The kitchen is referred to as the heart of the home for a reason. It is the heart of every party and gathering during the holidays and there’s no better way to catch up than over a meal. With the growth of smart home products, even kitchen appliances today have smart abilities.
1. Google Nest Hub Max
The Google Nest Hub Max was released on May 2019 as a competitor with the JBL Link View. As the name suggests, the Google Nest Hub Max has all its features maxed out. It has a bigger and arguable better screen display than the earlier released JBL Link.
The Nest Hub features a ten inch screen, a smart camera and a big loud speaker on the rear side. Other than these, there are a lot more great features of the Google Nest Hub Max to look at. The Nest Hub Max is available on Amazon at an affordable price of $219 which is quite affordable.
This is such a great deal considering all the great features this home pod has. The Nest Hub Max features one of the largest and high-quality sound speaker. It is a 30W subwoofer system with great bass.
This subwoofer is what makes all the difference with other speaker. It is very dominant in bass and is a bit boomy. The Nest Hub Max has a lovely 10 inch display LED screen with a resolution of 1200 by 800.
This means that the clarity is right up there with its competitors. In terms of size, the Nest Hub Max has a larger screen with the Link View having an 8 inch screen.
The visuals are always in full HD and are a fantastic combo with the rich sound. The Hub Max has a great 6.5 MP camera for video calls and watching over the house. The camera can be turned off and covered with a slider when not in use. It also has an amazing 127 degree field of view for the ultimate video.
Pros
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- The Google Nest Hub Max has a large 10 inch screen that automatically adjusts the brightness and color based on the ambience of the room
- The screen has a full HD 720p (1200 X 800)resolution that is visible even from a far distance
- It has a face match feature that allows you to get notifications relevant to your account
- It acts as a digital photo frame when idle which is quite a nice touch to the kitchen. When idle, Google Photos detects the best pictures and displays them as a wallpaper. It also has the ability to frame and display multiple pictures
- The Google Nest Hub Max has a wide viewing angle of 127 degree for viewing even on tight angles
- The camera comes with a slider for privacy
- The camera is a high quality 6.5 megapixel that provides nice and clear video calls
- The Nest Hub Max has amazing speakers with rich sound and powerful clear bass. It will definitely get the small gathering going
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Cons:
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- It is expensive and premium price
- Google Assistant is not as advanced as Amazon’s Alexa
[/su_list] [su_button url=”https://store.google.com/us/product/google_nest_hub_max?hl=en-US” target=”blank” style=”flat” background=”#2D3194″ size=”6″ wide=”yes” center=”yes” radius=”5″ icon=”icon: external-link”] Get Google Nest Hub Max Today! [/su_button]
2. JBL Link View
JBL is known for making high quality, rich sound audio speakers but recently, they shifted their attention to the fast-growing home assistant industry. The JBL Link is one of their best releases yet and it’s easy to see why.
On first look, the JBL Link View assistant has a beautiful striking and sleek design. It is slim and features an almost rectangular shape with smooth curves on the edges.
It comes in black color and features nice firm buttons and a great overall finish. The JBL Link packs a relatively large smart display screen with all the necessary smart functions available.
They include: playing music, checking weather, finding food recipes, managing photos among others. JBL is powered by Amazon and Google, same way Alexa is powered by Google. At the top front of this device, there is a 5MP camera for video calls and monitoring your house when you’re not around.
The interface used is beautiful and very user friendly. The interface used is Google’s Visual Assistant. Other than these, the following are some of its other great features. The JBL Link View is available worldwide at an affordable rate. You can buy it from Amazon on the link provided above or at your local gadgets shop.
The Link View is affordable and sells for $249 which is hue bargain considering all you are getting. However, you can buy it for less when you shop around.
The JBL Link View has one of the best designs when it comes to home pod assistants. They went for a wonderful clean cut and elliptical design that almost looks vintage.
