All year long, our analysts and editors tirelessly test and rate products from hundreds of vendors, with every device, app, and service earning an objective score. At the same time, we regularly solicit feedback from our savvy readers on their most appreciated product brands through Business Choice and Readers’ Choice surveys. With our annual Best Brands story, we take the results of reviews and our reader surveys and combine them to create a definitive list of the top tech companies in the industry.
Here’s how we actually do it: First, we collate all the brands that receive Net Promoter Scores (NPS)* in our surveys, and then we average the numbers over 50 for each brand. Then, we compile a list of all the vendor reviews on PCMag.com in the previous 12 months, average them, and convert the numbers to a 1-to-100 scale. Finally, we add those two numbers. The result is the Best Brands Index (BBI). It’s a value that melds product quality and customer recommendations into a single, easily comparable number. (For more, read the full methodology below.)
Below is our ranking of the 25 brands that score the highest BBI across the original 635 brands in our list. Their high scores put them in the top 4% of all the companies we covered in the past year, deeming them the elite among all technology brands. Thirteen brands return to the list again after appearing last year. Among the 12 new brands, several come from new or returning surveys we ran in 2024, giving new vendors a chance to shine in categories like audio, PC peripherals, and electric vehicles.
As you make your tech purchase decisions in the coming year–from phones, tablets, and wearables to components, peripherals, and software, all the way up to PCs, TVs, and electric vehicles–consider these brands the true north for high-quality products and top-notch customer service.
1. Nvidia
(Credit: Nvidia)
There’s no doubt Nvidia is having an extraordinarily good run right now. The company is pushing the AI revolution forward with its graphics chips and has become one of the most valuable brands in the world. The company also dominated CES this year with CEO Jensen Huang’s AI-focused keynote, where the company unveiled next-gen graphics cards. Our numbers back the fact that customers love the chip maker. Nvidia has an average NPS of 70 across two appearances in our Readers’ Choice surveys; that’s actually down a point from last year. But an excellent average score in reviews makes up for it, particularly for its RTX 4070 and 4080 Super Founders Editions graphics cards we tested in early 2024. It all translates to the highest Best Brands Index of the year (159.8), propelling Nvidia from 6th place last year to the top spot for 2025.
2. Bitdefender
(Credit: Samsung)
Last year’s number one brand overall, Bitdefender, drops slightly to the second spot on our list, even though its BBI score (156.6) is almost 20 points higher this time around. It’s within striking distance of our new winner, Nvidia thanks to high numbers from six NPS ratings across our antivirus and security suites survey, plus eight reviews, six of which earn 4.5 out of 5 stars, including Bitdefender Ultimate Security and Bitdefender Total Security. Readers and reviewers agree: Bitdefender should be your first choice for a secure PC.
3. Microsoft
(Credit: Microsoft)
Last year, Microsoft made our top 25 brands list, landing in the 14th position. This year the software giant sees significant improvement, moving all the way up to grab the bronze medal. It regularly scores well in reviews for products like Windows 11, Office, and the perfect-5-star OneDrive. In our surveys, it does exceptionally well with PC peripherals and as a tablet manufacturer for its Surface line. Microsoft ranks highest among the big five tech companies (a group that also includes Amazon, Apple, Google, and Meta—two of whom don’t make this list).
4. SteelSeries
(Credit: SteelSeries)
Our first new entry in the list appears thanks to expanding our reader surveys last year to include gaming hardware and PC peripherals. SteelSeries makes keyboards, mice, and gaming headsets; its NPS score for that last topic in particular is very high. Our reviews of its Arctis products all score 4 out of 5 stars or higher, and the brand earned our Editors’ Choice designation in 2024. The results are an impressive BBI (138.2) that rivals much larger companies.
5. Alienware
(Credit: Alienware)
Alienware’s BBI increases more than 15 points this year (137.3 up from 121.74 in 2024), enough to climb three rungs on the Best Brands ladder. Dell’s gaming brand earns a solid 64 NPS in our gaming desktops survey, plus has stellar reviews for its wireless gaming keyboard and a couple of OLED displays with exquisite visuals. Its gaming systems don’t score quite as high, but it’s not enough to drag the company out of our top five.
