What do you look for in a product review?

[rrileypm]

Long before I became a ROM developer here on Freaktab, I was trying to start providing product reviews. It was back in the very early days of Freaktab...and we still had to gain more credibility before vendors and manufacturers would even consider it.

Now we are approaching 3 years...and our developers are being frequently asked to review products. The vendors are actually seeking our help. That's a huge compliment to the hard work our team has been doing!!!!!! Every time our reviews are viewed it's counted...which is how the vendors evaluate the effectiveness of the review. Also, if a coupon code is posted...the vendors see that a purchase is made based on the buyer's opinion of the review. So, as you can see...the better the response we get from our reviews....the better chance we get to do more reviews.

On the other hand...if a device we get to review turns out to be a piece of crap...I want our reviewers to be truthful and tell you where the device fails...and possible steps to take to resolve the failure (because all of us tend to want to take things in our own hands from time to time).

I have a journalism background...so its much easier for me to kick out a review, but some of our other developers don't have much writing experience...but have a strong knowledge base in testing these products for you.

Sure, it would be easy for us to surf the net and copy the way other people write their reviews...but I would rather get more input from our users about exactly what you wish to gain from reading a review.

Based on your feedback...I want to design a product review format that covers everything you want to know about a product before you make a purchase. A template our developers can use to write a truly effective review.

Please give me some feedback in this new thread.

Sent from my P1 using Tapatalk

[Musicboy]

Long before I became a ROM developer here on Freaktab, I was trying to start providing product reviews. It was back in the very early days of Freaktab...and we still had to gain more credibility before vendors and manufacturers would even consider it.

Now we are approaching 3 years...and our developers are being frequently asked to review products. The vendors are actually seeking our help. That's a huge compliment to the hard work our team has been doing!!!!!! Every time our reviews are viewed it's counted...which is how the vendors evaluate the effectiveness of the review. Also, if a coupon code is posted...the vendors see that a purchase is made based on the buyer's opinion of the review. So, as you can see...the better the response we get from our reviews....the better chance we get to do more reviews.

On the other hand...if a device we get to review turns out to be a piece of crap...I want our reviewers to be truthful and tell you where the device fails...and possible steps to take to resolve the failure (because all of us tend to want to take things in our own hands from time to time).

I have a journalism background...so its much easier for me to kick out a review, but some of our other developers don't have much writing experience...but have a strong knowledge base in testing these products for you.

Sure, it would be easy for us to surf the net and copy the way other people write their reviews...but I would rather get more input from our users about exactly what you wish to gain from reading a review.

Based on your feedback...I want to design a product review format that covers everything you want to know about a product before you make a purchase. A template our developers can use to write a truly effective review.

Please give me some feedback in this new thread.

Sent from my P1 using Tapatalk

I hope this develops into a reality for consumer use.

[blinkone]

Hello randy.Iv also started doing product reviews in the last few months witch I rely enjoy doing Im far from an expert..I think the main thing about a review is it needs to be very honest even if the device has been donated for free to test & review, ok we want to please the vender who has donated the product to review.. The review must stay totally honest..

[rrileypm]

I totally agree. We all have our reputations to maintain.

Sent from my P1 using Tapatalk

[Musicboy]

I was looking at all the different vendors sites,There has to be over a hundred tablet brands,I assume most are re-branded though.

[900supersport]

This seems a good idea. I think its important to disclose if any special discount received, supplied for review etc.

[rrileypm]

Yes...that's right. Even in China, you have your main factories who sell their own brands. Pipo, Cube, Vido, Chuwi, Teclast, FNF iFive. But they also sell OEM models to other companies to sell under different brand names. That's where it gets complicated.

Sent from my P1 using Tapatalk

[mitchell4you]

Well..
Unboxing
Wifi/nand/lan/benchmark speed using firmware version xxxx
Pcb pictures.. (showing what pcb version that has been tested)
Youtube vid showing video sample files playing.. aka benchmarks/xbmc/mx-player/netflix/hulu/youtube/iplayer.. settings overview..temp readings while benchmarking/games..ect
Does it do dolby/dts/passthrough/multchannel/spdif to av-reciever ect
Does it support multi-user.. 3d, iso,samba,ftp,big harddrives.. fat/ntfs/ext,webcam,... ect
Conclusion / pro / cons / bugs found in fw / incompatible apps / would you recommend others to buy this unit? Or why not
A list of any custom fw that work on this box / howto fw upgrade / howto root / where to find maker site and fw
Review updates when a new firmware comes out (or when new bugs are found ect
This pcb is Also sold under the following names or warning for any clones-out there /new pcb's out there

Cheers

[FestivusOz]

With Chinese based products I think it's important to discuss limitations out of the box and what is currently overcome with custom ROMs.

Also ease of flashing I.e. RockChip vs MTK

[McrRed]

A bugbear of mine is comparing features when the units have vastly different prices, so a value for money comment or rating helps me.

[Musicboy]

nothing will take the place of extensive research,But it would be nice to have a one stop place for honest reviews from shipping time from different sellers to followups of gear after use over a period of time.there seems to be large membership on these boards but hardly any participation from most,just lots of lurking.there needs to be more proactive involvement.

[effimote]

i want to get the best price in same quality products ,that is what i want to find

[joshjohn]

the objective comment of the device, and what's the highlight of the device, why it is worth buying.

[bluesmanuk]

I pretty much echo all of the above.

Comprehensiveness is important if you are really going to carry out a good review.

So many I read or see on youtube seem to do so in no time at all and don't delve into the complete spectrum of a devices ability.

Video reviews are far better in my opinion because you actually get to see something in action and I prefer bite size chunks dedicated to a particular area of functionality.

The one kind of review that tends to be all too prevalent and boring are the long unboxing reviews.

I would rather just see all the components and accessories laid out with a minimum of time spent on what is in the box.

[windcar]

A review should well inform any potential buyer what they are getting themselves into. A proper review should start off with the hardware specifications and what do those specifications mean to laymen.

Since most tablets/TV mentioned in freaktab are unknown China brands, a dedicated section on the hardware and software issues must also be included. This will help buyer to avoid products that sounds good on paper but is actually a piece of crap. I remembered getting a Yuandao n101 tablet and had I known the huge amount of issues it had, I would not have bought it. Some of things to check out for during testing for the reviewers are software compatibility against common APKs out there, any static sound or loudness issue? Any bluetooth compatibility, disconnect issue? Any wifi unstability, range, speed issue? Any screen artifact, color tinting, ghosting, bleeding, bright spot issue? Any issue with sdcard mounted as FATS/NTFS? Any charging issue? Any random reboot/hang issue?

Also, it is good to inform reader on how much internal ROM is being partitioned. It is pretty useless to buy a 32GB internal ROM with only 1 GB being used as internal storage. If Freaktab intend to release custom rom for this device, it is also useful to tell the readers about this and what they can look forward to in the custom ROM.

At the end, the reviewer should give a conclusion if this product is worth buying according to his opinion. Reasons should be stated for his conclusion.