10 ms·

Ask HN: What tech purchase did you regret even though reviews were great?

47 points by xthe 10mo ago

Curious what products looked amazing on paper and in reviews, but disappointed in real daily use.

thiht 9mo ago
Bought the Audeze Maxwell headset earlier this year and I returned it almost instantly. It’s extremely heavy and uncomfortable, the sound is not that good and the mic is trash.
bix6 9mo ago
Diskless game systems. You run out of space quickly and you can’t sell / trade / loan your games. Not necessarily regret but the Apple Watches have such crap battery.
- xthe 9mo ago
  The diskless systems point is a good one — the convenience is real, but the loss of resale, lending, and long-term ownership adds up more than reviews usually acknowledge. Do you think that trade-off was obvious at purchase time, or did it only start to feel painful once storage filled up and the library grew? On the Apple Watch side, was the battery issue something you noticed early, or did it become frustrating over time as usage increased?
ben_w 9mo ago
Apple Watch. I'm not even sure when I last wore it, but it was at least 18 months ago. Slighly laggy remote control for my phone, with widgets a little too small for my finger to reliably hit. When I do proper long walks, the battery reliably dies on me during the walk.
- tgdn 9mo ago
  I cannot agree more. The battery not even lasting a day is what prevents me from using it. When I want to go for a run with it, it's always out of battery.
  - johnfn 9mo ago
    I had this exact problem with my Apple Watch. My family got me an Ultra as a gift, and I really didn't think I was going to use it (I didn't even want it), but it ended up being a total gamechanger, and now the Ultra is my favorite gadget and a huge motivator to get into better shape.
  - Aurornis 9mo ago
    My Apple Watch is now so old that it’s unsupported by new WatchOS, but the battery still lasts a day without problem. It probably helps that I disabled the always on screen. Lasting all day has never been a problem, though.
    - beingfit 9mo ago
      Do you use it for workouts, especially for longer periods everyday? I’m a constant Apple Watch user and workout everyday, but I do find the battery life lacking when I’m out on hikes for a few hours. My watch is only a few years old and is supported for watchOS upgrades. My guess is that the sensors use a lot of energy (even when the display is normally off) and that the longer one uses it for workouts within a day (with the sensors continuously on [1]) and the older the watch is, the lower the battery life. [1]: there is a setting to in the workout app to reduce the frequency of GPS and heart rate readings during walking, running and hiking workouts when low power mode is also turned on
- Aperocky 9mo ago
  I solved the battery problem with an ultra, but I couldn't solve what is consistently off heart rate monitoring. It now feels almost unusual for it to get the heart rate correct. And I'm not talking about off by a few or feeling off. I'm talking about full on max heart rate when I'm doing a easy run or 1/2 and 1/3 off which is impossible to miss.
  - Terretta 9mo ago
    Heart rate weirdness is usually watch band, but sometimes skin property.
  - jameswestgate 9mo ago
    Try setting it a bit further back away from the wrist bones that stick up so that the sensors are in constant contact with the skin, and can illuminate the blood pulses in the vessels under the skin.
- danielhep 9mo ago
  I got a Garmin watch after being frustrated with the tech company watches lasting only hours on a charge. I charge this watch once a week and it does everything I realistically want from a smart watch: - shows notifications - tracks workouts - silent alarm clock - home assistant shortcuts
  - embedding-shape 9mo ago
    Garmin watches are great! I wish the lighter/smaller models also had solar charger, but last time I checked only the bigger "ultra-durable" ones had it, but they're not that comfortable to wear.
  - MrMember 9mo ago
    I'm a big fan of Garmin watches, it's really impressive what they've built. They're responsive, they have the smart features I want without the bloat I don't want, the battery lasts forever (if I don't use GPS at all it lasts something ridiculous like three weeks, with GPS it's still around a week). And they're so good I don't feel any urge to upgrade to a newer model even though the one I currently have came out in 2019. I bought it "renewed" 2.5 years ago at a significant discount and I could see myself happily using it for at least another 4-5 years.
- anonzzzies 9mo ago
  Yep, I am puzzled how so many people seem to like it that much.
- harddrivereque 9mo ago
  I wanted to buy my so an apple ultra watch, is it a bad idea? It seems like a perfect thing that someone doesn't need that would.make a nice present
  - Aurornis 9mo ago
    My suggestion would be to start with a refurbished or last-gen normal watch on sale. See if they like it. Upgrade to Ultra a few years later if they do. It’s a hit or miss product category. My wife and I like ours and most of my friends like theirs, but I have a couple friends who got a smartwatch and then never liked it. Would be a shame to buy an expensive one for someone who doesn’t even like it.
  - mingus88 9mo ago
    It’s very subjective, like any jewlery purchase. For instance I never liked the default band, but the Milanese loop is great. My wife never wore her series 5 but I got her a series 11 which is a few grams lighter and thinner and she wears it all the time now. I was on the fence about getting an ultra but for some reason never liked the size and shape (big rectangle with a huge crown bulge) since I have small wrists. I ended up getting a garmin epix pro at a big discount which is slightly smaller and round. At the end of the day they are great if you want to collect data on yourself. Even though my wife didn’t like her series 5 the hypertension features were worth trying a newer one.
  - Terretta 9mo ago
    The Ultra battery lasts a couple or three days. The pulse, EKG, and blood oxygen are first rate. Get a Titanium band (why doesn't Apple sell this?) and use a square design screen and it's a dress watch: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B091H8D561 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B091H8D561
  - D13Fd 9mo ago
    I use Apple Watch Ultra constantly, it’s extremely worth it to me. The charging is annoying, but otherwise, the watch is amazing. It keeps me on track every day. I have recurring alarms for my daily and weekly meetings/calls, and for life things like when it is time to pack up and get the kids out time to close things down and go to bed. Each morning I also set alarms for critical events that day. Basically I outsource the “scheduling” part of my brain to the watch and just focus on whatever I’m doing. I also use it for a stop watch, cooking times, etc. I use it for GPS while hiking and biking. My phone running AllTrails can’t track a 25-mile bike ride through the mountains without dying, but the watch doesn’t even break a sweat. Beyond that, it’s a great backup phone for when I leave my phone on the table or in the other room, etc. I also bind the button on the side to the flashlight feature, which I use almost every day. It’s not as strong as a phone flashlight but it’s instantly available and more hands-free. It’s so helpful for dealing with crying kids in the middle of the night. It’s nice when I don’t have a hand to hold a phone flashlight, like when I take the trash cans to the curb at night, etc. Overall I get tons of use out of my Apple Watch every day.