6. Apple
(Credit: Apple)
Apple, another one of tech’s big five, is arguably the best-known company on the planet, and one of the most frequently reviewed brands on our list. Last year, it earned a second-place slot. This year it drops to sixth. The company’s BBI was slightly higher last year (137.7 in 2024; 136.2 this year), but this drop is less about Apple changing and more about other brands surging ahead. Apple has 16 NPS scores across our surveys, plus results from 45 reviews over the last year–both increases from last time around. That makes the consistency of its high scores even more laudable.
7. Google
(Credit: Google)
Google is the last of the big five tech firms you’ll see in the top 25 brands (Meta and Amazon don’t make the cut this year). In 8th place, Google ranks similarly to last year (7th). It is a complex company to quantify in many ways, as it has products and services that span over several technology areas. Google Fiber scores high in our Best ISPs survey, and the company does particularly well with web services and app reviews, earning Editors’ Choice badges for Google Maps and Google Drive. And we absolutely loved the well-priced, capable Google Pixel 8a as well as the Pixel 9 phones, all reviewed last year.
8. TP-Link
(Credit: TP-Link)
TP-Link climbs up a few notches from 11th place last year. In 2024, its many high-score reviews buoyed it above a lower-than-average NPS of 55; this year, it’s the other way around. TP-Link earns higher NPS scores (average: 67.6) from our networking surveys. That offsets some below-4-star reviews and lets the brand slide into the top 10 for 2025.
9. Sennheiser
(Credit: Sennheiser)
Sennheiser is a newbie to our list, thanks to the return of our headphones and speakers survey in 2024. It earns an impressively high 70.0 average NPS in those results. Plus, our audio experts hand the Sennheiser brand high scores across four reviews. It all adds up, making Sennheiser the best audio brand on the list.
10. Corsair (Tie)
(Credit: Corsair)
Out of eight reviews at PCMag last year, gaming company Corsair manages one 4.5-star, Editors’ Choice product (the impressive, striking Corsair One i500 desktop PC) and several above-average 3.5s. Averaged together and coupled with a solid 66.0 NPS, Corsair proves again that it has what it takes to be a Best Brand. Corsair’s much improved BBI rating only moves it up one slot from 2024, but that’s enough to make the top 10. It ties with Intuit, which manages the same overall rating of 131.7.
10. Intuit (Tie)
(Credit: Intuit)
When we performed our survey of tax prep and personal finance software, we knew it would include a lot of Intuit products–the company almost seems to be in competition with itself (enough so that it shut down at least one service, Mint, whose users moved to Credit Karma on Jan 1, 2024). The company has a single NPS over 50 from that survey–a 52 for TurboTax. But a string of high-score reviews, including 4.5-star Editors’ Choice ratings for TurboTax, Intuit QuickBooks Online, and Quicken Classic solidify Intuit as the financial brand of preference. It ties with Corsair.
12. Hisense
(Credit: Hisense)
Chinese manufacturer Hisense appears in our TV survey this year with a moderate NPS of 53, but its televisions and projectors were frequent Editors’ Choice winners in our testing. The company’s average review scores in 2024 are high enough to land the world’s third-biggest seller of TVs on the list ahead of any other TV maker.
13. Kia
(Credit: Kia)
Kia is the first and only vehicle brand to make our Best Brands list under the current methodology (though there’s one with an honorable mention below). Three Kia electric vehicles (including the appealing plug-in hybrid Kia Sorento) earn 4-star reviews on PCMag.com this past year; its two entries in the EV survey have an average NPS high enough to land this appealing list placement.
14. Asus
(Credit: Asus)
Last year, Asus hit in 13th place. Despite an increase of more than 10 points to its BBI (127.8 in 2025; 116.08 in 2024), the PC maker drops a notch on the list–a sign of stiff competition. Asus has a respectable mix of customer satisfaction across surveys (including laptops, monitors, and network equipment) and solid product scores from 37 reviews in 2024. It never scores lower than 3.5 out of 5. Its highest-rated products include cases (Asus ProArt PA602), monitors (Asus ROG Swift OLED PG32UCDM), and laptops (Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 and Asus Zenbook Duo).
15. Samsung
(Credit: Samsung)
Samsung falls six spots from last year’s 9th place, again despite a score increase. We tested 25 Samsung products in 2024, including TVs, phones, and tablets, even a gaming monitor and a solid-state drive, and none scored below 3.5 out of 5 stars. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 scores highest with 4.5 stars and has an Editors’ Choice badge. Consistent NPS scores in our surveys for phones, tablets, monitors, and TVs give it a decent 63.4 average. It all leads to an an excellent BBI (127.7), even if the competition keeps Samsung from reaching the top 10 this time around.
