8 Common Tech Gadgets That Are Underrated Kitchen Upgrades

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If you’re looking to upgrade your kitchen gadget collection, you shouldn’t just consider products labeled as kitchen devices. You may be able to overcome different kinds of challenges in preparing ingredients, cooking meals, and cleaning up by using gadgets you’ve purchased for other purposes.

For this list of common tech gadgets that are underrated kitchen upgrades, we considered products that are more often seen in other parts of the house. Among them are a smart display for hands-free access to recipe books and cooking tutorials, a smart plug that transforms any appliance into a smart device, and a robot vacuum and mop that won’t wait for you to finish before it starts cleaning.

The gadgets we’ve included in this roundup are available on Amazon, where they have received solid average scores based on at least 500 ratings. The feedback they’ve received from the platform’s shoppers, along with highlights from reviews on reputable websites and channels, supports our decision to include them in this article.

One of the clever ways you can use smart speakers at home is to place one in your kitchen. The Sonos Era 100, which is available on Amazon at a regular price of $219, is an excellent option for accessing Amazon’s Alexa. You’ll be able to use voice commands to search for information about an ingredient, launch your favorite playlists, and access your other smart home devices, all while you’ve got your hands full. The gadget also has a compact design, measuring just over 7 inches tall and about 5 inches wide, so it won’t take up too much of the valuable space on your kitchen countertop.

The Sonos Era 100 is the current entry-level model for one of the major smart speaker brands, and we described it as a worthy successor to the Sonos One in our review. According to reviews, it delivers audio with crisp detail and deep bass, so Alexa and your music will sound great coming from the device. Comments from shoppers on Amazon, where the smart speaker holds an average score of 4.4 stars after almost 2,600 ratings, echo its high build quality and sound quality.

A smart display in your kitchen is a step up from a smart speaker, as you’ll be able to use the screen to read recipes, watch cooking demonstrations, and even catch up on your favorite streaming shows while you’re preparing meals. The Amazon Echo Show 11, with its 11-inch touchscreen, is the perfect size for the kitchen for easy viewing, without the need to mount it on the wall like the Amazon Echo Show 15 and Amazon Echo Show 21. According to the retailer’s customers, the Echo Show 11 is simple to set up, has great video and audio quality, and, because the display is elevated, it won’t be subject to the various kitchen hazards associated with using a tablet. 

In its review of the Amazon Echo Show 11, PCMag said that it’s an excellent device for accessing the AI-powered Amazon’s Alexa+, and it also works well for video calls, in case you need to take or make some while in the kitchen. The smart display is available for $219.99 on Amazon, where it has accumulated almost 4,800 reviews and an average rating of 4.4 stars.

With smart plugs like the Kasa KP125M, which you can buy from Amazon for a list price of $29.99 for a pack of two, you can give smart capabilities to analog kitchen appliances. For example, you can turn on the ice maker while still on the road to use for the drinks you’re bringing home, schedule your coffee maker to start brewing at a certain time in the morning right before you wake up, or set a countdown for a waffle maker to shut off to make sure that it doesn’t burn your food. With this Kasa smart plug, these functions are possible through its companion app.

According to Pocket-Lint, one of the top features of this Kasa smart plug is its support for Matter, which will allow it to work with any of the popular smart home ecosystems and digital assistants for voice commands. The review also praises its design that allows two of the gadgets to fit in a two-socket outlet. Other helpful features of the device include its easy setup process and power consumption monitoring, according to customers on Amazon, where the smart plug has an average score of 4.4 stars after more than 2,100 ratings.

With so many ingredients and utensils in the kitchen stored in various boxes and containers, properly labeling them will save you so much time. The Brother P-Touch PTD220 is an easy-to-use label maker that you can keep in any drawer, and according to a review by Drew & Jonathan, it’s a gadget that can give you the push to start organizing your kitchen. It’s very intuitive to use, with buttons that are easy to understand when customizing your labels with different fonts and frames, according to shoppers on Amazon. The device has received an average score of 4.6 stars on the platform after more than 5,300 reviews.

This Brother label maker costs $44.99 on Amazon, though the label tapes and batteries are a separate purchase. The device uses six AAA batteries, but Amazon customers said that they last a long time before they need a replacement. With 25 label templates and the ability to save up to 30 labels that you’re going to print frequently, this gadget will prove to be a great addition not just to any kitchen, but to any home.

