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Consumer Reports does a great job at giving honest reviews. They go through multiple steps to ensure manufacturers don't know they're purchasing their products

Consumer Reports does a great job at giving honest reviews. They go through multiple steps to ensure manufacturers don't know they're purchasing their products as well (to avoid getting beefed up 'review units'). And no, their service is not supported by ads - You have to pay for a subscription. Consumer Reports needs to be mentioned more IMO. Because even on reddit, there are companies that offer advanced stealth-like astroturfing campaigns for products/services. The counterargument is that Consumer Reports could be intruded by corporate shills, but their reputation is solid and they've been around for a long time. Link: https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/index.htm https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/index.htm

rootusrootus 5y ago
I use CR, but they do miss the target sometimes. They extrapolate a lot between models, sometimes farther than I think is justified by saying they are 'similar'. And occasionally they make really boneheaded recommendations that I just don't understand. On their recommendation I bought a Samsung washer and dryer pair, which both broke within the first 12 months. A bit of research on the appliance forum, and it turns out that all the repair guys say pretty much the same thing -- don't buy Samsung appliances, they're unreliable crap. As someone who owns three Samsung appliances (the third being a refrigerator), I wholeheartedly agree. Never again. Refrigerators are notoriously unreliable regardless of manufacturer, but Samsung really sets the bar pretty low.
- PaulDavisThe1st 5y ago
  wirecutter on samsung refridgerators seems like one the fairest assessments i've seen: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/the-best-refrigerator/#other-major-brands https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/the-best-refriger...
- throw10920 5y ago
  So they're definitely not perfect - but it seems like they do far, far more research than the average online source, and are far more reliable, more consistently reliable, and have a much wider array of tested devices (as opposed to a blogger who might test a bunch of products in one specific category). We can do better than CR - but right now, afaict they're the best we have.

rootusrootus 5y ago

I use CR, but they do miss the target sometimes. They extrapolate a lot between models, sometimes farther than I think is justified by saying they are 'similar'. And occasionally they make really boneheaded recommendations that I just don't understand. On their recommendation I bought a Samsung washer and dryer pair, which both broke within the first 12 months. A bit of research on the appliance forum, and it turns out that all the repair guys say pretty much the same thing -- don't buy Samsung appliances, they're unreliable crap. As someone who owns three Samsung appliances (the third being a refrigerator), I wholeheartedly agree. Never again. Refrigerators are notoriously unreliable regardless of manufacturer, but Samsung really sets the bar pretty low.

PaulDavisThe1st 5y ago
wirecutter on samsung refridgerators seems like one the fairest assessments i've seen: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/the-best-refrigerator/#other-major-brands https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/the-best-refriger...
throw10920 5y ago
So they're definitely not perfect - but it seems like they do far, far more research than the average online source, and are far more reliable, more consistently reliable, and have a much wider array of tested devices (as opposed to a blogger who might test a bunch of products in one specific category). We can do better than CR - but right now, afaict they're the best we have.