We started Consumer Echo because we were tired of “best of” lists that read like nobody ever even tried the product. So we wrote down the rules we hold ourselves to. Every article follows them before it goes live. They cover how we test, where our facts come from, how we use images and AI, and how we make money.
The short version: if we say it, we can back it up.
Tested or researched
Every review gets one of two labels. Tested means a named person on our team used the product in person, in their own home: unboxed it, set it up, and lived with it for a while. Researched means we did not have it in our hands, so we worked from manufacturer specs, independent tests, and other named sources instead. Researched articles always include a “What we could not test” section, so you know exactly where our knowledge stops. We would rather tell you what we don’t know than guess.
Facts, numbers, and sources
Every score, statistic, and claim comes from our own testing or from a source we name. Each article lists its sources at the end, so you can check our work. If we cannot back up a number, we leave it out. No invented test results, no made-up quotes, and no “experts say” without telling you which experts.
Ratings
All ratings are out of 10, on every page. One scale everywhere means a 9 on a printer review means the same thing as a 9 on an air fryer review. If a score looks low, the review explains why.
Images
We credit every image and label where it came from: our own photo, a manufacturer image, or an AI-generated image. We keep original colors and do not add filters, so the product you see is the product that will arrive at your door. Tested reviews use only our own photos.
How we make money
We earn a commission when you buy through some of our links, including Amazon. It costs you nothing extra, and it helps keep the site running. It does not decide which products we pick or what score they get. Every article with these links carries a disclosure near the top. We typically don’t type prices into articles because prices change; the retailer always shows the current price. Read our advertising disclosure for the details.
Updates and corrections
Products change, prices move, and every now and then we get something wrong. Reviews keep a Changelog that shows what changed and when, so updates are never hidden. If you spot a mistake, please contact us. We will check it and fix it, and we would much rather hear it from you than leave it incorrect.
How we use AI
Like most of the world today, we use AI tools to work faster and double-check our work. Here is exactly what they do:
- Create some illustrations. These are always captioned “Illustration created with AI.”
- Edit photos: crop, sharpen, upscale, remove text, and blur backgrounds. We, however, do not change how a product looks.
- Upload drafts to our site and lay them out in our page format.
- Fact-check claims against named sources, and confirm every product link opens the exact product and is in stock.
- Check each article against these standards before an editor signs off.
AI may help prepare a first draft. A named editor then reviews, edits, and fact-checks every article before it is published. AI does not test products nor give scores. That part is on us.