[fjtorres]

Specs are part of the story but not all the story.
Note the key phrase in the quote by the OP: "Just do a spec-by-spec comparison".
That is just plain lazy to start with and, yes, that kind of reporting deserves to die.

A proper review can quote specs, but it's not necessary.
What is necessary is to report what the product does, how it does it, and how it matches up to its *intended* customers' needs.
After all, no product is going to meet *everybody's* needs; what it needs to do is meet the needs of enough customers to make a profit.
And good reviews need to provide enough hands-on experience to give prospective customers a hint of what the product is like in real world usage which is something spec sheets alone can't do.

As for cars, the likes of Car and Driver routinely fill their letter columns with protests from readers upset that since car A was a fraction of a second or a half pound lighter or a few hundred dollars cheaper, only an idiot would choose car B over it.
Much fun is made of them.
Properly.