4 Costco Smart Appliances You Should Buy And 4 To Ignore – BGR

If you’re planning to invest in some smart appliances to make life easier at home, Costco’s website is a fantastic resource. There are several reasons why you should buy electronics from Costco, but among the most important is the platform’s shopper ratings that will give you an idea of which products to purchase and which to skip. With some of these devices costing hundreds or even thousands of dollars, you should take advantage of all the available information so that you won’t make an expensive mistake.

Smart appliances connect to your home’s Wi-Fi network to enable various functions that you can access through a mobile app, such as turning them on or off, and adjusting their settings from anywhere. And while some smart home upgrades can save you money, other smart home upgrades are a waste of money. With this roundup, we want to make sure that you spend your money on a device that’s worthwhile.

For this roundup, our recommendations on smart appliances from Costco to buy or ignore are based on the product’s average score on the retailer’s website. The ratings are supported by comments by shoppers and reviews from professional websites to give you a clearer picture of what to expect from each device.

The LG MVEL2033F microwave oven, originally $599, is the smart appliance with the highest average score in this roundup at 4.4 stars after more than 700 reviews from Costco shoppers. The device features a wide window with touch controls at the bottom of the door, humidity-sensing technology to determine when food is ready, and an easy-to-clean interior that only requires wiping with a damp cloth. It connects to LG’s ThinQ app for various functions. You’ll be able to manage the microwave’s settings remotely, send cooking instructions by scanning the barcode of certain ready-made meals, and synchronize its light and vent with an LG smart range or cooktop.

According to Costco customers, the design of the LG MVEL2033F microwave oven is beautiful, and the multiple modes that are available are very helpful in the kitchen. The only recurring complaint is the lack of a backlight for the buttons, but in a well-lit space, that shouldn’t be a problem. Rtings.com pointed out its many sensor-cooking options, which can adjust the microwave’s cooking time if it detects that your food is ready, but flagged that this is a 900-watt microwave, so you may find that it heats slower if you’re coming from a microwave with higher power.

For Apple fans, the $299 Apple HomePod (2nd Gen) should be your smart speaker of choice. With an average score of 4.3 stars on Costco following nearly 200 reviews, the appliance appears to be a great purchase for accessing Apple’s Siri, which will be revamped in 2026 to use Google’s Gemini. The device also offers support for Dolby Atmos (which is different than Dolby Audio) for a cinematic experience in your living room, spatial audio for more immersive sound, and the ability to serve as a hub for controlling your other smart home gadgets.

The audio output of the Apple HomePod (2nd Gen) sounds incredible with deep bass despite its relatively small size compared to other speakers, according to Costco shoppers. There are a lot of recommendations to pair it with the Apple TV 4K streaming device, as well as suggestions to get two of the devices to create a stereo pair. We also flagged the smart speaker’s good audio quality in our Apple HomePod (2023) review, alongside its ease of integration into the Apple ecosystem, which are both echoed by as reasons to buy the gadget.

The GE Profile PGS930YPFS gas range for $2,099 has an average score of 4.3 stars on Costco following more than 250 reviews. The edge-to-edge cooktop provides a wide cooking space on which you’ll have a tri-ring burner, a reversible grill and griddle, and a dual-purpose center burner. As a smart appliance, you can connect it to your home’s Wi-Fi network so that you can access controls remotely and receive notifications through GE’s SmartHQ app. You’ll even be able to use voice commands for this gas range through either Amazon’s Alexa or Google Assistant, which is expected to be replaced by Gemini in 2026.

Costco shoppers said that preparing meals with the GE Profile PGS930YPFS gas range is a great experience because its burners and oven heat up quickly and cook consistently. It’s also easy to clean with its stainless-steel top, and its Wi-Fi controls are convenient to use. Consumer Reports, meanwhile, gave the range an excellent rating for its low-heat cooktop performance, with very good scores for high-heat cooktop, baking, and broiling. Its ability to function as an air fryer is a welcome bonus.

For $1,599, the Samsung RS27T5561SR refrigerator will be a helpful smart appliance for the whole family. With an average rating of 4.1 stars after more than 200 reviews, the smart fridge’s most prominent feature is Samsung’s Family Hub. This 21.5-inch touchscreen offers access to various apps to play streaming music, manage family calendars, leave notes, and receive notifications from other smart home devices. It’s worth noting that Samsung has started showing ads on some of its smart refrigerators. The fridge also features LED lighting inside and an ice maker on the left door.

While some Costco shoppers hope for more functions from the Samsung RS27T5561SR refrigerator’s Family Hub, the feature is already very helpful with the ability to show movies and access information such as weather forecasts. There are also comments on the spaciousness of the fridge’s interiors, its quiet operation, and the usefulness of being able to look at what’s inside the fridge with its built-in camera through the Samsung SmartThings app. According to Reviewed, it’s “the perfect entry point into owning a smart appliance” as one of the most affordable Samsung models with the Family Hub.

