it for comparisons and long-term updates. It does not make us any kinder to the brand.
• Embargoes are about timing only. We may agree to a manufacturer’s embargo, which is a date before which reviews cannot be published. We never agree to conditions on what a review says.

We never accept payment for a review, and brands cannot pay for a place in our recommendations. Our Editorial Policy covers this in more detail, and our Disclaimer explains how affiliate links work.

When we update reviews

Products change after launch, and so do their prices and rivals. We update a review when:

• a software or firmware update fixes a problem or causes a new one
• longer-term use reveals issues, such as battery wear, reliability or build problems
• the price changes enough to affect whether the product is good value
• a new rival arrives that changes our recommendation
• we find a mistake

When we update a review, we change the date shown on it. If the change affects our verdict, we explain what changed and why. If a product is replaced by a newer model, we point you to the new one.

Tell us what to review

If there is a product you would like us to review, or you think we got something wrong, let us know through our contact page.