1) All electronics have some sort of PFC. A side effect of circuits also required to meet FCC requirements. Yes, some PFC is near zero. But you were making blanket statements as if all PFC (passive and active) was same. OP need not fearf 'active PFC'. Since most electronics do not have it and most 'active PFC' circuits are not so robust as to to be confused by simulated sine waves.
3) If a UPS does surge protection, then posted numbers prove it. Meanwhile a typical UPS simply connects electronics directly to AC mains. Voltages, noise, harmonics, and other anomalies continue directly into electronics. A typical UPS connects a computer directly to AC mains most of the time - since most robust protection is already inside a computer. Transfer time are milliseconds of no power when AC mains are disconnected and battery is connected. Cleanest power for a computer is when connected directly to AC mains.
How many joules does that Cyberpower claim to protect from? 1030 joules means it uses 345 joules and never more than 690 joules to absorb a surge that can be hundreds of thousands of joules. So yes, Cyberpower does protection if we ignore numbers. Is Cyberpower's near zero protection really protection? Yes- if we ignore specification numbers. Reality: even the Cyberpower needs protection provided by something that is superior, tens of times less expensive, and actually claims to provide that protection.
An expensive UPS (that nobody needs) does some power conditioning. Cleans 'dirty' electricity that is also perfectly ideal for electronics. Best cleaning circuits are already inside electronics. Superior 'cleaning' circuits inside electronics also make "intentionally made much dirtier" electricity into electricity that is 'cleaner' than what a UPS outputs. Since electronics first convert cleanest UPS voltage into the dirtiest power. As explained previously.
4) If a brownout causes electronics damage, then electronics violate design standards that existed long before the IBM PC. If accepting damage claims due to brownouts, then you clearly had no electrical knowledge. Brownouts do not damage electronics. Brownouts can damage motorized appliances. Your proof is that naive consumers *knew* brownouts did damage? Please use logic.
View a datasheet for electronics long before PCs existed:
http://www.datasheetcatalog.org/datasheets/208/108514_DS.pdf
Acceptable voltages are anywhere from 18 volts down to a negative 0.5 volts. All voltages down to and beyond zero cause no damage. Same standards exist for today's electronics. Where is one manufacturer datasheet for a part damaged by low voltage? If you know brownouts cause damage, then you also said what part is damaged.
What is a power off? A long slow brownout that eventually drops to zero. If brownouts do damage to electronics, then so does power off.
Brownouts can be harmful to motorized appliances. Brownouts only cause electronics damage when wild speculation exists.
5) All UPSes are same? Of course not. A UPS that does those other functions typically costs $thousands. No informed consumer needs that UPS because existing and required functions inside computers make those other anomalies irrelevant. Perfectly good for any computer is a $100 UPS to perform its primary function - temporary and 'dirty' power during a blackout. Please stop assuming the generic term UPS means all UPSes are same.
Many claims are only from reading; not from doing. And are only subjective; without spec numbers. Especially telling is a bogus myth that electronics are damaged by a brownout. Does not happen in the real world. However, if you know otherwise, then post datasheet numbers for a part so easily damaged.
UPS is temporary and 'dirty' power for blackouts. So that unsaved data can be saved.
Best protection at a computer is already inside the computer. Anomalies that can overwhelm existing protection must be installed elsewhere. One standard solution costs $1 per protected appliance. If a computer needs that protection, then so does everything else - refrigerator, bathroom GFCIs, dishwasher, clocks, TV, recharging phone, air conditioner, and even smoke detectors. UPS does nothing for any of them. Another solution for the "actually destructive anomaly" does. With manufacturer specification numbers that says it does.