Methodology

Scores are out of 10 and weighted toward reliability, local control, and whether a normal person can live with the app. Spec sheets can add a point. They cannot subtract one for a lock that lies about its state.

The 2 a.m. test

We pull WAN for an hour and use lights, locks, and climate from the same controller the owner would use. If a device becomes a brick, that lands in the review — even if the marketing site says Matter.

Money

We buy or borrow hardware. Affiliate links, when present, never change a score. If a company pays for a sponsored brief, it is labeled and it is not a review.

Phone spec cross-checks

Phone pages are built from manufacturer spec sheets: Apple technical specifications, Samsung spec pages and the Galaxy S26 newsroom, and the Google Pixel 10 spec sheet. The spec score is a weighted share of comparable rows. It is not a lab score, a benchmark, or a camera test. Apple battery figures are official video-playback hours because Apple does not publish milliamp hours. A battery row is left unscored when the two phones publish different kinds of figures. Chip rank is an ordinal generation tier inside this catalog. Each comparison URL keeps its own primary keyword, so iPhone 15 vs Samsung Galaxy S24 and Samsung Galaxy S24 vs iPhone 15 are both real pages.

Other device databases

Tablets, laptops, watches, earbuds, locks, thermostats, speakers, and robot vacuums live in separate databases. A database only cross-checks devices inside itself, and each database names the rows it scores. Adding a database is a new spec sheet in src/content/devices. The pages, keywords, and matchup sitemaps are built from that sheet.

Updates

Guides get a new dateModified when firmware, pricing, or a replacement product changes the recommendation. Old URLs stay put.