Why I stopped ignoring customer photos in gadget reviews

I always thought written reviews were the only thing that mattered when checking out a new gadget. Then I bought a portable speaker based on glowing text praise. It started making a weird buzzing sound after just a few uses. I went back to the online store and scrolled through the user submitted pictures. Lots of them had comments about the same audio problem, with photos of the unit taken apart. Now I make a point to look at those customer images before any purchase. They tell you things the fancy product description never will.

4 comments

4 Comments

miller.rowan4d ago

Ads lie, but customer photos don't.

xena7675d ago

Scrolling through those shiny official product shots is basically being lied to with better lighting. They'll show the blender looking sleek on a marble counter, not the horror show of leaked smoothie gunk all over the base that three customer photos reveal. The fitness tracker looks cool in the ad, but a user pic shows the band cracked after a week. It's the difference between a first date and moving in together.

karens125d ago

Honestly, those polished ads show me how the product is supposed to work when it's right. The messy customer photos just highlight possible flaws, but aren't most items fine out of the box? Why would they market something based on the few that break? It's not a lie, it's just showing the ideal version.

michaeltorres1d ago

That fitness tracker band cracking after a week... I saw a photo where it was completely split open. How is that even possible from normal use? The ad made it look like you could run a marathon with it. My cousin bought one and the same thing happened after two days. They really don't show that in the shiny commercials... it's always perfect wrists and sunny days.