Most Wanted Home Appliances and Accessories
Technology really is changing our lives. Our computers, smartphones and cars are becoming faster, more powerful, more capable and more efficient every year. Technological advancements are benefitting business, education and healthcare worldwide. Now, we’re starting to see these advancements in technology making their way inside our homes. You probably don’t upgrade your washing machine or your oven as often as you upgrade your phone. In fact, it’s likely that you only replace these appliances, along with your boiler or your dishwasher, every five to ten years. When you do make an upgrade nowadays, you’ll notice a huge difference. In comparison to an old one, your new appliance will honestly feel like it’s from the future. Having said that, you don’t need to buy these big-cost white goods to see new technology making your homelife better. We’ve put together a list of smaller appliances and other accessories that use new technology to your benefit. These things are at the top of everyone’s most wanted lists!
Multi-cookers
These multipurpose kitchen appliances have become extremely popular in the last few months. A multi-cooker is a great tool for anyone with a busy lifestyle! A few years ago, you would have had to buy a slow cooker, a pressure cooker, a steamer and an air fryer to compete with one of these bad boys. With these incredible new machines, you can make a whole meal with practically zero effort. Seriously, these things can roast chickens, steam rice, make cakes and even yoghurt from scratch. If you’re someone who has a demanding job and likes to socialise – you should definitely think about getting one of these. You can put in the various raw ingredients and set it to be ready for a certain time. Amazing! You can buy multi-cookers in Malta from many appliance stores. You can splurge on a designer multi-cooker, some of them can cost over €300, but there are many cheaper alternatives that are just as good, if not better. For less than €100, you’ll find one that does everything you need.
Blender
Modern blenders are pretty impressive. Gone are the days when you had to lift a big, heavy piece of machinery out of the cupboard to do some blending! New blenders are small, light, powerful and (best of all) quiet. What’s more, they’re easy to clean. They can make you a delicious smoothie or crush ice in seconds. Some of them blend straight into a bottle-sized container which you can pop a lid on straight after for your convenience. There are also blenders you can buy which have a ‘hot’ setting, so you can whip yourself up a quick soup with the push of a button! These modern machines also claim to retain as many of the nutrients as possible, so you get the maximum health benefits from the food you’re blending. Blenders can cost anywhere between €50 and a few hundred euros, so you can buy according to your budget.
Cordless Vacuum Cleaner
Vacuuming isn’t much fun in any case, let’s be honest. But the incessant plugging in and unplugging of the power cable really takes the biscuit. For those of you who don’t yet have a cordless vacuum cleaner, why are you still vacuuming like it’s 1999? Get with the times and buy yourself a new toy (in the loosest sense of the word, of course). A cordless vacuum cleaner will set you back a little more than a cabled alternative. In Malta, you’re looking at spending anywhere between €150 and €500+ euros. A decent vacuum cleaner with a power cord still costs around €200, but you can buy much cheaper ones. If you can afford to buy a highly-rated cordless vacuum cleaner, you will never look back!
Sound Bar
Sound bars are fantastic. They’re yet another example of how technology is able to pack in the functions of several pieces of equipment into one neat package. A sound bar can give you near surround-sound quality audio. Sound bars are much more convenient than the traditional alternative and they take up way less space! This makes them perfect for those of you living in a studio or a flat with a small living room, where full-on surround sound would just be too much. No longer do you need to have speakers dotted all over your living room to enjoy your movies with cinema-style sound. Some sound bars come with a built-in sub-woofer, but others will require you to buy one separately. The most basic of sound bars can be bought for approximately €200. These won’t give you the best quality audio but will no doubt better sound than your slimline TV. For a top-of-the-range sound bar, you’ll need to fork out several hundred euros.
Smart Lighting, Heating and Security Systems
These are the newest additions to the list. With smart lighting, smart heating and a smart security system, you’ll have more control over your home. You’ll be able to change your home’s settings remotely, through your smartphone or your virtual assistant. With smart heating, you can regulate the temperature of your home to the degree. When your home gets too hot or too cold, the heating system will adjust. This will maximise efficiency and save you money on your bills.
Smart lighting, on the other hand, enables you to change the colour and brightness of your lights easily. At any time of day or night, you can set the lighting to suit the mood. Also, you get the added convenience of not having to walk to the light switch to turn a light on or off. You can use your phone or talk to your virtual assistant. Mostly it’s convenient, especially when you can say: “Alexa, turn the living room lights off”, and she does it. However, it’s extremely annoying when she replies with something like: “Sorry, I’m not understanding you right now. Which device would you like me to turn off?”. And you say: “Living room lights.” And she says: “You don’t have any devices named ‘live in groom lights’”. And then you want to throw her out the window and bang your head against the wall. Middle class problems, though, am I right?
Lastly, a smart security system can be advantageous. This is especially true for people who are out or away a lot. If your home alarm goes off, you can log in to your system remotely and check the cameras to see what might have triggered the alarm. That little bit of reassurance of knowing it’s nothing will go a long way for your stress levels while you’re away. You can also give other people, who have the relevant app on their phone, temporary or permanent access to your home. They just touch their phone to the smart intercom/lock, and they can get in. This is perfect for whoever’s feeding your cat or watering your plants for you. When you’re at home, you can also use the app to open your front door and let visitors (or the postman) in so you don’t even have to get up. This level of laziness is truly attainable in 2019. God only knows what 2029 will have in store for us and our homes!