It has a flat frontal display with beautiful dark grey fabric on each side of the screen. It features hefty bezels and lovely curves that make it quite catching to the eye. At the back, there is a loud and rich-sound speaker that reminds you that JBL still have it in regard to sound.
The speaker is rich and accentuated by a relatively large JBL logo right at the center. The back is curved to allow more space for the speaker. Below them are the charging port and the mute microphone slider.
The controls are on the topside and include volume controls and a a slider for enabling and disabling the camera. The unfortunate part is that it is available in only one color: black. The JBL Link View has a nice 8 inch display LED screen with a resolution of 1200 by 800.
This means that the clarity is right up there with its competitors. In terms of size, the Link View has a smaller screen with the Nest Hub having a 10 inch screen.
Many users have only have one complaint with the Link View and that’s the relatively small screen. However, the visuals are always in full HD and are a fantastic combo with the rich sound. The viewing angles are great but not excellent with less color and integrity when watching off-angle.
Pros
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- JBL have been making speakers long before smart hubs so you can imagine the quality of speakers on this hub.
- The speakers produce amazingly clear audio with extremely rich bass
- It has a clear 8 inch screen with 1200 X 800 HD resolution that provides picture and video quality of 720p
- Using recipes is very easy since the screen is clear and can be seen from far
- The camera is very clear with video calls
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Cons:
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- The interface is not full optimized and can be a bit jerky.
- It is quite expensive
- The display although clear could be sharper
[/su_list] [su_button url=”https://www.amazon.com/Portal-Facebook-Hands-Free-Calling-Built/dp/B07HG62QQZ/ref=as_li_ss_tl?keywords=JBL+Link+View&qid=1582963528&sr=8-3&linkCode=ll1&tag=smarthomegizmos-20&linkId=529f8418f9310d85327836de66197cc9&language=en_US” target=”blank” style=”flat” background=”#2D3194″ size=”6″ wide=”yes” center=”yes” radius=”5″ icon=”icon: external-link”] Get JBL Link View Today! [/su_button]
3. Anova Culinary Precision Cooker Wi-Fi
The Anova Cooker cooks food perfectly and precisely how you want it. It works by first downloading its app on to your smartphone. Once downloaded, you can adjust your setting from anywhere in the house or even outside the house.
The Anova is built to attach to an item of any size. It is also dust and water resistant, so don’t worry about cooking stews with it. With step by step recipes on you either of the hubs above, you will definitely cook a lovely meal with this cooker The following are its pros and cons
Pros
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- It is very easy to setup and use
- Through Wifi connection, you can be able to adjust the settings from anywhere
- The onboard displays are clear
- It cooks food to precision
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Cons:
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- It is a bulky device and requires a large pot to cook
[/su_list] [su_button url=”https://www.amazon.com/Anova-Culinary-AN500-US00-Precision-Included/dp/B07WQ4M5TS?tag=smarthomegizmos-20″ target=”blank” style=”flat” background=”#2D3194″ size=”6″ wide=”yes” center=”yes” radius=”5″ icon=”icon: external-link”] Get Anova Culinary Precision Cooker Wi-Fi Today! [/su_button]
4. Brava Oven
Fixed counter top ovens are growing more and more popular in homes today. Smart kitchen appliances are also on the rise today and among the best inventions yet is the Brava Oven.
There are not many ovens out there today that can bake, sear, air fry, toast and dehydrate food, but the Brava Oven does it all. It is a state of the art device with a silver style finish that is box in shape.
It is rounded slightly along the corners and is covered in a matte aluminum casing. The Brava Oven comes with lots of features that enable it to act smart.
It has automatic cooking presets where you only press the button and let it do the rest. It has built in cameras so that you can watch your food on your phone as it cooks. The Brava Oven is also very powerful and can heat up food in very few minutes. This is why it is considered by some the best smart oven in the market.
