At the start of the year during CES 2020, Sharp showed us their new drawer-style smart microwave (model SMD2489ES) that opens with a wave of your hand. It features some of your normal touch-sensitive buttons at the top, but it could also be controlled via an app on your smartphone for more enhanced features, like recommended cook times, full control of the microwave as well as monitoring and more.
The motion-control entry of the microwave allows you to walk right up to the microwave and wave your hand in from of it for the drawer to slide outward, allowing you to either load it or retrieve the contents. A pretty interesting feature, especially if you have your hands full as you approach it. I can see the convenience there.
The ability to control everything from an app, however, is a game-changer for a microwave. You can toss in a bowl of rice and meat, and then look up the recommended cook time to make sure it comes out just right. Then you can enter it into the app and trigger it to cook from clear across the house (in case you got distracted during your cook time research). Why not monitor it to see if you should rush back to it or keep at whatever else you are multi-tasking with. It will likely send you an alert when it is finished (I could only imagine).
It’s interesting to see how some of these major companies are working to include appliances into the smart home environment while making sure that function makes it worth the trouble.
The question is, would you buy it? First of its generation and all, it comes with a whopping price tag of $1,555.99 (via their website). You can find it slightly less at Amazon here for $1,398.00. But is it worth the price? It’s hard to justify such a hefty price tag when a normal microwave can cost you as little as $60-$150. It makes me wonder if the unit is in dire need of additional features in order to knock your socks off far enough to justify the difference (outside of being rich and looking for bragging rights).
Given, it does have more intricate parts being that it has an automated drawer that can move on its own, adding a new sense of friendliness to it. So, just how far are you willing to go to get that friendliness, along with these smart connected features?
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It doesn’t have any built-in cameras or sensors that allow it to auto-detect the food you put it in, offering you suggested cooking options like the June Oven promised last year. Give, we are still waiting to see a working consumer product from them. So they might have rushed the idea before it was ready. But, it does come with some interesting features.
Honestly, it might be a bumpy road in the beginning for Sharp as they try to push for more sales, and for the technology to become more of a standard. Eventually, you will likely see this pricetag come down to a more reasonable level to help persuade you to walk away from those basic affordable options that don’t do anything exciting. Until then, they at least have their reputation that is well-liked in the market. Sharp has been coming out with some interesting products these last few years. We can’t wait to see what’s next.
So what are your thoughts? Feel free to share below in the comments. You can also see our interview with them, where you will be able to see the microwave in action, right here:
