Scoring
The grades
Six tiers, S to F. Two tracks: the critic’s grade and the crowd’s. Same scale, never blended.
S: Exceptional
Exceptional. The rare thing that redefines its category. We guard this tier hard; see the S-tier rule below.
10 / 10
A: Great
Great. Buy it, watch it, use it; flaws are footnotes.
9.9 – 8.5
B: Good
Good. Recommendable with named reservations.
8.4 – 7.5
C: Average
Average. Fine at the right price or for the right niche; unremarkable otherwise.
7.4 – 6.5
D: Weak
Weak. Meaningful problems outweigh the bright spots.
6.4 – 5.5
F: Avoid
Avoid. Broken, dishonest, or obsolete on arrival.
below 5.5
The 10-point scale
Each letter occupies a fixed band on a 10-point scale. When a product shows a number, it always sits inside its letter’s band, and only S is a 10.
| Grade | Out of 10 |
|---|---|
| S | 10 / 10 |
| A | 9.9 – 8.5 |
| B | 8.4 – 7.5 |
| C | 7.4 – 6.5 |
| D | 6.4 – 5.5 |
| F | below 5.5 |
Solid vs outline
The solid badge is always the critic: one person, hands on the product, every category graded. The outline badge is always the users: an aggregate of reader votes. They sit side by side everywhere and never merge.
The numbers behind the letters
Every letter maps to a number: F=0, D=1, C=2, B=3, A=4, S=5. User votes are averaged with a 10% trimmed, weighted mean, then mapped back to a letter:
| Letter | Mean range |
|---|---|
| S | 4.50 – 5.00 |
| A | 3.50 – 4.49 |
| B | 2.50 – 3.49 |
| C | 1.50 – 2.49 |
| D | 0.50 – 1.49 |
| F | 0.00 – 0.49 |
When user scores appear
A user grade displays once a product reaches 10 weighted votes (verified votes count double, anonymous count half). Before that you’ll see the pending badge (a dashed outline with a dash) and a count of how close it is. We never show a letter backed by a handful of votes, and we only publish the aggregate as structured data after 30 counted votes on a product with a clean integrity record.
The S-tier rule (“Trending S”)
The top tier is the one brigades aim for, so a displayed user S needs at least 25 weighted votes. Below that, an S-range average displays as A with its true numeric beside it, e.g. 4.6 · Trending S, until enough votes accumulate. The numeric is always the real average; the letter is policy, and the policy is printed right next to it.
The full rubric per vertical, what “plot” or “price per value” actually measures, lives on the methodology page.