Many online reviews are biased?
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I have tried to purchase products based on online reviews many times, specially the ones on YouTube and in Amazon and Flipkart, but mostly it turns out that the products aren’t as good as they were revito be. I have seen there is a tendancy to praise a particular product by every reviewer after initial few good reviews by some users. Are these reviews biased or is it that generally the expectations of people are low for products ?
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If you are talking about Mobile reviews, dont rely much on these Youtube reviews.
Go to sites like Gsmarena(though they are generally on the lenient side), phonearena, anandtech etc
I bought Asus zenwatch based on these reviews, it’s a good watch, but too flawed for 5 star reviews. It disconnects twenty times in a day, there is no way I can transfer my file directly to the watch as a mass storage, notifications appear if they wish to, and lots and lots of other flaws.
Then another example I bought a Neutrogena moisturizer with high spf based on very good reviews, only to find that it did not give any sun protection compared to a Lakme day cream with spf.
Then I bought a very hyped headphone at high price , only to find the clarity lower than a half priced Philips headphone I already have. Over last ten years I have observed that nanuly products which are too hyped generally have fake reviews.
Paid reviews is a good profession nowadays,
Read the one star and two star reviews and decide.
@Rx27 wrote:
I bought Asus zenwatch based on these reviews, it’s a good watch, but too flawed for 5 star reviews. It disconnects twenty times in a day, there is no way I can transfer my file directly to the watch as a mass storage, notifications appear if they wish to, and lots and lots of other flaws.
Then another example I bought a Neutrogena moisturizer with high spf based on very good reviews, only to find that it did not give any sun protection compared to a Lakme day cream with spf.
Then I bought a very hyped headphone at high price , only to find the clarity lower than a half priced Philips headphone I already have. Over last ten years I have observed that nanuly products which are too hyped generally have fake reviews.
You must search for “paid reviews” on youtube for the complete info.
Anyway a genuine reviewer (at least most of them) would not have the time, patience or the need to write a review of more than a few lines. If most of the 5 star reviews were given on a couple of days then beware.
Also skin products never work the same way for everyone so you can ignore those reviews and buy the one that has always worked for you.
Headphones reviews would be mostly by non-audiophiles whose ego doesn’t let them to accept that they paid a high price for junk. They would convince their brains that it is high priced one so has to be really cool.
Asus only has a good line of tablets/netbooks and one should avoid their mobile line of products.
Always take reviews with a pinch of salt and make your research. Also international websites like amazon.com, newegg, bestbuy can also be used for electronic gadgets reviews. At least there many people have the heart to write honest reviews as far as I have observed.
Three lines from my side – for dd loots and life –
LOW EXPECTATIONS, NO DISSAPOINTMENT.
LISTEN TO OTHER’s VIEW WITH A PINCH OF SALT.
CIRCLEJERKS HURT THE MOST.
@runjesh wrote:
Paid reviews is a good profession nowadays,
Read the one star and two star reviews and decide.
True.. There is a saying that " First think about the disadvantages/limitations of the product before going for it" based on reviews.
@ranjithsai01 wrote:
…Anyway a genuine reviewer (at least most of them) would not have the time, patience or the need to write a review of more than a few lines.
…
This should not be used as a general rule. Keep in mind that when someone is passionate about something (on either side), he/she tends to write/say a lot.
@DealSeeker wrote:
@ranjithsai01 wrote:
…Anyway a genuine reviewer (at least most of them) would not have the time, patience or the need to write a review of more than a few lines.
…
This should not be used as a general rule. Keep in mind that when someone is passionate about something (on either side), he/she tends to write/say a lot.
Yeah that’s the reason I have mentioned “at least most of them” 
@ranjithsai01 wrote:
@DealSeeker wrote:
@ranjithsai01 wrote:
…Anyway a genuine reviewer (at least most of them) would not have the time, patience or the need to write a review of more than a few lines.
…
This should not be used as a general rule. Keep in mind that when someone is passionate about something (on either side), he/she tends to write/say a lot.
Yeah that’s the reason I have mentioned “at least most of them”
I saw that, bro. But, like most of “them”, dimers tend to ignore caveats so I had to highlight the part about not using it as a general rule.
Thanks friends for your valuable feedback.
@Rx27 wrote:
Then another example I bought a Neutrogena moisturizer with high spf based on very good reviews, only to find that it did not give any sun protection compared to a Lakme day cream with spf.
Same here. Bought the neutrogena moisturizer after going through superb reviews. Although the product was not bad but it was not even close to what the reviewers claimed.
Having said that, I find reviews very helpful on Amazon especially in fashion section. Other day i bought a Levis tees on discount. Reviews were too bad but i did not bother to read them since the tees were priced very low. Turned out that the product was not even good as a floor wipe, let alone wearing one outside. Felt like kicking myself for not reading the reviews.
@cybertechie wrote:
@Rx27 wrote:
Then another example I bought a Neutrogena moisturizer with high spf based on very good reviews, only to find that it did not give any sun protection compared to a Lakme day cream with spf.
Same here. Bought the neutrogena moisturizer after going through superb reviews. Although the product was not bad but it was not even close to what the reviewers claimed.
