How we evaluate
One method, stated plainly, and a rule that money never touches the verdict. This page sets out how techshooked builds the buying guides, comparisons, and explainers it publishes, and what a reader can hold us to.
Last updated
- Applies to
- Buying guides, comparisons, and explainers across every section.
- How we work
- Evidence first: primary documentation and independent measurement, cited.
- Errors
- Report one. Corrections are logged on the article under our correction policy.
The short version
- Evidence, not a test lab. We don't run a hardware lab and we don't claim hands-on tests we haven't done. Our guides are built from primary documentation, independent measurements, and long-term owner reports, and every source is cited.
- Claims stay claims. A manufacturer's figure is attributed to the manufacturer until an independent source confirms it.
- Independent sources, checked. Guides draw on multiple independent sources, and specifications, prices, and version numbers are checked against their source before publication.
- Money never touches the verdict. No paid placements and no sponsored verdicts. Affiliate links are disclosed and never change a recommendation or a list's order.
How a guide comes together
techshooked is a small, independent publication without a test lab. Rather than write around that, we build every guide from evidence we can show you.
We start from the primary record: specification sheets, developer documentation, standards bodies, regulators' filings, and the maker's own update and support history. We add published measurements from named testing outlets and laboratories, and patterns from long-term owner reports. Where sources disagree, we show both and say which method we trust more.
The comparison, the verdict, and the who-should-buy guidance are ours. The evidence is cited. We paraphrase and attribute, and we never present another outlet's measurement as our own.
We do not claim a measurement we did not take, describe a product as if we had handled it, or let a press release stand in for evidence.
What we weigh
When we compare products, we look at the same things every time.
- Does what it claims. Core capability against the product's own promises and the category baseline.
- Value against the alternatives. Price, total cost over a realistic ownership period, and what the extra money buys.
- Reliability and longevity. Defect and recall history, the update and security-patch record, repairability, and how long the maker commits to support.
- Everyday use. Setup, learning curve, interface or ergonomics, and accessibility.
- Ecosystem and lock-in. Compatibility with standards and other tools, data portability, and what leaving would cost.
- Support and accountability. Documentation, warranty terms, and how the maker handles security disclosures and user data.
How much each one matters depends on the category (a hosting plan is judged more on reliability than on ergonomics), and a guide says so when one of them decides the verdict.
Evidence, in order of trust
- Primary documentation. Specification sheets, developer documentation, standards bodies, regulators' filings, and safety certifications.
- Independent measurement. Published test results from named outlets and laboratories, linked and dated.
- Long-term owner reports. Patterns across support forums, issue trackers, and retailer reviews, weighted toward recent reports and toward faults that recur. A single complaint is an anecdote, not evidence.
- The manufacturer's marketing. The lowest rung. Useful for what the product is meant to be, never a source for how well it does it.
Where the money is, and where it is not
techshooked earns from advertising and from affiliate links on some product recommendations. That is disclosed on every page that carries them, in line with our affiliate disclosure, and it does not reach the evaluation. Nobody can buy a placement, a position in a list, or a softer verdict, and we do not accept payment or a review unit in exchange for coverage.
Affiliate links are added after the guide is written and never decide which products appear. If a list is ordered by anything other than merit (a "best for most people" pick placed ahead of a specialist tool, for example) the guide says so and explains why. Our editorial standards apply to guides exactly as they apply to news.
Keeping a guide current
We revisit a guide when something material changes: a new model or major software version, a price move that changes the value picture, a recall or a security incident, or a change in the maker's support commitment.
Factual errors are fixed under our correction policy, with a dated note on the article. If you find one, or if your experience of a product contradicts ours, tell us. Reader reports are part of the evidence.