Our Evaluation Process Explained
Plenty of sites say they tested everything. We’d rather tell you exactly what each review is built on, so you can weigh it properly. Every review on Health Constitution
carries one of two labels, and here’s what each one means.
📚 Expert research review
How most of our reviews are built
We can’t buy and live with every machine on the Australian market, and we’re not going to pretend otherwise. So for most products, this is the work:
- We verify specifications rather than repeat them. Where a seller claims 55 dB, we check it against independent measurements and other verified sources. Where a claim can’t be substantiated, we say so.
- We check it against the Australian market specifically. What it actually costs in AUD, who stocks it here, what’s in stock now, and what the warranty means under Australian Consumer Law rather than a US or UK policy.
- We read the customer reviews properly. The ones that go into detail about failure, noise, build quality and support, rather than the star average.
- We weigh the retailer, not just the product. A good machine from a retailer who won’t answer the phone is not a good recommendation.
- We compare it against the alternatives at the same price, because nothing is bought in isolation.
What a research review is not: it is not a hands-on test, and we don’t present it as one.
🔬 Hands-on tested
Where we can get it in our hands
Where a product is practical for us to obtain, we get one. Either the manufacturer or retailer sends us a unit, which we return afterwards. Or, we buy it ourselves. Either way, we tell you which, in the review.
Then we use it for a few weeks, generally around a month. Where a product is consumable we may only be able to work with the two weeks of stock a brand will send, and we’ll say so. Then we report what we find:
- Assembly and setup: How long it takes, how clear the instructions are, whether it really needs two people.
- Specifications verified against reality: Including the ones that don’t match the listing. A decibel claim that reads 55 and measures 60 goes in the review as 60.
- What it’s actually like to live with: The daily friction, the noise, the things that stop you using it.
- Our own photographs and measurements, and where we can, video.
- Our reviewer’s own height and build, so you can judge the fit. Jessica is 163 cm, which she tells you on purpose: if a machine’s running surface fits her stride well, that tells you something concrete about whether it will fit yours.
The five things every review has to pass
Whether it’s a research review or a hands-on test, the same five questions get answered:
| What we check | |
|---|---|
| 1. Buying experience — How clear the retailer’s product information is, and whether it matches what arrives | |
| 2. Delivery & assembly — How it turns up, and how long it takes to get running | |
| 3. Design & specifications — Verified against the seller’s own claims, not copied from them | |
| 4. Experience in use — What it’s like over weeks for a hands-on test; and for a research review, what verified owners report over months | |
| 5. Customer service — Whether the seller is reachable and useful when something goes wrong |
Where we bring in an expert
Some questions aren’t a product question. Whether a percussion massager can help a nerve condition, whether compression actually aids recovery, how long to stay in a sauna — those need a clinician, not a reviewer.
Jack Rosser, PT, BSc, MCSP, HCPC, FMPA has written for us on exactly those questions. He’s a Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist with six years across public, private and elite sport, including five years in orthopaedic and post-surgical rehabilitation. His articles are the ones to read wherever a health claim is involved:
- Can You Use a Massage Gun for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?
- Smart Bikes vs Regular Exercise Bikes: A Physio’s Opinion
- Should You Wear Ankle Weights on the Treadmill?
Three things we’re open about
Partner-supplied units
Sometimes a brand or retailer sends us a product to review, and we return it. We say so in the review. It has never come with a condition about what we write, and it never will.
We turn work down
If a product doesn’t meet our standard, we don’t cover it — and we tell the brand why. That means if something appears on this site, it cleared the bar. And where a product we recommend has real drawbacks, those are in the review: read the cons, not just the verdict.
We don’t sell placements
We don’t run display ads, we don’t take payment for coverage, and we don’t rank products by who pays us. We earn a commission when you buy through a link, which costs you nothing and comes out of the retailer’s marketing budget. If a product we don’t have a commission deal with is the right answer for you, we’ll still tell you about it.
Read our full affiliate disclosure.
Where to go next
- Our reviews — every buyer guide by category
- About us — who writes here, and how we’re funded