Big-name companies have been caught putting out top-performing SSDs and then after the reviews are out, silently shipping drives with worse flash chips, worse controllers, no DRAM cache, etc. Review sites know it happens but don't call it out because then they won't get pre-embargo access to hardware or the company will demand the hardware back. Review sites only really work because they're able to amass a substantial amount of hardware; if everything has to be returned, they can't run comparison tests and the like.
And then you have organizations like the Wirecutter who review vacuum cleaners and include a vacuum one of their staff bought 6 years ago alongside currently sold models.
....and if they'd done the slightest bit of homework they'd know that the company had moved production of that specific model to a different country and cheapened all the materials.
It's like buying a ~2001MY Mercedes because your 1985 E-class was well built. The early 2000's, Mercedes was cranking out cheaply designed/built crap.
And then you have organizations like the Wirecutter who review vacuum cleaners and include a vacuum one of their staff bought 6 years ago alongside currently sold models.
....and if they'd done the slightest bit of homework they'd know that the company had moved production of that specific model to a different country and cheapened all the materials.
It's like buying a ~2001MY Mercedes because your 1985 E-class was well built. The early 2000's, Mercedes was cranking out cheaply designed/built crap.