We read 5,272 professional product reviews. Here's who actually says no.

Only 19.5% of the 5,272 professional product reviews we count are critical: about one in five. What decides it most is the kind of article, not the product. Outlets built on “best of” guides almost never pan anything, while the lab testers pan about half of what they test.

Tenth Opinion turns every professional review of a product into one score. To do that honestly we track how each outlet scores, and we publish it on Our sources. Here is what those numbers show. “Critical” means the review's own verdict is mixed or negative, or its score converts to under 75 out of 100.

1. TechGearLab55%121
2. OutdoorGearLab51%57
3. Wired35%227
4. The Verge34%105
5. Tom's Hardware33%104
6. Android Central31%130
7. How-To Geek28%43
8. CNN Underscored27%88
9. Engadget24%119
10. Expert Reviews22%254
11. Tech Advisor22%163
12. ZDNET20%92
13. PCMag19%129
14. Digital Trends19%78
15. Tom's Guide18%408
16. The Guardian17%48
17. TechRadar16%429
18. Trusted Reviews15%385
19. Homes and Gardens15%40
20. Reviewed14%44
21. NBC Select12%43
22. Windows Central12%69
23. CNET11%154
24. T37%71
25. Good Housekeeping5%125
26. The Strategist4%54
27. Business Insider3%86
28. The Independent2%83
29. Bob Vila2%46
30. Popular Mechanics0%42

1. A list of picks is not a review

Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, Bob Vila, The Independent, Business Insider, The Strategist and Good Housekeeping are critical in 5% or fewer of the reviews we count. Most of what these outlets publish are tested “best of” guides, and a best-of list only includes products it recommends. That's how the format works: a list of picks is not a review of everything that was tried.

2. The lab testers are the tough markers

TechGearLab and OutdoorGearLab score about 9 points below other critics of the same products, and are critical in up to 55% of their reviews. They test products side by side and publish full rankings, losers included. On YouTube, Just Josh is similar: 9.7 points below other critics across 30 products.

3. The big tech magazines sit in the middle

Wired, The Verge and Tom's Hardware are critical in 33–35% of their reviews. Wired scores 5.5 points below other critics across 216 shared products.

4. YouTube is tougher than print

The independent YouTube reviewers we count are critical in 31.0% of their reviews, against 19.0% for written reviews. Every channel was checked by hand, and a video the brand paid for never counts. The video sample is still small: 216 reviews.

5. A few outlets lean generous

Windows Central scores 5.7 points above other critics of the same products (67 products compared). Trusted Reviews scores 3.2 points above (370 products). Each is still one voice in an average, and counts as written.

1. TechGearLab-9.3105
2. OutdoorGearLab-9.147
3. Wired-5.5216
4. The Verge-4.4105
5. PCMag-2.6122
6. How-To Geek-2.442
7. CNN Underscored-2.384
8. Tom's Hardware-1.897
9. ZDNET-1.391
10. Business Insider-0.877
11. Digital Trends-0.476
12. NBC Select-0.342
13. CNET+0.4144
14. The Guardian+0.447
15. Android Central+0.5130
16. Tech Advisor+0.7163
17. Tom's Guide+0.8393
18. Expert Reviews+0.8251
19. Good Housekeeping+1.4108
20. The Strategist+1.449
21. Engadget+1.4116
22. TechRadar+1.8419
23. The Independent+1.882
24. T3+2.370
25. Trusted Reviews+3.2370
26. Windows Central+5.767

Why it matters when you shop

One review tells you about the outlet as much as the product. A 4-star verdict from a lab that rarely gives one means something different from a place on a best-of list. Averaging every professional review of the exact model cancels most of that out, which is the whole idea behind Tenth Opinion.

We don't adjust any score for an outlet's lean. Every review counts as written, and every score on the site links to its source.

Method and limits

• The data: every review that counts toward a score on Tenth Opinion today. The numbers on this page update with the site.
• Critical: the review's own verdict is mixed or negative, or its score converts to under 75 out of 100.
• Lean: each review's score minus the average of the other critics of the same product, over products with at least two other reviews, averaged per outlet.
• Estimates: some outlets print no score. Theirs are estimated from the verdict and calibrated against outlets that do print scores (how we check estimates).
• Different beats: outlets cover different categories and choose what they review, so part of any gap reflects what they cover.
• Who counts: staffed publications, hand-checked specialist testers and independent YouTube channels; never shops, brands, customer reviews or sponsored videos. The full list, with every outlet's numbers, is on Our sources.

Journalists and researchers are welcome to use these figures with a link to this page. For the underlying numbers, write to [email protected].