You may have noticed that products on our website are sometimes rated lower than they are on other websites. We’re not trying to be contrary or difficult. However, we genuinely believe that our ratings are more useful if we don’t give every product we a like a perfect “10” when it has merely met our expectations.
We NEVER raise our ratings or provide positive ratings based on input or compensation from manufacturers. All of our ratings are as honest and unbiased as humanly possible.
Our Scores: A General Breakdown
We score all of our products on a scale of 1 to 10.
For us, a score of 5 is “average”, “as expected”, or “satisfactory”. This does not mean that there’s anything wrong with the product. It’s just not any better than we’d expect.
From there, the rest should be obvious.
A score of 1-4.5 means that the product is deficient in some way: either it doesn’t function as expected, functions irregularly or not up to the standards that it has claimed, or did not hold up to regular use. Needless to say, a “1” indicates a more serious problem than a “4.5”.
A score of 5.5-9.5 means that the product is better than average in the rated category.
A score of 10 means that the product has achieved perfection in that category. It means we can’t imagine any other product on the market at the current time being any better. This rating is used sparingly.
The Final Score
The review’s “Final Score” is, by default, an average of the scores of all of the graded categories. However, sometimes (in fact, frequently), we’ll adjust the final score because we believe that one or more of the categories should carry more weight than the others.
In the end, this system is applied to a product based on the experiences and expectations of our writers and editors, and they are therefore fairly subjective. If you don’t agree with a score, you are encouraged to comment on the review and let our readers (and us) know why you disagree. Ratings may change over time, as more information about the product comes to light.