- beingfit 9mo ago
  I love my Apple Watch (it’s a few years old) and depend on it everyday to track things and keep me motivated to exercise and move. I do have to charge it for nearly an hour everyday, though like others have said I would prefer longer battery life (as opposed to getting a bigger and more expensive one like Apple Watch Ultra). I wouldn’t be exaggerating when I say that it’s changed my life for the better. At the same time, I personally know people who have it but aren’t used to it or don’t use it for what it does best.
- myvoiceismypass 9mo ago
  I switched to the Ultra 2 about a year and a half ago and the battery life is excellent - I don't have to charge daily, I can run or hike for several hours while listening to music or podcasts being streamed from the watch. It actually allows me to carry my phone much less, since the watch can make/take phone calls too & let me pay for things. The battery life on the apple watch I had before this one, was really abysmal though.
frankmatranga 9mo ago
SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro headset. Microphone quality is just worse than it should be for the $320 I paid, and the battery doesn’t last as long as I hoped. This was after reading many reviews.
- TGower 9mo ago
  Seconded, "oh I'll always have a charged battery", but the real experience is spending much more time swapping batteries than I used to spend plugging in. More frequent and longer duration interruptions.
- yakattak 9mo ago
  Gaming headsets, especially the expensive ones were a trap I fell into for a long time. They’re overpriced for sure, quality varies but they usually last a few years. They’re always all so uncomfortable too. I broke out and ended up getting a DAC/AMP, some good cans and a mounted microphone and I’ve never looked back. I miss the wireless part a little, but taking the headphones off to get up is a cheap price compared to $200+ garbage.
  - thefz 9mo ago
    Bah, my Epos H3PRO is still going strong after 4 years and the build and sound quality are excellent.
    - yakattak 9mo ago
      There’s definitely exceptions. My GSP 670s were the best quality cans for sure. But the headset itself was super uncomfortable for the price.
binsquare 9mo ago
Digital only console. Disc games are cheaper on sales + has actual resale value.
- throwaway89201 9mo ago
  I'm on the opposite side: I paid extra for a PS5 with disc drive, but I have never since bought a disc game. Although I have used the drive this year to watch some old DVDs.
deadbabe 9mo ago
ModRetro Chromatic, great handheld game system but didn't know I helped fund a military arms dealer that will maim and kill innocents with autonomous systems. :(
- cardamomo 9mo ago
  In that vein: Spotify
admissionsguy 9mo ago
Aeron chair - nothing special, could have done with a 10x cheaper ikea chair
- Ancapistani 9mo ago
  I would have paid 2x retail for my Aeron and still be happy with it.
- elemdos 9mo ago
  Presumably the real benefit comes over time; at least it’s worth picking up a used one.
- arustad 9mo ago
  I bought my Aeron chair over 20 years ago. Around $500, and I suspect I’ll be using for another 15 years. Chair has been solid.
  - nickthegreek 9mo ago
    Same. I find it to be one of the best purchases I have ever made for myself tbh.
- kcplate 9mo ago
  I never understood the appeal of these. Last time I went chair shopping I sat in a ton of different chairs including these and they were middle of the road in comfort and at the top end in price.
  - eudamoniac 9mo ago
    The appeal is that they are highly adjustable across a bunch of dimensions. Did you fiddle with all of the controls when you tried it?
    - kcplate 9mo ago
      So are a lot of chairs at a fifth of the price. I gave them a quality evaluation and have had occasion to sit in them for long periods at client sites. I am all for spending for quality and generally am a BIFL type consumer, but these chairs just don’t carry the value for me.
arxari 9mo ago
Quest 2, I still think it's great but I got unlucky and bought it at the time of the increased price, a few months before it went back down and then even more down a year or two after. Admittedly my own fault but still regretful due to the fact I could've saved over a hundred $ had I waited.
koolba 9mo ago
Beeline EQR series nuc. On paper it’s got a blazing cpu and gpu, in practice it can’t even maintain any legit clock rate without sounding like a jumbo jet is taking off.
lysace 9mo ago
CMF Buds 2 by Nothing. (Cheap AirPods clone at like 50 USD.) Microphone/audio input sucks over BT. So many glazing reviews. I don't get it.
SoftTalker 9mo ago
Any home tech gadgets. Robot vacuums, smart lights, smart thermostats, internet connected TVs and appliances, most kitchen gadgets especially if they require power. None of it lives up to the hype and it's all e-waste in a couple of years if not sooner.
- uhhhd 9mo ago
  So true, why is that whole sector so bad?
  - wisty 9mo ago
    People want to spend money to fix a problem that fundamentally requires effort on their part, not tech. Vacuuming is actually the easiest bit of cleaning a house IMO - getting the floor clear (if you have kids, or out of control hobbies, or are just lazy or a bit of a horder) is hard. People aren't stupid, they kind of know this. But just like buying expensive gym equipment they think that a new toy will incentivise them do the hard bits. "If I buy a new gizmo I'll finally start cooking healthy delicious food" is a great pitch.
    - mingus88 9mo ago
      Eh, our Roborock vac has been a net positive It was “easy” to vacuum before but we never did a thorough job. All too often we just vacuum what we can see, never under the couches, etc. Now that we have to move everything so it can complete the full map we have a much cleaner house. It encourages us to move all of the chairs, toys, etc.
  - olowe 9mo ago
    Couple of anecdotes from the dev side. I worked on an IoT project at one of the big German car makers and it was a mess. More money than sense. They didn't really have any idea why they were putting software into stuff. Just some vague notion that some software systems needed to exist to then present its existence to the next boss up; presumably all the way up and out to investors. Discussing the actual functionality or how the product(s) would actually be experienced in the real world was essentially taboo. There was a podcast called garbage.fm [1] with one of the hosts working for General Electric at the time it was recorded. It sounded like GE were yet another one of those incumbent companies doing "smart" Internet of Things products just because they were worried about being left behind. [1]: https://garbage.jcs.org https://garbage.jcs.org
