vsMars is a transparent product comparison platform. The Mars Score is its open scoring formula — a 0–100 composite computed from a product's published specifications using per-category weights that anyone can inspect and recompute. This article is the canonical reference for how it works.
The formula in one paragraph
Every category (smartphones, headphones, GPUs…) defines a set of scored specs, each with a weight and a direction (higher-is-better, like battery capacity, or lower-is-better, like weight). Each spec value is normalized to 0–100 against the observed range within its category, multiplied by its weight, and the weighted values are summed. That sum is the Mars Score. No editor adjusts it; no advertiser can move it.
Step by step
- Collect specs. Every product carries a complete spec sheet sourced from manufacturer data and retailer APIs (see our methodology for sources).
- Normalize. For each scored spec, the value maps linearly onto 0–100 between the category's minimum and maximum. A 7,000 mAh battery in a category spanning 3,500–7,500 mAh normalizes to 87.5.
- Apply direction. Lower-is-better specs are inverted before weighting.
- Weight and sum. Weights are per-category and public — battery is 20% of a smartphone's score but irrelevant to a wired monitor. The calibration rationale is documented in how Mars Score weights were calibrated.
What the Mars Score deliberately does NOT do
- It is not a star rating. We publish it as a transparent property of the product, never as an aggregate user rating. User ratings on vsMars come only from real user reviews.
- It does not include price. Price changes daily and varies by region; baking it into a quality score makes the score unstable and unauditable. Price is shown alongside, not inside, the score.
- It cannot be bought. Affiliate relationships (disclosed here) have no input into the formula. A retailer paying a higher commission changes nothing, because there is no human step where it could.
Why "reproducible" is the whole point
Most comparison sites publish a points total without the weighting behind it. Our position: if a reader can't recompute the score, the score is an opinion wearing a costume. Every Mars Score on vsMars can be re-derived from the published spec sheet and the published weights. When weights change, the change is documented and dated.
Where you'll see it
- Product pages show the score with a full per-spec breakdown.
- Comparison pages (any X-vs-Y) explain why the winner wins, spec by spec.
- "Best of" guides rank by Mars Score within use-case filters.
If you find a score you can't reproduce, that's a bug — report it and we'll fix the data or the docs.