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How we score.

We don't run a lab. We research what expert testers measured and what owners live with, weigh it with one published method, and show our working.

Loupe reading reviews
Loupe, the Product Review mascot

Meet Loupe

Who's Loupe?

Loupe is our mascot: a magnifying glass for the research behind every verdict. We track down the expert reviews, analyze thousands of owner ratings and comments, and cross-check them against each other. You'll see Loupe on every verdict. Its face tells you, at a glance, how the evidence came out.

Loupe looking happyHappyExperts and owners agree it's a strong pick.
Loupe looking unsureUnsureStrong, with a few catches worth knowing.
Loupe looking worriedWorriedOwners report more problems than most.

How the face is chosen: happy when the score is 72 or more, owners score 60 or more and experts and owners are within 20 points of each other; worried when reliability is under 40 or the score is under 58; unsure otherwise.

The formula

40%

Experts

What professional reviewers measured and concluded, weighted by how hands-on they were.

40%

Owners

What people who live with it say, in forums and videos and in shop star ratings.

20%

Reliability

How often owners report something breaking or going seriously wrong.

The details

  • Expert consensus · usually 40%. Each publication's own score scaled to 0–100, weighted by how hands-on the source is. With no rating given, we assess how positive the conclusion is (marked "implied") and count it at half weight.
  • Owners or customers · usually 40%. Half from forum and video comments (positive vs negative share; mixed counts half), half from shop star ratings, weighted by number of ratings. Owners count as much as experts: they live with the product for months.
  • Reliability · usually 20%. 100 minus 2.5 points per percent of first-hand owners or customers reporting a failure or a serious problem (for services: claims, billing, cancellations).
  • Official records. −10 if the U.S. CPSC lists a recall since 2023. Service categories use regulator complaint data.
  • Publish bar. At least 3 expert reviews and 60 comments (more for money and insurance), or the page isn't published.
  • Money. Some links earn a commission. It never changes a score, and nobody can pay for a ranking.