Popular Science Proven: How our editors choose products worth your money

We test hundreds of products every year, ranging from hardcore outdoor gear and power tools to home theater systems and kitchen appliances. Seriously, you should see our offices. They’re cluttered with products and we wouldn’t have it any other way. 

While we love gear and gadgets, not all of them deliver on their promises. We know what it’s like to buy a new device only to find that it doesn’t solve the problem you wanted it to solve. That’s why we created the Popular Science Proven badge. 

We put everything we review through rigorous testing. That includes empirical testing when appropriate, but more importantly, we use these items. After all, a TV’s stated contrast ratio doesn’t mean much if that 4K Blu-ray of Alien you bought doesn’t look perfect. 

What makes a product worthy of the PopSci Proven badge?

While the specific methods vary, any product with a Proven badge meets a set of criteria developed by the staff across decades of combined experience reviewing products. 

It does what it says

When a product makes a claim, you want to know that it’s being honest. That rain jacket will keep you dry on a hike. Those headphones will block out the crying baby three seats behind you on your flight. We decode all the marketing speak you’ll read in the press release and see how well these things actually work.

It’s worth your money

Words like “value” and “budget” get a bad rap when used synonymously with “cheap.” We don’t think that way. An expensive home pizza oven can be a great value if it will last for years and totally eradicates your costly delivery habit. Whether something is $15 or $1,500, it has to earn its price tag.

It solves a problem real people actually have

Scroll through social media for five minutes and you’ll find products that make ridiculous promises and address problems that don’t exist. A Proven product makes life simpler, more accessible, more sustainable, more enjoyable, or more productive. 

It’s designed to last, not break and make you buy a new one

We can’t tolerate planned obsolescence. Products with the Proven logo have to be built to last and offer a reasonable warranty should something go wrong. We give bonus points to products that actually get better with age. Nothing beats the patina on a well-crafted pair of boots or the unique brassing that happens to a camera that goes everywhere with its owner. 

While Proven will mostly apply to new products, we’ll also be retroactively applying badges to products we’ve loved for years. Some items have already stood the test of time and we appreciate that. 

If you see the badge going forward, know that it’s something we’d use ourselves. In fact, check our offices and you’ll find that most of them, we’re already using on the regular.

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