Hardware Review Ethos

Reviews featured at AVForums.com are written by a small team of professional enthusiasts who have been trained to high industry standards.

Our ethos is to provide independent and unbiased reviews which are as objective as possible.  For display reviews (TVs & Projectors), this information is obtained from a series of measurable and repeatable tests based on industry standards to ensure consistency and accuracy of image quality.

For audio products, the standards are not as well defined within the industry. However, our reviewers have the decades of testing and listening experience needed to produce fair and frank reviews.

All reviews are written with an emphasis of what is valuable and important to the end user with honest, unbiased commentary which is detailed, reasoned and evidenced.

We ignore the marketing material and quoted specifications and we are not influenced by PR departments or advertising budgets.

We are here to inform our readers what they should be looking for when auditioning the products we cover. We will never tell readers what to buy, but rather guide people towards the products  which may best serve their needs and suit their pockets.

What do the scores & badges mean?

Scoring and awarding badges to products is always a difficult task.  However when we score reviews the reasons for the marks given are explained and evidenced within the review content. 

Rather than jump directly to the review conclusion, we encourage users to read the whole review to gain a more focussed and informative overview as to why that product attains its scores. Scores are carefully focussed against the test results and reviewer's assessment.

In some cases we may also award a product an AVForums badge if it reaches a given standard.

Reference Status – This is a rare badge given only to those products that offer performance in the core competencies of a reference standard. A Reference product is one that other products will be referenced against as it offers the highest standards in its given market sector. This is also an excellent all round performer in every way.

Highly Recommended – Where a product does not attain the reference status level but does offer excellent performance in the core competencies.

Best Buy – A product that offers a high performance level at core competencies as well as doing so at a price point that defies its market position, making it a product that should be auditioned even against more expensive or featured packed rivals.

Recommended – A product that scores between good and excellent with most core competencies and offers a performance level in its market sector that makes it a must see product when putting together your demo short list. It may not be perfect in every area of performance but offers excellent core abilities in the areas that count compared to its market sector rivals.

No Badge awarded – This does not necessarily mean that the product is not highly rated in some performance areas, but rather it falls just short in some areas of its core competencies. The review content will explain this is full detail.