This page explains how we gather information, test products and reach conclusions. It sits alongside our editorial policy and covers the practical side: what we measure, how long we spend, and which sources we trust.
Sources We Use
We work from primary material wherever it exists. That means developer patch notes, official support documentation, manufacturer specification sheets, storefront listings, and public filings or press releases issued by the companies involved.
Community sources such as Reddit threads and Discord servers help us spot problems early, but they are a starting point, not evidence.
A widely reported bug gets treated as a lead until we reproduce it ourselves or find an official acknowledgement. When we cite another publication’s reporting, we say so and link to it rather than absorbing the claim as our own.
Game Reviews
Reviewers play on retail hardware under normal conditions, not on optimised test benches. Minimum playtime is 15 hours, rising to 30 or more for open-world games, and we finish the main campaign before scoring.
Multiplayer titles are played across peak and off-peak hours so matchmaking times reflect what readers will experience.
For live-service games we return after major content updates and revise the article, noting the patch version that prompted the change.
Hardware Testing
Every device is used as a daily driver for at least two weeks. Alongside subjective use, we record repeatable measurements.
Controllers and Headsets
Battery life is measured from full charge to shutdown under continuous use, repeated three times, with the median reported. Headsets are tested across at least four games spanning different audio profiles, plus voice chat on two platforms.
Laptops and Desktops
We run each machine through the same set of games at 1080p and 1440p, recording average and 1% low frame rates over three ten-minute passes. Thermals are logged during a one-hour sustained load, and noise is measured at 50cm from the chassis.
Storage and Accessories
Drives are tested with sequential and random read/write runs, then with real installation and load times from three large games. Results are compared against the manufacturer’s stated figures, and any gap is reported.
Guides and Troubleshooting
Fixes are never listed unless the writer has reproduced the fault and confirmed the solution on their own setup. Each guide records the console firmware, GPU driver, operating system build or app version used during testing.
Where a fix works only in specific circumstances, we say which ones. Where several fixes exist, we order them by success rate observed during testing rather than by ease.
Comparisons and Buying Guides
Shortlists begin with a defined set of criteria written before testing starts, so the winner is not chosen and justified afterwards. Products excluded from a comparison are named, with the reason given. Prices are checked on the day of publication and rechecked when we refresh the article.
Updating and Retesting
Reviews and guides are reviewed on a rolling schedule, with high-traffic troubleshooting pages checked most often.
Firmware updates, price changes and discontinued products all trigger a revisit. Each article carries a last-updated date, and material changes are logged at the foot of the page.
Questions about our testing can be sent through the contact page.