Maybe I’m a bit cynical, but who is reading reviews that are not going any deeper than “ooh, it smelled so nice when I opened the box”. Pun intended, because when you have little to spend, it’s a shame to spend it on cra. A lot of these reviewers say they are leo’s. Or at least professionals (doing what?).
What is bothering me more is that even magazines with experienced looking names do the same.
A short while ago, someone asked something about a tactical light that I had never heard of. So I *oogled the brand (let’s call it XYZ) and was directed to a lot of sites related to guns, bushcraft, survivalists, and preppers. I even came to a site that made a list of the best 10 tactical lights. Of course it made the list. As did SF and Fenix, and a 3*AAA 1,000+ lumen light. The reviews of all these lights were obvious “courtesy of the manual”. At a certain point the reviewer made an observation that almost showed some sense of knowledge when he/she wrote that the Fenix was the brightest light, which was not expected given the output which was rated at a mere 1,000 lumen. Maybe it was a bit too much asked to direct that remark the other way around. Like: why are these lights with higher output (in the manual) than Fenix, in reality falling behind?
Epilogue: my age and a shoulder condition make that I throw like a ltttle girl. But when I throw a pebble into the sunset from my garden, there is a good chance I hit one of those reviewers. Or his wife. I found this out only a couple of weeks ago. Most lights he’s reviewing are not exactly what we would call budget lights. 