- The UK’s only awards for consumer technology and appliances that are based entirely on owner reviews
- Awards based on more than half a million genuine reviews of products from purchasers
- £16.49 Tesco own-brand Hi-Fi is the shock winner in the Hi-Fi category. Sony dominates in TVs and TomTom wins three medals in the SatNav category. Apple’s iPhone fails to win a medal in the mobile phone category.
Reevoo.com, the leading source of authentic customer reviews on the web, today announces the winners of the Reevoo Customer Choice Awards 2009.
The winning products, as chosen by shoppers, represent the very best in electrical products and appliances for the kitchen, laundry, living room and on-the-move.
More than half a million individual reviews written by confirmed purchasers up to 1st April 2009 were collated to identify the winners. All shoppers rate products that they have bought on several criteria, including overall score and value for money.
The awards cover twenty one categories – from camcorders to cookers – and are based on post-purchase reviews from shoppers at 60 of the UK’s leading online retailers.
“This is the first time that product awards have been based solely on the feedback from owners,” said Richard Anson, CEO of Reevoo.com. “Most awards are judged by relatively small panels of experts, but in this case we use only the hands-on, considered views of shoppers who have parted with their cash to buy the products that they are rating. That makes these awards an invaluable shopping list for buyers of electrical products.”
He added: “In the last decade, we’ve seen a massive surge both in the volume and variety of electrical products available to shoppers. Choice is good, but it is often difficult and time consuming for shoppers to wade through all the options. What our awards offer is a snapshot of the very best products on offer – as judged by half a million shoppers who have been through research, selection, purchasing and perhaps most importantly hands-on experience of the products themselves.”
Big winners include Sony, which takes gold and silver in the television category, and TomTom with a clean sweep in the SatNav category. Nikon takes the prize for best digital camera and Canon wins gold in the camcorder category. UK-based vacuum cleaner manufacturer Numatic wins an impressive silver award for its Hetty vacuum cleaner. The biggest surprise is in the Hi-Fi category, which Tesco wins with an own-brand hi-fi that retails for an incredible £16.49. Apple wins gold in the laptop category, but only manages a bronze in the MP3 and iPod category. Perhaps even more surprisingly, the iPhone fails to make the top three in the mobile phone category, with Samsung winning gold and bronze and Nokia taking silver.
In the value for money category, Tesco also does well, with wins for best value for money Hi-Fi and microwave.
THE WINNERS IN DETAIL:
|
Rank |
Category |
Top Products |
Aggregate score out of ten |
|
GOLD |
Camcorders |
9.24 | |
|
SILVER |
9.19 | ||
|
BRONZE |
9.12 | ||
|
Reviewers praise the Canon HF10 for its easy menu system and fantastic optical and digital zoom. Customers loved its light weight, battery life and all-round great usability. “Almost everything is superb on this camcorder, the image is amazing.” “Light, easy to use, great picture quality.” | |||
|
GOLD |
Coffee-Makers |
9.55 | |
|
SILVER |
9.40 | ||
|
BRONZE |
9.33 | ||
|
Reviewers judged the Krups stylish and easy to use and clean and praised its great tasting coffee. “Small and neat which makes it look fabulous in the kitchen...The coffee frother means you get a professional cup of coffee. The coffee itself is fabulous”. “I'm not a gadget person but I love this! The coffee tastes amazing and the aeroccino works a treat.” | |||
|
GOLD |
Digital Cameras |
9.43 | |
|
SILVER |
9.41 | ||
|
BRONZE |
9.33 | ||
|
Reviewers praised the Nikon for its light sensitivity range, image quality, build quality and speed. Comments included: “The best image quality in digital, equalling that of Hasselblad.” “Focusing is faster and more accurate and battery life is greatly extended.” | |||
|
GOLD |
Dishwashers |
9.33 | |
|
SILVER |
9.25 | ||
|
BRONZE |
9.21 | ||
|
Reviewers were particularly impressed with its cutlery tray, how quiet it is and how easy it is to load. “Lots of room and well-laid out. Almost silent when it's operating. Easy to load and unload. A pleasure to use.” “Easy to load...and with a lot of flexibility as to where to put items with the tray spacers being adjustable...A whole range of cleaning cycles... Economical on water and electricity. Cleaning and drying excellent.” | |||
|
GOLD |
Hi-fi systems |
