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Hello, I am here to tell you why I recommend AncestryDNA over 23andme.
First of all, AncestyDNA uses the best chip, therefore tests for more and better SNPs giving the best raw data and the most accurate results. The higher quality of the raw data is especially great if you use tools like GEDmatch.
With regards to ethnicity estimate, AncestryDNA gives a superior breakdown for a multitude of reasons. 23andme is vague and general, saying things like "40% broadly European", which is a very disappointing and almost meaningless result. AncestryDNA attempts to break it down more with its "trace regions". AncestryDNA also has superior reference populations. For example, 23andme has 3 Sub-Saharan African reference populations, AncestryDNA has 8.
If you're not Western European or East Asian, your 23andme results will likely be even more general and vague. See what Polk said:
Even if you are Western European, you still may have disappointing 23andme results. Check out this Amazon review:
Although I disagree with him stating that 23andme's competitors are not worth it either, he makes great points on how general and vague their ancestry composition is.I am so disappointed in 23 and Me! The info and sample results that they show the prospective buyer are much more detailed and specific than what you actually get. Also, they neglect to inform the prospective customer that the results you will get will have 3 views, all of vastly differing accuracy. The results that they label as "Conservative" has an accuracy rate (by their own calculations) of 90%. The other 2 composition views are "Standard", with a 75% accuracy rate, and the third is "Speculative" with a 51% accuracy rate. Accordingly, the details of your genetic ancestry and countries of origin drastically decline with the increase in the accuracy rate. So the "Speculative" composition contains a much more specified and detailed breakdown whereas the much more accurate "Conservative" composition is exceedingly general and broad. So to summarize, the "Conservative" results are the only ones worth anything because the others are too speculative, but conversely, they are also the results that basically don't tell you a damn thing. To illustrate, my "Speculative" results were as follows: 43.8% British & Irish, 15.4% French & German, 8.0% Scandanavian, 0.1% Iberian, 0.7% Broadly Southern European, and 0.1% unassigned. Now compare to my "Conservative" (and much more accurate, although vague, results): 8.5% British & Irish, 54.1% Broadly Northern European, 34.8% Broadly European, and 2.5% unassigned. So basically I paid $108 to find out nothing any more specific than what I already knew-that my ancestry is European, British and Irish. I would not recommend wasting your money and time (you will spend a GREAT deal of time on this) on this or any of 23 and Me's competitors as their accuracy rate and data base is much less than 23 and Me's is.
Some people may say that they still want to go with 23andme, because they will soon offer health again, it shows neanderthal ancestry, and its raw data is used in more tools. Well, all of this can be done with AncestryDNA. If you ever need your raw data in 23andme format, here is a tool where you can convert the format. If you're interested in a health report or neanderthal ancestry, use Promethease.
Now, there is one advantage that 23andme has over AncestryDNA: you can see your haplogroups there. In my opinion, all of AncestryDNA's advantages outweigh this feature from 23andme, however to each their own. I will let you know however, that Promethease will guess your Y-DNA haplogroup from your raw data. It guessed me as J2, and my Geno 2.0 results confirmed that they were correct!
23andme is currently the most popular test because they "got there first". I hope that AncestryDNA is recognized for its superior quality, and I'd love to see more people from all sorts of backgrounds get AncestryDNA and share their results with others.
I hope I helped you choose the right test with this information! Feel free to inquire if you have any questions.
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