User guide
Finding your way around the guide
To navigate between pages, click or tap the arrows to go forwards to the next page or backwards to the previous one. The arrows can be found either side of the page and at the bottom, too (circled in green, below).
Menu/table of contents
Click or tap on the three horizontal lines in the top-right of your screen to open the main menu/table of contents. This icon is always visible whether you're using a computer, tablet or smartphone. The menu will open on top of the page you’re on. Click on any section title to visit that section. Click the cross at any time to close the table of contents.
Text size
On a computer, you'll see three different sized letter 'A's in the top-right of your screen. On a smartphone or tablet these are visible when you open the menu (see above). If you’re having trouble reading the guide, click or tap on each of the different 'A's to change the size of the text to suit you.
Pictures
On some images you'll see a blue double-ended arrow icon. Clicking or tapping on this will expand the picture so you can see more detail. Click or tap on the blue cross to close the expanded image.
Where we think a group of images will be most useful to you, we've grouped them together in an image gallery. Simply use the blue left and right arrows to scroll through the carousel of pictures.
Links
If you see a word or phrase that's bold and dark blue, you can click or tap on it to find out more. The relevant website will open in a new tab.
Jargon
If you see a word or phrase underlined, click or tap on the word and small window will pop up with a short explanation. Close this pop-up by clicking or tapping the cross in the corner.
Help
On a computer, you'll see a question mark icon in the top-right of your screen. On a smartphone or tablet this is visible when you open the menu (see above).
Clicking or tapping on the question mark will open this user guide. It opens on top of the page you're on and you can close it any time by clicking or tapping the cross in the top-right corner.
Our testing and reviews
After products and services have been put through their paces, our in-depth reviews tell you which ones are the best and warn you about the worst.
When you’re picking a product or service, you want to know you’re making the right choice. So we scrutinise everything from TVs to travel companies, boilers to bank accounts, and high chairs to hobs.
Every product we review has been rigorously tested by our experts. Our tough assessments are based on how we use devices in real life, so we rate factors such as how easy they are to set up and use, as well as how great they are at cleaning or how long their batteries will last. We don’t accept freebies or advertising from anyone, so we won’t be swayed or persuaded to rate anything a certain way.
To get the full picture we also find out what you think. We ask members about their experiences of using the products they own to find out how reliable they are and ask people to rate the companies they use to give them customer scores. Visit our site to read all our reviews.
Our product categories
The products we test fall into the following categories:
- Technology – from smart speakers to smartphones
- Home & Garden – from mattresses to microwaves
- Money – from Isas to insurance
- Baby & Child – from buggies to baby monitors
- Cars & Travel – from SUVs to sun creams
We also offer lots of expert advice on choosing and buying the products we test, including how to decide between a smartwatch and a fitness tracker, and how to save money on your insurance.
What do our symbols mean?
Our symbols are there to help you to choose. Here are the ones you’ll come across and what they stand for:
Best Buy – our Best Buy recommendation is our gold standard. It’s our seal of approval, so when you see the Best Buy logo on a product, you know it passed our tests with flying colours.
Don’t Buy – if you see this symbol alongside a product, avoid it at all costs, as it has either performed abysmally in our tests or been found to have serious health and safety issues.
Eco Buy – our Eco Buy recommendation highlights products that will have the least environmental impact out of all the models we’ve tested. They’ve excelled in our tests and must be a long-lasting product, repaired easily and/or use minimal amounts of water and energy. See Eco Buys in our dishwasher and washing machine reviews.
Which? Recommended Provider – the equivalent of our Best Buy label for energy companies, insurance firms, broadband providers and more.
Energy Saver – we award this to Best Buys that also have superb energy efficiency according to our in-depth tests. It's currently awarded to washer-dryers, kettles, tumble dryers, fridges, fridge-freezers and freezers.
Great Value – these are products that have scored well in our tests and also offer outstanding value for money. They’re not always Best Buys, but are a good cheaper option.
How we test
Every year, we assess around 4,400 products. These are assessed using a range of approaches - we test most products using independent labs but we also grow dozens of plant varieties at our gardening trial sites and assess a wide range of food and drink products using a mix of expert tasters and consumer panels.
We care about the details and go to great lengths to identify the best products. For example, every car seat we assess goes through a front crash that is equivalent to a head-on collision at around 40mph plus a side crash that's equivalent to two cars crashing into each other at 30mph. These are repeated again and again, with the seat installed in all the different ways it can be used. We can go through as many as 15 samples of the same seat to get the final score for just one.
We record how well each model performs against sets of specific criteria, then add up all the scores. The Best Buy cut-off point varies between products, but most need an overall score of more than 70% to achieve this accolade. You can find the respective 'how we test' page for the product categories we cover by going to its overview page on our website. You can reach these via the navigation menu at the top of the page.
Should we uncover any unsafe or unsecure products we then work with other parts of the organisation to get them removed from sale.