In order to make our unboxings and reviews easier to read and compare, we are going to standardize the testing criteria into weighted scores. The weighting of the scores will be according to their importance in the user experience.
There are three main testing criteria in our reviews.
- Unboxing Experience
- Performance
- Value
Unboxing Experience/Package Content
We always think that a pleasant unboxing experience provides users the first impression of whether it will be a quality product. We can see how much effort the manufacturers have put into the products. Are all necessary accessories included? Are all accessories made from high-quality materials? Are all accessories neatly presented inside the packaging.
Performance
Of course, the products are useless if they do not perform well. We will be taking measurements from different benchmarks, according to the types of products. For example, if we are reviewing a hard disk drive, we will be recording its read/write speed and input/output operations per second (IOPS). Are the products performing as we expected or as the manufacturers claimed?
Value
It is crucial for products to be priced reasonably and competitively. We think pricing is one of most deciding factors for consumers to purchase a new product. We will be comparing the products’ price-to-performance ratio, using the manufacturers’ suggested retail prices (MSRP) and benchmarks’ measurements. For example, we will calculate the ratio of the price and the computing power (in Teraflops, performance), if we are reviewing a graphics card. Can we get more performance even if we spend less money (bang for the buck)?
Review Badges
The badge on the left is the Recommendation Badge, which will be given to products with a overall score from 70% to 90%. The products perform outstandingly, or on par with other similar competitors in the market. We recommend the products to our readers.
The right badge is the Acceptable badge, which will be given to products with over or equal to 50% but less than 70%. The products perform well enough without major drawbacks, but improvements can be made.
This is the Must-Have Badge, which products with an overall score equal or higher than 90% will have this badge. The products outperform every one of the competitors in the market, or provide exceptional value to the customers. We think the products are a must-have for everyone (strongly recommend).
Please note that products with or without the above badges do not necessarily mean they are bad products. They may have decent performance and prices, but losing points in the unboxing/packaging category. Your results and experience may vary in different environments and conditions.
We will be implementing this testing standard to our future reviews, as well as updating old reviews to the new standard. Hope you enjoy reading our reviews!