By Bryan Wall
Product Test Journalist | Kaipūrongo Whakamātautau Hautaonga
We all love a new gadget or bit of tech to play with, and many new products undeniably improve our everyday lives. But some product trends and “innovations” aren’t worth your hard-earned.
We’ve pulled together the product trends we love and the ones we loathe so you can better consider your purchases.
On this page
- Ones we love
- Induction cooktops
- Auto-dosing washing machines
- Refillable inkjet printers
- Dishwasher cutlery trays
- Flatbed microwaves
- Cordless tool systems
- Smart plugs and bulbs
- Hot-water heat pumps
- Ones we loathe
- Laundry sheets
- 8K TVs
- Cordless irons
- Panasonic’s Hybrid Dry washing machines
- Smart stuff that should stay dumb
- Washing machines with too many programmes
- Downdraft extractors
- Air fryers
Ones we love
Induction cooktops
Possibly the best kitchen innovation of the past 20 years, induction cooktops trump all other stovetop types. Induction cooktops are quick, responsive, safe, stylish and easy to clean, plus totally sci-fi in the way they heat pans. Associated innovations, such as individual element timers and keep-warm settings, will transform the way you cook and eventually make you MasterChef.
Find the best induction cooktop for you by choosing induction from the “element type” filter on our cooktop reviews page.
Auto-dosing washing machines
Gone are the days of wrestling with the detergent drawer and spilling powder on your Uggs every time you need to wash your smalls. Auto-dosing washing machines save two of the most important things an innovation can offer – time and money. You’ll save time by filling the machine’s detergent reservoir once a month instead of every wash and money because the detergent dose is accurately controlled by the machine, meaning there’s no wastage or over-dosing. Some machines will even adjust the dose depending on soiling and load size. Win-win we reckon.
Select the “auto-dose” filter on our washing machines test page to choose an auto-dosing washing machine.
Refillable inkjet printers
If you like printing in colour at home, then an inkjet printer is the most affordable solution. But the cost of ink cartridges can quickly mount up, making that $50 printer appear way less of a bargain. Enter the refillable inkjet printer! These nifty printers use refillable ink tanks instead of cartridges. You pay more upfront for the hardware, but in the long run, you’ll save significantly on ink costs and throw away far less plastic, which has to be a good thing too.
Choose a refillable inkjet printer from our reviews using the “Uses refillable ink tanks” filter.
Dishwasher cutlery trays
The debate still rages in the Consumer NZ office, but for some of us, the case is clear – all dishwashers should have cutlery trays, and baskets should be outlawed! The dishwasher cutlery tray is a simply beautiful idea – so easy to load and unload, ensuring that cutlery stays separated, and each piece is properly washed. Case closed (for some)!
Our dishwasher test reviews record if a model has a cutlery tray, along with how well it washes and dries the dishes.
Flatbed microwaves
Another super kitchen innovation, flatbed microwaves solve two of the flaws of turntable microwaves – uniform heating and easy cleaning. Flatbed microwaves have a magnetron (the thing that emits the microwaves) concealed in their base. Instead of the food rotating on a plate, the magnetron rotates in the base to evenly spread out the microwaves and create uniform heating. This means the inside of the microwave is completely smooth, making it much easier to clean. Finally, the days of lasagna with a cold centre and burnt edges are behind us!
The “flatbed or turntable” filter on our microwave reviews page can help you choose.
Microwave ovens
We’ve tested standard microwave, models with a grill, and convection microwaves that can grill and bake.
Cordless tool systems
With the trend towards batteries powering everything, DIY stores have massively expanded the range of battery tool systems they sell. Used to be, you could buy a cordless drill and maybe a sander, if you were lucky. Now, the list of cordless tools on offer is extensive – saws, planers, heat guns, inflators, nail guns, work lights, polishers and vacuum cleaners to name a few. Plus, the same batteries can often be used for garden tools too – leaf blowers, line trimmers, hedge trimmers, chainsaws, lawn mowers and more. You can even get third-party adaptors to use the batteries with your old stick vac when its own battery dies.
You can check our reviews for battery-powered line trimmers and lawn mowers using the type filters.
Smart plugs and bulbs
Smart this, smart that; everything seems to be smart nowadays. But is buying a smart device a smart move? Often, it’s not. (See our opinion on smart stuff that should stay dumb, below, for example.) But there are a couple of smart things we really love here at Consumer – smart plugs and smart bulbs.
Smart plugs allow you to add smart functionality to a multitude of devices, including lamps, fans, TVs, slow cookers and even coffee machines. The plugs let you to turn the devices on and off remotely. Better still, you can create schedules so the device will turn on or off at preset times. For example, you could program the plug so a device will be ready for when you get home or will run when the power is cheapest.
Smart bulbs have similar functionality and can be turned on and off remotely and scheduled. Many will also allow you to adjust their colour and brightness; great if you’re having a house party or want to feel like you live underwater. One of the best uses we found for smart bulbs is turning off forgotten hallway lights at night – without having to leave the bed.