16. Acer
(Credit: Acer)
This is Acer’s first appearance as a top brand under our new methodology. It makes the list with an average NPS of 67.0 thanks to its monitors–they score high in our displays survey, both for business and gaming use. With Microsoft, it’s the other one of only two brands in the top 25 to earn a perfect 5-star review, in this case for the Chromebook Plus Spin 714. Most of Acer’s other 2024 reviews are in the 3.5-to-4-star range.
17. Logitech
(Credit: Logitech)
Logitech improves its BBI score (109.8 last time; 125.7 this time) and ranking (jumping from 21st place to 17th) from last year. The company’s average NPS is on par with Apple’s. Its ratings stem from 10 PCMag reviews, including mice (including the Signature AI Edition M750 with AI keys), keyboards, webcams, headphones, and even a pop-up desk, none exceeding 4 stars. Nevertheless, they nicely average on the high side, pushing Logitech up the chart.
18. ViewSonic
(Credit: ViewSonic)
ViewSonic has always been all about displays, and that focus pays off with its first visit to our Best Brands list. It scores well in three monitor categories in our survey and does the same across three reviews, especially with the Editors’ Choice ViewSonic VX1655-4K-OLED, which earns 4.5 stars.
19. Roku
(Credit: Roku)
Solid 4-star reviews across five products put Roku in a good spot. Add that to a single NPS of 55 in our streaming media survey, and the resulting BBI score (124.5) pushes the brand that powers streaming on TVs, soundbars, and media boxes (including a Best Product of the Year winner) into the top 25 for the first time.
20. Jabra
(Credit: Jabra)
Jabra is another audio company making the Best Brands list this year thanks to the timely return of our Readers’ Choice headset and speakers survey (this is also true for Bose, Sennheiser, and Sonos). In fact, Jabra and Sennheiser have matching 70.0 NPS scores. That’s among the highest in the top 25, even tying with top-ranked brand Nvidia. Jabra’s five reviews on PCMag in 2024 include high-end Bluetooth headsets and Editors’ Choice-winning noise-cancelling earbuds.
21. Razer
(Credit: Razer)
Razer returns to the list, a couple of slots lower (19th in 2024), but nevertheless with better numbers, particularly a higher average NPS, thanks to its PC gaming peripherals, especially keyboards. Most of our reviews from Razer this year are in those same categories, plus we tested the company’s laptops and gaming chairs. Its highest-scoring product for the year with 4.5 stars is the Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% gaming keyboard, an impressive pro upgrade, while most of the rest score around 4 stars. It holds that average, which nails down a high score on the conversion scale.
22. Bose
(Credit: Bose)
Soundbars, speakers, earbuds: Our experts reviewed all of those Bose products last year, and they score well. The company shines in our audio survey, earning no less than 7 different NPS scores for us to average–and still comes out with a respectable 66.4. The resulting BBI (123.8) gives Bose its first berth in our Best Brands list under the current methodology.
23. Sonos (Tie)
(Credit: Sonos)
Sonos ruffled some feathers with a change to its privacy policy in June, but our readers gave the brand several 50+ NPS ratings in our survey a couple of months later. With those numbers matched up with ratings on 3 products–one of which was the 4.5-star Editors’ Choice Sonos Arc Ultra soundbar–Sonos enters the Best Brands realm. It ties with Sony: Both companies have BBI scores of 122.2.
Recommended by Our Editors
23. Sony (Tie)
(Credit: Sony)
Sony takes the biggest tumble this year—20 spots. The electronics giant earned the bronze with 3rd place last year and this year, its BBI score of 122.2 puts Sony in a tie for 23rd with Sonos. Still, Sony is consistent–its BBI is only down by 4.2 points, again indicating the fierce competition from other brands. That said, Sony’s average NPS drops from 73.0 to 60.6 in our surveys covering phones, tablets, monitors, and TVs. The company’s review score is up–no small feat, as Sony products were reviewed 24 times on PCMag over the past year. Its top products include camera lenses and the outstanding Sony MDR-M1 headphones. Sony also publishes one of our top games of 2024: Stellar Blade.