9.31 | |
|
SILVER |
9.27 | ||
|
BRONZE |
9.16 | ||
|
Reviewers praised the Tesco own-brand hi-fi for its sound quality and incredibly low price: “Bought this for my mum – she didn’t want any extra buttons”. “The sound is brilliant for such a small unit and for the price it really is value for money”. | |||
|
GOLD |
Irons |
9.20 | |
|
SILVER |
9.07 | ||
|
BRONZE |
8.80 | ||
|
Reviewers commented positively on the versatility of the winner’s steam function and the length of the flex. Comments included: “Best iron I’ve ever used.” “Irons like a dream.” “Has cut my ironing time in half.” | |||
|
GOLD |
Kettles |
9.47 | |
|
SILVER |
9.26 | ||
|
BRONZE |
9.00 | ||
|
Reviewers commented on the stay-warm mode, the colourful illuminations and the quietness of the kettle when boiling. Comments included: “Super quiet fast boil.” “Looks great in the evening when lights are low”. | |||
|
GOLD |
Laptops |
9.24 | |
|
SILVER |
9.14 | ||
|
BRONZE |
9.00 | ||
|
Customers loved how easy the 13 inch Macbook is to use, straight out of the box and lavished compliments on the typically high quality design of the laptop. “Product is simply flawless.” “Apple know how to make a sexy laptop” | |||
|
GOLD |
Microwaves / combis |
9.19 | |
|
SILVER |
9.04 | ||
|
BRONZE |
9.00 | ||
|
Reviewers commented on the winner’s Tardis-like proportions – compact on the outside and surprisingly capacious interior. Comments included: “Able to use a 12 bun tin on shelf or turntable.” “It has a large capacity for roasting a 10lb bird.” | |||
|
GOLD |
Mobile phones |
8.86 | |
|
SILVER |
8.85 | ||
|
BRONZE |
8.78 | ||
|
Reviewers regularly described the winner as light, compact, easy to use and complimented it on its good battery life and nice design. "Small and compact. Does everything I need it to in a simple way." "I love the design of the handset, especially the shape! The sound quality is really good and I love that I can use a memory card up to the size of 2GB." "Has everything you need e.g. phone, camera, music player and radio and its all good and efficient and very easy to operate." | |||
|
GOLD |
MP3 players |
9.32 | |
|
SILVER |
9.27 | ||
|
BRONZE |
9.16 | ||
|
Shoppers love the portability and price of this Walkman: “Great picture & sound quality. Awesome value for size & features. Comes with the BEST IN-EAR HEADPHONES I'VE EVER OWNED! Amazing bass response!” “This Mp3 is a well designed item. Its looks are good, it is featherlite in weight and its battery life is excellent at 30 hours. The video play back and screen resolution is fandaby dozy.” | |||
|
GOLD |
Printers |
9.37 | |
|
SILVER |
9.20 | ||
|
BRONZE |
9.17 | ||
|
The Stylus Photo R2880 was a clear winner for customers who rated it highly for its high quality printing, easy to use software and great colour reproduction. “The picture quality is fantastic.” “It’s so quiet and smooth.” | |||
|
GOLD |
Satellite Navigation |
9.15 | |
|
SILVER |
9.09 | ||
|
BRONZE |
9.06 | ||
|
Reviewers praised the compactness of the winning model, ease of use and the accuracy of its directions. “The Tom Tom is magic, I haven’t got lost yet.” “Easy to use. Quick to connect and plan or re-plan the route.” | |||
|
GOLD |
Televisions |
9.33* | |
|
SILVER |
9.33* | ||
|
BRONZE |
9.29 | ||
|
The top TV offers hassle-free high quality images, with perfect marks for ease of use: “Totally stunning! Waited so long for the perfect TV to be made and it's finally here. Looks the absolute biz even when not on. All in all a very happy customer and proud owner of this stunning set.” “Picture quality is fantastic, the best I have seen on ANY television.” | |||
|
GOLD |
Vacuum cleaners |
9.42 | |
|
SILVER |
9.34 | ||
|
BRONZE |
9.30 | ||
|
Reviewers praise the winner’s great suction, its quietness and ease of use: “I've owned Dysons, Electrolux's and Hoovers...this is the best of the lot. Highly recommended for the money!” “Excellent suction, and great for hard floors too. Variable suction means you're not just blowing the dust around on the wooden floor. With four cats and three kids, I really needed a decent hoover, now I have one!” | |||
|
GOLD |
Washing machines |
9.46 | |
|
SILVER |
9.42 | ||
|
BRONZE |
9.41 | ||
|
Reviewers commented on the winner’s quietness and singled out its internal light and superb cleaning performance as outstanding features. “This washing machine is the best we have ever owned. It is extremely quiet with a good choice of programmes and very easy to use. The express programme is particularly useful - only 30 minutes from start to finish and gives a good result on most types of laundry - very eco-friendly!” “Very quiet. Easy to use with intuitive controls. Lots fo great features like calculating load weight and amount of detergent required.” | |||
