Smart Appliance Buying Guide 2025
Smart appliances typically let you control and monitor cooking, cleaning or laundry from your phone—or by using voice commands—to help streamline housework and add flexibility to your routines. When it comes to purchasing a smart appliance, there are several options to consider when evaluating your needs.
Whether you’re looking to save time in the kitchen or keep an eye on laundry from another room, smart appliances put technology at your fingertips to accommodate you and your family. Read on to learn how to choose a smart appliance with this smart appliance buying guide.
What are smart appliances?
Smart appliances connect to your smartphone, or other devices, through the Internet and can be controlled remotely. They use sensors to detect, monitor, and adjust settings and activity in your appliance. These home appliances can also often remember your preferred settings, automate routine chores and more.
You can likely find smart wall ovens, ranges, microwaves, washers or dryers to add to your home. Functionality can vary from model to model, but these devices often sync with an app that enables you to set, start, pause and track progress on your laundry and kitchen appliances, whether you're one room away or one city away.
How do smart appliances work?
Smart appliances work by using WiFi or Bluetooth to connect smart devices to one another so you can operate the appliance outside the kitchen or laundry room using an app on your smartphone. Bluetooth is typically used for connecting devices to each other—like connecting a smart phone to a smart appliance— while you can expect to use WiFi to connect smart devices to the Internet.
Sensors in the smart appliance help keep track of things like temperature, cycles and timing to help keep you up to date on the progress of your recipe or laundry load.
The Whirlpool® App allows you to turn on a smart appliance remotely, save favorite and custom cycles, select cycles from your smartphone, and more, depending on the model.1 Smart appliances can also recognize your cooking or laundry patterns and store that information, which enables them to assess your habits and offer up options personalized to you.
Are smart appliances worth it?
Smart appliances help you manage everyday tasks by providing a heightened level of convenience and productivity that can be beneficial to any home. By letting you keep an eye on your chores from anywhere, your smart appliance can help you multitask and help create more time for you to share with loved ones. For instance, select smart appliances from Whirlpool brand let you:
- Manage your routine from your smartphone: Smart appliances help you check tasks off of your to-do list no matter where you are. The Whirlpool® App, for example, allows you to preheat the oven and monitor cooking progress on select ranges when you’re away. You can also schedule a wash cycle for your washer on laundry day, or select a matching drying cycle best suited to the wash cycle you used.2
- Use your voice to control your appliances: You can keep tabs on tasks like laundry and cooking cycles using your voice, even when your hands are full. Select Whirlpool® Smart Appliances are compatible with virtual assistants like Google Assistant or Alexa-enabled devices, allowing you to perform tasks like checking the oven timer or starting a wash cycle from another room.
- Quickly connect: Select smart appliances from Whirlpool brand let you use Scan-to-Connect technology to help get your smart appliance up and running. This entails simply downloading the Whirlpool® App, then adding your appliance and following a guided experience.3
If you’re someone who prefers a hands-on approach to cooking, laundry or cleaning—and you're not too keen on relying heavily on tech—then smart appliances might not be the best fit. Or, you may not get the full value of a smart appliance if your Internet connection is spotty or you deal with frequent outages.
If smart appliances seem like a good fit for your home, find some specific uses for smart home appliances to improve your day-to-day routine.
What are types of smart home appliances?
Appliance manufacturers offer a wide selection of smart appliances, like smart ovens, ranges, microwaves, dishwashers, refrigerators, washers and dryers.
Smart appliances from Whirlpool brand can help you in your kitchen or laundry room, with a variety of smart ovens, ranges, microwaves, washers and dryers to choose from.
Smart ovens and ranges
Some smart ovens and ranges bring extra convenience to the cooking process with the ability to remotely preheat your oven from your smartphone or use your compatible voice-enabled device to adjust settings when your hands are full.
Air Fry Mode is a recent upgrade to connected ovens and ranges that offers your family a healthier alternative to frying in oil. Try Air Fry Mode to create crispy fried foods quickly and without excess oil.
Learn more about smart wall ovens and ranges to find the right fit for your kitchen.
Possible smart oven and range features
- Updates and alerts: Receive a notification when meals are finished cooking, or when your oven is in need of maintenance or attention.
- Automatic feature updates: Enjoy updated cycles and automatic features as they’re released.
- Voice control: Use a compatible voice-enabled device, like Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa, to send commands to preheat the oven, start a timer and more.
- Temperature adjustments: Preheat the oven from your phone or smart device, or switch the oven to a Keep Warm setting when you can’t get to dinner right away.
Shop for Whirlpool® Smart Ovens and Ranges
Select Whirlpool® Smart Ovens and Ranges include an innovative touchscreen that adapts to your cooking habits, providing immediate access to the settings you use most.
Smart microwaves
Smart microwaves advance the convenience of traditional microwaves by allowing you to start and keep an eye on cooking cycles remotely from your smartphone. These appliances may include a touchscreen that learns and adapts to the way your family uses the microwave, and can often suggest customized presets in response.
