Editorial policy
Facts on ptakaro come from named sources. Opinions come only from named editors. Nobody can pay for either.
Facts and opinions are kept apart
Prices, specs and PTA values are facts. Each one carries its source and the date we checked it (for a brand's launch price, the day the brand announced it; for a spec read from a saved copy at the Internet Archive, the date the Archive saved that copy), and nobody at ptakaro edits a price by hand to make a phone look better. Verdicts and best lists are opinions, and they are always signed.
Who writes verdicts
A verdict is a short buying note by a named ptakaro editor: who should buy this phone at today's price, and over which rival. It is written from the dated prices and specs on the page, and shows the editor's name, the date it was written and the date of the data it was based on. It is not a hands-on review, and we do not present it as one. A phone without a verdict says “verdict pending”.
No editor has published a verdict yet. See about ptakaro.
How we use AI
- AI may help us find and draft facts, for example by suggesting which page of a brand's site lists a spec, or which unit a label means.
- All the prices and specs we publish are read from their sources by fixed rules and checked against the source text. PTA duty values and customs values are read from the official documents (some from page images); each is stored with the words it was read from, which we checked against the saved document. An AI summary of a web page is never used as evidence.
- AI never writes verdicts, best lists, the reasons in a best list, or reviews. Those are written by the named editor.
- When AI helped gather the facts behind a verdict, the verdict says so.
Rumours and unconfirmed specs
Before a brand confirms a spec, a reported value is labelled “rumoured” and set apart from confirmed values. We replace it once the brand confirms it, or remove it. Anything we have not confirmed is shown as not confirmed.
Best lists and comparisons
Best lists are picked by a named editor, who gives a reason for each pick and the date the list was updated. Prices on a list are our latest checks, and a pick whose price has moved above the list's limit is marked rather than hidden. Comparisons with their own page are hand-picked pairs; you can compare any phones yourself with compare phones.
No ratings or user reviews
ptakaro does not publish star ratings or user reviews, and never publishes reviews or ratings that someone paid for or wrote for us.
Independence
- Shops and brands do not see verdicts or lists before they are published and cannot change them.
- Commission from paid links never changes the order of offers, the “from” price, verdicts, rivals or best lists.
- If we ever sell a featured place, it will sit in its own labelled block and never reorder prices.
Details are on paid links and disclosures. Mistakes are handled as set out in corrections.