Ask HN: Websites that actually test and review products for listicles
Every now and then I want to know, for example, what the best shower filter is on the market. Now I know that when I google this question I get a series of websites with "top 10 XYZ" listicles and 99% of these are now written by LLMs with dubious sources if any. Do y'all know any websites that actually and reliably test and review the products they make listicles about?
I can try to change my search engine etc etc, but I'd really like to just build up a repertoire of trusted websites for stuff like this.
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Wirecutter is now owned by the NYT and use affiliate marketing, but they supposedly review everything too: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/how-wirecutter-ma...
Beyond that, I mostly just look for videos & longer reviews from verified purchasers on the big marketplaces where regular buyers are (Amazon, Best Buy, etc.), use Fakespot, etc. Sometimes YouTube, but a lot of that is affiliate spam and/or AI generated these days.
The "series of websites" with listicles is mostly SEO spam and you should probably just ignore them altogether, IMO...
I tend to go to YouTube to find videos where people buy a bunch of stuff and test them, like Project Farm. There are some that lean on sponsors and affiliates hard, which can call their integrity into question if the results are largely opinion based. If I don't hear any negatives and it sounds like someone is just ready marketing copy from the company, I disregard everything they say and don't go back to their videos.
There are probably still some niche sites for some things, but they are getting harder and harder to find. HouseFresh wrote an article about this a while back that made a bit of noise[0].
[0] https://housefresh.com/david-vs-digital-goliaths/ and follow up https://housefresh.com/how-google-decimated-housefresh/
They buy and test the products they review. The reviews show understanding of the product and its application. Less fluff than the wire cutter.