OptionOfT 9mo ago
Ecobee. They dropped access to the API for new developers. Their air quality sensor is horribly inaccurate. Their UI is actually very confusing. The app is merely a way to shove ads in your face. I wish I just got a new Honeywell.
- nickthegreek 9mo ago
  Ecobee allows local control via Apple Home without using their app. It can also be integrated into Home Assistant with the help of the Homekit bridge addon.
pram 9mo ago
Rio Karma. Amazing MP3 player at the time, and could play OGG Vorbis and FLAC!! It was a cheap piece of shit though and all the plastic pieces rapidly came apart. The rubber coating on the handle disintegrated too. In contrast my iPod survived 10+ years in a glove box and was still immaculate.
- myvoiceismypass 9mo ago
  OMG, what a blast from the past. I loved my Rio Karmas - I had several, because they kept breaking and Best Buy (extended warranty) kept replacing for me, until they could no longer replace with a Karma and let me switch to an equivalent iPod (but no further replacements after). I remember that there was a technique where you could smack it at a certain angle and it would "fix" some of the hard drive issues for people.
RebeccaTheDev 9mo ago
Nest thermostats. They were an endless source of frustration for me.
- Xcelerate 9mo ago
  Yep. I have an Ecobee currently and have had a Nest previously. Am totally perplexed why people like these things. Just opened the Ecobee app and literally at the top is an ad saying "The Holiday sale is here. Shop now." Irritates me to no end.
  - nickthegreek 9mo ago
    the worst is that it doesn’t show up immediately, but after a second and it’s location is where I just went to tap to enter my thermostat, forcing me to exit back. I now try and just use the app via Apple Home for a better experience.
- Aurornis 9mo ago
  Nest started out great for me as an early adopter. The recent iterations are just frustrating. The apps are laggy. It’s always prompting me to join an energy savings program no matter how many times I say no. We had to disable the home/away detection because it went from working well to thinking we were away 5 times per day. Nest stands as my example of a product that went from great to terrible through complete mismanagement and customer neglect.
  - foogazi 9mo ago
    I added energy savings to my thermostat but later added Solar panels It will still go energy saving but now I don’t care Although it makes sense not to pull more from the grid during high usage times
- mattacular 9mo ago
  My Nest works great other than the app trying me to get to change my account to Google, which I just close out of every-time. Basic functional UI and works as billed. The unit itself has a nice sturdy feel to it with a very intuitive wheel-and-click interface. It's the only smarthome thing I have besides Hue lightbulbs
timenotwasted 9mo ago
By far the most disappointing for me has been the Roomba x2. I love the concept and when the first one didn't live up to the hype I somehow convinced myself the newer version surely had the bugs worked out. Neither lasted working in my house for longer than a few weeks. Not because they were broken but I spent more time dealing with them than I did just vacuuming. Haven't tried another robot cleaning device since.
- RajT88 9mo ago
  Roomba as well. Awesome at first when we bought our first home. But then we filled it with stuff and got a doggo. Those hairs fast-track the process of jamming the wheels and sweeper. Why do we need a robot vacuum when we still have to vacuum by hand?
- frm88 9mo ago
  Roomba i9. Its predecessor (can't remember the model) lasted for 12 years and its random cleaning algorithm was great. I only bought the i9 because the old ones battery stopped charging and there were no more replacements. It was not smart and worked perfectly via infrared remote. The i9 tho, let me tell you: you can't place it farther than 2m from the router because otherwise it loses WiFi permanently. 2nd battery within 5 years. IRobot demands an account login for every use of the app. I ask you, why would I login to an app? This is a robot, I press button and machine goes brrr - anything more and I get irritated. When it's done, it beeps. Sometimes directly after, sometimes 2 hours after, sometimes in the middle of the night. The cleaning is nowhere near as complete as the old, random algorithm. I will never buy IRobot again.
EspadaV9 9mo ago
Not sure I'm at the regret stage, but the 3D printer has been sitting mostly unused, and I'm not sure that'll change. There have been a few things that were good to print, but mostly used to print fidget toys for the kids and their mates.
- bilsbie 9mo ago
  I’d use it all the time but the workflow is obnoxious. Download a model, manually run the slicing software. Load it onto a usb. Plug it into the printer. If I could click print from my phone I’d be running it constantly.
  - itsdrewmiller 9mo ago
    Bambu printers have this ability - works amazingly well.
    - bilsbie 9mo ago
      How do they handle the slicing? Just make good default assumptions and slice for you?
      - itsdrewmiller 9mo ago
        Yeah - I don’t see any option to configure it from the mobile app (Bambu Handy). ChatGPT confirms too.
- dangus 9mo ago
  I’m actually surprised I didn’t hit this problem. My 3D printer has been wildly useful. I seriously thought it would be another fad hobby that I drop immediately. But now I’ve gone as far as learning 3D modeling which I never really expected to do. I actually have more projects going on than I have printing capacity for sometimes. I wish I had perfect advice for getting the most out of it. Maybe this one will help: remember that even cheap plastic products are often more expensive than printing your own. That $10-20 doodad from the store is still more expensive than a LOT of filament. I’ll list out some stuff I’ve printed: - Planter pots - Knock box (for espresso) - portfilter stand for tamping (espresso) - espresso machine mod kit enclosure - A loom for a friend who weaves - “neon” LED signs with custom words (designed by me based on YouTube tutorial) - Same concept but used to make might up address numbers for the house - A triangle-shaped piece to guide the extending kitchen sink sprayer hose so it stops getting caught on stuff under the cabinets - A replacement clip for a Packit reusable container - Designing your own wall or under-desk mount for any custom size object is trivial - Tea bag organizer - Bookmarks - Name tags/3D labels (you can pause prints and change filament colors at a specific layer even without an automated material system) - Bag clips - Toothpick dispenser - Toothpaste squeezer dispenser thing to keep the tube neat - storage organizers, including a whole pegboard system hanging up all my tools and junk - Contact lens storage boxes - Replacement latches for plastic bins I haven’t printed them yet but I’m very interested in some of the cool mini-racks, mini NAS systems, and small form factor PC cases you can print from scratch rather than buying them. For example there’s a design on makerworld where you grab a cheap mini PC, an nvme to SATA adapter, and an AliExpress SATA 3.5” backplane, and boom, you’ve built a consumer NAS alternative for a fraction of the price. Hopefully some of these ideas inspire you to get more use out of your machine!
