Seven “smart” Home Appliance Upgrades That Aren’t Really That Smart.

Whether you like it or not, home appliances are getting smarter. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to find even the most basic models without some kind of smart features or built-in artificial intelligence. If you don’t believe me, just try finding a “regular” TV at your local Best Buy. You’ll be disappointed.

While many of the “smart” features offered by these new, convenient appliances are truly useful , being able to preheat the oven or adjust the thermostat with the touch of a button on your phone is great, and receiving notifications when the refrigerator door is left open or when you forgot to transfer the laundry from the washer to the dryer is certainly a big plus.

But sometimes the convenience these features offer is illusory, as many supposedly “smart” features of modern home appliances are not really “smart” at all—and can actually complicate your life rather than make it easier. If you’re choosing a new appliance, consider avoiding these less-than-smart features.

A dryer with moisture sensors that keeps clothes damp.

Modern clothes dryers have many great features. Some can even interact with your washing machine, presetting the time for laundry, and many can remind you to collect your laundry to avoid wrinkles and to clean the lint filter. However, modern dryers often feature humidity sensors that shut off the dryer when they detect that your clothes are dry. In theory, drying with a sensor saves money and time compared to drying with a fixed timer. However, sensors in these dryers are notoriously inaccurate, shutting off the dryer when your clothes are still slightly damp. This leaves you guessing how long to dry and setting the sensor to the correct level. At best, this may mean starting another drying cycle. At worst, your clothes will sit there and grow mildew until you remember to check the machine.

Dishwashers with “eco-modes” that leave dishes dirty.

New dishwashers often feature efficiency or “eco” modes that use less water and energy to wash dishes. In theory, this is a great idea. But these modes achieve this efficiency only in one way: by operating at lower temperatures and literally using less water per wash cycle. This often results in dishes that are noticeably dirty after washing, forcing you to cancel out the benefits by running the wash cycle again. Worse, these modes don’t reach temperatures high enough to kill dangerous bacteria like E. coli, so even if your dishes appear clean, they may be unhygienic.

Smart refrigerators that mistakenly identify your food.

Smart refrigerators often end up at the top of complaint lists for two main reasons: first, manufacturers often discontinue them shortly after they hit the market, and updates and support disappear after just two years . This turns your expensive smart refrigerator into an expensive dumb one. Even more frustrating, smart refrigerators that supposedly use artificial intelligence to recognize food as you place it inside (to help you track your purchases and expiration dates) often make mistakes. For example, this woman complained that her smart refrigerator frequently mistook her husband’s head for an avocado, and these are just a few of the issues that render the feature practically useless.

Microwave ovens with touch controls that do not cook food.

While modern microwaves remain the same clunky and unattractive devices they’ve always been, there have been attempts to make them smarter—and sometimes these efforts backfire. Some microwaves offer a ” probe cooking ” feature that detects the weight and moisture level of food to adjust cooking time and power for perfect cooking. Except when the probe detects the wrong settings and leaves you with a half-cooked mess, or when you’re trying to cook something that simply doesn’t cook well with the probe, such as dry foods that don’t produce enough steam for the probe to detect.

Smart kitchen scales that just guess the readings.

A smart kitchen scale might seem like a great idea: you weigh your food and use an app to get nutritional information, like the calorie count. That’s great, but in reality, it just adds an unnecessary step to your cooking routine, as most “smart” scales are just a regular kitchen scale with an app that Googles the information for you. You’ll get the same overall experience—and likely greater accuracy—if you weigh something and use your phone to look up the nutritional information yourself.

Smart garage doors that are less secure

“Smart” garage doors are a prime example of a technology that offers little benefit from being “smart.” And the core technology that makes garage doors “smart”—a Wi-Fi connection to a cloud server—can make them not just useless, but far worse . Not only can any connection disruption cause the door to lock open , leaving your home vulnerable, but the manufacturer can make changes at any time that could potentially alter the door’s operation or render it completely inoperable.

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