Laundry-folding robots and recipe-suggesting fridges: these are the smart tech products we want in our homes

(Image credit: Gira)

published 22 January 2019

Hands up if you've got a smart device in your home? Order shopping through Alexa? Check the weather via Google Home? Our lives are busier and more connected than ever, so it makes sense that we're looking to satisfy our need for speed and convenience. But how far would you go in the quest for a smart home?

Phone recycling company RecycleZone.org.uk has tried to answer that very question. Their analysis of a report by Mindshare, who surveyed over 6,000 Brits on the smart technology they'd love to own, has revealed the emerging technological trends across households in the UK.

The smart tech Brits would most like to own.

Top of the list is a smart thermostat that automatically adjusts based on a person's body temperature, with 46 per cent of participants saying they'd be interested in it. Smart vacuum cleaners (40 per cent) that can move items off the floor come next, followed by smart fridges (37 per cent) that can suggest recipes based on what food is inside them.

A laundry-folding robot came in at 32 per cent, while smart shelves – which can reorder items as soon as they run out – trailed behind at 30 per cent.

Shawn Hallums, spokesperson for RecycleZone.org.uk, said: 'Technology has significantly evolved. We are in the era of instant gratification – when people want to utilise technology to make aspects of their life easier and more efficient.

'Companies have created a multitude of devices and applications to cater to this apparent need. Now with a plethora of innovations available on the mass market, many of them have proved to be hugely popular and valuable.

'As existing as well as new technology advances and develops, consumers expectations will undoubtedly grow.'

What would you choose?

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Formerly deputy editor of Real Homes magazine, Ellen has been lucky enough to spend most of her working life speaking to real people and writing about real homes, from extended Victorian terraces to modest apartments. She's recently bought her own home and has a special interest in sustainable living and clever storage.