Why do expert reviewers never have any issues with new gadgets that regular users do?

[RichBrown68]

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it!" --Upton Sinclair
There is a lot of pressure to write positive reviews of products that are supplied for free by potential or existing advertisers. When you have a website focusing on Microsoft products you can't afford to drive away Microsoft fans and customers by being too objective. This isn't done intentionally in most cases, and reviewers believe they are being objective but you can't be when your paycheck depends on writing positive reviews. Note that Consumer Reports purchases cars and other products on the open market and will not test items given to them by the manufacturer. You can bet that any product handed to a reviewer by the company that makes it has been carefully massaged to make it as good as possible.

No offense, but that only makes sense if Microsoft is the only company whose products they are reviewing. If, for instance, Sony has a competing product that will also be reviewed by these same people, wouldn't they want the reviewers to slam the Surface and praise theirs? And didn't they also get review copies of the early Surface models that they nearly universally panned?

 

[John M Beauchemin]

Yeah, these same apologists were saying the same thing around the same time as SP3. No throttling or heat issues, must be your device. A year later, SP3 is known for extreme throttling and heat/battery problems. They actually don't contribute anything to helping solve this situation. Microsoft is a big, rich corporation. They don't need yes men to defend them.

At the risk of being called names again, I reiterate that just because it is your perception that ALL UNITS have these problems does not make it so. And likewise, just because it's not all units that have problems does not mean that it's not a problem that MS needs to address. I'm not being an apologist, I'm being a realist. OP asked why more reviewers don't talk about the problems they encountered... maybe instead of it being a massive journalistic conspiracy, maybe some of them simply did not have any problems? Occam's razor, anyone?

 

[RichBrown68]

Yeah, these same apologists were saying the same thing around the same time as SP3. No throttling or heat issues, must be your device. A year later, SP3 is known for extreme throttling and heat/battery problems. They actually don't contribute anything to helping solve this situation. Microsoft is a big, rich corporation. They don't need yes men to defend them.

The battery drain and heat/fan issues are real. I think the heat/fan is all due to the battery and not electronic components. It would explain why so many people experience it when they plug in to charge. The batteries are chemical reactions. It's hard to control which why it goes. A little imperfection in the chemistry (remember the Sony lawsuits?) can cause them to go bad. I suspect the fan comes on to cool the battery during charging to prevent damage to the electronics.

You make the comparison with the Surface Pro 3, where apparently people denied the overheating issues, yet a year later, the issue exists. So let me use your own example and point out that, a year later, the reviews for the Surface Pro 3 are overwhelmingly positive, with the device getting an overall average of 4 1/2 stars out of 5 on Amazon.com. I can only hope that a year from now, the attitudes toward the Pro 4 mirror those of the Pro 3.

 

[Ten Four]

No offense, but that only makes sense if Microsoft is the only company whose products they are reviewing.

The tendency is to gloss over the problems of all products reviewed--that's why it is important to jump into the forums today to find out the real-world story on products. I see the same issue in all media that is dependent on advertising dollars. Advertisers are the real audience paying the bills, and they get what they want. Our local newspaper is a prime example. In alternate weeks you can read that "now is the best time to sell a house," then the next week " now is the best time to buy a house." It is not a coincidence that the largest and most frequent ads are for real estate and builders.

 

[Daniel Rubino]

There is a lot of pressure to write positive reviews of products that are supplied for free by potential or existing advertisers. When you have a website focusing on Microsoft products you can't afford to drive away Microsoft fans and customers by being too objective. This isn't done intentionally in most cases, and reviewers believe they are being objective but you can't be when your paycheck depends on writing positive reviews. Note that Consumer Reports purchases cars and other products on the open market and will not test items given to them by the manufacturer. You can bet that any product handed to a reviewer by the company that makes it has been carefully massaged to make it as good as possible.

Gotta disagree. At least for here, Microsoft doesn't advertise with us and when I speak to engineers, etc. off the record they want us to be tough on them. If you're interested in building a good product, like really interested, you read fair criticism about your product to make it better.

Also, I don't know any websites, including our own, that has editors dealing with advertising. We have a third party company do ours so nothing is chosen, we get what they serve.

Hell, the Verge had Microsoft sponsorship for awhile on some articles meanwhile they were slamming Windows 10 in their review. No ****s given.

Personally, I don't think there is such thing as objective reviews. Everyone has their bias. The difference is, some of us are more open about our biases than others. There is nothing worse than someone who says "I'm 100% objective" yet they obviously favor one company's products. I mean, you have to have a standard.

 

[RichBrown68]

I alluded to this earlier, but for me, one of the first things I check when considering a product are Amazon reviews. Those are also forums for actual users....but people who like the product are just as likely to post as those who dislike it. (Yes I'm aware of the existence of paid reviewers there, which is why I only read those that say "verified Amazon purchase.").

 

[Ten Four]

Personally, I don't think there is such thing as objective reviews. Everyone has their bias.

Agreed, and often it is not a conscious bias. You're writing on a site titled "Windows Central." Would you do that if you didn't like Windows stuff? Do you go to press conferences where you get free swag? Do you get "inside, off the record" interviews with people that make you feel special? There are tons of ways advertisers sway the press and everyone knows this, including every journalist.

