How we rank
Updated
A ranking is only worth reading if you can see what it was built on. This page sets out how we work so that you can disagree with us on the evidence rather than on the conclusion.
We start from the mechanism
Before anything is compared, we describe what the machine physically does: where the motor sits, what the blade or the element or the pump is acting on, and which of those things wears out. Most disagreements about products turn out to be disagreements about what the product was designed for.
We prefer published numbers to impressions
Where a figure exists in a standard, a manual or a regulator's document — a duty rating, a filter class, a watt-hour capacity, an energy factor — we quote it and say where it comes from. Where no such figure exists, we say that too, rather than inventing a score.
We rank for a use, not in the abstract
There is no best blender. There is a blender that suits a household that makes smoothies and one that suits a household that makes soup, and they are not the same machine. Every ranking on this site is written against a stated use.
What does not affect a ranking
- Payment. No brand can buy a position, a mention or a link inside our own material.
- Availability. A thing is not better because it is easy to buy this week.
- Our own archive. Older rankings on this domain are not evidence for newer ones.
Corrections
If something here is wrong, write to the desk through the contact page. We correct on the page itself and say what changed.