What's the point of reviewing?

The trick is that one must be able to take all the information available for a product and synthesize that information to derive conclusions that have a good probability of panning out. Not always an easy task. Much easier to just take advice from someone you trust. That can work as well if that person has correctly done his homework. Sometimes it’s simply just hit or miss and try try again.

You can take what any reviewer says with a grain of salt regarding sound quality, but reviewers can also tell you much about the feature set of a device, how well those features worked, how snappy any software was, and if it had issues connecting to wi-fi, so you'd know to steer clear. And you can at least see the device on screen in a real room, not just some well Photoshopped ad copy. 

If you watch or read a few good reviewers, you can learn their preferences and whether they align with yours. 

Reviews are fun. They introduce you to products you might miss. If the reviewer understands functionally how a product is designed(a few do) you learn what the designer is trying to do and a bit of if he's going in the direction he wants. If you read enough reviews and get to know a reviewer's tastes If he knows his own and is consistent) over time you may even get a good idea if a product interests you and if it's worth seeking out to audition.

"it’s mute"

LOL, nice...

@voodoolounge 

I think you meant moot. Anyway, when you get to know a reviewer well enough you can begin to give some weight to his conclusions about how something sounds. It's helpful if you can't go somewhere to hear it.