X vs Y: how to compare two things properly

What a good versus comparison has

1. The same attributes for both sides. A comparison that gives one item's battery life and the other's camera is two adverts next to each other.
2. A source for each value, and a date. Prices, plans and specifications change; a value with no source is a value you cannot check.
3. An honest "not published" where the answer is not known, instead of a guess dressed as a number.
4. A verdict that says who should pick which — and why — rather than declaring one the winner for everyone.
5. The problems, not only the features. What owners complain about most often is usually more useful than one extra specification.

Red flags in a "vs" page

• Every product links to a shop. That page is paid when you buy, which does not make it wrong, but it does make "buy either, they are both great" a suspiciously common conclusion.
• No date anywhere. A comparison of two phones from two years ago is comparing two other phones.
• A single score out of 100. A score has to fold your priorities into everyone else's; see why ranking fails.
• It cannot say anything about your situation. "Which is better for a student on a budget?" should have an answer.

Running your own X vs Y

Write down the three to five things that matter to you, in order, before you read anything. Then fill in each one for each item from the item's own pages, noting where you found it. Read reviews last, to check the table, not to build it. That method is written out step by step in how to compare things that are not in any database.

Or type both names into compare⁄io and say what matters in the box beneath. It runs a live web search for each item, writes a verdict for your question, fills a table of at least ten attributes — one of them the problems owners most often report — badges each value with where it came from, and lists the pages it read. Then ask it whatever the table did not answer.

X vs Y vs Z

Versus comparisons do not have to stop at two. compare⁄io takes up to six items at once (three on the free plan), and with more than two you can remove them one at a time and watch the verdict re-pick among what is left.