|
GOLD |
Cookers and Ovens |
9.33 | |
|
SILVER |
9.29 | ||
|
BRONZE |
9.27 | ||
|
Review comments on the winner include: “Fantastically well made.” “A real cook’s cooker. The first thing people say when they walk into my new kitchen is "look at that cooker!"” “Best cooker we looked at from a very extensive list of cookers in our price range.” | |||
|
GOLD |
Radios (inc clock radios) |
9.16* | |
|
SILVER |
9.16* | ||
|
BRONZE |
9.06 | ||
|
A simple and classic design has propelled the Pure ONE to the top of the list: “I bought it as a Christmas gift for my technophobe septuagenarian mum and when testing it with her I was very happy to find that she could easily work it out for herself. It's to replace her 1950's ghetto blaster. I actually would like one for myself and really love the design of it - simple tasteful design and decent sound quality for the price.” “Excellent radio - bought for mother-in-law and she loves it. Simple enough to set up (for me!) and operate (for her!!). She says this DAB radio has opened up a whole new world of clarity for her listening choices. Loves it so much, she's bought another for her cousin. Would highly recommend this item.” | |||
|
GOLD |
Home Video |
9.38 | |
|
SILVER |
9.31 | ||
|
BRONZE |
9.17 | ||
|
Amazing image quality has shoppers blown away: “This DVD player does everything except the washing up. No matter what I put into the player, it recognizes it, and is simple and very easy to use. A great buy.” “Everything really! Great machine and does all it should and all i want! Great picture on my standard Sony flatscreen TV too.” | |||
|
GOLD |
Miscellaneous Kitchen Appliances |
9.53 | |
|
SILVER |
9.45 | ||
|
BRONZE |
9.31 | ||
|
A toaster won the miscellaneous kitchen appliances section, narrowly beating a pair of Kenwood food processors. Reviewers praised the stylish design of the toaster, and the flexibility in settings to make the perfect slice of toast. “Simple, practical, stylish and with excellent build quality” | |||
|
GOLD |
Fridges, Freezers and Fridge-Freezers |
9.60 | |
|
SILVER |
9.47 | ||
|
BRONZE |
9.40 | ||
|
The neat design, easy controls and exceptional performance of the Milele GT 316 ES made it the customer’s choice in the fridges, freezers and fridge-freezers category. This freezer also boasts an A** energy efficiency rating which has made it a favourite in shoppers eyes. “Extremely low energy consumption. Quality of build, ease of use and performance” | |||
* First place determined at three decimal places
THE VALUE FOR MONEY WINNERS
|
Category |
Top Products |
Value for Money Score |
|
Camcorders |
9.4 | |
|
Coffee Makers |
9.6 | |
|
Digital Cameras |
9.6 | |
|
Dishwashers |
9.3 | |
|
Hi-Fi systems |
9.7 | |
|
Irons |
9.4 | |
|
Kettles |
9.2 | |
|
Laptop |
9.3 | |
|
Microwaves |
9.7 | |
|
Mobile phones |
9.6 | |
|
MP3 players |
9.6 | |
|
Printers |
9.7 | |
|
Sat Nav |
9.4 | |
|
Televisions |
9.7 | |
|
Vacuum cleaners |
9.3 | |
|
Washing machines |
9.4 | |
|
Cookers and Ovens |
9.6 | |
|
Radios (inc clock radios) |
9.5 | |
|
Home Video |
9.7 | |
|
Miscellaneous Kitchen Appliances |
9.5 | |
|
Fridges, Freezers and Fridge-Freezers |
9.7 |
Notes to editors:
Hi-res jpegs are available of all the winners, as well as detailed product specifications and current price range details. Reevoo.com will supply badges to retailers for use in press advertising and online. JPEG of award badge available on request.
A micro-site, with full details of the award winners will be at www.reevoo.com/awards/2009 from Friday, with links to a comprehensive library of reviews at www.reevoo.com.
About Reevoo.com
Reevoo.com harnesses the power of genuine customer opinion to help shoppers decide what to buy – and to buy with confidence. Independent and impartial, Reevoo.com collects hundreds of thousands of authentic post-purchase reviews from European shoppers every month. All reviews, favourable and critical, are published on www.reevoo.com, and alongside products on retail partner websites. In addition to reviews, Reevoo.com offers shoppers comprehensive product information and price comparison data to make finding and buying the right product as simple and convenient as possible. More than sixty leading retail brands including Tesco Direct, Vodafone, Currys and Ann Summers already use the Reevoo.com service, sharing more than half a million reviews on more than 40,000 products. Reevoo.com has offices in London and Paris, was founded in 2005 and is backed by Eden Ventures and Banexi Venture Partners.
More information:
Jo Reale
020 7654 0341
joreale@reevoo.com