Three essential aspects of the turbulent-flow, convective heat transfer of nanofluids relevant to their applications are comparatively reviewed in detail based on both theoretical analyses and experimental data. These aspects are: (a) selection the comparison criteria of the thermophysical property-related heat transfer performance of nanofluids and their base fluids, (b) design the predictions of the heat transfer coefficients of nanofluids based on homogeneous fluid models by using nanofluid effective thermophysical properties, and (c) effectiveness the enhancements of the heat transfer coefficients of nanofluids over their base fluids. This review, including research from the inception of nanofluids to date, quantifies the accuracy of bases for future nanofluid evaluation. (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd.