Content Bias: The Role of Phone Privilege and Personal Preference on Tech Reviews
As a tech content creator, one of the most frustrating things is when a subjective opinion is treated as an objective fact. For example, when I say, "I prefer Phone A over Phone B" a commenter might respond, "Wrong, Phone B is better." This response completely misses the point. My preference is my opinion. When comparing two photos, if I prefer the first one and you prefer the second, neither of us is wrong; that is simply how subjectivity works.
Despite this, I try hard to understand where commenters are coming from and why they love the devices they love.
The Pain Points of Preference
Consider a phone like the Honor Magic V5. Many users absolutely love this device, praising its camera hardware, battery size, and charging speed. Objectively, the specs are great. Someone who uses this phone might wonder why a reviewer would choose any other device. Yet, my SIM card is not in the Magic V5; it is currently bouncing between the Fold 7 and the Pixel 10 Pro Fold.
The Honor Magic V5 is a fantastic phone. The battery lasts all day long, the multitasking system works phenomenally well, and the camera takes tremendous photos. The issues I have are not major flaws with the phone itself, but small friction points that go against my ingrained muscle memory and preference.
The phone itself is objectively good, even very good, but it presents a few pain points that force me to "swim upstream." My muscle memory is constantly challenged by the user interface. For instance, I frequently confuse the swipe gestures for Quick Settings and Notifications, a change I am unwilling to spend time retraining myself to use. Another major frustration is that when I interact with a notification while already inside an app on the main screen, the new content always opens in a floating window instead of full screen, and there appears to be no way to disable or change this behavior.
Phone Privilege
This is where the concept of phone privilege comes into play. If the Honor Magic V5 were the only phone I had, or if I had bought it with my own money and had no modern alternatives, I would just get over the pain points. After months of use, I would probably like it more than I do now.
I live a very privileged life in this regard. Because I have this privilege, when I run into these annoyances, I just take my SIM out and put it into a different phone that fits me better and has fewer of those "swimming upstream" moments. This is the key difference in perspective:
The Average Consumer: Most people buy one phone and must adapt to its quirks over the long term. Minor inconveniences that a reviewer cites are simply something the average consumer will get over in a few weeks.
The Reviewer: A content creator likely has many different phones to choose between. They can abandon a device over minor inconveniences. They can put a phone in a drawer without feeling bad about a purchase. This privilege directly leads to less patience and a lower tolerance for minor friction points.
We’re All Biased
I see this scenario all the time in the comment sections: people watch a review and exclaim, "Wow, I can't believe how much they are dogging this phone for this one thing or these handful of things!" or "Why are they nitpicking this phone so much?" Sometimes, this leads to an assumption that the reviewer is "clearly paid off," "biased," or that there is something nefarious going on.
Going forward, I encourage everyone to better understand the impact of phone privilege. The privilege that a reviewer probably has is absolutely going to impact the review that you are watching. Because they have many options, it is virtually impossible for them to counter that bias and remove its influence from what they are telling you.
Additionally, remember the simple fact that the reviewer is a different person than you and will like different things. Please keep that perspective as we continue consuming tech media. More often than not, it is simply the case that content creators have a different life, different wants, different needs, and different opinions. You can still learn things from what they have to say and take on that information to make decisions based on who you are and what you like. Just because someone doesn't agree with you, that doesn't mean they are wrong, and it certainly doesn't make them your enemy in these phone brand wars that continue to rage day after day.