Duration
Products are tested over a period appropriate to how they are used. Something used daily is lived with for at least two weeks before any assessment is written; seasonal or occasional-use products are tested across the conditions they are bought for. First-impression pieces are labelled as such and never presented as reviews.
Environment and repeatability
- Comparable products in a class are tested in the same environment and, where possible, in the same period.
- Measured results are recorded across repeated runs, and we report the range rather than a single best figure.
- Where a measurement depends on a variable we cannot control, we state the variable rather than implying precision we do not have.
- Test notes are retained internally so a published figure can be traced back to the run that produced it.
What we do not do
- We do not publish manufacturer-supplied benchmark results as our own findings.
- We do not extrapolate a verdict for one configuration from testing on another.
- We do not publish durability claims we have not observed over time.
- We do not test to a deadline set by a manufacturer's embargo if that deadline makes real testing impossible — we publish later instead.
Illustrative figures
Where a page shows sample or illustrative figures — for layout, or to demonstrate a format ahead of real data — that is labelled clearly on the page. Illustrative numbers are never presented as measurements.