Aurornis 9mo ago
I’m probably risking a lot of downvotes with this one, but for me it was a Home Assistant setup. Not really a purchase because it’s an open project, but I invested a lot of time into reading the docs and setting it all up only to realize I didn’t actually like it better than using the smart home products directly. It seems like a great option for people who like to tinker and get a thrill out of getting some cheap Aliexpress gadget or ESP32 project to work with their home, but I just wanted something simple that worked for my house without extra complexity.
- deleted 9mo ago
  [deleted]
- gitaarik 9mo ago
  I think Home Assistant is when you want to connect multiple IoT devices together and have automations around them, that you normally can't do because the devices are using different protocols because they're from different manufacturers. But if you don't need that it's probably a useless overcomplexification.
  - cbull 9mo ago
    I use mine so I own my own data. Almost nothing I use talks to the internet but I still have a smart house (that runs just fine when my internet is out). And while it took some tinkering to setup (back in the "edit all the yaml" days), I barely touch it anymore, I have it set how I like it and that's that.
kbuck 9mo ago
Mysa thermostats - don't integrate well with Home Assistant and can't even reliably follow schedule. Every Samsung phone I've ever owned - great hardware, but the software is a mess, especially with all of the Samsung apps that duplicate the Google apps. Sony smart TV - was excited about running Android TV apps, but the onboard hardware is so bad that everything lags, and I actually ran out of space after installing 10-20 apps (it only has 4GB of flash storage). Also, its Ethernet adapter has a hardware bug that occasionally freezes up my entire network by spamming it with flow control frames.
chc4 9mo ago
Amazon Fire Tablet, one of the only things I've ever returned.
- LakesAndTrees 9mo ago
  100%. Ours has become so inexplicably slow it’s wild, even after factory resets. The Amazon OS experience is also terrible. It sits unused.
impure 9mo ago
The MacBook Pro with Mini-LED has this terrible vignette effect. I do not understand how no one mentions it, it’s completely unacceptable at this price point. Also any backlit keyboard that isn’t shine through. Also linear switches but maybe that’s a preference thing.
cnlwsu 9mo ago
Quest VR. It’s fine but I just get nauseous too easily
deleted 9mo ago
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gcapu 9mo ago
Ecobee smart thermostat. I’m the only one in the family that knows how to change the temperature now.
registeredcorn 9mo ago
Kinesis Advantage360 SmartSet. If you need an ergonomic keyboard for any reason, do not use Kinesis. RSI is preferable to interacting with the arrogant twits who work there. Now, to their credit: The keyboard itself is of a reasonable build quality, aside from the fact that it will just occasionally completely die on me until I unplug it for a few minutes and try again. On the other hand, their customer service was not only unhelpful but actively antagonistic and rude towards me. I gave basic feedback once or twice, and asked for an updated technical manual on the keyboard I purchased and I was treated like I shit on their cat. --- "Hello, I can only find (this) and (that) manual regarding the 360 SmartSet. One document appears to be an outdated version of the other, and the more up-to-date version is no longer accurate. Do you have an up-to-date manual I can work off of? I was able to parse out some other functions like XYZ by looking at manuals for (devices that are no longer for sale) but I think I'm still missing some crucial information." "It's on the site, but since you can't find it yourself, here you go." (It's the more outdated manual that I already referenced by name and included already.) --- "Hello, I noticed it occasionally has issues when I use it with my KVM. Is this a known problem, or should I perform an RMA?" "Well, that's why we say don't use a KVM!" (Take a wild guess at what information was not listed on any page of their website in regards to the 360 SmartSet.) --- "Hi, some of the marketing material on your site on (this page) is inaccurate. It would be good to update it to reflect how this thing work now. I've provided a few points to consider updating. (Two or so changes)" "Too many people have complained about this! This issue is closed now!!" (The entire page is subsequently deleted, making it even less clear how things are intended to work, what future customers will be paying for, giving even less information about their products.) --- To be clear, I know that some times people will overstate things and make it sound much worse than it actually are, but I really am just trying to tell things as they were. If anything, I've probably understated how rude some of their responses have been. I have never had a positive experience interacting with any person at that company. Moral of the story is: Never buy from Kinesis, even if it causes you physical pain.
pugger 9mo ago
Samsung tablets and TVs, in general smart watches and "intelligent" kitchen gadgets. Also most Windows notebooks.
BewareTheYiga 9mo ago
The Loupedeck S. Its been nothing but a pain. Should have gotten a Stream Deck
- etrautmann 9mo ago
  +1 Loupedeck is so annoying. The software is insane and heavyweight and takes forever to start, wants to run all the times etc.
000ooo000 9mo ago
Spam post. Check the account.
- chkaloon 9mo ago
  Useful tho
- throwaway89201 9mo ago
  Still a useful thread. The two comments the account posted are really painful AI responses though.
darreld 9mo ago
Synology 923+. Turns out I’m the only one that connects to it in the house. I don’t actually need it. I’m now retired and really only need some external drives or some HDD’s in a hard drive docking station. I just got a docking station. I’ll grab a couple HDD’s and be done with it. Sell the Synology
- xela79 9mo ago
  > Synology 923+ supports running dockers, running adguard DNS filtering, youtube-dl container and adblocker is such a time saver self hosted image hosting etc so much potential lost... if you just use it as a "HDD on the network"
- myvoiceismypass 9mo ago
  I have a DS220+ and I use it pretty heavily as a local plex server for music and videos. Actually barely use it as a backup solution (Time Machine kinda sucks, need to find a better solution for backing up my mac to it)
  - moepstar 9mo ago
    Having a Synology 2 bay NAS myself and also using the Time Machine feature - what do you find sucky about it? From my experience it does work, although I never experienced it, say, using a Time Capsule or similar?
    - myvoiceismypass 9mo ago
      It corrupts all the time - does not seem to handle network changes/disconnects very well when Time Machine is doing its thing. I am currently facing (XYZ time machine folder is on the synology): 'Time Machine detected that your backups on “xyz Time Machine Folder” can not be reliably restored. Time Machine must erase your existing backup history and start a new backup to correct this.'
