5 Tech Gadgets That Are A Complete Waste Of Money

According to the base rules of economics, better products and services are worth more money. But what determines this worth? The quality of the craftsmanship? The number of electronic functions crammed inside the product? The answer is the customers. They decide if a product’s features are worth the asking price, and that goes double for tech gadgets.

Under normal circumstances, the more components and programming that goes into a product, the higher the price. Add enough features into a gadget, and it can become a luxury item that is worth more than most cars. However, sometimes those features don’t justify the price. 

It’s all well and good when a company manufactures a 3D printer that produces custom pancakes, but do you really need it? Will you use this $300 item every day, or will it just end up a gimmick you eventually abandon in favor of a simple, inexpensive, and more versatile cup measure? After all, pancake printers require mixes of a specific consistency to work, so if you like chocolate chips in your pancakes, that particular kitchen appliance isn’t worth the money. And that’s only one example of devices and gadgets whose designers were more concerned with whether or not they could instead of whether or not they should. There are plenty more.

Who doesn’t love a good piece of toast? If you need a quick breakfast or snack, just pop a slice of bread in a toaster, and a minute later, enjoy a light, healthy crunch. Many companies sell specialty toasters that burn different images and logos onto the toast, such as an Xbox-themed toaster, but then there are the toasters that add a few superfluous electronics into the mix.

If we had to give a kitchen appliance an award for the most unnecessarily hi-tech device, it would have to be the smart toaster. This isn’t an appliance that scans the bread you insert into its slots and automatically alters its settings to provide a smooth, golden-brown toasting every time — although that would be pretty sweet. Instead, it’s a toaster with numerous knobs, toasting modes, and occasionally full-color touchscreens and even Bluetooth connections that tell you when your toast is done. Some smart toasters, such as the Revolution InstaGLO R180s, even display photographs and tell you the weather.

On the surface, smart toasters take a lot of guesswork out of toasting bread. Not all of it, but you will have an easier time producing the ideal piece of toast when compared to standard toasters. But most of these add-ons are just fluff, and they come at a cost: Your bank account. Whereas most standard toasters hover around the $20-50 price range, smart toasters usually start around $300 — not exactly reasonable.

Countless companies are looking for the next big leap in selfie technology. You’ve got selfie sticks, selfie sticks that delete themselves from your pictures, and now drones that take selfies for you. At least, that’s what they’re supposed to do.

The AirSelfie Air Neo advertises its function on its sleeve. It’s a flying camera that hovers around its users and takes their photographs (mostly selfies). Whereas most drones follow manual commands from a controller or phone, the Air Neo automatically tracks and sticks to its owner; the device only connects to phones to store pictures and swap between tracking modes. This functionality is intended to free up hands so shutterbugs can preserve moments without holding a camera, especially when it’s too dangerous for multitasking.

In practice, the AirSelfie Air Neo only gets an A for effort. If you look at product reviews on sites such as Amazon, customers complain about numerous issues, the most common of which are battery life and tracking software. According to users, the Air Neo’s battery life only lasts a few minutes at most, and the device tends to fly around listlessly at best and drunkenly at worst. In one review video, the Air Neo literally flies into oncoming traffic. It’s a miracle the creator was able to retrieve the device in one piece (and survive the trip). Gadgets should never play chicken with cars, whether or not they cost $150.

Everyone has a preferred place to enjoy a smoothie. Some like to start the day with one. Others would rather have them before a workout for a burst of protein. Regardless of where you drink your smoothie, the question you aren’t asking is when do you make your smoothie.

Several companies produce and sell their own lines of portable blenders. These are blenders you can take on the go to make smoothies wherever and whenever you like. BlendJet is one of the best brands available, but that isn’t necessarily the blessing you think it is.

At best, BlendJet’s products are ok. They can stir up smoothies alongside the best blenders, but cleaning them is a chore and a half, and if you try to disassemble them to make the process easier, putting the blender back together might be even harder. Plus, in 2023, BlendJet had to recall many copies of its portable device over safety concerns. However, the biggest strike against BlendJet’s products — and all portable blenders for that matter — is finding the time to even use it. To get the most out of these appliances, you’d have to carry all of the ingredients, many of which are perishable. The BlendJet 2’s small size is definitely a selling point for people who want to save space in their kitchens, but is it worth spending $60 on an item that is so difficult to clean? You’d be better off just buying a small, inexpensive blender.

While their materials have varied wildly from region to region, the basic spoon has transported food from bowl to mouth all over the world since as early as 1500 BCE. One company thought it could reinvent the implement in a way that improved how food tasted. A bold plan, but it hasn’t panned out.

The SpoonTek is advertised as a high-tech spoon (duh) that “excites the taste buds for enhanced flavor, heightening taste and improving after-taste.” How does it do this? Well, according to the website, you fill up the SpoonTek so your food makes contact with the small silver electrode in the spoon’s bowl, then hold the handle so that your finger touches the inlaid electrode. Finally, take a big bite. You will enjoy a delicious spoonful of whatever you’re eating with improved flavor and no after-taste. 

At least, that’s what’s supposed to happen.The device doesn’t work unless it makes a closed circuit between your finger and your food. Every. Single. Time. And the cherry on top? It only works with moist foods such as yogurt and soup, so you can’t even scoop a cherry off ice cream and expect the SpoonTek to improve its flavor. 

If using the SpoonTek sounds like a hassle, that’s because it is. In fact, according to reviews, you can’t expect the SpoonTek to improve the flavor of anything to a significant degree. While testers noted some improvement in flavor, these were minimal at best and didn’t justify the $30 price tag.

Modern technology has no shortage of solutions for sleeping problems. Some people doze off to the sound of white noise machines and others prefer earplugs. Some prefer the lullaby of late night TV and Netflix. However, that isn’t always an option if you sleep with a partner.

Unlike most Bluetooth speakers, the SoniSleep Sleepbar is a specially designed speaker that you place under your pillow. The gadget is supposed to transmit sound through your pillow and into your skull and ears so only you can hear the noise. Think of it like a pair of soft, fluffy bone conduction headphones. While the SoniSleep Sleepbar app includes a library of calming sounds to help you fall asleep, you can sync the device and its app to your own playlist if you would rather doze off to your favorite true crime or “Dungeons and Dragons” podcasts.

SoniSleep Sleepbar reviews paint the device as a middle-of-the-road device. On one hand, some reviewers say the Sleepbar is uncomfortable to rest on (which could be fixed with a special pillow) and isn’t as loud as advertised. Ironically, other reviewers have complained about Sleepbar noise bleeding out from the pillow, which not only disrupts nearby sleepers but also runs counter to the manufacturer’s claims. Maybe the SoniSleep Sleepbar is worth its $100 price tag if you have a luxurious pillow and sleep alone, but otherwise, it’s going to disrupt someone’s REM schedule.