Consumer Reports Downgrades Official Surface Models Based on Other Devices - The UpStream

Consumer Reports Downgrades Official Surface Models Based on Other Devices

posted Sunday Aug 13, 2017 by Scott Ertz

Consumer Reports Downgrades Official Surface Models Based on Other Devices

It is no secret that Consumer Reports' integrity has been in question for years. In my personal experience working in electronics retail, the publication gave high marks to some of our most returned or defective merchandise, and often gave low marks to many consumer favorites. It often appeared as if the reviews were based more on a relationship with the manufacturer than actual product successes. In fact, Consumer Affairs has the publication listed with a 1/5 star rating, for various issues, including value of reviews.

This week, Consumer Reports added fuel to that fire when they downgraded their recommendations for Microsoft's Surface line of devices. This includes all devices in the family, including the Surface Book with Performance Dock and Surface Laptop, both being fairly new. The problem is that the downgrade in recommendation comes from surveys of subscribers about their feelings about the brand as a whole. It does not require particular issues, nor does it specify any specific models. So, because some people "feel bad" about the Surface line, based on their own internal metrics, CR has decided to stop recommending Surface entirely.

Consumer Reports' own reviews of the hardware has shown that the hardware was good enough to recommend previously. Based on a survey, though, the Surface Laptop, which did not even exist when the survey was conducted, and the newer Surface Book, which was barely on the market, are essentially being considered to be of poor value, with absolutely no evidence.

Panos Panay, VP of Microsoft Devices, was not happy with the move. He said in a statement,

We stand behind Surface. Surface has had quite a journey over the last few years, and we've learned a lot.

Reviewing future devices based on previous models, rather than on their own merit is not only inaccurate, it's unethical. To say that the Surface Laptop is a poor choice because a tablet from 7 years ago had a manufacturing flaw is patently ridiculous. Will Consumer Reports apply this same metric style to other devices? Will they not recommend the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 because some Note 7 devices exploded? Is the Xbox One a no-go because the thermal paste in the Xbox 360 from a decade ago was defective? It seems unlikely, making this a sticky situation for the publication.

Our recommendation is to treat each product as its own device, and not lump all like-branded products into one review. Look for reviews from LAPTOP Magazine, Tom's Guide, Windows Central, and other reputable sources, in addition to Amazon reviews, rather than relying on a single source of information before making a buying decision.

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