Methodology
How we assess products
This page states what PickBadger does and does not do. It is deliberately narrower than most methodology pages, because claiming a testing programme the site does not run would make every score on it worthless.
What a PickBadger review currently is
Every review on this site today is a specification-and-consensus analysis. That means two things, and only two:
- Every figure in a spec table is taken from the manufacturer’s own published material — a datasheet, a spec tab, or a product page — and the page records the URL and the date it was retrieved.
- The surrounding analysis compares those published figures against other products from the same makers, and names what a maker does not publish.
No category on this site currently involves hands-on testing. Nobody at PickBadger has handled the products reviewed here. There is no lab, no test rig, no measurement protocol and no long-term unit, and you will not find a sentence on this site claiming otherwise. If that changes, this page changes first and the categories involved are named here.
The sourcing rules
- Manufacturer first, and only. A figure comes from the company that makes the product. Retailer listings, spec aggregators and other publishers’ reviews are not sources.
- No carrying figures between models. If a maker publishes a dimension for a neighbouring model but not for this one, the cell reads TODO: verify. It is not filled in.
- No cross-company substitution. A movement maker’s datasheet is not the watch maker’s datasheet. A chipset maker’s figure is not the amplifier maker’s figure.
- Dated, always. Every spec table carries the retrieval date. Prices carry a “checked on” date, because prices go stale faster than anything else on a page like this.
- Gaps are content. What a manufacturer declines to publish is often the most useful thing on the page, so unverified figures are shown, not hidden.
Why source analyses carry no score
A score is a judgement about how a product behaves, and specifications do not support one. Rather than generate a plausible number to fill the field, each source-only review states its evidence boundary and publishes no rating.
A score is published only when a named person at PickBadger has assessed the product and can say on what basis. Until then the sub-score bars remain unscored and the structured data on those pages emits no rating at all: not a zero, an average, or a figure taken elsewhere.
Why the cons column is never shorter
The content schema refuses to build a review whose limitations list is shorter than its strengths list. That is enforced in code rather than left to an editor, because a short cons column is the clearest signal that a review is not independent — and no review on this site is independent in the ordinary sense. See the disclosure page.
What we cover, and what we deliberately do not
PickBadger covers 9 categories of consumer products:
- Cameras & Audio — Viltrox, AIYIMA
- Computing & Home Tech — KLIM Technologies, Meross, Arovec, CSpring
- RC, Drones & Radio — ATOMRC, VIFLY, TIDRADIO
- Ride & Outdoor — Freego, Vivi, Ausom, FunWater
- Everyday Goods — Boderry, Nana Hats
- Tools & Workshop — KINGBOLEN, Magnetar, Diesel Laptops
- Kids & Family — History Unboxed, MAMAZING
- Wellness & Nutrition — ModifyHealth, Webber Naturals, Yerbaé
- Style & Personal Care — OG Produce, IceClique
Wellness coverage follows stricter claim rules. Meal delivery, supplements and caffeinated drinks are assessed from the published label, plan structure, ingredients, allergens and service terms. PickBadger does not infer clinical efficacy, diagnose a condition or turn a manufacturer’s structure/function statement into a medical claim.
Figures we could not verify
Published openly, because a methodology page that only lists successes is marketing.