[BayB]

Hello All

I have wondered about this since long, but never thought of creating a thread on this topic. Recently, Kia Carens was launched and I read many text reviews and watched many video reviews but nothing comes close to the quality of Team BHP.

So the question... why does Team BHP not do Video Reviews of cars?

I request other forum members also to pitch in with your opinion on this.

Regards

[kosjam]

Personally, I believe that a written review carries much more heft as compared to a video review. Anybody with a decent smartphone these days can make a video review of anything, from a Mercedes Benz to a bath soap, but it is the written word which takes effort, to spin words into a picture which can be imagined by the reader in his own unique way. It lends to a richer experience, and in a more practical aspect, more detail can be put into a written article than is possible in a 10 minute review.

Having said that, there is nothing wrong with a video review, just that as a forum which is mainly text (and picture) based, a video review would spoil the sanctity (purity?) of the same...

[Maky]

I also wondered in early years when video reviews started taking off.
Later I realised it might be the simple reason them wanting to focus traffic on their site and not off it.
One of the reasons besides the fantastic community that Team-BHP is known for, is for it's unbiased honest reviews. A kind of USP and better to keep consolidated in one place.

Personally I feel the art of reading is lost on the next generation and am a big fan of their long format written reviews. I love the sheer detail that one can get into a written review and simply wouldn't be able to in the short video reviews that you(have to) end up doing for YouTubes algorithm to work in your favour.

[AkMar]

Also, the moderators have clarified in the past that the time which they get with car is not enough to do a video review in addition to text review. So they focus on doing the text + pictures review in the best possible way Correct me if I am wrong

[alpha1]

Text is better suited for searching.
Video will require lot of meta data to be useful to general public.

Also reading long texts sprinkled with facts, figures and opinion may help you perform well in your next exam's reading comprehension section.

[krishnakumar]

I believe it's mostly just a legacy practice. TeamBHP is 18 years old! And not so long ago, taking a video, editing it and sharing it in a public forum was a highly involved work. Not to mention the kind of equipment you'd need to make a decent video worth publishing.

I think in the ocean of junk review videos out there now, TeamBHP continues to stand out with good quality written reviews. For whatever reason written reviews are done, I think it can continue as is. It's like reading an honest magazine!

[silverado]

Originally Posted by krishnakumar

I believe it's mostly just a legacy practice. TeamBHP is 18 years old! And not so long ago, taking a video, editing it and sharing it in a public forum was a highly involved work. Not to mention the kind of equipment you'd need to make a decent video worth publishing.

)

Team-Bhp strives to do best at what it does, this was discussed earlier i guess and mods had mentioned that they will do it when they find the right people for same.

[CEF_Beasts]

Simple reason is a 20min video can’t explain the car in detail. Go any longer than 20mins and people won’t watch it.

Most car manufacturers give vehicles to the media for a day at maximum, can’t shoot and drive a car in detail within a day.

[Reinhard]

There are some very good video reviews by esteemed members like @karan etc, that they post on TBHP threads. Enjoyable to view those.

At the same time - personally I've always been a book fan over a TV fan. And that continues in the era of high speed internet. I still love reading detailed articles - including the TBHP reviews. Official as well as owners'. Videos cannot create the connect with me, like a well worded article / books can.

The level of detail in the standard TBHP reviews is probably unmatched by anyone else. If I try to imagine a mod/reviewer actually narrating all of those details during the video - probably the video will be more of an OTT series, rather than a single clip . Sincerely - I hope that TBHP reviews remain the way they are - text with images - for as long as possible.

[sanchari]

Reading a well written article with accompanying pictures is much more enjoyable for me. Its easy to scan the article and focus on things I care about. I do this when I go back to read the review 2nd or subsequent times. Its easy to scroll down to say driving dynamics, interiors etc whichever I am interested in. Plus easy to search for keywords in the article. A well written article is really worth a lot to me compared to videos for me personally. I hope T-Bhp continues with its text reviews in future too!

[BhaskarG]

Moderators and senior bhpians will be able to answer better. However, I think the following:

1. I believe team-bhp is doing an excellent job in its official reviews. Changing with the times is important, but no need to tinker with a working formula. Just think, in the age of quick content consumption, the best review of a car anywhere in the web is not a video, but detailed texts and images in team-bhp.

2. The level of detail in a team bhp review is exceptional. Images help in explaining everything that the text tries to say. Also animations (gifs) are added whenever required.

3. An unique experience with member interaction vs being yet another YouTube channel.

4. As already pointed out, traffic will be diverted out of the website. This may be a reason. Some well-established car magazines has shifted to video platform. But they were physical magazines without much online presence. Team-bhp already has online presence.

Moderators may please clarify.

[jayguar]

Team BHP reviews as is are well detailed with text and pictures. Instead of going full on video reviews with narration, it would be nice if videos complement the text reviews just like photos do. Videos need not have narration, but can be just few second clips showing softness of a material, vibrations, exhaust note, etc.

[PreludeSH]

With text its easier to locate what we are looking for easily. Plus the pics are really good with numbers and quality.

Instead, I would like if we add measurements like door to door in the front and the rear, seat depth etc.
The manufacturer provided widths are usually on the external body and different makers use the internal space with different efficiency.

[sunikkat]

I might be old fashioned, but anyday I would prefer a text review over video. For me video review is good only for first time watching and then it loses its relevance. The text reviews on the other hand helps for future reference. Say for example you want to search for 0 to 100 timings of a car launched couple of years back - searching in a text review is much easier than video review.

[SinghShu]

+1 to the text reviews.
In the world where every thing is moving to videos, clips, reels etc. I find it comforting and peaceful when I read reviews. Just like the experience of reading books triumphs over a similar story based movie, I find it analogues to reading reviews here.

A well written detailed review kind of transports you, making you believe that you are experiencing the drive, interior of the car etc.

I know it might sound crazy but some times the effect of words is beyond the experience a video can ever create. ��