25. Malwarebytes
(Credit: Malwarebytes)
Malwarebytes is the final entry in the top 25 this year, yet has the distinction of owning the second-best NPS average in the bunch, behind only its top direct competitor in the list, Bitdefender. That’s courtesy of a particularly high NPS from our work-from-home security software survey. However, its reviews could not lift the brand back to last year’s 10th place. Its highest rating amid its three product reviews is 4 stars for Malwarebytes Premium Security. The reviews are collectively high enough to ensure it stays in the game.
Honorable Mention: Yubico (Highest Review Rating Average)
(Credit: Yubico)
There will always be at least one company that earns a perfect review ranking—that happens with conversion to a 1-to-100 scale. This year, the company with that 100 is Yubico, a maker of hardware tokens and security keys for multi-factor authentication access. Across the four reviews of its products written in 2024, the average was 4.5 stars, thanks to one device (Yubico Security Key C NFC) earning a perfect 5 stars. The only thing keeping Yubico from the top 25 is the fact that we don’t perform surveys on security keys. Yet.
Honorable Mention: Toyota (Highest NPS Average)
(Credit: Toyota)
We haven’t reviewed a Toyota electric vehicle since 2023. But this year, we did launch a new survey on EVs and Hybrids, where Toyota comes out of it not only as a Readers’ Choice winner for hybrids, it also earns a special distinction: The highest Net Promoter Score average for the entire year. It earned a stellar 84.0 for hybrids and an excellent 81.0 across EVs + Hybrids. It narrowly beats out one other brand: Kensington, the PC accessory manufacturer. As for other automakers, the only brand that comes close is Honda, with an NPS of 76.5.
The Full Best Brands List
Below is our list of the 25 Best Brands for 2025. Each line indicates the average NPS and average review score after conversion to a 1-to-100 scale. Read the complete methodology below.
(Credit: By Net Vector/Shutterstock.com)
When asked, “How likely is it that you would recommend this company to a friend or colleague?” survey respondents click on a scale of 0 (“Not at All Likely”) to 10 (“Extremely Likely”). The answer categorizes them as Promoter, Passive, or Detractor:
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Promoters (score 9 or 10): Loyal enthusiasts who will keep buying and referring others. They are extremely likely to recommend getting more products or services from the vendor.
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Passives (score 7 or 8): Satisfied but unenthusiastic customers vulnerable to competitive offerings. They probably don’t care about the company one way or the other.
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Detractors (score 0 to 6): Unhappy customers who can damage the brand and impede growth through negative word of mouth. These people are unlikely to recommend the company.
Passives are ignored. The Net Promoter Score is determined by subtracting the Detractors percentage from the Promoters percentage.
If a brand has numerous detractors, its score can be negative—an NPS of less than zero. Note that a Net Promoter Score is not a percentage: It’s a score between -100 (possible if every rating is a detractor) and +100, derived by subtracting a percentage from a percentage.
NPS has plenty of critics. Some say the information gleaned from an NPS is not actionable. It’s not like a company can actually “use” its NPS number to make things better for itself. But a company that sees an increase in its NPS over time can infer it’s doing something right. Those with high NPS numbers—the kind represented in this story—are the companies with whom you want to do business.
*Net Promoter, NPS, and the NPS-related emoticons are registered trademarks of Bain & Company, Inc., NICE Systems, Inc., and Fred Reichheld. Net Promoter Score is a service mark of Bain & Company, Inc., NICE Systems, Inc., and Fred Reichheld.
How We Determine the Best Brands Ranking
First, we create a list of all the NPS values earned in our Readers’ Choice and Business Choice surveys in 2024, then discard any below 50. Some vendors earn several Net Promoter Scores higher than 50 over the course of a year (Apple has 16, for example), while others only have one or two. We average the collective NPS ratings higher than 50. We remove any score below 50—the creators of NPS call a score of 50 or higher “excellent” and anything above 80 “world-class.”
Next, we consider all the products reviewed on PCMag.com between December 15, 2023, and December 19, 2024. (All are rated between 1 and 5 stars.) We narrow the list to only brands with three or more reviews during that period. We average the ratings for each vendor across all of its reviews. We convert that average to a rating between 1 and 100. Every rating is assigned a corresponding value.
We add the converted review rating to the average NPS score to create our Best Brands Index (BBI), which potentially could reach a maximum of 200. The top 25 companies with the highest BBI each earn a spot on our Best Tech Brands list.
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About Eric Griffith
Senior Editor, Features