moepstar 9mo ago
My Apple Watch (Gen 6). Really not getting much value out of it, despite being all-in on Apple otherwise (iPhone, Mac, AppleTV, Homepods). I really feel like it absolutely should be more integrated into the other devices. Set a timer on the phone? Can’t see on watch. Stuff like this bugs me like hell. And I think there’s too much of it.
artyom 9mo ago
Steam Deck. An awesome piece of hardware, a leap forward for Linux gaming, but as an early adopter I got the black screen of death (common issue) fairly soon. Tried everything to no avail. Now it's a very shinny and barely used brick.
- deleted 9mo ago
  [deleted]
currency 9mo ago
Alexa. I use Alexa constantly, except my Echos drop off the network and have to be manually restarted by unplugging them. And I curse every time one of them starts up with, "by the way...." I have several smart power strips that stopped responding; I have had better luck with individual smart outlets. Digital audio players with Wi-Fi radios that support AirPlay. I've purchased three, two from Hiby and one from FiiO. The idea was to stream AirPlay to the DAP from one of my PCs, getting quality audio over wired headphones, while I walked around the house. The Hiby models would drop the stream occasionally and both had batteries that died in a year or less. The FiiO would accept streams from Apple devices, but not third-party AirPlay streams. I ended up listening to my phone. I found bone conduction headphones don't come anywhere close to audiophile quality. Wi-Fi in general, living in a row home in a neighborhood crowded with 2.4 GHz transceivers. I bought and stored away a large drawer full of microphones, headphones, mice, and keyboards before I settled on the models I like. I've never used a Windows trackpad that was worth spit. I can't use a Mac without a trackpad next to my keyboard and mouse. The difference on Windows is maddening. I was getting frustrated with the battery in my old Apple watch as it got older, but now that I have two watches and can switch between them, I wear one or the other 24 hours a day.
- stogot 9mo ago
  The Mac trackpads are outstanding. I consider it one of their best hardwares
- mrbadguy 9mo ago
  Yeah bone conduction headphones are awful, I don’t know how people tolerate them.
OutOfHere 9mo ago
Google Glass, the original one. It was my worst purchase ever for so many reasons. I want my $1500 back. Never be an early adopter of hardware. In fairness, it was not as bad as a desktop computer running Windows Me. Microsoft was evil then, and Google has been evil since then.
QuiEgo 9mo ago
Pretty much every soundbar I've ever tried. They are okay, and I use one for the sake of keeping my living room looking clean, but it can't hold a candle to proper speakers with real separation, or any mid-range pair of headphones.
brailsafe 9mo ago
Matias Sculpted keyboard. I definitely didn't expect it to be good, and since I got the first shipment, reviews didn't exist yet. Now they seem to accurately describe its problems. Although it was a decent effort, their overall build quality is pretty cheap, and it's not good enough to recommend. I took a chance on their 2nd revision and it was at least good enough to keep for periodic use, but it really isn't worth buying atm. Half of the spacebar stops working nearly every day and I need to reset it
- reaperducer 9mo ago
  Matias Sculpted keyboard… Although it was a decent effort, their overall build quality is pretty cheap, and it's not good enough to recommend I concur. I thought I'd save a few bucks by buying the Matias keyboard that looks like the Apple Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad. After all, there are thousands of people on the internet who swear that Apple's prices are disconnected from build quality. It turns out the chattering masses online are wrong. The Matias keyboard lasted all of a year. I ended up replacing it with the real deal from Apple, which is still going strong six years later. More often than online "experts" would have you believe, you really do get what you pay for.
  - xethos 9mo ago
    Maybe I got lucky - my Matias Quiet Pro has been fine (though I did have to replace one failing switch >10 years in) since ~2013 - possibly earlier, but at least since 2013.
    - brailsafe 9mo ago
      Maybe, or they did. The switches on my Matias Sculpted only detract from the design imo. They feel crunchy and don't align well with their cutouts. I'm fully willing to believe that their reputation comes from not investing heavily in reducing the variability in their manufacturing process. Once a viable but far from imperfect product gets shipped, they might stop improving it, idk tho.
  - krackers 9mo ago
1vuio0pswjnm7 9mo ago
I thought I would be able to run a user-chosen OS, e.g., a custom ROM, on the early Chromecasts I loved the form factor but was disappointed at the level of hostility toward user control, which only increased over time
Fire-Dragon-DoL 9mo ago
My wife Steam Deck. She used it in the beginning,but she ended up playing mostly on the pc. I used the Steam deck extensively,I thought she would do the same,but she prefers to read when waiting for stuff.
- John23832 9mo ago
  Same. My steam deck ended up being a “donation to Linux gaming fund for valve”.
  - andreidbr 9mo ago
    Same. I was looking to see if others had the same experience. With a toddler and my personal goal of being as present as possible with him, I rarely find enough time to use it. When he sleeps, I go on the PC and that's it. Maybe as he gets older. Until then, I'm just periodically charging it up.
returnInfinity 9mo ago
KEF Q Series Speakers, Q11 Meta, Q6 Meta
sebazzz 9mo ago
Apple iPad Pro 2021. It replaced a failing aging Microsoft Surface tablet but is so much less powerful. It is really just a phone with a keyboard. It becomes real powerful used as a remote desktop client to my Windows computer though.
fuzzfactor 9mo ago
Nobody ever regretted anything about an HP printer, or an HP laptop having inadequate mechanical design? Oh wait, reviews were not great, never mind.
instagib 9mo ago
Google home, nest thermostat, Alexa, roomba, Apple Watch, iPad. GHome consistently gets worse voice recognition or usability. Nest has many notifications to enable eco modes making me uncomfortable in own home. Alexa terrible voice recognition. Roomba kept getting stuck, errors. Apple Watch useless versus oura ring even if steps aren’t as accurate. iPad usage not worth the cost. Either get a laptop full featured or a small tv and android shield box.
- pickleglitch 9mo ago
  I hated Google home too. I switched to Home Assistant and was amazed at how much better it was. I don't use any voice recognition though, so I can't speak to that.
myvoiceismypass 9mo ago
Anyone else here have Sonos? When it works, it is great, but when it doesn't - super frustrating. Sonos pushed out some really awful software to end users a year or so back that completely degraded the experience for pretty much everyone. It is mostly fixed but seems much flakier than when I originally put my system together.

