I used to watch most every review on YouTube. A little over two months ago I stopped and have no desire to watch another. They are all the same. The deciding factor is not build quality, spin time, balance, etc… It is who sends out free yoyos to reviewers.
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Sounds like you’re watching the wrong reviewers. I know some smaller guys like @Roy_Dodge aren’t getting free yoyos, so how could that be a factor in the review?
I think part of it is that a lot of people feel the need to rush a review as quickly as possible so they can be the first to talk about it, and in doing so the reviewer hasn’t taken the time needed to really get to know the yoyo. I honestly think most reviewers try to be honest in their videos, but these days a lot of yoyos coming out are gonna have similar features so the reviews get repetitive. Plus the fact that they’re rushed, means a lot of reviews are just generic.
Justin Throws Yoyos, Just Yoyo Reviews, and Casual Throw are a few smaller channels I’ve found recently that honestly all do better than some big names because they’re little guys who don’t get throws for free, they’re buying stuff to review and giving honest opinions about it.
I’m not trying to say “you have to watch reviews!” btw, just saying there are some folks out there doing it better. Not everyone in the world thinks “I got this for free, better give it a 10/10 so they’ll send me more free stuff.”
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I still can’t reliably tell how I will feel about a yoyo just from watching a review. That makes reviews pretty pointless/useless for me.
Let’s take a few examples. Everyone sang the praises of the original Cadence, and yet I didn’t care for it at all. Nobody sang the praises of the VTWO, the Surveillance, or the Dominator, and yet they are among my favorites. I had to find out how great they were entirely on my own (by trying them for myself).
The real lesson in all this is that reviews tell me nothing I can’t learn from photos and a spec sheet. And apart from those objective details, what I really need to know about a yoyo can’t be conveyed to me through someone else’s experience throwing a yoyo around.
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Do you still have your Cadence? Imo i think that the Cadence was advertised poorly. It was never a straight up performance throw. It is a throw that CAN deliver performance, but only if you have a stable throw. When you get in the Cadence zone, the yoyo is pure bliss. The OG Cadence was the lightest and widest, so the hardest to control. The ES improved stability and power while still having the Cadence float. And the BMC basically shows the transition this design went through from more performance oriented to a more floaty and quick playing yoyo. I think comparing it with the performance monster for trick learning (VTWO) is a bad comparison.
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This. There are good reviewers and bad reviewers. And some don’t necessarily get yo-yos for free to review. I know i only had one extra prototype of 50/50 to send to reviewers, and its being passed around right now. The first review is up and the proto is Currently on its way to the second person. @Roy_Dodge is gonna be the last reviewer. Hopefully its not too beat up by then haha. Just posting to show that not everybody gets free yo-yos.
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i concur on @Roy_Dodge dude is straight… emmanuel robinson (just a guy with a yoyo) on youtube takes unbiased approaches and buys the yoyos he reviews too.
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Well, sure, and that is also part of my point. Many reviewers just talk about how great a yoyo is, in very general terms, and can’t possibly know what my preferences or priorities are, and so can’t focus their review in terms that are meaningful to me. All I hear is, “This yoyo is just amazing. You will absolutely love it,” and there’s no way for me to know how well it actually fits my needs from that.
@zslane why aren’t YOU reviewing those yoyos then? if there is a hole, and nobody is filling it for you… then fill it 
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Because on a fundamental level, I don’t believe my experience of a yoyo will be helpful to someone who isn’t me.
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i strongly disagree, and here’s why…
there are hundreds if not thousands of others like you, me, @Roy_Dodge, etc. that don’t agree with that the ‘10/10’ freebie reviewers think. but, those are the same ones of us here saying that there needs to be something better, or different… and, the ones that are doing it, are at least enjoying themaelves. their voices are being heard…
all these cats thought the same thing, once
So do you just take issue with the idea of reviews on a fundamental level? Or specifically yoyo reviews?
If the former, then I can understand that. Reviews in general can be unhelpful if you have no point of reference for the product being reviewed.
