How They Test Everything They Review

PCMag’s core mission has been to help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology by delivering independent reviews of the latest products and services. We've been testing, rating, and recommending technology products based on lab testing for more than 40 years. The rigorous, repeatable testing of more than 1,500 products each year is what gives us the best handle on the full range of the market, and has always set us apart from their competitors.

Shortly after PC Magazine was born in 1982, PC Labs, a mammoth testing lab in New York City, was built. It has taken a variety of forms over the decades, including a 1990s stint associated with Ziff Davis Benchmark Operations (ZDBOp), a division of PCMag’s then-privately held mother company Ziff Davis. In its time, ZDBOp was a key player in the computing industry, devoted to advances in the art of benchmarking and creating tools for the industry to use in assessing PC performance. This was at a time when the early waves of PC clones had come roaring through the market, and the templates for personal computing as they know it today were being cut.

(Photo: Tony Hoffman)

PC Labs has housed, at times, more than 30 technology testers sitting together in that giant temperature-controlled room complete with anti-static flooring, dozens of benches with test beds, running benchmarks on desktops, laptops, PC peripherals and components, so that writers and editors could craft reviews to print in a twice-monthly magazine.

As the technology landscape has evolved, so has their testing. Now, in addition to all forms of PC hardware and software, they cover the full range of consumer technology including categories like smart home devices, digital health and fitness gear, and electric vehicles, all of which require out-of-lab testing. The core of PC Labs still remains in their New York offices, but their testing expertise is far more diffuse, spread across a team of more than 50 analysts, editors, reporters, and contributors across the United States and overseas.

Combined, PC Labs’ on-staff analysts and key contributors can claim, conservatively, more than 600 years of combined experience in their fields. (Add them all together, and you're contemporary with the Middle Ages, the Byzantine empire, and the Incas.) How much genuine testing is that? To take just a simple example: They rate and review about 200 laptops and desktops each year, and each gets a dozen or more benchmark tests, that translates to around 2,500 annual tests run on PCs alone. Data for analysis and product comparisons is not in short supply.

(Photo: Angela Moscaritolo)

When evaluating products, repeatable, defensible benchmark and experiential testing is at the core of what they do. Wherever feasible, these processes are based on step-by-step scripts, exhaustively vetted for meaningful, consistent results. Sometimes, such as in cases of display testing, they use advanced, industry-standard measuring equipment to supplement their findings. In addition, some testing categories are anchored by testbed computers that they use over and over for consistency of results. (They are refreshed, and key products are retested on the new testbeds, when industry changes demand it.)

(Photo: Molly Flores)

Likewise, their scripts are often revised to match current trends in consumer/business PCs and related gear, and follow changes in core technology. When a script changes, products are only directly compared with other products tested on the same script, under the same conditions, for comparability of results.

(Photo: Angela Moscaritolo)

Some of their benchmarking tools are industry standards. For PC testing, for example, the core of their benchmark suite is based on highly regarded tools from Underwriters’ Lab (UL, formerly Futuremark), supplemented heavily by repeatable, usage-representative tests from a host of other sources. In some cases, these tests are internally derived and designed.

Benchmarks and performance numbers only take you so far in finding the right technology. It's important to evaluate factors like value, features, and what it's actually like to use that camera phone in a dim restaurant, wire that video doorbell, or configure that VPN. Luckily, their reviewers rate more products than anyone else, so they're uniquely positioned to give you the full scoop, along with a close look at the competition so you can easily compare all the products you're considering.

(Photo: Zlata Ivleva)

We believe it's essential for their audience to understand how their company earns money. The following statement is at the top of every story on their site:

PCMag reviews products independently, but they may earn affiliate commissions from buying links on this page.

The editorial team, however, does not handle affiliate commissions in any way. Their reviewers do not know how a particular story is monetized and do not receive any of the commission earned. Reviewers are paid for their work and do not earn bonuses. Sponsored articles exist on this website, but are disclosed as such.

Companies, even those with affiliate relationships with PCMag, or are owned by their parent company do not have any input into review scores or outcomes, and their writers have a collective bargaining agreement that disallows pay-for-play writing. For more, read their editorial mission statement.

The variety of lab and real world testing processes requires an article for each major category they cover, just to scratch the surface of what they do, day in and day out. Scan below for more detailed dives by category into how they test everything they review.

(Photo: Molly Flores)

How They Test Laptops

How They Test Desktop PCs

How They Test SSDs

How They Test Graphics Cards

How They Test Processors

(Photo: Molly Flores)

How They Test Wi-Fi Routers

How They Test Monitors

How They Test Printers

How They Test Scanners

How They Test Projectors

How They Test Hard Drives

(Photo: Weston Almond)

How They Test Phones

How They Test Bluetooth Headsets

How They Test Cellular Modems and Hotspots

How They Test Tablets

How They Test Digital Cameras and Lenses

How They Test Drones

(Photo: Angela Moscaritolo)

How They Test Smart Home Devices

How They Test Robot Vacuums

How They Test Smart Displays

How They Test Smart Fitness Equipment

How They Test Fitness Trackers

(Photo: Molly Flores)

How They Test TVs

How They Test Speakers

How They Test Headphones

How Noise-Cancelling Headphones Work (and How They Test Them)

How They Test VR Headsets

(Photo: Zlata Ivleva)

How They Test Antivirus and Security Software

How They Test VPNs

How They Collect Malware for Hands-On Antivirus Testing

How They Test Antispam

How They Test Password Managers

How They Test Web Hosting Services

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