 

[Daniel Rubino]

Agreed, and often it is not a conscious bias. You're writing on a site titled "Windows Central." Would you do that if you didn't like Windows stuff? Do you go to press conferences where you get free swag? Do you get "inside, off the record" interviews with people that make you feel special? There are tons of ways advertisers sway the press and everyone knows this, including every journalist.

Alternatively, you get so big and influential you don't care what people or companies think as you're too big to ignore. You could also argue that the biggest fans are the hardest to please due to their high expectations. Look at the recent Windows Phone community around here. Fans of Microsoft? Yup. Love Windows Phone? Indeed. All of them thinking the Lumia 950 is the best thing ever? Ooohh...maybe 50/50 on that one.

In fact, I've seen more positive things written by people outside of the WP community than those who profess to be diehard fans.

The toughest thing in a review is separating what bothers you from what would bother a normal person. Too often people write at a technical level about things that only a minority of people will care about. It's important to highlight those flaws, but not necessarily harp on them either.

 

[Ten Four]

The toughest thing in a review is separating what bothers you from what would bother a normal person. Too often people write at a technical level about things that only a minority of people will care about. It's important to highlight those flaws, but not necessarily harp on them either.

True, but it is also hard to put yourself in the shoes of the "normal person" because of your knowledge and experiences. Just for example, this OneDrive controversy seems to blow over the head of those who just assume that most people will be happy since they already subscribe to Office365, which is not the case out in the real world. Most people have no use or need for Office365 so OneDrive is actually being compared to Google Drive with 15GB for free. Nobody in the tech journalism sphere seems to understand that most people out in the real world compare prices and benefits that matter to them: 5GB vs. 15GB, free photo storage vs. no free photo storage, free music storage vs. no free music storage. The average person is not buying a Surface Book and a Lumia 950XL. This is actually one of the problems with tech reviews overall. Most reviewers sneer at ordinary hardware that is designed for the mass market and have no concept of what most people deal with everyday: very tight budgets, slow or no Internet, dicey Wifi, a need for something that will last 4 years not 2 years, something that does the basics very well with luxury features as highly suspect as they add cost, complexity, and fragility, etc. The average person spends 95% of their time doing nothing other than texting, email, facebook, weather, news, and twitter, yet reviews always harp on extreme use scenarios where phones can take 4K video, etc. Most people want to know how well the phone makes and receives calls, how easy it is to use, how durable it is, how long the battery lasts, whether or not the bundled services (like OneDrive) work well and are a good deal, etc. Tech writers write for the advertisers, the gear heads, and their peers, not for the general public that wants to know about the "issues" the OP mentioned.

 

[Daniel Rubino]

Tech writers write for the advertisers, the gear heads, and their peers, not for the general public that wants to know about the "issues" the OP mentioned.

Those issues: "excessive heat, battery drain or loud fan noise."

The only one of those I have a problem with is the battery drain, and you know when it started? The pre-release night when we got the 10/23 firmware update. I don't know what 'excessive heat' means...is that when in the bag and it should be off, but it still gets hot or when running a web browser?

There are a few discussions pointing to that firmware and enabling Windows Hello as one of the culprits for poor InstantGo times (we even suggested turning it off). So if we weren't seeing those during the review embargo and then the newer firmware is causing the issue, I am not sure how all of a sudden this is about "pleasing advertisers, the gear heads, and their peers".

Probably one of the funniest things that I see is when people act like they know how this all works, people's intentions, etc. AnandTech, the Verge, and we are all vastly different sites. AnandTech is super techy/benchmarks, Verge lifestyle and We're in between with an expertise in Microsoft/ecosystem. It's an easy and lazy way to criticize by attacking character, motives, etc. without even knowing the people or the business. But it's fine, whatever. Everyone has opinions on the internet.

 

[Ten Four]

It's an easy and lazy way to criticize by attacking character, motives, etc. without even knowing the people or the business.

Speaking for myself, I am not attacking anyone's character or motives, just seeing the results. And, I'm not saying it is bad, wrong, or some sort of conscious conspiracy. Just pointing out that what the average reader sees is not written for him/her. I write for and work in another industry where I see the same issues. Websites and magazines depend on revenues from advertising--nobody disputes that. Money talks, and everyone, consciously or subconsciously, in the industry listens.

 

[neo158]

I actually prefer honest reviews that show no bias for or against the product being reviewed, that show the pros and cons and allow me to make my own decisions on whether I should buy the item or not.

 

[zkyevolved]

Don't you think its a bit concerning that the software was not ready even 2 weeks before launch?

did they do testing? where was the quality checks?

:S

Lol. You keep getting updates to your phone because it's still not ready xD haha. Computers are the same, well, because phones are tiny computers! haha.

