I guess I would consider myself a "Fondler" I like to feel my tools before I buy them. I am a carpenter of over 17 years so I've had to get and use a lot of tools.
Though it is true the real test is use over time, I have found many brands/makes, known and unknown didn't past the test of the initial hold, Some had bad balance or were lose or had to much sideway play or really felt "cheap!" and those things you can't tell from a picture, and they don't say that in their product description. People have different hands and needs and likes and to be able to see it first hand in your own hand I have found works well as the first initial test.
To my list of demanding consumers I should have included "professionals," those in the trades who actually know what they need. Experience always trumps opinion. But I will stand by my main points: among the top multitool makes, any of them will do the job, and it is possible to learn enough about them on internet forums to make a good choice.
Years ago, in another life while working as a mechanic, I got to know hand tools pretty well. Definitely, some are better than others, but except for those that bend or break, they all function. How they balance, handle etc. could make a difference long term, but since the only thing multitools really offer is convenience, all those other things become secondary. Surely, nobody would actually prefer a multitool implement over any dedicated tool, and that's before we even get into quality issues (there are exceptiions to this; my wife prefers the scissors on her SAK over any of her clippers for toenail trimming.)
There are subjective reasons why someone would choose one multitool over another, and by all means, try them out, if possible. But these days it is decreasingly possible. I live in a large city with major retail outlets, and still there are very few stores that showcase multitools for comparison. Even those that have an assortment usually rack them packaged in blister packs, so you can look but not really touch.
Some, like Lowe's, used to have quality knives and multitools, but no longer. SOG is available nowhere, and I never handled a Swisstool until it got here by UPS. But in that case, thanks to research done on this forum, there were no surprises.
Buying by internet is not completely blind. From looking through these forums it is possible to draw fairly accurate opinions of available offerings. There is a wealth of knowledge here. About ten years ago I started doing just that and never had cause to regret any buying decisiion that resulted.
