An update on review scoring

The numerical score that is given to the product is one of the most controversial parts of a review. Readers tell us that they look to the score first when reading a review and that's why we've talked about getting rid of our scores.

We are very serious about scoring here at The Verge. We are aware of how much weight each score has on the perception of a product. Reviewers pitch scores to their editors and those scores are debated before a review is published. Our goal is to make sure that the score gives valuable information to our audience that they can use to understand how a product performs.

Score inflation is when the average score for a category of product increases. Positive progress in the industry, as well as score inflation, can affect the meaning of a score. If readers only see sevens and eights, they will assume that a six is a much harsher score than it really is. We need to revisit our scoring procedures to make sure we are being critical enough.

We did that. More of the scoring scale is being used as we rate devices. It's possible to see lower scores on reviews more frequently than you might have in the past, and it's also possible to see devices that are better than others. If you are a regular reader, you may have noticed the change.

We have moved to a 10-point, whole number scale, which is simpler to understand and encourages more use of the scale than a 20-point or 100 point system. When we are debating between two scores, we usually give the tie to the lower score as opposed to using a half point compromise.

The How we rate page has been updated as well. I encourage you to read it to get a better idea of how we score devices and how we review them.

Some recent scores won't match older reviews. Our scoring takes a snapshot in time to compare a product to other devices that are available at the time of the review. If they were to be reviewed again months or years later, older devices wouldn't get the same score.

Our reviews are based on real-world experience, leverage our experience and knowledge about a device category, and give insight into how a device functions and how it stacks up against other devices in its given category. We will keep making changes to make sure that we provide the best reviews to our audience.