When it comes to the design, the top surface is covered in black rubber material. The control area is made from tough gorilla glass for durability and easy wipes. Inside the oven, all the walls are stainless steel with compartments.
The top compartments have two 5 MP cameras at the front nnd back that provide a live stream of what you’re cooking. With all these features, the Brava Oven surely isn’t cheap and will cost you $995. S
The Brava Oven comes with a touch screen controls area that displays the presets, settings and other bars including: Recents, Favorites, Toast, Search, bake, Sear, and reheat options. This menu offers all cooking options there are.
For you to control the oven remotely, you need the respective Brava app. The app is available for both android and iOS. It allows you to monitor your food as it cooks, reduce heat among other uses. The following are its pros and cons
Pros
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- This oven has all modes of cooking
- It cooks food very fast and precisely
- It has a lot of automatic presets and settings that all work smoothly just by the press of a button
- The touch screen controls are easy to use and have a nice LED glow for an aesthetic touch
- It comes with built in cameras to watch as your food cooks
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Cons:
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- It is quite expensive
- There is no clear screen to look on to your food
[/su_list] [su_button url=”brava.com/products/marketplace/brava/oven/” target=”blank” style=”flat” background=”#2D3194″ size=”6″ wide=”yes” center=”yes” radius=”5″ icon=”icon: external-link”] Get Brava Oven Today! [/su_button]
5. Amazon Echo Show 8
The Amazon Echo Show is a great smart home assistant for anyone looking for an affordable yet superbly convenient assistant for their home. There are a five versions of the Amazon Echo show each released earlier than the other.
In this section, we are going to look at the latest release which is the version Echo Show 8. The Echo Show features a great 10 inch LCD display screen on top of the rich sounding speaker.
The Echo Show 8 is rectangular shaped with lovely curves on the edges and bezels. The screen is operated through touch and features more functionalities. The Amazon Echo Show 8 like all its predecessors comes is powered by Alexa. Other than these, there are a lot more features the Echo Show has.
The Echo Show is known for its beautiful and striking design. It is rectangular in shape and features relatively sharp edges and corners. This gives it a very executive and edgy look. Amazon also decided to put the speakers on the back to allow the whole of the front part to be a 10 inch LCD screen display.
The external design also features control buttons and buttons. There volume controls is located at the top together with the privacy button. The privacy button enables or disables the camera when need arises.
At the back, the micro USB charging port and Kensington lock are placed. There is also a direct current (DC) power port. The front also features a front camera for video calls and home surveillance when you’re not around. The camera is at the center of four dots. The dots are Amazon Echo’s eight microphones.
We have already seen that they Echo Show features a large 10 inch screen LCD screen. This screen has a 1200 x 800 resolution for full HD images and videos. It is clear and visible from a far distance which is how you will be using the assistant most times. The screen was also designed with amazing viewing angles and super responsiveness.
There is an adaptive brightness feature that allows the screen to brighten up or dim depending on the surrounding’s amount of light. Alexa is one of the first home assistants to be developed and because of this, it is slightly more advanced compared to other assistants.
Amazon wants you to interact with assistant through speech and Alexa is one of the best AIs for this. Through Alexa, you get access to smart features such as Zigbee that manages smart lights and socket plugs.
It also manages smart locks which is great. Alexa can also be installed in your phone to make the whole home management experience sweet and smooth.
When idle, the Amazon Show will cycle through stories and captions. This can easily be disabled in the settings. To access the settings, pull down the notification bar from the top through the responsive touch screen. Touch functionality enables you to access the home screen, alarms, settings and smart home routines.
Pros
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- It has a relatively large 8 inch screen with wonderful display
- The Amazon Echo Show 8 is gorgeous and striking to the eye
- The audio quality is amazing and rich
- The camera is built with a privacy slider that blocks it when need arises
- The Amazon Echo Show 8 has access to all Alexa abilities
- The Amazon Echo Show 8 features a light sensor that provides amazing adaptive screen brightness.
