Smart homes have increased in popularity recently, and there are many smart home devices available to consumers these days. These devices give you greater control over your home’s systems and can protect you from many catastrophic situations, like fires or theft. They may even help you save money and live more comfortably over the long run. With that said, though, there are quite a few overrated smart home devices. Here are five of the most overrated.
Smart Microwaves
Many smart appliances have made their way into modern homes in the last few years. We all love our Ring doorbells. And Alexa is a big help whether she’s ready you the news in the morning or compiling a grocery list. Each smart device provides a unique perspective on smart home connectivity. Unfortunately, smart microwaves don’t fall into the “most useful” category. If you haven’t used one, you aren’t missing much. A smart microwave says it can customize cooking times for different ingredients and some even have voice controls. On paper these features seem interesting. The reality, however, is that most of us don’t use the popcorn button to make our microwave popcorn. This means many of the custom options will likely never be used. Voice control is also unlikely to be a major selling point since a lot of microwave use involves single-touch preprogrammed times anyway.
Automatic Watering Solutions
Maintaining a garden using automated watering solutions sounds like a great idea. The problem is that there are already mechanical timers and other solutions that can handle this without adding another connected device. There are undoubtedly some people who will find some of the more advanced automated features in these watering solutions useful. But most won’t get much use out of these features, so these products don’t offer enough of an advantage over non-smart alternatives to justify the cost or hassle of installation.
Tacked-On Smart Appliances
There are several useful appliances that add Bluetooth connectivity and dedicated apps as something of a tacked-on function that adds a little bit to the cost. These washers, cookers, and other appliances work largely the same with or without the smart features, and in the end, there simply isn’t that much in the way of added functionality provided by the Bluetooth connection. Most of the time you’ll be better off saving the little bit of extra money and sticking with the non-smart version of these devices.
Smart Hubs
Before you complain, hear us out; this isn’t talking about smart speakers that act as hubs or similar devices that performs a unique function (like providing access to a digital assistant) while also controlling multiple devices around your home. This is specifically referring to devices in your home that only act as smart hubs, often requiring a dedicated app to program and interact with them. While some of these hubs may have nice interfaces in their apps, you can usually get more out of a multifunction device like Google Home or Amazon Echo than from a dedicated single-purpose smart hub.
Unique Home Remotes
Remote controls for smart home devices range from basic items such as IR remotes and key fobs to more unique pieces that could be considered works of art. Unfortunately, the more complex of these remotes are often a bit lacking when it comes to overall functionality. Typically designed with specific devices in mind, you’ll usually be better off with more general-purpose remotes, if you don’t rely on voice control or smartphone apps instead.
Be Smart About Overrated Smart Home Devices
What do you think of these? Did we hit the mark with overrated smart home devices? What would you take off this list? Or which device would you add?