Even with a healthy number of lighting fixtures in the kitchen, you can’t avoid some dark areas, like the inside of the pantry or the backs of cabinets. Instead of wired lights that require an electrician’s installation, it’s easier to set up rechargeable lights like the MCGOR GLS-C010, which you can get in a pack of two for a list price of $21.99 on Amazon. It may be difficult to run a power cable in certain spots in the kitchen, but the magnetic mounts on these lights eliminate that problem, as pointed out by Amazon shoppers. This also makes it easy to remove the devices for recharging through their USB-C port, though their charge lasts a long time, so you won’t have to do it often, the customers said. They’ve given the gadget an average rating of 4.5 stars based on more than 56,000 reviews.

With these lights, you can adjust their brightness via an on-device button and set them to Auto Mode to turn on when they detect motion in dark or low-light environments, as demonstrated by Just a Dad Tips. You also have the option to remove them from their magnetic mounts and turn them on manually when you need the light elsewhere in the kitchen, such as when looking for something that rolled beneath the counters.

The Skylight Calendar Max is the supersized version of the Skylight Calendar, featuring a 27-inch touchscreen and priced at $649.99. Families can use the digital calendar to keep track of everyone’s schedules, but if you place the gadget in the kitchen, it can also show the distribution of kitchen-related chores and a grocery list that anyone can update. Signing up for Calendar Plus, which costs $79 for a full year, also unlocks the Meal Planning feature, which suggests dishes and displays the food the family can expect for the whole week. The subscription also enables Sidekick, a smart family assistant that receives emails and various document types and transforms them into entries on the digital calendar.

Wired’s review said that setting up the Skylight Calendar Max is straightforward, as it easily synchronizes with your calendar on any platform, such as Google or Microsoft Outlook. The review added that the Skylight app makes the device even easier to manage, as anyone can add to the information on the screen through their smartphone. Amazon shoppers said that the gadget, with its sharp, colorful screen, replaces notebooks and sticky notes, which is part of why it earned an average rating of 4.6 stars based on more than 600 ratings.

If your hands get dirty while working in the kitchen, you’ll only spread the mess if you have to flip open the lid of your trash can — and you certainly don’t want to transfer germs from the trash to the prep surface. The EKO Deluxe Mirage-T keeps your space hygienic by opening automatically with its motion-sensor technology. This touchless trash can, which is available for $89.99 on Amazon, where it has an average rating of 4.3 stars after 13,900 reviews, works flawlessly and looks nice, according to The Gadgeteer. Once the lid is open, the device will show a five-second countdown before closing, but it can stay open longer by keeping your hand over its motion sensor or by pressing the manual button.

The lid of this EKO touchless trash can opens quickly and quietly when its motion sensor is activated, Amazon shoppers said, and the 50-liter capacity is big enough so that a regular household won’t have to replace its 13-gallon trash bag often. The gadget is powered by four AA batteries, and they can last up to eight months before needing replacement.

A robot vacuum and mop can start cleaning crumbs and spills on your kitchen floor any time, even if you haven’t finished cooking yet. The Eufy Omni C28, sold for $799.99 on Amazon, can be set up to accept voice commands via Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri, or Google Assistant. You can also ask it to go directly to the kitchen as it accurately maps the rooms in your home, and it’s very capable of making sure that your floor is spotless, according to the retailer’s customers. The device’s LiDAR navigation also allows it to avoid obstacles, so it won’t get stuck in the middle of a job.

As a robot vacuum, this Eufy device delivers 15,000 Pa of suction, and as a robot mop, its HydroJet roller spins at 270 RPM. Trusted Reviews said the gadget is low-maintenance, with its docking station handling day-to-day use. The all-in-one station has a 3-liter bag that can hold up to 75 days’ worth of dust and debris, and it can wash and dry the mop to remove grease and prevent odors. 

All the gadgets that we’ve selected for this roundup are available on Amazon for wide accessibility. They all have a score of at least 4.2 stars on the platform, with at least 500 reviews to ensure the credibility of their average ratings. They’re not considered as products specifically made for the kitchen, but rather as devices that can also be used to solve specific problems that you may encounter there.

In addition to the features that make it a good idea to bring these tech gadgets into the kitchen, we considered the comments of Amazon’s customers and insights from professional reviews. Combined, they make sure that these devices are worth buying.