- The camera supports video calls and home surveillance.
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Cons:
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- There is no Netflix access
- The recipe functions do not work well
- It only works best with Amazon’s services for music and photos
[/su_list] [su_button url=”https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PF1Y28C?tag=smarthomegizmos-20″ target=”blank” style=”flat” background=”#2D3194″ size=”6″ wide=”yes” center=”yes” radius=”5″ icon=”icon: external-link”] Get Amazon Echo Show 8 Today! [/su_button]
6. Amazon Basics Microwave
Amazon is making everything from smart home hubs to smart kitchen equipment. Among the best smart kitchen appliances they have is the Amazon Basics Microwave. Like all Amazon smart products, this microwave is powered by Alexa. Warming food and drinks has never been easier.
It’s as easy as saying, “Alexa, please warm the tea” and Alexa will warm your tea. However smart it is, you still have to put the tea in the microwave to be warmed. You should note that this Microwave does not have a microphone, therefore to communicate with it, you need an Amazon speaker such as the Echo to pass the instructions.
The Amazon basics microwave is one of their first products to feature an Alexa Connect Kit. The kit is installed to make the incorporation of Alexa commands easier. With the small size of this microwave, you will find that it is ideal for someone living alone or two roommates.
It is rated at 700 Watts of power and this is quite little compare to regular size family ovens with a 1000 Watt rating. Over time, the Amazon Basics microwave has been receiving software updates that improve the existing functionalities but also add new ones.
A great plus of this microwave is its affordability, at only $60, you will be able to buy it. When you buy this microwave, there is a complete list of Alexa commands that you can use to warm your food. The following are its pros and cons
Pros
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- It is quite small and compact and is guaranteed to fit in small spaces such as under the counter
- It is easy to connect it to the smart speaker and works smoothly after connection
- The Amazon Basics Microwave comes with an automatic popcorn refiller powered by Amazon dash
- It is rather affordable
- Since it comes with instructions, it takes the guessing out of cooking some meals
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Cons:
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- It is very simple and plain looking probably to accommodate the price tag
- It may be too small for some people especially if you didn’t know the size before seeing it
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[su_button url=”https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Microwave-Small-Works-Alexa/dp/B07894S727?tag=smarthomegizmos-20″ target=”blank” style=”flat” background=”#2D3194″ size=”6″ wide=”yes” center=”yes” radius=”5″ icon=”icon: external-link”] Get Amazon Basics Microwave Today! [/su_button]
7. Sonos One Smart Speaker
If you are one of those people who simply cannot cook without some nice music playing, then this would be a great addition to your kitchen. The Sonos One is considered the best speaker by some users and they are justified to believe so. It is a very loud speaker with extremely rich sound and amazing bass quality.
You can hear it from the kitchen and from other rooms clearly. The Sonos One is known for its versatility in functionalities. We have already seen it is powered by Alexa.
However, it can supports Google Assistant and Airplay, meaning it cuts across all platforms. To add to all these, the speakers are amazing and produce fantastic sound quality. It is everything you would want in a smart speaker rolled into one. This one of the best smart speakers also supports multi-room pairing.
What this means is that, you will be able to talk to Siri while still connected to Alexa. It also has built in apps to help with its functions. There is Spotify and Tidal for music. The following are its pros and cons:
Pros
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- It has an amazing and attractive design with a cleaner presentation
- Since it supports multi room pairing, the Sonon One speaker is able to support other platforms including Apple and Google.
- The Sonos One speakers are of high quality and very rich sound ideal for music
- The Sonos One is able to play music while Alexa is muted
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Cons:
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- It is thick and somewhat heavy
- It is expensive and premium priced
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Conclusion
If you love to cook, then you know how much time you can spend in the kitchen. Because of this you need the best conducive environment to allow you to cook comfortable and more importantly, enjoy the process. Using the above listed smart appliances, you will be able to truly make your kitchen the heart of your house.
