I'm finding Wirecutter to be less-than-useful, though. There's the question marks around their funding model, but the deeper problem is their "the best X" format. It requires setting up a very specific rubric that tends to favor Cadillac models, and leaves you with very little information to go on if you don't have Cadillac needs.
Concrete example: I recently bought a new office chair. My shopping process involved a lot of reading reviews and a lot of sitting in actual chairs. The chair I ended up with, an Ikea Långfjäll, wasn't even considered by Wirecutter because it lacks a lot of adjustability features. But there are a lot of truly independent reviews (by which I mean, people talking on Web forums or mentioning the chair they use on their personal blogs) with the general consensus being, "This chair is fantastic if it fits your body and you don't need/want all the bells and whistles." A couple people even said they happily switched to it from an Aeron chair or similar. Which describes me well enough, insofar as my office was supplying me with Herman Miller love up until the pandemic hit.
So, all in all, I'm loving this chair. But, if I were constrained to the Wirecutter "The best X" format, I wouldn't include it, either, because its lack of adjustability means it just won't be suitable for lots and lots and lots of people.
Concrete example: I recently bought a new office chair. My shopping process involved a lot of reading reviews and a lot of sitting in actual chairs. The chair I ended up with, an Ikea Långfjäll, wasn't even considered by Wirecutter because it lacks a lot of adjustability features. But there are a lot of truly independent reviews (by which I mean, people talking on Web forums or mentioning the chair they use on their personal blogs) with the general consensus being, "This chair is fantastic if it fits your body and you don't need/want all the bells and whistles." A couple people even said they happily switched to it from an Aeron chair or similar. Which describes me well enough, insofar as my office was supplying me with Herman Miller love up until the pandemic hit.
So, all in all, I'm loving this chair. But, if I were constrained to the Wirecutter "The best X" format, I wouldn't include it, either, because its lack of adjustability means it just won't be suitable for lots and lots and lots of people.