Priya Elan of NME commented on "We Found Love" with regard to it being chosen as the lead single from the album, writing that it "breaks the mold" from previous lead singles from Rihanna's albums, because of the songs lack of shock factor that the singers previous lead singles have had, writing "By now it's pretty customary to have a jaw-on-the-floor reaction to the first single from a Rihanna album. 'Pon de Replay', 'SOS', 'Umbrella', 'Russian Roulette', 'Only Girl (In the World)' ... is 'We Found Love' the first one to break the spell?"
Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone was critical of the song, writing it is the "worst single of Rihanna's career", but noted that it would probably still do well commercially.
