Let’s be straight with you from the start, because that’s how we do things round here. TrueNorth Tech X is a small UK site covering tech, gaming and AI. We don’t have a lab, we don’t have a warehouse full of kit, and we’re not going to pretend otherwise. What we do have is a careful way of working, and this page sets it out so you can decide how much weight to put on what we write.
How we pick and judge products
Most of our buying guides and comparisons are researched guides. That means we haven’t had every product on our own desk. Instead, we build each pick from several sources and check them against each other:
- Trusted reviews. We read hands-on reviews from established tech publications, specialist gaming and hardware sites, and well-known video reviewers, and we look for where they agree and where they don’t.
- Official spec sheets. Specs such as battery life, weight, ports and speeds come from the maker’s own product pages and spec sheets. When a figure is the maker’s claim rather than an independent measurement, we say so.
- UK prices and availability. We check that a product is actually on sale in the UK, on Amazon UK and with other UK retailers, so we’re not recommending something you can’t buy here.
- Owner feedback. We look at verified buyer reviews and owner forums for the things a short review can miss, like build quality after a few months, software niggles or a dodgy batch.
If the sources don’t line up, we either explain the disagreement or leave the claim out. We’d rather say less than say something we can’t stand behind.
Hands-on testing
When we have genuinely used a product ourselves, we’ll tell you so in that post, and we’ll only describe hands-on use that actually happened. If a post doesn’t say it was tested hands-on, assume it’s a researched guide.
We don’t run lab benchmarks, and we won’t claim lab results we haven’t produced. Where a guide quotes performance figures, they come from the maker or from the named reviews we’ve linked, not from a test bench of our own.
Prices
Prices change all the time, sometimes several times a day. When a post shows a “Prices checked on [date]” note, it means we genuinely checked the prices that day. Otherwise, we don’t print a price as if it’s current. We point you to the retailer to check today’s price, usually with a Check price on Amazon button.
Either way, the price you see at the checkout is the one that counts. Have a look before you buy.
How we make money
TrueNorth Tech X is a member of the Amazon Associates programme. When you buy something through one of our Amazon links, we may earn a small commission on qualifying purchases. It doesn’t cost you a penny extra.
That commission never decides our picks. A product earns its place because the research backs it up, not because of what it pays. We also run a small shop that lists external Amazon products. Clicking through takes you to Amazon to buy, and the same rules apply. You can read the full details in our affiliate disclosure.
Who writes our articles
Our articles are published under house pen names, so you can see at a glance which desk a piece comes from:
- Max Byte: gaming
- Ellie Circuit: gadgets and smart home
- Jordan Ledger: crypto
- Retro Rob: retro tech and gaming
- Sam Signal: AI and tips
- John Stone: general pieces
To be plain about it, these are the site’s editorial personas. They aren’t separate, independent reviewers, and we don’t give them made-up credentials or life stories. A byline tells you the subject area, and every piece goes through the same research and checking process described on this page.
Corrections and updates
Tech moves quickly, so our posts aren’t fixed in stone. We update them when prices, availability or the facts change. On developing stories, such as a security incident or a fresh announcement, we show a “Last updated” time so you know how current the information is.
When we get something wrong, we fix it, whether a reader spots it or our own checks do. That includes taking out or rewording figures that our sources don’t actually confirm, and saying clearly where a number comes from when sources differ. If you spot a mistake, please tell us via our contact page.
Crypto coverage
Our crypto articles are for information only and are not financial advice. Crypto assets are high risk and can lose value fast. We explain what’s happening and what it may mean for UK readers, but any decision about your money is yours. If you need advice, speak to a qualified, regulated financial adviser.
In short
We research carefully, we tell you when we’ve had something in our hands and when we haven’t, we check prices before we call them current, and we fix things when we’re wrong. As they say in Yorkshire, say what you mean and mean what you say. That’s the plan, anyway, and this page is here so you can hold us to it.