PR & Samples Policy
Our stance on review units, trials, and PR outreach — and why none of it buys a good review.
We receive PR outreach, trial access, and occasionally sample units. Here is exactly how we handle them.
Trials and access
Where a vendor provides temporary access to a paid product for evaluation, we accept it only on the basis that it comes with no conditions, no payment, and no sight of the review before it publishes. Vendor-provided access is treated exactly like a standard account for the purposes of our assessment.
Physical samples
For hardware, we prefer to work from published specifications and independent data. If we accept a sample unit for evaluation, we disclose it, it does not obligate a positive review, and we return it or handle it per the vendor’s terms. A sample never buys a score.
PR outreach
We welcome factual information, launch details, and documentation from PR teams — it helps us be accurate. We do not accept payment to review a product, to raise a score, to add a product to a buying guide, or to place a link inside our independent editorial. Offers of “paid reviews” or sponsored placements disguised as independent editorial are declined. We do run clearly-labelled Sponsored content, which is walled off from editorial and never influences a review — that is handled separately under our advertising & partnerships policy.
Disclosure
Any material connection that could reasonably affect how you read a review is disclosed on the page, consistent with our affiliate disclosure. To send us information, email [email protected].