Our product reviews and recommendations come from the same team of experts that have helped hundreds of millions of people fix their gadgets for the last 15 years. Each has spent years assessing the latest technology trends and can fairly evaluate a product against the competition.
How We Test and Review Products
We go hands-on with every product we review at How-To Geek’s testing lab and office in Virginia. Our team benchmarks everything from the CPU in the latest Windows laptop to the battery life in the newest wireless earbuds. We also use the opportunity to capture pictures in our in-house photo studio, allowing readers to see the device from every angle.
Products only stay in our office for a short time, though, as our reviewers take them out into the real world and use them just like you would. Writers evaluate everything after extensive testing in the reviewer’s homes and their day-to-day lives.
Note: Like most websites, we often use affiliate links. If you click an affiliate link and purchase a product, we may earn a commission. All our product recommendations are chosen independently by our editorial team without any consideration of affiliate relationships.
When the review is complete, the unit is either returned to the company or PR agency that lent it to How-To Geek or it’s stored in LifeSavvy Media’s office for long-term testing. Having the device on-hand allows the various editorial teams to compare it to similar products on the market and share it on the publication’s various social media channels.
After a given amount of time, if a company doesn’t want its product back, How-To Geek either donates it to a local charity or hosts a giveaway for our newsletter subscribers.
How We Score Reviews
How-To Geek rates products on a 10-point scale. Reviews are always somewhat subjective, but the editorial team combines the writer’s experience and testing with benchmarks, pricing, and product comparisons to give each item a fair score.
Here’s what our numerical review scores translate to:
- Does Not Work
- Barely Functional
- Severely Lacking in Most Areas
- Functions, but has Numerous Issues
- Fine Yet Leaves a Lot to be Desired
- Good Enough to Buy on Sale
- Great and Worth Purchasing
- Fantastic, Approaching Best-in-Class
- Best-in-Class
- Borderline Perfection
Additionally, Editor’s Choice awards are given to products How-To Geek strongly recommends. You’ll find the badge near the top of every review that achieves this distinction.
In very rare cases, How-To Geek might adjust a review’s rating—positively or negatively—due to changes that take place after the review is published. We will always include an update note at the top of the review explaining that a change was made and why we believed the score needed to be modified.
If you have any questions about LifeSavvy Media’s reviews program, please reach out to our Reviews Director, Justin Duino, at justin@howtogeek.com or our Reviews Department at reviews@howtogeek.com.
Want to Submit Your Product for Review Consideration?
Are you looking to have your product reviewed by How-To Geek’s editorial team? Want us to consider it for a Best Of roundup or use it in one of our next social media videos? Good news! Our testing lab is open and ready to accept your company’s latest and greatest devices.
Note: How-To Geek and LifeSavvy Media do not produce paid reviews, we do not accept preconditions in order to receive review units, and we do not allow companies to preview our reviews before they’re published. Additionally, our acceptance of a review unit does not guarantee a review will be published.
To submit a product for review, please click on the button below, fill out the form, and tell us a bit about your device. We will provide our office’s shipping address at the end of the form.
