CU has a bit of a weird scale. It seems to go for the intersection of good and cheap, which doesn't typically mean high quality. The best rated stuff is typically mid-range, lower cost-of-ownership, but nothing special.

They try to find what is going to cost the least amount of money for both now and in the future, likely within the warranty period. Mid-range and low cost of ownership is exactly what many people want. Consumer Reports' market isn't tech evangelists looking for washing machines with AI in them, they are normal users looking to replace an appliance in the least painful way possible. When you have a surprise expense like an appliance, you likely just want to spend as little as possible. Someone paying for consumer reports probably has enough money to afford paying a little more upfront for a mid-range model. If they wanted the cheapest model, they wouldn't be looking at reviews, they'd just buy the cheapest. If they were in the market for luxury models, they'd just go buy a matching set from a luxury brand, money isn't much of an issue so who cares how well it performs over time?

Your experience matches mine. I also found that their coverage of products was simply too thin to be meaningful for me.