Learn more about what a smart microwave can do.
Possible smart microwave features
Set cook times and power levels: You don’t have to be in the room to get cooking in the kitchen. Some smart microwaves let you adjust cooking times and power levels on the microwave from an app on your phone.
Voice control: When your hands are busy, tell a compatible, voice-enabled device like Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa to perform tasks like checking the microwave’s timer or navigating to a specific setting.
- Remote start: Some smart convection microwaves allow you to remotely begin preheating in convection mode so the microwave is ready to cook when you get to the kitchen.
Shop for Whirlpool® Smart Microwaves
Select Whirlpool® Smart Microwaves incorporate features like Scan-To-Cook Technology that lets you scan a frozen food barcode with your smartphone or tablet and send recommended or customized cooking instructions straight to your microwave.
Smart dishwashers
Some manufacturers offer smart dishwashers that apply innovative technology to simplify what some may consider the messiest chore in the kitchen. Models with built-in WiFi or Bluetooth connectivity may include smart dishwasher features that allow you to run cycles remotely once everyone wakes up by connecting the unit to your smartphone, ensuring clean dishes are always at the ready.
Smart refrigerators
Keeping food fresh for your family is perhaps one of the most important responsibilities for an appliance. Smart refrigerators from some manufacturers let you check on their function remotely by connecting to your smartphone, and then will send notifications if mechanical issues occur or the kids leave a door ajar.
Smart washing machines and dryers
Choosing a smart washing machine or dryer enables you to multitask in more ways than ever before. With the ability to control the unit remotely from your smartphone, many smart washers and dryers allow you to select cycles and monitor their progress from wherever you are.1
Antimicrobial protection
Help keep your washer & laundry fresh
Help prevent the growth of odor-causing bacteria with an antimicrobial rubber seal, available now on select Whirlpool® Washers
Possible smart washer and dryer features
Specialty cycles: Some smart washers offer downloadable specialty cycles for less typical items, like sleeping bags, and can recommend a compatible dry cycle.
Maintenance and service alerts: Smart washers and dryers can take the guesswork out of troubleshooting your appliances by sending you an alert when something is wrong.
Voice control: Use simple voice commands to select settings and start cycles without laying a finger on your appliance.
- Schedule cycles: Make sure laundry is ready when you are when you schedule the cycle to finish at a certain time. Some smart appliances also let you track the progress of your cycle and alert you when it’s finished.
Shop for Whirlpool® Smart Washers and Dryers
Select Whirlpool® Smart Laundry Appliances’ Assign a Task feature allows you to send customized texts to family members asking them to take care of the next laundry step, and the ability to schedule cycles ahead of time means your clothes will be ready when you need them.1
How to choose smart appliances
Making the decision to purchase a smart appliance is an investment that may greatly benefit you and your family by saving you time and catering to your specific needs. When making that choice, there are several factors to consider to ensure you welcome the most optimal unit into your home.
1. Compare smart features
One of the most important factors to consider when selecting your smart appliance are the available features. To make the best choice, find a smart appliance with features best fit for your family and the chores you do the most. For large households that require a lot of multitasking, voice-enabled smart appliances can help you. For instance, save time by simultaneously loading the dishwasher on one side of the kitchen and directing the oven to preheat on the other.
2. Consider smart device compatibility
Different brands and appliances are sometimes compatible with a specific set of smart devices in order to function properly. Select Whirlpool® Smart Appliances, for example, are compatible with Google Assistant and Alexa.5 Before selecting your unit, ensure that it will connect with your smartphone, tablet and other devices.
3. Evaluate potential time and energy savings
Consider which aspects of your day-to-day routine a smart appliance would benefit. A smart oven may speed up the process of getting dinner on the table after a busy day at work while a smart washer could ensure your kids have clean jerseys for soccer practice after school by keeping your wash cycles running while you’re away. You can also help save money on your utility bills by keeping an eye out for smart appliances that are ENERGY STAR® certified.
Shop for Whirlpool® Smart Home Appliances
If you’re ready to purchase a new Whirlpool® Smart Kitchen or Laundry Appliance, you can choose from a variety of models that help you get more done at once. Shop smart wall ovens, ranges and microwaves to help streamline meal prep, while smart washers and dryers can help keep you covered in the laundry room.
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1. For Whirlpool® Smart Appliances: Appliance must be set to remote enable. WiFi & App required. Features subject to change. Details and privacy info at whirlpool.com/connect.
2. Available on select cycles. Compatible dryer required. WiFi & App required. Features subject to change. Details and privacy info at whirlpool.com/connect.
3. Connection method not compatible with all routers. You may be prompted to try other connection methods. Appliance must be set to remote enable. WiFi & App required. Features subject to change.
4. Select frozen foods only. Appliance must be set to remote enable. WiFi & App Required. Features subject to change. Details and privacy info at whirlpool.com/connect.
5. Google is a trademark of Google LLC. Amazon, Alexa, Echo and all related logos and motion marks are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.
