8 Gadgets To Avoid Buying At Walmart – BGR

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Walmart can be a reliable store to purchase affordable items when you’re on a budget, saving you money while providing worthwhile products that you can expect to use daily. It’s why we recommend checking out Walmart for cheaper PC options, but it’s always wise to research beforehand. You always want to research a product before you commit to buying it, even if there’s a sale or you think you’re getting it for less than what you expect to pay. There are several gadgets that customers have encountered problems with that you may want to avoid buying.

We’ve gone through the Walmart website to highlight eight troublesome products customers don’t recommend buying based on average ratings. The problems with these items might be how they function, electrical issues, product quality, or they may not even work immediately out of the box. You’re better off avoiding these items and looking for an alternative. We’ll break down our choices for these products in the methodology section at the end. Here are eight gadgets you should avoid buying at Walmart.

A product you don’t want to add to your garage unit is the Frigidaire Garage Ready Refrigerator, which has a 2.9-star rating from 490 reviews. The fridge is 5.7 by 1.5 cubic feet, ready to fit in a compact garage and hold multiple groceries, with built-in wire-and-glass shelves, vegetable and fruit drawers, three door shelves, and a top freezer, all for $254. However, numerous customers have reported that the unit does less than they desired, and comes with various malfunctions immediately out of the box. There are multiple customer reports that the unit arrived partially damaged, with dents covering the fridge. The number of dents and their repeated occurrence suggest potentially poor-quality outer material for the fridge, as well as the effectiveness of the transportation services in delivering these units to customers.

Some customers who reported they received a dented unit did receive replacements, but other problems arose over time. Others noted that after a month of owning it, the unit began to emit a noticeable whirring sound that grew louder. There are other reviews that the internal motor wasn’t working, fluid was leaking from the bottom of the unit, and the fridge was leaking cool air, causing the food inside to go bad unless the unit was set to the coldest setting. Even then, a customer had to use a fan to keep their food fresh. It’s a fridge best avoided.

If you’re looking for a water dispenser for your home or small office, you’re better off with other models than the Patiosunny Top Loading Water Dispenser, a product that has a 3.3-star rating from 228 reviews. It’s capable of holding 5-gallon bottles and dispensing hot or cold water, depending on your preference, with a small water tray on the bottom to protect against any spills. According to customers who have received it, many have experienced multiple problems with the unit. An immediate concern for some customers was that, shortly after plugging this unit in, it began to emit a buzzing sound and started to smoke, with a chemical smell. Not only could that be a fire hazard, but it could also have been a breathing hazard had that person remained inside for too long.

Alongside the smoking problem, others have had it not work immediately and were forced to get a replacement. Even the replacement had been poor, as the cold and hot water dispensers never worked. The dispensers worked for some customers for a short time before malfunctioning again. Given the poor overall quality for many who use this product, it’s better to avoid it and choose a more efficient model.

A humidifier is a good way to assist a child if they’re sick or to help acclimate to a stuffy environment to avoid nose bleeds and breathe more effectively. Unfortunately, the Treamon Cool Mist Humidifier might not be the product you want, even though it’s incredibly cheap at under $15. What stands out about it is that it has a 3.2 rating from 178 reviews. One customer reported that it doesn’t hold as much as the 3 liters it claims. Another problem many have encountered is the humidifier’s cord length, as it can’t reach outlets when placed on a nightstand or in a good spot to operate. Plus, the outlet relies on a USB plug, which many don’t have in a child’s room.

In addition to the limited water capacity and the short cord length, the instructions included with the product didn’t provide accurate information on how to operate it. Those who followed the provided instructions were only able to get the blinking lights to work, and nothing else. For some, only one of the unit’s lights works, while the others need to be replaced or rewired. Other customers commented on poor build quality and disappointing performance. The many complaints surrounding this product suggest it might be better to get a more optimized humidifier. A better option might be the GoveeLife Smart Humidifier, which we included in our list of useful smart home upgrades to make your house more comfortable.

Photography can be an expensive hobby, and purchasing a quality camera for creating pictures or videos can be an easy call (like this cheap keychain camera you can get for $15 at Walmart). If you’re looking for a suitable camera at Walmart, you’ll want to avoid the NBD Digital Camera, which has a 3.8-star rating from 3,800 reviews. Multiple customers have had several problems with this beginner camera. Many customer reviews say its focusing features are lackluster, the photographs come out in poor quality, and uploading them to their phone via Wi-Fi is extremely slow. The complaints center on the lag and poor video quality they get when using this camera. The microphone is also reportedly poor, missing detail, and producing static. Others report that when they use it for photography, the pictures are grainy, blurry, and low-resolution, leading them to wish they’d use their smartphone instead of a dedicated camera.

