How We Evaluate
Loiter Point ranks consumer tech on evidence, not marketing. Here's exactly how we get from a pile of specs and reviews to a score and a pick.
What every score is built on
A Loiter Point score isn't a gut call. It's assembled from three kinds of evidence, weighted toward what's actually been measured:
Published lab and reviewer measurements from people who test what manufacturers claim.
Verified, long-term real-world reports — how the thing holds up after the honeymoon.
Manufacturer sheets and firmware changelogs, read critically rather than taken at face value.
When those sources disagree, measured evidence beats marketing copy every time.
We don't run a lab — and we say so
Loiter Point does not operate a testing lab. We don't fly review units on loan, and we don't accept press samples in exchange for coverage. What we do is read the people who do run labs — carefully, across multiple sources — and translate their measurements into plain buying advice. Any real-world figure we cite comes from published independent testing or verified owner reports, and it's attributed that way. If we didn't measure it ourselves, we never pretend we did.
Rated spec vs. real-world evidence
The number on the box is a starting point, not a verdict. Where independent tests measure a battery to its actual cutoff at typical settings — or a router's real throughput, or a robot vacuum's real pickup — we report that measured number against the rated spec, so you can see the gap for yourself. Rated vs. measured is always reported.
When the evidence is thin or conflicting
Sometimes the independent data is limited, or the reviewers genuinely disagree. When that happens, we say so in the guide instead of papering over it with false confidence. A pick made on thin evidence is labeled as exactly that — so you can weigh it accordingly.
Affiliate independence
Loiter Point is reader-supported: when you buy through our links we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. Those relationships never change which products we recommend or where they rank. The full details are in our affiliate disclosure.
The bottom line
Buy on evidence. Every pick on the site links to the full guide, where the sources behind the ranking are laid out — so you can check our work, not just trust it.