At this point brand names seem to be very weak indicators of value, except a few exceptions in a specific niches with exclusive technology.
Most brands that get any traction seem to abuse that halo to also shove mediocre product to the middle/lower market. In the end we still need to do a ton of research to see which product is individually good, and looking at reviews is a way better indicator than brand marketing.
I hit this issue when trying to buy a vacuum cleaner. Perhaps it would be different if I was willing to pay a grand for the top of the line, but otherwise house name brands had at most mediocre reviews, often with documented cheaping out on important parts. We had to go through video reviews of each specific model of the price range targeted to get a decent idea of what we were buying.
Most brands that get any traction seem to abuse that halo to also shove mediocre product to the middle/lower market. In the end we still need to do a ton of research to see which product is individually good, and looking at reviews is a way better indicator than brand marketing.
I hit this issue when trying to buy a vacuum cleaner. Perhaps it would be different if I was willing to pay a grand for the top of the line, but otherwise house name brands had at most mediocre reviews, often with documented cheaping out on important parts. We had to go through video reviews of each specific model of the price range targeted to get a decent idea of what we were buying.