How to test products and services

Nearly 30 years ago, CNET has built a reputation as a main source of trustworthy and non -biased reviews of all technical things – from Phones to TV devices to LED computers to Wireless headphones to Running and VPN Services. If you can pass your extracts, watch them, write them or subscribe to them, we are likely to review them.

With the development of technology over time, we expanded the test artificial intelligence tools, Home productsand Health and wellnessand Broadcast services and Personal financing Services, evaluation of everything from artificial intelligence Chatbots and Photo generatorsTo Meal groups to Ranksand Hearing devicesand Electric cars and Motorcycles. Regardless of what we evaluate, we will always be transparent about the non -biased test criteria that enter our reviews.

All reviews and product classification “Best List” shares the same obligations to excellence:

independence: The products and services that we recommend independently are chosen, editing for evaluation, review and recommendation.

expertise: our A team of experts He has contracts of joint experience in their specialties.

Practical tests: We are chasing and testing the products we cover whenever possible. For services, we subscribe, test and use ourselves.

research: When we cannot test a product or service service, we make recommendations based on reports and research. We also consider experiences of industry and customers experts.

value: We take the pricing into consideration and focus on finding the best option at a more affordable cost.

What makes CNET unique is the process that has been tried and real to evaluate a product with repetitive tests conducted in CNET test laboratories and auditors with a deep understanding of their impulses. Our auditors built their experiences through practical experience and relationships with industry experts we invite to perspective.

How do CNET get the products we review

Our process begins well before announcing a new product. We are aware of a document in purchase courses, compatibility with rumors and release dates months ago, while covering the period before advertisements of large products and taking advantage of our relationships with manufacturers to give readers the journalistic precedent. We use this knowledge to determine the products that we will review exactly and why, taking into account factors such as pricing, popularity and new features.

Many of the devices we review are production samples provided by manufacturers. It is sent to us as part of a short -term or long -term loan agreement. This arrangement allows us to publish the review as soon as possible, sometimes even before the product is sold, and compare the product deeper into its life cycle.

If we specify a product that we want to review but we cannot get it from the manufacturer for some reason, we will buy it. After publishing the review, we often stick to the product for updates and follow -up coverage, including comparisons with competing tools. CNET products are returned to the manufacturer after the end of the loan period.

Product review 101: an in -depth test in CNET

Once the product arrives, the review process varies according to the product category, but all reviews follow a similar structure:

Fear: We cancel the device boxes (often with unwanted video) and we prepare it as any user does, connect it to the Internet if appropriate and install the latest programs. Unlike any user, we document the preparation process and note how you compare to the competing devices.

See and feel: We use the product and notice its design and how it feels work, and to rely on images and videos to clarify the results we have reached.

Signs: We note their capabilities and how to compare similar tools, focusing on new and interesting add -ons and how (or if) they really deserve.

performance: We test these capabilities accurately, using the device as it is for hours or days and reporting our impressions. We use the same set of tests that we used for similar products to ensure that we find differences in performance across industry.

Labor test: For many product categories, we pick up performance data in the laboratory using uniform tests. For example, in our New York laboratory, we test the battery life and the brightness of the screen for laptops and measuring the delay of colors and games for TV devices. In our Louisville facility, we created a laboratory specializing in the test platform to compare the amount of vacuum capture – until it follows the cleaning paths of robot butterflies as well. But whether this test occurs in Manhattan, Kentucky or countless sites outside the site, we store our data for future comparisons of other products. We also use these data to better define long -term trends within categories.

Judgment: We collect all our impressions in the review. In many cases, we publish a digital classification from 1 to 10, along with what we liked and we did not like.

If we face a big problem during the test, we are working with the manufacturer to solve it and report about this process. At each point in the review process, our editors and laboratories keep full control of the review as shown on CNET.

Provide service reviews

Traditional CNET review covers the physical products that you can touch, but an increasing number of things you buy today are services, and they are usually available for a monthly fee. We also review these. It includes broadcasting services such as Netflixand YouTube TV and SpotifyHome services such as Meal groups and Wine clubsSecurity services such as Password managersand Anti -virus program and Protect identity theftFacilities services such as Internet service providers (ISPS) and Mobile phone plans.

As with physical devices, our service reviews vary depending on what the service provides. With broadcasting services, weighing prices, catalog and ease of use. With the protection of identity theft, we look for accurate publications, compare features, monitoring and user experience. With VPNS, we test and evaluate many factors including speed, privacy, data leaks and value. We focus on the facts that can be reported, and when necessary, allocate our recommendations to different sites. We have separate lists for the best Internet providers in New York Cityand Atlanta and HoustonFor example, add more sites all the time.

How to ask for the recommendations of our best list

In most categories, we collect our reviews and research in the best menus, which put our most recommended products in one place and we set preferences such as the best, best value and best design. These lists aim to be one store for information about the categories we cover, including links to how this category is tested, factors that must be taken into account during the purchase, frequent questions and seasonal prices.

In many of the best lists and our evidence, you will find a list of products or services recommended at the top of the page, below the address and the introduction. This feature allows readers immediately to the relevant results of our product reviews.

If there is a generally clear selection in a specific category, we put this product or service at the top of the list. Next, we sort our recommendations according to several factors. These include the strength we recommend each product or service, so that the recommended choices are very closest to the top. The arrangement in which our products recommendations are always associated directly with their numerical classifications. Editors may also arrange the menu to make sure to include a variety of options, for example a relatively low -price product.

After publishing a better list, we may use the audience’s sharing measures to rearrange the list after the best selection, to give more validity to the products and services that have shown positive responses from readers.

Some of our best lists also include a product or sponsorship service that is not chosen by editors, or discounting and promotional language on a product or service that has been chosen before. Either way, this is a paid advertisement and is clearly classified as a “special deal”.

Why can you trust CNET reviews?

All of this is due to editorial integrity. We are transparent on how to earn money: from the ads, subsidiaries and licensing. Other companies have no opinion on our reviews, and in cases where CNET content is carried out by a third party, we offer the disclosure.

we Do not use obstetric artificial intelligence (Artificial Intelligence) to create any text, photos, or video clip posted on our website or platforms, except for examples of capabilities in the tools of artificial intelligence that we test. In some cases, we use it to help collect information and organize it to compare services. For example, AI helped us find and compare ownership data about regional Internet service providers on a small number of stories, As in this example. We reveal and explain how we used obstetric artificial intelligence on those pages.

In some cases, we also offer multiple views. For example, a healthy press is a topic that changes with new studies, so we have created CNET Medical Review NetworkA group of health professionals who review our content to ensure that it accurately represents current medical guidelines, research and care standards.

In short, confidence is our shares in trade and still is so after more than a quarter of a century of reviews. Call us biased, but we believe that there are no other auditors do it better.

Below, you will find links to methodologies for many categories of products and services that we write about.