47 points by xthe 10mo ago

Curious what products looked amazing on paper and in reviews, but disappointed in real daily use.

thiht 9mo ago

Bought the Audeze Maxwell headset earlier this year and I returned it almost instantly. It’s extremely heavy and uncomfortable, the sound is not that good and the mic is trash.

bix6 9mo ago

Diskless game systems. You run out of space quickly and you can’t sell / trade / loan your games. Not necessarily regret but the Apple Watches have such crap battery.

xthe 9mo ago
The diskless systems point is a good one — the convenience is real, but the loss of resale, lending, and long-term ownership adds up more than reviews usually acknowledge. Do you think that trade-off was obvious at purchase time, or did it only start to feel painful once storage filled up and the library grew? On the Apple Watch side, was the battery issue something you noticed early, or did it become frustrating over time as usage increased?

ben_w 9mo ago

Apple Watch. I'm not even sure when I last wore it, but it was at least 18 months ago. Slighly laggy remote control for my phone, with widgets a little too small for my finger to reliably hit. When I do proper long walks, the battery reliably dies on me during the walk.

tgdn 9mo ago
I cannot agree more. The battery not even lasting a day is what prevents me from using it. When I want to go for a run with it, it's always out of battery.
- johnfn 9mo ago
  I had this exact problem with my Apple Watch. My family got me an Ultra as a gift, and I really didn't think I was going to use it (I didn't even want it), but it ended up being a total gamechanger, and now the Ultra is my favorite gadget and a huge motivator to get into better shape.
- Aurornis 9mo ago
  My Apple Watch is now so old that it’s unsupported by new WatchOS, but the battery still lasts a day without problem. It probably helps that I disabled the always on screen. Lasting all day has never been a problem, though.
  - beingfit 9mo ago
    Do you use it for workouts, especially for longer periods everyday? I’m a constant Apple Watch user and workout everyday, but I do find the battery life lacking when I’m out on hikes for a few hours. My watch is only a few years old and is supported for watchOS upgrades. My guess is that the sensors use a lot of energy (even when the display is normally off) and that the longer one uses it for workouts within a day (with the sensors continuously on [1]) and the older the watch is, the lower the battery life. [1]: there is a setting to in the workout app to reduce the frequency of GPS and heart rate readings during walking, running and hiking workouts when low power mode is also turned on
Aperocky 9mo ago
I solved the battery problem with an ultra, but I couldn't solve what is consistently off heart rate monitoring. It now feels almost unusual for it to get the heart rate correct. And I'm not talking about off by a few or feeling off. I'm talking about full on max heart rate when I'm doing a easy run or 1/2 and 1/3 off which is impossible to miss.
- Terretta 9mo ago
  Heart rate weirdness is usually watch band, but sometimes skin property.
- jameswestgate 9mo ago
  Try setting it a bit further back away from the wrist bones that stick up so that the sensors are in constant contact with the skin, and can illuminate the blood pulses in the vessels under the skin.
danielhep 9mo ago
I got a Garmin watch after being frustrated with the tech company watches lasting only hours on a charge. I charge this watch once a week and it does everything I realistically want from a smart watch: - shows notifications - tracks workouts - silent alarm clock - home assistant shortcuts
- embedding-shape 9mo ago
  Garmin watches are great! I wish the lighter/smaller models also had solar charger, but last time I checked only the bigger "ultra-durable" ones had it, but they're not that comfortable to wear.
- MrMember 9mo ago
  I'm a big fan of Garmin watches, it's really impressive what they've built. They're responsive, they have the smart features I want without the bloat I don't want, the battery lasts forever (if I don't use GPS at all it lasts something ridiculous like three weeks, with GPS it's still around a week). And they're so good I don't feel any urge to upgrade to a newer model even though the one I currently have came out in 2019. I bought it "renewed" 2.5 years ago at a significant discount and I could see myself happily using it for at least another 4-5 years.
anonzzzies 9mo ago
Yep, I am puzzled how so many people seem to like it that much.
harddrivereque 9mo ago
I wanted to buy my so an apple ultra watch, is it a bad idea? It seems like a perfect thing that someone doesn't need that would.make a nice present
- Aurornis 9mo ago
  My suggestion would be to start with a refurbished or last-gen normal watch on sale. See if they like it. Upgrade to Ultra a few years later if they do. It’s a hit or miss product category. My wife and I like ours and most of my friends like theirs, but I have a couple friends who got a smartwatch and then never liked it. Would be a shame to buy an expensive one for someone who doesn’t even like it.
