One of the biggest ways tech companies like Google and Amazon continue to make advancements is in smart home technology, with devices designed to make their users’ everyday lives easier becoming more convenient and more affordable than ever. Of course, for every story about a smart feature that did actually improve someone’s life, there are plenty of others about gadgets that failed to deliver on their promise.
Redditors don’t want others to end up making the same mistakes they did when it came to trying to make their home smarter so they revealed some of the smart gadgets that turned out to not be all they were hyped up to be. From smart TVs to Ring doorbells, these are just some of those gadgets.
MyQ Garage Door Openers
Chamberlain claims that their myQ Garage Door Openers allow the user to start making their home smarter as they boast a range of features from real-time alerts to daily schedules. However, Redditor BigRiverMan thinks they weren’t all they were made out to be.
Although they acknowledge that they “really like that I can open and close them using Siri,” they found that “the integration frequently breaks, so it only works about 70% of the time.” Whilst that may be a problem specific to using Home Assistant with the device rather than its dedicated app, it’s still an oversight that they found hard to ignore.
Arlo Wireless Outdoor Security Cameras
Often one of the first places that people looking to start making their homes smarter is security and remote-controlled wireless cameras. Redditor Clarkii82 doesn’t have a problem with Arlo’s cameras when it comes to a smart security setup but has one important note.
They comment that their wireless cameras specifically are “a great idea but the constant need to change batteries is very annoying.” They emphasize that while the brand itself is reliable, it does have a weak battery life that affected their wireless edition which makes that particular product a disappointment.
Ring Doorbell Camera
There are plenty of doorbell cameras and smart security features out there but few are more well-known than Ring. That’s thanks in part to being owned by one of the most valuable tech companies in the form of Amazon.
However, Redditor realhero83 didn’t appreciate his experience with their product, partly because “they rely on Amazon’s infrastructure and servers [so] you’re tied into their apps and servers” but also simply because they were “slow.” When it comes to security, promptness is an incredibly important thing and it’s also just inconvenient to only find out the doorbell has rung long after the fact.
Moen Smart Faucet
With its powerful marketing that centers on the idea that the device can make the user’s life easier in small but crucial ways in the kitchen, the Moen Smart Faucet managed to convince many to automate a part of their house they might never have thought to otherwise. For Redditor Mylifereboot though, it was the worst smart home device they ever tried.
According to them, the reset button was in the “worst imaginable place,” the integration with Alexa was poor, and it required the user to go through set-up all over again if the internet went down. Considering it’s an award-winning device, it’s surprising that they would have overlooked these important aspects.
Door And Window Sensors
Annoyances, like accidentally leaving the front door open or leaving the house but forgetting to shut the windows, can be a thing of the past with door and window sensors connected to a smart device and it’s hard to see a downside of this. However, Redditor prolixia found that it didn’t improve their life as much as they thought it would.
They comment that things like “turning off the heating when a window is open or turning on the lights when a door opens just aren’t very applicable to the house or my family’s lifestyle.” While it doesn’t mean that they wouldn’t prove useful to most people and even save them money in the long run, it’s proof that the benefits of window/door automation can be overstated in some cases.
Hisense Smart TV
With great shows on streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney+, it’s now one of the primary ways people enjoy television so it seems like a no-brainer to upgrade to a smart TV that can make watching across different services and apps much simpler.
Unfortunately, there are some users whose lives it hasn’t made more convenient.
Redditor SpartEng76 says they were disappointed by their Hisense Smart TV with AndroidTV as it “won’t work with Alexa, and it would randomly turn on at various times unless I turn that setting off.” Rather than meeting the “everything in one place” dream, it just became another finicky device to contend with.
Google Home Mini Gen 1
The Google Home Mini is one of the most popular smart home devices on the market and, though it’s just one of the countless projects owned by Google, it’s one that has been pushed on customers a lot in recent years. After trying one out, Redditor Jay_Normous thinks the first generation of the device was not worth the hype.
According to them, the main inconvenience was that “one or more of them will just kick itself off wifi and refuse to reconnect until I reset it.” One of the issues many complained about with the Google Home at the time was its inability to automatically reconnect to the Wi-Fi and, for some, it once overshadowed a leading device on the market.
Early Z-Wave Smart Bulbs
For anyone with a large house that needs a lot of lights, the promise of smart bulbs to have every single one controlled remotely from a single place has a huge appeal and Z-Wave are one of the bigger names on the market. Redditor I_Arman found their early version has some big issues for homes with inconsistent power, however.
According to them, “If the power flickers on and off and on and off, it factory resets.” Worse than that, it also means the bulbs turn on to 100% when the network heals in the early hours of the morning which could be an unpleasant way to wake up. For a device designed to make life better, things like that could easily end up making it worse.
Belkin Wemo Smart Light Switch
Despite being one of the more prominent names on the smart home devices market, Belkin Wemo came up multiple times in Reddit’s discussions of disappointing examples. Redditor TheMongus was especially disappointed because they “really like the look and function of the Wemo dimmer switches.”
Unfortunately, they “had several stop functioning completely and the rest randomly lose WiFi connectivity and occasionally reset themselves.” For a brand that wants to be a market competitor and meet the expectations of customers, simple things like reliability are all-important so it’s hard to look past that issue.
Roomba Vacuum Cleaner
Whilst connecting a cleaning robot to a smart network feels like one of the most futuristic changes a user can make to their home, some found the robotic vacuum itself to have issues that make it a lot less of a dream than it sounds. Redditor XMAN2YMAN found that was the case when they tried one several years ago.
They comment that they “bought it and the thing just get stuck. Now it just sits there collecting dust because I hate playing search and rescue every morning.” Whilst sitting back and letting a smart robot take care of the house chores seems like a luxurious step forward, having it require more work from the user is the fastest way to make some dismiss it as overrated.