Having said that, I find reviews very helpful on Amazon especially in fashion section. Other day i bought a Levis tees on discount. Reviews were too bad but i did not bother to read them since the tees were priced very low. Turned out that the product was not even good as a floor wipe, let alone wearing one outside. Felt like kicking myself for not reading the reviews.
Apart from paid or bogus reviews another scenario is also possible when people buy products and get the original quality stuff and write a positive review, later another seller joins in and start selling the same product which is fake and so the quality of the product is inferior, and we buy the product based on the review for the original product and finally get the fake product.
The policy of online sites to club reviews for all the sellers of a particular in one thread is harming the buyers, there’s no way to know which seller generally sells duplicates and fakes.
@Rx27 wrote:
@cybertechie wrote:
@Rx27 wrote:
Then another example I bought a Neutrogena moisturizer with high spf based on very good reviews, only to find that it did not give any sun protection compared to a Lakme day cream with spf.
Same here. Bought the neutrogena moisturizer after going through superb reviews. Although the product was not bad but it was not even close to what the reviewers claimed.
Having said that, I find reviews very helpful on Amazon especially in fashion section. Other day i bought a Levis tees on discount. Reviews were too bad but i did not bother to read them since the tees were priced very low. Turned out that the product was not even good as a floor wipe, let alone wearing one outside. Felt like kicking myself for not reading the reviews.
Apart from paid or bogus reviews another scenario is also possible when people buy products and get the original quality stuff and write a positive review, later another seller joins in and start selling the same product which is fake and so the quality of the product is inferior, and we buy the product based on the review for the original product and finally get the fake product.The policy of online sites to club reviews for all the sellers of a particular in one thread is harming the buyers, there’s no way to know which seller generally sells duplicates and fakes.
Oh, man! You have said something which I have been having in mind since many years now. I wonder how these marketplaces tend to miss this very important point! Or do they deliberately miss this so that their sales will not be affected? Any review in a marketplace model MUST include the store name. I make it a habit to mention it in my reviews but I rarely write any.
@Magus wrote:
@Rx27 wrote:
@cybertechie wrote:
@Rx27 wrote:
Then another example I bought a Neutrogena moisturizer with high spf based on very good reviews, only to find that it did not give any sun protection compared to a Lakme day cream with spf.
Same here. Bought the neutrogena moisturizer after going through superb reviews. Although the product was not bad but it was not even close to what the reviewers claimed.
Having said that, I find reviews very helpful on Amazon especially in fashion section. Other day i bought a Levis tees on discount. Reviews were too bad but i did not bother to read them since the tees were priced very low. Turned out that the product was not even good as a floor wipe, let alone wearing one outside. Felt like kicking myself for not reading the reviews.
Apart from paid or bogus reviews another scenario is also possible when people buy products and get the original quality stuff and write a positive review, later another seller joins in and start selling the same product which is fake and so the quality of the product is inferior, and we buy the product based on the review for the original product and finally get the fake product.The policy of online sites to club reviews for all the sellers of a particular in one thread is harming the buyers, there’s no way to know which seller generally sells duplicates and fakes.
Oh, man! You have said something which I have been having in mind since many years now. I wonder how these marketplaces tend to miss this very important point! Or do they deliberately miss this so that their sales will not be affected? Any review in a marketplace model MUST include the store name. I make it a habit to mention it in my reviews but I rarely write any.
You want reviews like this ?
NSFW
Many reviews are paid reviews like amazon Flipkart and so on if they review and get paid so trust some real review like mkbhd for mobiles…. And headphones
I always read the negative/1-star,2-star reviews first. I also make it a point to refer many reviews, and not rely on one or two sites. I also do a general search in Google to see if I can find anything about the product. It has saved me many times. I’ll give 2 instances as recent as yesterday.
I wanted to buy a mobile, and LG G4 & G5 were narrowed down. G4 has 4.4 Stars in Amazon. G5 has 4 Stars. But as I was doing my tiny research, I found that while G4 and G5 are amazing devices, they have some serious glitches. G4 has hardware bootloop issue, recognised by LG. The problem can creep up at any point of time, so if it comes up after your warranty period(which happens to me invariably), you’re in a soup.
I had almost placed the order for G5, when a casual search in Google revealed that LG has decided to end it’s ‘Modular Design’ concept yesterday, and the upcoming G6 will not be having the concept. So if you buy the G5, you’ll be paying a premium for a concept that is obsolete even before it kicked in, and you’re at risk of not being able to find even a battery replacement after a couple of years as LG would’ve most likely stopped making the modular batteries by then.
Having said that, even 1 star reviews can sometimes be useless. Most buyers will give negative reviews if their shipments were delivered late. And some buyers will give 5 stars the very next minute after receiving the product if they got a better deal and the shipment arrived quickly. So don’t go with ratings and reviews both positive and negative…
Make a concoction of reviews from Amazon.in, amazon.com, flipkart, gsmarena, phonearena, trustedreviews, gadgets.ndtv, etc to name a few, and after the concoction starts simmering, add a generous amount of instinct to it, and serve hot. You’ll most likely have made the right choice this way.
Sometimes the reviews are published quickly, to gain more views. And because the device was sent few days / weeks ago, initial reviews are generally on the positive
side. That, and some companies pay you to talk good.