- mingus88 9mo ago
  It’s very subjective, like any jewlery purchase. For instance I never liked the default band, but the Milanese loop is great. My wife never wore her series 5 but I got her a series 11 which is a few grams lighter and thinner and she wears it all the time now. I was on the fence about getting an ultra but for some reason never liked the size and shape (big rectangle with a huge crown bulge) since I have small wrists. I ended up getting a garmin epix pro at a big discount which is slightly smaller and round. At the end of the day they are great if you want to collect data on yourself. Even though my wife didn’t like her series 5 the hypertension features were worth trying a newer one.
- Terretta 9mo ago
  The Ultra battery lasts a couple or three days. The pulse, EKG, and blood oxygen are first rate. Get a Titanium band (why doesn't Apple sell this?) and use a square design screen and it's a dress watch: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B091H8D561 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B091H8D561
- D13Fd 9mo ago
  I use Apple Watch Ultra constantly, it’s extremely worth it to me. The charging is annoying, but otherwise, the watch is amazing. It keeps me on track every day. I have recurring alarms for my daily and weekly meetings/calls, and for life things like when it is time to pack up and get the kids out time to close things down and go to bed. Each morning I also set alarms for critical events that day. Basically I outsource the “scheduling” part of my brain to the watch and just focus on whatever I’m doing. I also use it for a stop watch, cooking times, etc. I use it for GPS while hiking and biking. My phone running AllTrails can’t track a 25-mile bike ride through the mountains without dying, but the watch doesn’t even break a sweat. Beyond that, it’s a great backup phone for when I leave my phone on the table or in the other room, etc. I also bind the button on the side to the flashlight feature, which I use almost every day. It’s not as strong as a phone flashlight but it’s instantly available and more hands-free. It’s so helpful for dealing with crying kids in the middle of the night. It’s nice when I don’t have a hand to hold a phone flashlight, like when I take the trash cans to the curb at night, etc. Overall I get tons of use out of my Apple Watch every day.
beingfit 9mo ago
I love my Apple Watch (it’s a few years old) and depend on it everyday to track things and keep me motivated to exercise and move. I do have to charge it for nearly an hour everyday, though like others have said I would prefer longer battery life (as opposed to getting a bigger and more expensive one like Apple Watch Ultra). I wouldn’t be exaggerating when I say that it’s changed my life for the better. At the same time, I personally know people who have it but aren’t used to it or don’t use it for what it does best.
myvoiceismypass 9mo ago
I switched to the Ultra 2 about a year and a half ago and the battery life is excellent - I don't have to charge daily, I can run or hike for several hours while listening to music or podcasts being streamed from the watch. It actually allows me to carry my phone much less, since the watch can make/take phone calls too & let me pay for things. The battery life on the apple watch I had before this one, was really abysmal though.

frankmatranga 9mo ago

SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro headset. Microphone quality is just worse than it should be for the $320 I paid, and the battery doesn’t last as long as I hoped. This was after reading many reviews.

TGower 9mo ago
Seconded, "oh I'll always have a charged battery", but the real experience is spending much more time swapping batteries than I used to spend plugging in. More frequent and longer duration interruptions.
yakattak 9mo ago
Gaming headsets, especially the expensive ones were a trap I fell into for a long time. They’re overpriced for sure, quality varies but they usually last a few years. They’re always all so uncomfortable too. I broke out and ended up getting a DAC/AMP, some good cans and a mounted microphone and I’ve never looked back. I miss the wireless part a little, but taking the headphones off to get up is a cheap price compared to $200+ garbage.
- thefz 9mo ago
  Bah, my Epos H3PRO is still going strong after 4 years and the build and sound quality are excellent.
  - yakattak 9mo ago
    There’s definitely exceptions. My GSP 670s were the best quality cans for sure. But the headset itself was super uncomfortable for the price.

binsquare 9mo ago

Digital only console. Disc games are cheaper on sales + has actual resale value.

throwaway89201 9mo ago
I'm on the opposite side: I paid extra for a PS5 with disc drive, but I have never since bought a disc game. Although I have used the drive this year to watch some old DVDs.

