Whether you’re shopping for a softer set of sheets, a more comfortable mattress, or a brighter set of light bulbs, you’re likely to come across advertising that touts impressive-sounding numbers. 600 thread count! 800 coils! 1,000 lumens!Such stats, meant to convey quality, are often front and center in marketing copy and product packaging. But they’re not always the best indication of a product’s merits.Through rigorous testing, Wirecutter journalists have found that many specs are, at best, only part of a product’s story and, at worst, completely misleading. So we asked our experts to break down the numbers they see thrown around in marketing copy most often.Below, they explain why specs such as coil count, wattage, and thread count rarely tell you whether a product is actually good — and they note some things to look for instead.