 

[Keith Wallace]

You know, there can be lots of reasons. Like Dan said above, he got troubles once a specific firmware version hit, which might not be the same that was being run at the time the review was written. It might be that they aren't testing the real-world software that might include code inefficiencies to cause excessive heat (as an example, a video card review might not use a game that isn't optimized and causes the card to underperform, which could have the customer blaming the card/reviewer, rather than the software designer). Long-term use (meaning beyond the week these things probably spend getting tested) might be necessary to get problems to arise. Or, it might just be as simple as Microsoft's aim to pre-test review units with higher QA standards to ensure that they're putting their best foot forward on review units, knowing an article about hardware failures isn't nearly as bad as having a casual consumer needing a replacement.

 

[zkyevolved]

Gotta disagree. At least for here, Microsoft doesn't advertise with us and when I speak to engineers, etc. off the record they want us to be tough on them. If you're interested in building a good product, like really interested, you read fair criticism about your product to make it better.

Also, I don't know any websites, including our own, that has editors dealing with advertising. We have a third party company do ours so nothing is chosen, we get what they serve.

Hell, the Verge had Microsoft sponsorship for awhile on some articles meanwhile they were slamming Windows 10 in their review. No ****s given.

Personally, I don't think there is such thing as objective reviews. Everyone has their bias. The difference is, some of us are more open about our biases than others. There is nothing worse than someone who says "I'm 100% objective" yet they obviously favor one company's products. I mean, you have to have a standard.

Agreed. BUT my partner works in a PR firm and I'm told constantly how certain websites want 4,000 euros + devices for free for everyone there to make it the "best device" or "#1 device" haha. The 4,000 euros is on the low end, some of them ask for 10,000 and a bunch of devices to "give away" for the readers. So, I'm very VERY happy to hear that WC doesn't operate like this. But I can 100% confirm that this is a normal practice to buy good / positive reviews. Hell, even YOUTUBERS are getting paid tons for Product Placement! I know of a few that charge around 2,000-4,000 euros to have the product behind them in the video (without even talking about it, just having it there). It all depends on how popular you are and how many viewers you have.

And yes, everyone is biased in some way or another. But what's completely wrong is to be a 100% ****** and ignore obvious problems (not saying WC does that at all! I love WC!!!!). There are some other phone brand ****** sites ejem ejem out there that can do NOTHING but PRAISE every damn product a company makes! Even with bugs "yeah it's buggy, but hey! It's the best device ever" haha. Oh well, that's the world we live in! Who cares The best thing to do is to enjoy your device, do research, and try and resolve any issues in a calm way without flaming up! haha.

 

[snakebitten]

I MUST get it right when I recommend the expenditures for my company. That doesn't mean I would get skewered for a defect or a random failure, but I am expected to be a legitimate advisor. Having said that, I do spend many hours gleaning info from various sources. And I do read lots of professional, as well as user reviews and comments. But ultimately, I test drive most hardware\software myself before I feel comfortable recommending for or against. (or wait, which is pretty common too)

With the SP4 specifically, I currently have a "recommend" for some folks, and a "wait" for others. The SP4 has faired really well, although we have only deployed a few. And those that have been deployed have gone to folks that have some technical savvy and aren't going to pitch a fit if they have to charge the battery earlier than desired. (I also make it very clear that W10 is more than gently pushing you to use a browser that you will NOT be familiar with, and that IE is there for you if you run into a problem. For the most part, Edge is leaving a good impression for how it renders, compared to what the user was used to)

For the Surface Book, I have a "wait" for any configuration with the DGPU. (I don't think this is an overreaction on my part) In reality, we don't really have a legitimate need for the GPU upgrade, so the "wait" doesn't affect us.

I guess my main point is that although there are plenty of postings about the problems you MIGHT experience with these newly released products, it does NOT mean that these products are not deployable. They are. But I know which of my users that I would not give one to this early. Not everyone has the same threshold for technology-pain.

 

[FXi2]

Need to cross compare reviews and not read pre release reviews as gospel. Many times they simply don't test long enough to find faults. Often you should read reviews where they "lived with" the device for a few months before writing, but we are an impatient group and often fail to wait. Forums with real life users are super useful. And patience is key.

 

[Ten Four]

Forums with real life users are super useful. And patience is key.

My advice is to never purchase software or hardware until it has been out on the market at least six months, and preferably a year. If for some reason the new gear or software is something you must have than you must also be prepared to be a guinea pig for issues that everything has.

 

[taymur]

Lol. You keep getting updates to your phone because it's still not ready xD haha. Computers are the same, well, because phones are tiny computers! haha.

do you think you are the first one to test these updates when they come to your phone?

a simple thing to consider is the number of rings and insiders are testing updates before they go out to public, even on old hardware.

do you think companies code and submit it?

when a device ships it should be ready in the state that it is.

now what ever update they want to do after that should also be vigorously tested, before it is let to the wild.

 

[zkyevolved]

do you think you are the first one to test these updates when they come to your phone?

a simple thing to consider is the number of rings and insiders are testing updates before they go out to public, even on old hardware.

do you think companies code and submit it?

when a device ships it should be ready in the state that it is.

now what ever update they want to do after that should also be vigorously tested, before it is let to the wild.

Then I guess all Android, iPhone, iPad, windows desktop, MacBook and servers are terrible. Most updated are tested but there are always always always issues. Don't kid yourself. Even if it's a full release, it's really a beta perpetually because people always find issues with software.