DavecUK That all seems a great way to go.
I guess the problem I have - and maybe it’s just me - is that reviews by the same person, as you correctly pointed out, typically can’t be for things they purchased themselves and use regularly, due to monetary limits and the fact that nobody would daily drive multiple coffee machines, realistically…
… and so, any biases will show through in comparisons.
I do like reviews that talk factually about the way something works and what it can/can’t do, without any subjective opinions on whether it’s good or not. I don’t think it’s a good idea (personally) to suggest that something is good/bad for someone else as, unless you’re comparing it to everything else at a similar price point, for the same usage, workflow, etc. it’s likely to cause more bias than truth.
I will generally watch many reviews of the same thing, and others like it, trying to ignore anything opinionated, and then think if it’s what I want. However, I trust any ‘provided’ reviews less by the day, because the more reviews someone does, the more they are becoming a ‘reviewer’ which is a different role to a consumer.
Fundamentally, most reviews, especially youtube, that are not “I own this and use it, and don’t have others/intend to change” are effectively marketing, whether paid or not. If there’s nothing in it for you, and you don’t intend to keep/buy the item and use it daily, and your job is not reviewing things, why write a review ?
I know the answer can be “to help others”, but when “helping others via reviews” becomes the main thing that you do, you’ve become a critic/reviewer who looks at things relative to everything else you’ve reviewed rather than what you actually need, and rarely want to sound negative because that affects future items to review.
The same reason youtube disable ‘dislike’ counts on videos. Nobody wants to hear the ‘truth’ in marketing.
None of this is aimed at yourself, or anyone here. I get that it’s also fun to test things, use your knowledge, feedback thoughts were asked - heck, the whole point of a forum is along those lines. I just don’t see opinions from reviewers as being valuable any more, as they don’t have the same buy-in/risk. Information/facts, absolutely, but nothing beyond that.
