Reviewers rarely talk about reliability. Owners bring it up twice as often

# Reviewers rarely talk about reliability. Owners bring it up twice as often Source: [https://www.bettascore.ai/research/reliability-reviewers-vs-owners](https://www.bettascore.ai/research/reliability-reviewers-vs-owners) Reliability, durability and support: share of each side's opinionsSelf\-cleaning litter boxesReviewers**3%**·owners**39%** Laser engraversReviewers**14%**·owners**41%** Robot lawn mowersReviewers**9%**·owners**27%** Robot vacuumsReviewers**1%**·owners**18%** Robot pool cleanersReviewers**9%**·owners**25%** 3D printersReviewers**11%**·owners**22%** Portable power stationsReviewers**10%**·owners**21%** Electric bikesReviewers**5%**·owners**11%** Electric scootersReviewers**13%**·owners**19%** Smart glassesReviewers**1%**·owners**5%** Smart locksReviewers**6%**·owners**10%** Coffee machinesReviewers**17%**·owners**18%** Smart ringsReviewers**10%**·owners**11%** Tennis ball machinesReviewers**16%**·owners**13%** The numbers behind the chartShare of opinions about reliability, durability and support, by category and platformCategoryReviewers \(YouTube\)Owners \(Reddit\)Self\-cleaning litter boxes3%\(5of181\)39%\(23of59\)Laser engravers14%\(15of106\)41%\(30of74\)Robot lawn mowers9%\(23of259\)27%\(32of117\)Robot vacuums1%\(12of975\)18%\(84of466\)Robot pool cleaners9%\(31of337\)25%\(13of53\)3D printers11%\(87of762\)22%\(103of465\)Portable power stations10%\(113of1,126\)21%\(57of275\)Electric bikes5%\(75of1,527\)11%\(84of782\)Electric scooters13%\(71of551\)19%\(61of329\)Smart glasses1%\(2of276\)5%\(11of215\)Smart locks6%\(10of170\)10%\(11of109\)Coffee machines17%\(63of375\)18%\(70of394\)Smart rings10%\(21of205\)11%\(15of138\)Tennis ball machines16%\(8of50\)13%\(12of91\) Across these14categories:7\.8%of reviewer opinions vs17\.0%of owner opinions\.Owners bring it up more in 13 of the 14; tennis ball machines are the exception, with only 91 owner opinions\.6,900opinions from YouTube reviews and3,567from Reddit threads\.Left out: video doorbells, smart thermostats, mechanical keyboards and 3D scanners, where reliability isn't a topic of its own \(it's folded into a broader one such as "Connection, Reliability & Support"\), and pickleball machines, which have no Reddit threads yet\. ## Most of what breaks shows up after the review is done - **Robot vacuums:**reliability comes up in1%of reviewer opinions and18%of owner opinions\. A review covers a few weeks; the failures owners write about tend to come months later\. - **Self\-cleaning litter boxes:**3%vs39%\. Owners mostly describe breakdowns and how long a replacement takes\. - When owners do bring it up,70%of what they say is negative\. Reviewers who mention it are negative15%of the time\. ## Apps:the same attention, the opposite verdict Reviewers and owners talk about apps, software and connectivityabout equally often\(8\.2%vs9\.4%of opinions\)\. They don't agree on them:21%of reviewer opinions on apps are negative, compared with71%of owner opinions\. Apps, software and connectivity: share of opinions that are negativeMechanical keyboardsReviewers**17%**·owners**75%** Smart locksReviewers**17%**·owners**72%** Portable power stationsReviewers**15%**·owners**69%** 3D scannersReviewers**28%**·owners**72%** Robot vacuumsReviewers**9%**·owners**50%** Smart ringsReviewers**42%**·owners**75%** Smart glassesReviewers**38%**·owners**71%** 3D printersReviewers**61%**·owners**85%** Categories with at least20positive or negative owner opinions on apps\.Owners are more negative in all eight\. Two products show where this ends up: - **A$7,999laser engraverranks last of 9\.**The[Glowforge Pro](https://www.bettascore.ai/product/glowforge-pro)gets 8 positive and 0 negative opinions on setup and ease of use\.It loses on software and connectivity \(3 positive, 7 negative\)and on reliability and support \(2 positive, 7 negative\)\. Owners mostly object to a paid software subscription and needing an internet connection to use the machine\. - **A$350smart lockranks last of 20\.**The[Eufy FamiLock S3](https://www.bettascore.ai/product/eufy-familock-s3)has0positive and7negative opinions on its app and smart\-home features, mostly about a firmware update that left locks unusable\.All 10 of its sources are Reddit threads\. ## If you're about to buy - Search owner threads for the model plus "months" or "a year later", not just the launch reviews\. - Check whether the device still works if the app or the company's servers go away\. - Look at the warranty length and how owners describe getting a replacement\. ## Read this before the numbers - **Reviewers aren't hiding anything\.**Most reviews are made in the first days or weeks with a new unit\. That's too early for most failures, and it's hard to test a company's support\. - **Owners post when something goes wrong\.**Nobody starts a thread to say their robot vacuum still works, so these numbers show what owners worry about, not how often things break\. For scale: across all topics,56%of owner opinions and15%of reviewer opinions are negative\. Reliability \(70%\) and apps \(71%\) are still well above the owners' own average\. - **Topic grouping matters\.**If we also count mixed topics such as "Value & Support" or "Responsiveness & Key Reliability", owners bring up reliability2\.4times as ofteninstead of twice, and more inall 17 categories that have owner opinions\. We lead with the stricter number\. The same goes for apps: mixed topics like "Connectivity & Battery" are left out\. - **Some YouTube reviews are sponsored\.**We count them like any other source and can't reliably tell which ones are\. - **An AI model labels each opinion**with a topic and as positive or negative\. Every opinion links back to the sentence it came from, so any of them can be checked\. ## Method - **Sources:**YouTube reviews and Reddit threads about657products currently on sale in19categories, collected for BettaScore's rankings:8,062opinions from YouTube and4,525from Reddit\. Review sites, forums and Hacker News \(517opinions\) aren't in the comparison\. - **What counts as an opinion:**one source's view on one topic of one product\. A source that covers five topics counts five times; a source that mentions a topic ten times counts once\. - **Topic groups:**reliability is any topic about reliability, durability, warranty, service or support; apps is any topic about apps, software, firmware or connectivity\. Mixed topics are left out of both\. - **Shares:**opinions in a topic group ÷ all opinions from that platform, including neutral ones\. Negative shares count positive and negative opinions only\. ## About BettaScore BettaScore ranks products by what public reviews say about them\. No brand pays to be listed or to rank higher, and our shopping links earn nothing\. The rankings ## Now see who comes out on top Each ranking shows what owners and reviewers say about every model, reliability included, with the quotes behind each score\.