Personally, I think there’s a way to make reviews useful. Instead of “wow this is the best throw you’ll love it” I think reviews should be more comparison driven. Like, “If you like the Shutter, this feels like the Shutter but more floaty” or that kind of thing. It will never substitute actually playing with the thing yourself, but for people who can’t afford to buy every new yoyo to try it’s still incredibly helpful to know “based on this comparison and description, I’m likely to like this one.”
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I think the current state of yoyo design and production makes comparison reviews less and less valuable all the time. Most yoyos look and play the same these days; the differences are so minute that other factors–that most reviewers (and yoyoers in general) tend to neglect–like string type/length, bearing type, and personal play style have far greater impact. Until I get a throw in my hands, with my favorite string and my favorite bearing, I’m not going to know if I like it that much, no matter how similar to some other yoyo it may seem to be to someone else.
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to @BadWolfeCo on the first sentence, i’m not one to base my purchase on a ‘review’. i know what i like. an ‘overall review’ tends to be subjective. the material contained within that is not a matter of opinion can contain PLENTY of objective material that can be used for comparison. who does it (camera presence, personality, perspective, tone, etc.); how they do it (tech data, playing, opinion, humor, facts, comparison); why they do it (i got it free, i want one, my bud let me try, this CRAP and the world needs to not listen to the hype); the what, where and when… there’s a TON more… this will ALL have a bearing on the perceived and ACTUAL legitimacy of your review. i’ll take @Roy_Dodge review of the Dif-e-yo Juggernaut before ANY ‘sponsored’ yoyoers review… or another shutter review… or any of that… why? THAT is interesting! who even reviews a Juggernaut these days? HE does!!! why? no one else does, he wanted to and he liked it! who? @Roy_Dodge what? that’s right a frickin’ Dif-e-yo Juggernaut. when? now, old school throws are cool… how? any way he can…
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this doesn’t make sense… yoyoreviews are about reviewing yoyos, not bearings and string and string length and relative humidity at your distance from the sun… save that for bearing and string reviews.
if they are all ‘almost the same’ then reviews (information) about the minute differences that can’t be perceived in a picture or a shop page are even MORE important.
me, i don’t ‘do reviews’. i have ‘experiences’. this was my experience with this yoyo. i liked this, i didn’t like that. i have these yoyos too. i like these. i don’t like those. you and me, we have a lot in common… WOAH MAN… turns out, we like the same yoyos… i can list off two dozen cats that i can say - hey, these guys know what yoyos i like… all through word of mouth… and i can do the same…
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Sure, but no reviewer is really in a position to test variations of all the elements that actually differentiate two very similar yoyos, which are the things I listed. Those elements can’t be ignored simply because it is a “yoyo review” and not a “all the things that make a yoyo feel the way it does review”.
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you are! you should! you know! YOU would be a good candidate! 
The only thing I am qualified to do is review yoyos for myself. By logical extension, I feel this applies to all yoyo reviews.
Note that I’m not against demonstrations, which are essentially yoyo performances, not yoyo reviews. Ultimately, though, they really only show me the capabilities of the demonstrator not the yoyo. Just the same, sometimes it’s fun to just watch a good yoyoer playing a pretty yoyo I’ve never seen before.
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I tend to only watch a yoyo review if it is for a yoyo I’m already waiting for in the mail. I’m more influenced by comments I read from certain members in this forum than by a review. Over time I’ve gotten to know the preferences of some members by reading their comments, and I have a decent sense of how their likes and dislikes correspond to my own. For example, based on @zslane comments I decided to pull the trigger on a Weekender, and it is now my favorite yoyo for 0A. For the most part, I decide which yoyos I buy based on visual appeal and specs.
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I appreciate the tags, @fatguysnacks247 and @BadWolfeCo. I am flattered and grateful for the kind words. I understand that @zslane and others may have little use of reviews for one reason or another and I can see where they are coming from, even if I disagree. I’m gonna keep producing what I think is useful and largely unbiased content because I do think most folks find value in learning a bit more about a throw or accessory before buying (and even when it’s already on the way, which I inexplicably do as well. I mean… I already bought it!).
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I want to clarify this comment since there are several reviewers here. When I first got into throwing I watched all of the reviews I could find, and as a result I was in a constant mode of wanting to buy each new release. Once I decided to rein in my yoyo purchasing habits, I decided to stop watching yoyo reviews prior to purchasing them.
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