Using the camera’s navigation menu and operating its functions is another frequent problem in reviews. Customers find it difficult to locate what they want to do in the internal camera menus or to switch between taking pictures and creating a video. Multiple reviews advise against this product and recommend choosing a product from a more reputable brand. 

Drones can be a fun toy to use when the weather’s nice or if you want to take aerial shots while you’re out hiking. Unfortunately, the Contixo F19 Foldable Mini Drone might not be the toy you want to pick up for someone who wants to try using one for the first time. Available for under $40, it has a 3.7-star rating from 764 reviews, and many customers report that you get precisely what you pay for. In at least one case, the customer experienced a signal issue during which the drone lost signal and never returned. Should the drone fly too far away from you, it’ll take the last direction you gave it before its signal breaks, and continue to fly in that direction. For many, they didn’t see it again, or found it crashed after the battery had died miles away.

Other customer reviews state that the drone arrived with dents or mechanical issues, including broken motors, missing parts, or not arriving at all. The damage was enough to prevent using the drone in any meaningful way. Some customer experiences included a propeller not working at all, incomplete setup instructions, or not all of the parts arriving with the drone, making it unable to fly. Although the Foldable Mini Drone is cheap, it might be better to get a different product as someone’s first drone, like the Dreamer Pro, which has a 4K camera and a three-axis Gimbal.

Air fryers can be a good way to quickly heat a meal rather than throw it in the oven or microwave. Although these can be good products, you don’t want to get a cheap option, and the $50 GPED 5-in-1 Air Fryer is one customers recommend avoiding as it has a 3.7-star rating from 1,229 reviews. For many, the product is fine for the first few months. Over time, the quality of the parts begins to decay, such as the hot plate not detecting the tray or the plug not working to turn it on.

One customer even had to deal with more serious problems, such as the air fryer sparking shortly after being plugged in. There are also reports of customers who had a much shorter time, during which it began making sounds whenever they turned it on after a week of getting it. Internal circuitry problems may be a factor, as another frequent problem is the device being plugged in for a few minutes before turning off or deactivating. Because of these problems, including potential electrical issues, broken pieces, and other quality concerns, many don’t believe it’s worth it for your kitchen. If you’re searching for an air fryer, you may want to consider one of those we singled out based on expert testing from 2024.

The Mr. Coffee Iced Coffee Maker might seem like a good idea for enhancing your daily coffee routine, but with a 3.7-star rating from 1,145 customer reviews, several poor experiences don’t support that claim. For starters, there are several people who report that when they plugged it in for the first time, they couldn’t get it working. They had to order a new one, and even then, the new model they ordered didn’t entirely fix this problem. When the machine does work, the buttons on the interface don’t, and you won’t be able to get the entire thing running properly to complete your iced coffee. Some even followed the instructions perfectly and turned it on, only for the machine to turn off again and continue to malfunction until they finally gave up.

Other problems for customers include the machine not pouring cold coffee; it continues to dispense hot coffee, defeating the purpose of the machine. If a customer can get the machine to work, many don’t like how many scoops it takes to make the coffee strong enough to enjoy. You’re better off avoiding this product and trying a different method to get iced coffee at home. If you’re looking to change how you drink your coffee, there are several tech accessories you can get that we highly recommend.

Getting your hair done at home can be a challenge, and appliances that make it a more straightforward process are readily available. However, the Remington Flexistyle Multi Styler Curling Iron is an item to avoid, according to customers at Walmart who have given it a 3.7-star rating from 590 reviews. Customers’ firsthand experiences reveal that it became too hot while they were using this curling iron, making it difficult to use with their spare hand. The problem is that the curling iron doesn’t hold the plastic wrap on the end effectively, making it easier for the person using it to easily burn their hands whenever they attempt to style their hair. Putting too much heat on a person’s hair is also bad for it, as it can dry it out and make it frizzy, the opposite of the style they want to achieve with this product.

Additional issues stem from the design of the curling iron itself. Customers shared that they had problems using the curling iron as a styling device because it was too heavy and cumbersome in their hands. Other issues consist of the internal circuitry for the curling iron not working at all, as a customer plugged it in and put it onto the highest setting, and it never turned on. Given the range of problems, there are alternative curling iron options to grab elsewhere at Walmart.

When selecting these products from Walmart, we focused on everyday gadgets that would appeal to home- and business-owners. After deciding which types of products we wanted to feature on our list, we sought out those with low ratings. The low ratings are given to products with negative customer reviews, and all products have ratings below 4.0 stars on Walmart’s website. When highlighting the issues with the products, we focused on 1-, 2-, and 3-star reviews submitted by customers who shared their experiences. We looked at customer reviews that shared their experience with the product, including whether they were able to use it for its intended purpose, and whether they ran into functionality or quality issues.