Score Guide

Quantifying an often subjective experience can be a difficult business and, with no set industry standard on how products should be ranked and reviewed, it can be as difficult for readers to understand what they read as it can be for critics to place a numerical value on the quality of a product.

For that reason, we’ve put together this guide to how every product that goes through the bit-tech gauntlet is scored.

We review a lot of different products at bit-tech, ranging from CPUs to GPUs, motherboards to monitors and from computer cases to computer games. Every product—whether it is a piece of computer hardware or a game—is given an overall score using the same criteria and, although most of our hardware reviews will break down the score further, the overall score is not an average of the component scores – it’s merely a final score that takes all of the components into account.

For example, in some cases, the perceived value of a product will be more important (particularly at the lower end of the market) and that may have a greater influence over our final score than it would in other scenarios. However, at the higher end of the market, this will likely have less of an influence over the product’s overall score, where its feature set and performance characteristics are more likely to influence our decision.

Our scores are given on a scale of one to ten, with ten being the highest and one being the lowest. We don’t use decimals or half-points because, unlike some publications, we don’t think we can realistically draw a line between a score of 8.1 and 8.2 and it just ends up over-complicating matters.

Without further ado, let’s have a look at what each score translates into:

10/10

Excellent

There is no such thing as a perfect product or game, but there are products that come very close – those that deserve to be given a “perfect” score. A product or a game that scores a ten is a product that we not only recommend, but it’s also a product that should be right at the top of your shortlist. By all accounts, it’s a truly fantastic product and it is one you must buy: this is the message we’re trying to put across here.

A product that receives a ten is awarded the bit-tech Excellence Award by the Editor.

9/10

Favoured

Eight is a great score and it reflects a product that ticks nearly all of the boxes, exceeding our expectations on many fronts. It’s a high-quality product that should be on your shortlist, but one that’s not necessarily at the top.

Not all products that receive an eight are perfect for everyone, but in scenarios where a product just missed out on an overall nine, the Editor may choose to issue a Recommended Award.

7/10

Worth Considering

A seven is anything but a bad score – in fact, it reflects the fact that the product is a good one; one that at least meets our expectations on all fronts and exceeds them in quite a few areas. However, a product given a seven is prevented from reaching a higher score by a number of factors that potential purchasers should consider. It’s not a product for everyone, but it’s one that is well-worth considering if you are in the target demographic.

6/10

All Right

Scoring a six is all right. It’s a product that is of above average quality that exceeds our expectations in a few areas, but also fails to meet expectations in others – approach it knowing that there is at least one (if not more) fairly big drawback. If you have only limited requirements and this product meets or even exceeds expectations on that front, it may be worth considering. If not, there are probably better all-round products available on the market.

5/10

Satisfactory

A five indicates a product that is satisfactory, but is by no means great. It neither falls short of nor exceeds our expectations on the whole, but it does have some fairly significant drawbacks that you need to be aware of before purchasing – approach with caution.

4/10

Disappointing

If a product is awarded a four, we feel that it has some serious problems or has questionable appeal, but it’s not a completely broken product. Look for alternatives unless you have a real reason not to.

3/10

Deeply Flawed

A three is awarded to products that are very poorly executed, of sub-par quality and create more problems than they solve. You are more than likely to encounter problems with this product.

2/10

Terrible

Products that are awarded an overall score of two are quite frankly awful and should be avoided at all costs. Not only does the product have serious problems, but it’s also severely flawed and some would argue that it’s broken on one or more levels. A terrible product – stay well clear.

1/10

Pathetic

Scoring a one is no mean feat – the product is severely broken on many levels and it’s questionable why anyone thinks it would sell anyway. Don’t use this product even if someone pays you to use it.