Good point. This is where public online reviews come in. It's a bit tricky with amazon, because for some products different sellers source slightly different versions of the product (or just knock-offs), but in theory open online review is a revolution for the customer-quality information gap.
Why reviews are horrible, even (especially?) on Youtube:
SO HYPED ABOUT THIS PRODUCT. CAN'T WAIT UNTIL IT'S RELEASED (5 stars)
(brand) hits it out of the park again! Thanks for the review model, paid trip to Hawaii, and sweet t-shirt, (brand). This makes all (other brands) obsolete! Hail Sony! (5 stars)
This new model makes the old one look like trash. A new era has arrived (5 stars)
(One year earlier on the previous model): This new model makes the old one look like trash. A new era has arrived (5 stars)
Used it for 5 minutes, I love it (5 stars)
I've never used it but (YT celebrity) said it's good (5 stars)
(paid spam review) (5 stars)
(review of another product) (5 stars)
Good and knowledgeable review that has an honest view of the strengths and weaknesses of the product. Might have a mix of broken English, bad production values, or be by a kid with a squeaky voice or someone who looks ugly: 3 stars
WAS HYPED ABOUT THIS BUT SICK OF WAITING (1 star)
Great five-star product but (random seller) sucks / was slow to ship it / wouldn't take my return! (1 star)
It broke when I dropped it out of an airplane (1 star)
How do I turn it on? (1 star)
(complaint about related but different model of same product) (1 star)
This is part of the reason why AvE's BOLTR series is so popular. Buy a tool for money donated on patreon, take it apart, tell us how it works and how it will break, test it a bit. Explicitly tell us "this is no fucking good at all" or "this is pretty skookum".
It seems like there is a viable business model underlying this, that shoulf translate to other product categories. The hard part is building an audience that trusts you.