Hot-water heat pumps
You can now get heat pumps that heat water instead of air. Heat pumps extract residual heat from the air and amplify it to heat your home. Hot-water heat pumps use the same technology to heat water in a cylinder instead, providing an energy efficient way to supply domestic hot water. The initial installation cost for hot-water heat pumps tends to be pricey, but many banks offer home loans for this purpose. Combine this with reduced electricity costs, compared with other forms of water heating, and the system could pay for itself in less than 10 years.
Insider’s guide to hot water heat pumps
Read our tips, tricks and things to consider when installing a hot water heat pump.
Ones we loathe
Laundry sheets
Users of laundry sheets will extol their virtues like snake oil salesmen: “They’re so convenient”; “They wash my clothes fine”; “They’re good for the environment”. But the only thing you need to pay attention to is our lab test results. Over years of testing, we’ve found laundry sheets to be about as effective as using only water. So, do yourself a favour and don’t believe the hype.
Find out how poor laundry sheets really are on our laundry detergent reviews page.
8K TVs
More pixels are better, right? That’s what television manufacturers want you to believe when it comes to their 8K offerings. But at present, there isn’t any 8K content available to watch, so splashing out on an 8K set is just a waste of pixels, and your money. Avoid.
Choose a 4K TV from our extensive TV reviews.
Need a new TV?
Is your streaming service wasted on a TV with a grainy picture and muddy audio? We can help with that, too. Check out our reviews of 43 TVs to find one that does your favourite shows justice.
Cordless irons
Cordless irons are another scam in our opinion. You’d think a cordless iron would have a battery, so you can iron anywhere. But no! Cordless irons have a separate plug-in base that they sit on to warm up, much like an iron from the Victorian era sitting on the stove. Oh, how we’ve progressed!
The problem is that, as soon as you take the iron off the base, it starts to cool. You’ve got to work quickly and must constantly return the iron to its base to reheat. This presents even more of an issue for cotton and linen fabrics that require high heat.
We reckon it’s better to struggle on with a corded iron, really.
Panasonic’s Hybrid Dry washing machines
We’re all for innovation, and Panasonic’s hybrid drying system for some of its front-loader washing machines got us excited. The machines are not full-on washer dryers per se, as they can only dry 1–2kg of clothes at a time. Ideal for drying a few items that you need right away, you’d think! The problem is the technology doesn’t work very well. The drying takes too long and doesn’t fully dry the garments, unless it’s just a single T-shirt you need doing. Good idea; badly executed.
Smart stuff that should stay dumb
Do you really need a smart fridge, smart dustbin, or smart oven? We think you don’t. The tendency to make everything smart and connected nowadays is just a way of making you spend more money. Case in point, we’ve seen a Samsung induction cooktop that connects with the SmartThings app. However, all the app lets you to do is see whether you’ve turned on a hob – which you’ll know you’ve done anyway. Plus, the app only shows three of the cooktop’s cook zones, instead of the four it actually has. Useful? We don’t think so.
Read more about smart appliances.
Washing machines with too many programmes
How many of your washing machine’s different programmes do you use? Probably only a couple, yet modern machines seem to be adding more and more programmes and options – to the point that they’re downright confusing. “Iron assist”, “Super Eco Wash”, “Super Speed”, “Hygiene Steam”, “PowerFresh”. What does it all mean?
In practice, most programmes are just simple variations on washing, soaking, rinsing and spinning cycles. So having more programmes doesn’t mean you’re getting anything extra. The best test for whether a machine is suitable for you isn’t how many programmes and settings it has; it’s how well it performs in our testing.
Downdraft extractors
If you’re over clonking your head on the rangehood every time you put on a pot to boil, you might consider installing a downdraft extractor instead. Downdraft extractors usually sit at the rear of the cooktop and rise up when they’re turned on, revealing the extractor ports. Their aesthetic suits modern kitchens, but they’re going to be steamy modern kitchens because downdraft extractors don’t extract very well. Unless you crank up the extractor to full fan speed, that is, in which case, you won’t be able to hear yourself think.
Choose a quieter and better-performing rangehood.
Air fryers
We know this is a contentious choice! There’s a lot of love around at the moment for air fryers. But really, they aren’t a major innovation. Air fryers are basically mini fan-assisted ovens. Clever marketing would have us believe they’re the greatest kitchen innovation ever and are a super healthy way to cook food, but the reality is that an air fryer is only as healthy as the food you put in it. Your oven can do much the same job that an air fryer can, and with greater capacity. We get that they’re useful for smaller households and quick cooking. But for most of us, an air fryer will just be another ugly appliance taking up bench space.
If you must have an air fryer, make sure it’s a good one!
10 products we love from the thousands we’ve tested
We test thousands of products every year and sometimes find ones that stand out way above the rest.