The Midea MDT24P5AST dishwasher, which has a retail price of $799.99, is available at Costco, but it only has an average rating of 3.8 stars after more than 100 reviews. It looks good on paper with its Angle Wash technology that uses water jets to clean from every angle, adjustable racks and foldable tines to maximize the washing space, and a dual-fan system that promises extra-dry dishes once it’s done. The smart dishwasher also connects to Midea’s SmartHome app so that you can control and monitor wash cycles as well as create and save custom wash cycles based on your family’s needs.

Positive comments from Costco shoppers on the Midea MDT24P5AST dishwasher include its quiet operation and the interior light that lets you see everything that the appliance washed. However, there are multiple complaints on the terrible organization of its racks that makes it hard to fit larger items like bowls plus leaking issues, and comments that dishes aren’t dried well at the end of the process. There were also complaints about trouble staying connected to the app, which defeats the purpose of getting a smart dishwasher. Consumer Reports’ review claimed that the appliance’s upper wash performance is superb alongside its ease of use, but it listed the manually cleaned filter among the negatives. Consumer Reports recommended several other brands over this model.

If you want a smart upgrade in your laundry room, you may want to skip the LG WM6998HVA smart wash washer-dryer combo. With an original price of $3,299, you should expect an appliance that will score higher than 3.7 stars after more than 300 reviews on Costco. It promises convenience with one machine that has built-in sensors that use AI technology to select the appropriate wash and dry modes based on the clothes that you load. Through LG’s ThinQ app, you’ll be able to manage the washer-dryer combo remotely, connect it with Amazon’s Alexa or Google Assistant, and diagnosis issues.

A significant number of Costco shoppers are not impressed by the performance of the LG WM6998HVA washer-dryer-combo, particularly the long time that the drying process takes and its overall reliability, with some parts like the heat pump regularly failing. Meanwhile, according to feedback on Reviewed about the LG WM6998HBA, which is the same appliance with a different color finish, it’s great as a washer, and the footprint of a single machine for two appliances saves lots of space. However, it also noted its long drying time, which might be too much of a drawback for some families.

Roomba’s robot vacuums are generally still worth buying as cleaning aids in your home, but apparently not the iRobot Roomba Plus 507, which only has an average score of 3.7 stars after more than 400 reviews from Costco customers. It’s supposed to save you time because it’s both a robot vacuum and a robot mop with a docking station that self-empties everything that it picks up and washes with its mopping pads. The device uses LiDAR and AI technology to map your home and navigate around objects. Plus, you can use the Roomba Home app to plan routines, schedule cleaning, set keep-out zones, and more.

The functionality of the iRobot Roomba Plus 507 as a 2-in-1 device is helpful, according to Costco shoppers, but there are some issues that a lot of people raised. These include bugs while trying to give it commands, insufficient battery performance to complete cleaning before having to recharge, and problems with its Wi-Fi connectivity. Tom’s Guide, which reviewed the identical iRobot Roomba Plus 505, has good things to say about the device’s cleaning efficiency and speed, but it points out that there are glitches with its app sometimes, and it’s not compatible with certain floor cleaners.

Robotic pool cleaners will help make sure that your swimming pool is always in pristine condition, but Costco shoppers don’t trust the Aiper Scuba N1C Pro to do that. It’s only rated 3.2 stars after more than 100 reviews, which is disappointing when you consider its retail price of $799.99. The robotic pool cleaner is built to clean in-ground pools of up to 2,150 square feet, and it has four sensors to detect the pool’s boundaries and large obstacles. The device has five cleaning modes that you can access through the Aiper app, along with start/stop controls and other settings.

While some customers are impressed by the Aiper Scuba N1C Pro’s ability to thoroughly clean the floor and walls of their pool, there are more shoppers with complaints. Among the reported issues with the robotic pool cleaner are that it gets clogged quickly, it has a poor cleaning pattern, and there are reliability problems as some shoppers claimed that it stopped working after just a few months. According to Robotic Reviews, the Aiper Scuba N1 Pro, which is virtually the same device as the Aiper Scuba N1C Pro, the user experience with the device is poor, along with its filter design and waterline cleaning. In addition, the app only works when the device is out of the water.

The smart appliances that are featured in this roundup are all available on Costco’s website, though for some of them, a Costco membership is necessary if you want to make the purchase online.

For products with an average score of 4.0 stars and above on the platform, we gave them a “buy” recommendation, and for those with an average score below 4.0 stars, we gave them an “ignore” recommendation. We only considered smart appliances with at least 100 reviews from Costco shoppers for a reliable body of feedback on the device.

The comments from Costco customers on these smart appliances are supported by reviews from reputable websites. Together, they provide a clear picture of why you should buy or ignore these products.