Which? symbols, logos and ratings

Which? ratings help you make confident choices about the products and services you use every day. They are based on independent testing, expert analysis and large-scale consumer research, with no influence from brands or advertisers.

Spot a Best Buy recommendation on a vacuum cleaner, for example, and you know you’re looking at a model that delivers excellent cleaning performance. If you’re shopping for a new broadband deal, opt for a Which? Recommended Provider, given to brands that achieve a high customer score.

On this page, we run through the full selection of Which? ratings, logos and symbols, plus how we decide which products and companies receive them.

Our logos and ratings explained

A Which? Best Buy recommendation is given only to products and services proven to serve you the best in our independent lab tests and expert assessments.

Our Best Buy recommendation is 100% independent – no company can nominate its own products as a Best Buy. Our tests are based on criteria and benchmarks set by impartial experts, so you can be sure that the only thing influencing our recommendations is our meticulous research.

Products that we know to have poor reliability, based on our owner surveys, are not made a Best Buy even if they score well in our tests.

Unlike other review websites, we name and shame the worst products we come across as Don’t Buys. We can issue Don’t Buy warnings because of our robust lab tests and complete independence.

At best, a Don't Buy product will prove a waste of money – at worst, it could be a threat to your safety, as our tests of child car seats have shown.

Don't Buy warnings are typically given to products with an overall test score of less than 45%, but may also be used when serious health and safety issues are detected by our tests.

Our Great Value recommendations are there to help you buy a trustworthy product or service without spending more than you need to.

The products we endorse as Great Value don’t always score as highly as Best Buys or our Which? Recommended Providers, but they're still highly commended as a cheaper choice, typically costing at least 20% less than the average price in their category.

Our Eco Buy recommendation helps you make more eco-conscious buying decisions. It highlights products that will have the least environmental impact out of all the models we've tested, while still performing well.

To get our Eco Buy recommendation, a product must achieve an overall test score of 60% or higher and:

• Come from a brand whose products, according to our large-scale surveys, aren't likely to develop faults or break down quickly.
• Use energy efficiently.
• Use water efficiently (if applicable).

We use slightly different criteria for our Eco Buy recommendations depending on the type of product we're evaluating. When we test laundry detergents, for example, our experts assess the ingredients used, the packaging they come in and how transparent manufacturers are prepared to be.

Although Which? is famous for product testing, we also investigate and assess everyday services such as energy companies, insurance providers, and travel and broadband firms.

The best companies are made a Which? Recommended Provider – and is typically based on our own assessment benchmarks, customer scores and star ratings gathered through our regular surveys to give you more confidence when choosing a company or service.

As with all our recommendations, no company can nominate its own products or services to be a Which? Recommended Provider. We choose the companies that we assess using an independent selection process, and measure their performance in areas important to consumers using robust and impartial methods, such as customer surveys and expert analysis of companies' T&Cs.

Meanwhile, our Which? Eco Provider recommendation is on hand to help you identify the companies with the best green credentials to give you the power to make more eco-friendly choices.

To recommend Which? Eco Providers, our experts analyse the most important sustainability considerations in each sector we investigate. To name the more eco-friendly energy companies, for example, we awarded the highest marks to firms that supply 100% renewable energy to all customers, generate renewable energy and/or contract directly with companies that do, among other key areas.

Editor's Choice

We give an Editor’s Choice in certain product review categories where standard lab testing isn't the best way to identify and recommend the top products. These categories typically involve gathering subjective user opinions or focus on a single key characteristic.

Like a Best Buy, our Editor’s Choice recommendation is 100% independent. No company can nominate its own products or services for this accolade or pay to be assessed by our experts.

Subscriber-only content

Which? is an independent, not-for-profit organisation. We retain our independence by never accepting display advertising and are, instead, predominantly funded by Which? members’ subscriptions to our website, app and magazines.

While much of the advice on our website is free to use, our expert verdicts on the best and worst products and service providers are typically only available to Which? members.

When you see the symbol above, it means that only Which? members are able to view the information behind it. To view this exclusive information, members will need to log in, or new members can join Which? to get instant access.

You’ll see this logo on some of our product reviews. It indicates that the review is based on a hands-on product trial by one of our product experts, rather than a full lab test.

New products launch all the time, and full lab tests can take several weeks to complete. First Look reviews allow us to share our expert verdict on the latest products before lab testing has taken place or been completed.

We also publish First Look reviews where lab testing wouldn’t be appropriate or cost-effective, or where products are still an emerging technology. Some products are so new that there aren’t yet enough rivals for comparative testing, making a hands-on trial the fairest way to deliver a verdict.

Products we feature in First Look reviews are often unveiled at shows or loaned to us by manufacturers and then returned. We always aim to buy and fully lab-test these products as soon as we’re able, so we can give our definitive verdict.

About our endorsements

Brands that achieve a high enough score to be recognised with one of our recommendations or endorsements may be offered the chance to use our logos on their product packaging, adverts or other promotional materials. This allows companies to share their achievement beyond our website and magazines, helping consumers spot high-quality products more easily.

This opportunity is only available once our independent review process has been completed and it never influences our review assessments.

How we calculate customer scores and star ratings

Customer score

When we review brands using customer surveys, we calculate an overall customer score based on satisfaction with the brand and likelihood to recommend.

Satisfaction and recommendation each contribute 50% to the overall customer score, and respondents must answer both questions for their responses to be included. 

Star ratings

Star ratings are calculated independently of each other. We calculate the overall mean score for each brand, then use analysis of variance techniques to group brands with statistically equivalent results.

Each brand is then given a star rating from 1 (the lowest) to 5 (the highest).

We publish star rating results on a scale of 1-5 stars:

• 1 star Very poor
• 3 stars Fair
• 5 stars Excellent

However, survey respondents are asked to rate measures using a 1-7 star scale, shown below:

• 1 star Very poor
• 4 stars Fair
• 7 stars Excellent

A Which? subscription unlocks access to all our product tests, reviews and recommendations online, plus a host of other perks. You can join Which? today.