In the modern era every article, product is defined by specifications or specs. While these specs try to tell a story about the product and define the parameters of its working and construction there are often terms used which are not interchangeable between brands. As a result it gets difficult to make a comparison. For instance certain Air conditioner brands rate cooling in watts while others rate it in BTU. Adding to the confusion is the fact that certain manufacturers mention nominal cooling and certain mention maximum cooling again to deceive the buyers.
However in our practice the best way to compare 2 products across different manufacturers is not by glancing at them but by preparing an excel sheet. In that sheet you should write and compare everything as the manufacturer has written. Moreover certain aspects such as cooling maybe mentioned as BTU or watts in a manufacturers spec sheet. Make an effort and use this page to convert the said unit to get an exact idea.
Likewise it is recommended to search the terms on Google before making an assumption as to what it means. For example impedance of a pair of speakers or headphones has no bearing on how it will sound, or what is the sound profile. What it does tell us as what will be our amplifier requirements though. For example a pair of headphones of around 20000 rupees could have multiple impedance options like 32 ohms, 64 ohms etc. The sound quality would be same, however amplifier requirements will be not!
Is everyone inflating?
While inflating the specs and presenting a rosy picture makes a product a better prospect in front of its competition, thankfully not all manufacturers resort to this tactic. Case in point being that LG rates its Air Conditioners conservatively and have been found to outperform ACs with similar ratings. Likewise Bosch washing machines are able to sustain their drum RPMs even under load however certain budget brands are unable to.
Point is not all manufacturers are alike and not all stoop down to deception as marketing, but as a buyer we should always keep our guards up.
Are better specs always better?
Do better specs mean a better performing product? Yes and No. However the answer is not that simple. Take 2 pair of earbuds under 10000 rupees for example. One may have larger driver size yet perform poorly in bass, reason? amplifier, driver quality, pod built. By the same token a larger battery does not equate to more run time also.