Friedbeef’s Tech

TestFreaks is a new service which aggregates product reviews across the web.  Still in it’s Alpha stage, I managed to get the lowdown on what I thought was pretty exciting technology (or at least promises of it).

Here’s the Deal

What they’re trying to do is to make a product review aggregator just like Wize, but add in a social aspect like Amazon, where it gathers information about your preferences, and matches them with other readers who are most like you, thereby pushing the most relevant reviews to you.

Focused on User Reviews

Their take on it is that professional reviews are usually objective and done with a great deal of attention, however they only spend a short amount of time with the product. User reviews on the other hand tend to be to complete opposite. TestFreaks is to truly get the best of the user reviews rather than just to aggregate them as a single entity.

My 2 Cents - User Reviews vs Professional Reviews

I’m not sure I really agree with the fact that user reviews are the best way to go.  While it’s true that users spend more time with the review product, it’s usually the case that they spend less time with competing products.  More often than not, this leads to the user learning to love the product they spent good money on, and biased positive reviews. 

User reviews tend to give better insights on reliability and customer support, but as for product itself, I usually go to the pros first.  I like a bit of a balance, with clearly separated professional and user reviews, rather than mixing them together like what TestFreaks is currently doing.

My 2 Cents - Simplify the Summary

I also prefer a definitive conclusion when it comes to the summary of the product reviews.  Right now on TestFreaks I have to scan through multiple review excerpts before I arrive at any form of conclusion as to how good the product is.

I like the way Wize summarizes it’s products into a single score.  While this may not be entirely accurate, it is by large correct and gives me an extra quick way to scan through hundreds of products just by looking at a single score.

Conclusion

Very much in an alpha stage, this product is still very rough and I personally won’t be using it till a few months down the road, when more features are released…but I will definitely keep my eye on them.

Disclaimer: Testfreaks.com has paid me to review their service, and to give an honest opinion.  Please note that all opinions expressed in this post are completely my own, and have not been influenced by the Testfreaks.com in any way.

What features do you like to see on a product review site?  Let us know in the comments!

[tags] product review, gadgets, review aggregator, deals [/tags]