Wirecutter is just a worse version of Consumer Reports where they don't guarantee they aren't running ads and accepting money from the retailers whose products are featured in the media
Question: Is there some implied negative critique of Consumer Reports here? I rather enjoy their work and the fact they're reader funded, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's something I should be aware of that's not clear from it (the way they test or how they accept another type of money). I know they review too many cars (every issue lately features a car banner at the top of the cover).
I'm in my 50's and consult consumer reports whenever I need to buy a white-box appliance. I've moved a few times so I find myself having to do this more than most people.
The qualm I have with CR goes back to the 1980's when I was a bike mechanic for many years. I had a broad knowledge of all the current brands, and knew which bikes were cheap junk. CR had incorrectly ranked the quality of the bicycles largely due to how they "felt" while riding them. One bike, which was actually good quality, got dinged because it wasn't adjusted properly ("Shifter did not engage lowest gears." or something like that). That one article tainted my opinion of them for anything that requires "tuning" by an expert.
Thank you that is very informative in the context as I'm rather new to Consumer Reports. There definitely articles strange rankings. For example I was looking for an reverse osmosis filter and this is something consumer reports just doesn't really have ranked (at least no searchable from their website). They have 1-2 models and they're both not brands that match "reddit reverse osmosis filter" when I do a web search.
I do enjoy their studies on things like: the percentage of plastic particles in General Mills products.
I was a big believer in Consumer Reports until I started following their advice. Beginning in 2000s, CR has been repeatedly wrong about which brand of TV is reliable, which dishwasher, which car. I spent a decade following their advice and having nothing but trouble.
Maybe CR gives something a good review and demand goes up and quality suffers a as a result; but they seem useless and as good as a shot in the dark.
> One bike, which was actually good quality, got dinged because it wasn't adjusted properly
What's your estimate for the percentage of owners that are going to get it adjusted properly?
Most of the things I buy are not going to get tuned, and while a tuned score would be good to see an untuned score is important, likely more important.
Not the person you asked, but I find consumer reports useless because they typically conflate functional evaluation (does the product do what it’s supposed to) with non-functional factors (warranty, price) in a one-size-fits-all manner.
If I’m shopping for a hand mixer, I want to get a list of the best ones and then make my own call on price / performance. I don’t want to be told a $19 product is the best and have to carefully dissect the article to learn that it’s not actually the best, CR has just decided on my behalf that the actual best product isn’t worth $10 more.
I follow advice I learned from a friend who moved to the US from Germany. She said the German philosophy when researching is "Preis-Leistungs-Verhältnis" (PLV)
PLV isn't just the sticker price - it's the total cost of ownership when considered against the utility and convenience it provides.
I no longer set a goal to find the very best #1 thing in every category by reading reviews when I'm buying something. Reviews can be hit or miss, anyway. Instead, I focus my energy on getting good value and buying the best when it comes to things that make me happy or I use a lot.
A computer monitor is a great example of something where PLV for a developer is totally different than a casual user, but the equation serves them both well in pre-purchase considerations.
Playing devils advocate for a min, your comment just a long way of saying "Don't get the very best thing - get the very best thing for you."
What tangible thing do you do differently from the advice this friend gave you? Or rather how did you shop before is your didn't look to see what utility it gave you in comparison to the cost?"
Let's say I'm in a situation where I need a bicycle for two months. I'm not going to buy the must expensive bike or there, I'm going to look around and buy a cheap bike that will be fair enough for two months. Are you saying before this advice you would research and buy the best bike out there?
I think it's tempting to overvalue our own needs. As if the Huffy $99 bike wouldn't work fine for two months. It absolutely would.
Life is too short to spent 5 hours agonizing over reports about what object to buy for 2 months. Agonize about the things you'll care about in 10 years, like a house, your career path, your health... that's where the value and utility/convenience comes in.
If photography was my passion, I'd spend that time willingly finding the best camera for me that would bring me joy and the function I wanted. I went to NYC years ago and wanted a camera with a selfie screen for the trip... went to target, bought one that worked in store. It was great on the trip and I had no issue just giving it away when I got back. Not worth researching --- but some otherwise very thoughtful people will spend 2 hours researching which printer paper to buy when they really don't care and it really doesn't matter.
Buy the car you want, not the one CR says to get. Buy an appliance from a brand you can get serviced in your area, and try to make purchases locally when you can. All of this matters much more than finding what 10 reviewers agree is the best bike or whatever is so temporary in life.
Hell if I know. These days I drop the query into deep research ChatGPT with explicit instructions about what I want and to only present price as data, not a deciding factor.
What do you mean by that? Do think they review new cars they shouldn't?
Also, I suspect they may have found that they attract many new subscribers from people researching car purchases, so it makes sense to have fresh content on the subject to ensure those new eyeballs find value in the publication and decide it might be for them in the long term.
> anti-tech political bent as the rest of the legacy tech press
Idk why, this string of text is very weird to me... Feels like you expect effusive praise of the tech industry's political goals in the press? That's not what press is for...
Wirecutter recommendations are always expensive compared to the same class of products. Consumer Reports will give their rankings and testing methodology and show prices and which are good budget buys and let you make up your mind.
Wirecutter recs are paid for and so that is part of the expense (but also expensive products tend to be better quality).
I've been buying CR recommendations for a decade now and no problems, albeit I haven't bought a car yet from their recs
I haven't shared your good experience. The WireCutter seems to have found some experts so deep in the niche they miss the mark, and in other areas it almost seems like no thought was put into the review critera.
I think the practice of only reviewing/considering items they can hope will stay in stock with affiliate links really limits what they even consider.
