[exmadscientist]

I thought a big part of it was simply that many Wirecutter picks aren't very good. They are great for areas you aren't knowledgeable enough to assess on your own (and where it would be prohibitive to learn), or where you just need something that's not total junk.

But "not total junk" is a pretty low bar to clear, and that illustrates the fundamental problem of the Wirecutter: it's never going to be for the professionals, the ones who use objects day after day, long enough to form real opinions. Anyone who knows their field will always laugh at the Wirecutter's recommendations, if not the what then certainly the why.

[wmf]

Doesn't the Wirecutter use domain experts for their reviews? I don't see any intrinsic reason why the reviews would have to be laughable.

[exmadscientist]

I've had at least one case of "oh no not that guy again" when reading their reviews. In this case it was a guy I'd seen in magazines ten years earlier, and I didn't like his work then either. He's never the end user, he's a professional journalist "specializing" in that field.