Launching soon · First lineups in testing now
Reviews from people who actually used it.
Standouts buys products at full retail and sends them to paid testers, who live with them at home and photograph everything, flaws included. Our editors turn what they find into the review. No brand gets a say, and none can pay for a place.
How it works
How a Standouts review gets made
The same four steps for every lineup, in this order. A product that skips one doesn’t get a score.
We buy it ourselves
Full retail, our own money, from the shops you use. We accept nothing from brands, and testers never deal with a manufacturer.
A paid tester lives with it
In their own home, for the jobs people actually buy it for. Every product in a lineup goes through the same tasks, so the results compare.
They photograph all of it
Their own photos of the exact unit we sent: in use, next to everyday objects for scale, and the flaws. Never a stock or manufacturer image.
We write it up and score it
Our editors turn the tester’s notes and measurements into the review and set the score. The bad news stays in.
The photo list every tester works through
For every product in a lineup, shot on the exact unit we sent.
- Unboxing, and what’s in the box
- The product alone, on a clean background
- In use, in their own home
- Next to a hand, phone or mug, for scale
- A close-up of the key feature
- Controls, ports and display
- The flaw, if there is one
Plus one group shot of the whole lineup, side by side.
Our rules
Four things we will never do
These are the rules every tester signs up to, and the reason a Standouts score means something.
The testers
Real people, real homes, paid by us
Our testers are freelancers who own the kind of home a product is built for. You’ll meet each one by name on the guides they test for.
Paid, not gifted
Testers get a fee, or keep lower-value products as payment. Either way, it never obligates them to be positive.
Brands stay out of it
Testers never deal with a manufacturer about a product under test. If one gets in touch, they tell us.
The bad news stays in
Negative findings are what make a review worth reading. That’s why a flaw shot is on every photo list.
First up
Where we’re starting
The first categories we’re building guides for. Each goes live here once its lineup has been tested.
Robot vacuums
Mapping, pickup on carpet and pet hair, and how often one needs rescuing.
Air purifiers
Performance in a real room, noise at night, and what the filters cost to keep.
Pool cleaners
Coverage, wall climbing, and how each copes with a real pool’s debris.
Dehumidifiers
Water pulled per day, noise, and running cost in a damp room.