Has YouTube’s Hardware Reviews Become Irrelevant?

[Z Crazy]

More and more, I’m finding reviewers are acquiescing to the companies that supply them the gear. Now understand… I don’t say that lightly. I don’t think people are misleading you to make more money, but the fact remains I don’t feel as though were getting the reviewer’s “Straight Up” opinion. I think the lines are getting blurred more than ever before. Some might mention that regulations require them to disclose certain facts, but in all honesty, I don’t feel as though that is the problem. The real problem lies with the reviewer feeling obliged to not show the product in a bad light as to not upset the status quo. After all, a bad review will likely lead to hard feelings and then less or no gear to review from that company in the future.

The catalyst for this was a few reviews from The SRG (Sim Racing Garage) channel. I’ll start out by saying I LOVE the guy’s channel. As well, I don’t feel as though he is dishonest in his reviews. Quite the opposite, I feel he is very honest. Barry’s methodology is very clear and leaves little room for opinion. Which I think is a good thing. Honestly, I think he does this on purpose to keep from appearing biased. But I just feel that some of the reviews are graded on a curve to avoid casting a bad light on various companies. Overall, he’s not bad in this aspect… I feel some reviewers are far worse. I’ve seen reviews of products that it took me 5 minutes of use to find a near fatal flaw. All the while, these reviewers gushed head over heels about the product. So even though the SRG is what prompted me to bring this up, his channel is NOT the focus.

Feel free to chime in.

Do you feel the YouTube review community is honest in general?

Do you feel the YouTube review community has a bias?

How much value do you give the YouTube review community?

 

[user3392345]

The whole INTERNET is Irrelevant.

 

[asteroulis]

You are totally right. Bad reviews lead to possible product ban. Then again thats only about professional YouTubers..

 

[VFOURMAX1]

A you tube review on a product is just that persons opinion about the product whether biased by the manufacturer or not is a crap shoot but still just that one individuals opinion.
The video will still usually give product information and on set up and and use so still not a total waste. But basing your total opinion off of one source of review is not the best way to go. Using the shotgun method and hitting multiple review sources is preferable if possible.

The best way is to search multiple forums such as this one and try to find threads relating to a product you have an interest in and get the multiple opinions found within the thread. Also if the product is available through web sites such as Amazon or New Egg for instance check out the reviews from the verified buyers and see whether more people were positive towards the product than negative in making your purchasing choices.

Last but not least see if the sources the product is available from has different return policies and if not sure whether you think it is exactly what you want sometimes paying few dollars more knowing you can easily return it if you do not like it is worth paying a small premium.