Not Amazon, Not Best Buy: These Online Electronics Stores Get Consumer Reports' Top Rating

Electronics are a part of our daily lives, whether it's the smartphones we keep in our pockets all day or devices like televisions or drones. Many online stores specialize in electronics, and knowing where to buy from can prove challenging. According to customers surveyed by Consumer Reports, two stand above the rest as the best places to buy electronics: Crutchfield and B&H Photo Video.

Crutchfield began as a mail-order business that sold car stereos in 1974, and over the next half-century, grew into one of the most trusted brands in electronics. It launched its online storefront the same year as Amazon, and claims to have been the very first authorized online consumer electronics retailer. Crutchfield only has two physical store locations, so online retail is its bread and butter. It gets incredible CR scores for its customer service, product quality, website usability and support, and ease of checkout.

Tied at the top of CR's rankings is B&H Photo Video, which scores identically to Crutchfield across said categories and slightly outscores it for product selection. As its name suggests, B&H has a far more specialized customer base of those looking for photography and video equipment, and its offerings in these departments are staggering. Crutchfield is a more traditional electronics store, though its emphasis on audio equipment harkens back to its roots. The two overlap when it comes to products like TVs, but each online store has carved out its own space and delivers an excellent shopping experience.

Crutchfield and B&H Photo Video focus solely on electronics, but some may prefer more general retailers that offer more than just gadgets. Thankfully, several online retailers that fit the bill also perform quite well in Consumer Reports' customer satisfaction rankings. Among the four websites tied for third in CR's ranking are Amazon and Costco.

Amazon gets top marks for website usability and support, along with ease of checkout. This shouldn't be a surprise, as Amazon's convenience is a big reason why it's become a behemoth. However, it falls short in customer service and price. The latter may seem surprising, since there are many highly-rated products at low prices on Amazon. However, Amazon is no stranger to raising prices on its own products, so price could remain a sticking point for some consumers.

Then there's Costco. The wholesale store gets a dreadful CR score for its selection, as electronics is just a very small part of what that company sells, but it gets very good scores for every other category that the publication surveys customers about, which helps push it into the upper echelon of online electronics retailers. It's fairly common to find great deals on certain electronics at Costco throughout the year as well. Other massive retailers like Target and Sam's Club get very high overall scores, but Amazon and Costco are the two standouts.