I’m going to preface what I’m about to say with a bit of my own context. I’ve used Abxylute products in the past. The N6, the C6, and the S9 in particular. I was even a part of the group beta testing the S9 prior to it properly shipping just because I was so interested in seeing what they were doing with that controller at the time. A telescopic, USB-C controller fitting an 8-9” tablet was not commonplace when it originally dropped. I eventually passed on my personal S9 for as good of a deal as I could because I was never using it
Recently though, at the beginning of August, I saw a giveaway posted in the Abxylute Discord for the new S9V. In my mind I figured, “hey I’d like to grab one of these, and maybe I can share it on the website since I’m trying to talk about telescopic controllers again. So I reached out through DM’s to try and claim a spot, however that unfortunately led me down a bit of a rabbit hole I didn’t intend to take. So put simply; here’s a non-review of the Abxylute S9V. And here’s why you should stop taking Amazon reviews at face value.
The Background
One of my big regrets was not taking a screenshot of the original giveaway message. I didn’t expect it to be deleted, but during the time of writing this piece another “giveaway” came through, this time for the Abxylute N6 instead. The rules are simple; DM the moderator who posted it, and make sure you haven’t claimed a slot within the last three months. Those regulations are essentially identical to what happened with the S9V, and while I can’t confirm the same requirements happen behind the scenes with both giveaways, considering the circumstance; I would have to assume.
Upon DM’ing, I was asked to confirm I have Viture glasses, as this is a collaboration product, and that they would work with the S9V specifically. But where it goes downhill from there is the request for a five star review on Amazon, with pictures when you receive the controller. At this point it’s gone from a giveaway to essentially an exchange. You boost our listing on Amazon, you receive a free item. I can only assume they know this wouldn’t be allowed as I was directly asked not to mention this “special offer” in the review.
And if that didn’t add to the strangeness on its own, the description of what to do next may. I’m going to just leave the message as is below so you can read it. I will be providing screenshots from this discussion, but this one just irks me in particular.
“Now you can search for “abxylute S9v Controller” on Amazon, and you should be able to find our product after browsing through a few pages of results.
Once you find it, please click on the product listing and stay on the page for at least 20 minutes.
To help improve our ranking for generic search terms, please avoid searching for our brand name directly. Instead, use the keyword “abxylute S9v Controller” and locate the product through the search results.
Finally, please add the product to your cart and let me know the total cost. Before you complete the purchase, I will reimburse the full amount via PayPal.”
Take this free product for a five star review on our Amazon Listing. Please look for our product, and sit on that page for 20 minutes to boost it in the Amazon algorithm. Tell us how much it costs, and we’ll send you the money through Paypal.
Does this not sound just incredibly suspicious to you? I can personally understand giveaways where they ask you to showcase what you got on social media. Maybe provide a picture or a hashtag to show you received it and love it or whatever. But blatantly, and artificially boosting the visibility of your product screams distrust, and disinterest in making a product a consumer would want on their own normally.
At this point, I followed through purely out of curiosity. It wasn’t that easy, right? Not the part about sitting silently on an Amazon page for 20 minutes, that’d genuinely be stupid, but rather the rest of it.
But it was. I screenshot the listing to confirm the accuracy of the listing, inform them how much it would cost after tax, and then wait patiently for them to provide the funds through Paypal so I could purchase a unit directly off of Amazon; likely to continue to boost their sales numbers. Aside from that sketchy interaction, I was asked to confirm “pictures would be attached in my 5-star review on Amazon.” And within a couple of days, there was a controller sitting on my doorstep.
Though since then, I’ve been asked twice if I’ve “submitted my five-star review”. At this point I certainly won’t be, but that should be a given after all of this context.
What Now?
So what does this all mean? Well for me? I feel a bit awkward, admittedly I feel a bit slimy too. I agreed to take an item, agreed to do what they asked purely out of curiosity for myself and my morals all without the intent to follow through with a five star review on Amazon. Why? Because it’s just kind of wrong. I’m someone that doesn’t leave Amazon reviews, rather, I just browse through them to see how everyone else feels about a product. But this reminded me that I can’t really trust that in its entirety. Maybe some five star reviews are true, but some definitely aren’t.
To add to this; the “pay for review” scheme isn’t even something new. As far back as 2021 it was revealed that companies all over Amazon were essentially paying for fake reviews through a data breach. This is something that has consistently been an issue with Amazon, and while I don’t see that changing, I also have to ask how can Amazon even combat what they’re doing? Especially when they can circumvent the platform as easily as Abxylute has.
Since I started this, two additional reviews have been added to Amazon on their listing on August 17th. A a pair of five star review, with pictures, one of which with the cardboard box to show it hasn’t been used a lot. I’m not going to put out a factual statement, but with my senses, and what I know now, I am going to heavily assume this was a part of the S9V Giveaway on Discord.
What does this mean for you? Well I’m not going to tell you to outright avoid Abxylute products. For the most part they’re decently made. Despite my negative view towards them now, I can still acknowledge the S9V is a solid product. Is it five stars? I don’t think so; especially for the price. With the awkwardly mushy, but clicky D-pad, and the strange placement of both USB-C ports, it definitely has some odd thoughts. But it’s a competent piece of kit. Buy what you feel comfortable with, for the price you want to buy them at.
I will ask that you don’t trust their five star reviews as much anymore. With the idea they’re boosting their products with fake purchases, and fake reviews, it becomes hard to trust just Amazon reviews. That’s why I’ll always put out the recommendation instead. Watch reviewers, read impressions articles, and ask other people on social media, in Discord, or in person; however you can. It may be more work, but you’ll get honest feedback that should actually aid you in choosing what to buy.
There’s not much else to add to this rather than for me to ask you a question. Something I don’t often do, but feel it’s important. Where do you think someone should go with Abxylute going forwards? Should it just be a company to avoid? Should I continue to try and look at their products just to give the consumer more voices on my thoughts? Because it’s a good company, just with the same shady practices as everyone else. Does this now deserve a disclaimer every time they’re mentioned. “Unknowingly or Not, This Company Has Attempted to Trade Free Products for Five-Star Reviews on Amazon.”
I don’t have the answer; so I hope you can help.
