23andMe Ancestry Service: Personal Genetic DNA Test with 3000+ Geographic Locations, Family Tree, DNA Relative Finder, and Trait Reports

Sample needed to be sent to the UK, while it was bought in the UAE

23andme is one of the major DNA heritage companies. Their price is somewhat higher than other smaller companies and similar to their major competitor, but they provide the most value for money as your results will not tell you which population groups you're most related to but also your haplogroups. This is unique compared to other companies. Additionally, they are efficient and their presentation is pretty good though it does not include a nice video presentation like another competitor. Most importantly, the accuracy seems to be high as they managed to find my origins and trace it to specific regions which matches with my family tree. Please note however, that 23andme is an origins heritage company and NOT an ethnicity-heritage company. They will not tell you whether your DNA is similar to the DNA found specifically in certain ethnicities. Instead the results will tell you the proximity of your mix of genes to the mix of genes found in other reference populations! Therefore, the test might be unhelpful to people who live in areas where populations have historically mixed and who want to see their ethnic make-up. However, the good thing is that you can upload your 23andme raw DNA data to other DNA companies which specialize on telling you your ethnicity. You can do this for free too at the most major one (MyHeritage). As a result, 23andme provides the best value of money out there since you can get your origin, haplogroup and ethnicity. Finally, in terms of matching with other people, the website has a vast database and I found many relatives I had no idea about. Though you can expand this pool of people by uploading your raw dna data to other companies as the market is rather fragmented. So all in all, I am very happy with the results and helped be settle on my ethnicity. Highly recommended!

I got this while it was on sale (my son bought it for me as a Mothers Day gift) and it was at a great price. It was easy to use and to post. It was good quality and following the instructions my sample was very secure. The results were very surprising and accurate. I recieved more information than I expected. It was a great experience although the wait for the results took some time. Two months after sending off my sample I received the results.

I looked through numerous reviews and best buy lists before buying this product. I saw this product on special offer, decided on buying it and I am pleased I did. Apart from the purchase price there were no additional costs, no postage and a reply paid label to send my results. I posted my saliva sample on 27th December and got the email telling me my results were available precisely 4 weeks later. Given delays around Christmas and New Year and that the lab is in the US, I was pleased with this timeframe. I did receive email updates about the progress of my test and its expected due date and there is also an online portal available to check its progress. On the whole I found my results easy to interpret. The website is well laid out and the user interface is clear. I’ve compared my results to a friend’s and a work colleague’s results on rival platforms and all of us preferred the 23andme results and interface. I’ve got 1,400 DNA relative matches although all but 10 are 4th cousin or more distant. No nasty shocks but frustration at the lack of any identifiable relatives or possible relatives on my Dad’s side of the family. I’ve messaged 5 of my closest 10 matches and have received replies from 3 of them. Why not 5*? 1. A rather odd section on Neanderthal traits. Apparently, I’ve got 261 Neanderthal variants. Some statements read like a cross between a comprehension test and listening to a fortune teller. ‘You have 0 Neanderthal variants associated with having straighter hair.’ Does that mean that I should have curly hair? BTW - I’ve got straight hair and always had straight hair. ‘You have 1 Neanderthal variant associated with your height.’ Does that mean I’m taller/shorter than people without that variant? 2. Precision vs accuracy in the Ancestry composition. 23andme should be applauded for the detailed breakdown of the Ancestry composition. My ancestry composition is given as 62.8% British & Irish, 21% French - German, 12.4% Broadly North West European… In contrast I uploaded my DNA test to another family history website which gave me 100% British and Irish ancestry. The 21% French-German ancestry is at variance with my paper family tree. My tree may not be accurate, but it is only working through the 23andme website and seeing that you can alter the confidence level of your ancestry result I realised that what is initially presented may not be wholly reliable. Increasing the confidence level reduces the French-German ancestry and increases the Broadly North West European ancestry. Also French-German ancestry has the lowest precision of any European ancestry group. My issue here is that for a casual viewer it is presenting lower confidence figures as fact. As at least another reviewer has said you can upload your DNA results to other family history websites – just search for ‘family history dna upload’

First, it’s really easy to do the test and ship the box back: it contains step by step instructions and contains both the shipping box and printed sticking mail label so you don’t have to pay anything extra. Then you just take your saliva, close the box, apply the label and place it in a royal mail red box. The results arrived 3 weeks later but i’ve had friends who received them 2 months later. Careful not to eat or smoke before you take the test otherwise they may not be able to analyse your results as the sample would be “contaminated”. The platform to review your results is very user-friendly and intuitive, and I really like how they change your results throughout time to adapt to their advancements in technology. I did the test in 2018 and reviewed my results in 2020, and saw the accuracy had been improved: while before my dna was from 5 different ancestry regions, it now only shows 2 regions. While i see this as a bonus, it also depicts that accuracy is not total and that they are making ongoing improvements to it.

Very impressed!!! I was not sure at first what results would come up but I was very pleased to find my long lost half sister. We have searched for her for many years and as soon as I saw her name come up I connected with her online and we are getting to know each other. I am very impressed to find and learn all about the other people that are linked to my family. The reports and all the information are easy to read and understand and I am looking at upgrading. Also, I was tracking the kit all the way and during the time when there were any delays due to Covid or weather in the USA, I contacted the 23andMe team and they responded back to me within one day with the information. The only sad part of this journey is that my Dad passed away 2 weeks before I got the results and he would have loved to have met his daughter, however, we are honouring his wishes and will ensure my sister is made to feel part of our family x