deadbabe 9mo ago

ModRetro Chromatic, great handheld game system but didn't know I helped fund a military arms dealer that will maim and kill innocents with autonomous systems. :(

cardamomo 9mo ago
In that vein: Spotify

admissionsguy 9mo ago

Aeron chair - nothing special, could have done with a 10x cheaper ikea chair

Ancapistani 9mo ago
I would have paid 2x retail for my Aeron and still be happy with it.
elemdos 9mo ago
Presumably the real benefit comes over time; at least it’s worth picking up a used one.
arustad 9mo ago
I bought my Aeron chair over 20 years ago. Around $500, and I suspect I’ll be using for another 15 years. Chair has been solid.
- nickthegreek 9mo ago
  Same. I find it to be one of the best purchases I have ever made for myself tbh.
kcplate 9mo ago
I never understood the appeal of these. Last time I went chair shopping I sat in a ton of different chairs including these and they were middle of the road in comfort and at the top end in price.
- eudamoniac 9mo ago
  The appeal is that they are highly adjustable across a bunch of dimensions. Did you fiddle with all of the controls when you tried it?
  - kcplate 9mo ago
    So are a lot of chairs at a fifth of the price. I gave them a quality evaluation and have had occasion to sit in them for long periods at client sites. I am all for spending for quality and generally am a BIFL type consumer, but these chairs just don’t carry the value for me.

arxari 9mo ago

Quest 2, I still think it's great but I got unlucky and bought it at the time of the increased price, a few months before it went back down and then even more down a year or two after. Admittedly my own fault but still regretful due to the fact I could've saved over a hundred $ had I waited.

koolba 9mo ago

Beeline EQR series nuc. On paper it’s got a blazing cpu and gpu, in practice it can’t even maintain any legit clock rate without sounding like a jumbo jet is taking off.

lysace 9mo ago

CMF Buds 2 by Nothing. (Cheap AirPods clone at like 50 USD.) Microphone/audio input sucks over BT. So many glazing reviews. I don't get it.

SoftTalker 9mo ago

Any home tech gadgets. Robot vacuums, smart lights, smart thermostats, internet connected TVs and appliances, most kitchen gadgets especially if they require power. None of it lives up to the hype and it's all e-waste in a couple of years if not sooner.

uhhhd 9mo ago
So true, why is that whole sector so bad?
- wisty 9mo ago
  People want to spend money to fix a problem that fundamentally requires effort on their part, not tech. Vacuuming is actually the easiest bit of cleaning a house IMO - getting the floor clear (if you have kids, or out of control hobbies, or are just lazy or a bit of a horder) is hard. People aren't stupid, they kind of know this. But just like buying expensive gym equipment they think that a new toy will incentivise them do the hard bits. "If I buy a new gizmo I'll finally start cooking healthy delicious food" is a great pitch.
  - mingus88 9mo ago
    Eh, our Roborock vac has been a net positive It was “easy” to vacuum before but we never did a thorough job. All too often we just vacuum what we can see, never under the couches, etc. Now that we have to move everything so it can complete the full map we have a much cleaner house. It encourages us to move all of the chairs, toys, etc.
- olowe 9mo ago
  Couple of anecdotes from the dev side. I worked on an IoT project at one of the big German car makers and it was a mess. More money than sense. They didn't really have any idea why they were putting software into stuff. Just some vague notion that some software systems needed to exist to then present its existence to the next boss up; presumably all the way up and out to investors. Discussing the actual functionality or how the product(s) would actually be experienced in the real world was essentially taboo. There was a podcast called garbage.fm [1] with one of the hosts working for General Electric at the time it was recorded. It sounded like GE were yet another one of those incumbent companies doing "smart" Internet of Things products just because they were worried about being left behind. [1]: https://garbage.jcs.org https://garbage.jcs.org

OptionOfT 9mo ago

Ecobee. They dropped access to the API for new developers. Their air quality sensor is horribly inaccurate. Their UI is actually very confusing. The app is merely a way to shove ads in your face. I wish I just got a new Honeywell.

nickthegreek 9mo ago
Ecobee allows local control via Apple Home without using their app. It can also be integrated into Home Assistant with the help of the Homekit bridge addon.

pram 9mo ago

Rio Karma. Amazing MP3 player at the time, and could play OGG Vorbis and FLAC!! It was a cheap piece of shit though and all the plastic pieces rapidly came apart. The rubber coating on the handle disintegrated too. In contrast my iPod survived 10+ years in a glove box and was still immaculate.

myvoiceismypass 9mo ago
OMG, what a blast from the past. I loved my Rio Karmas - I had several, because they kept breaking and Best Buy (extended warranty) kept replacing for me, until they could no longer replace with a Karma and let me switch to an equivalent iPod (but no further replacements after). I remember that there was a technique where you could smack it at a certain angle and it would "fix" some of the hard drive issues for people.

RebeccaTheDev 9mo ago

Nest thermostats. They were an endless source of frustration for me.

Xcelerate 9mo ago
Yep. I have an Ecobee currently and have had a Nest previously. Am totally perplexed why people like these things. Just opened the Ecobee app and literally at the top is an ad saying "The Holiday sale is here. Shop now." Irritates me to no end.
- nickthegreek 9mo ago
  the worst is that it doesn’t show up immediately, but after a second and it’s location is where I just went to tap to enter my thermostat, forcing me to exit back. I now try and just use the app via Apple Home for a better experience.
Aurornis 9mo ago
Nest started out great for me as an early adopter. The recent iterations are just frustrating. The apps are laggy. It’s always prompting me to join an energy savings program no matter how many times I say no. We had to disable the home/away detection because it went from working well to thinking we were away 5 times per day. Nest stands as my example of a product that went from great to terrible through complete mismanagement and customer neglect.
- foogazi 9mo ago
  I added energy savings to my thermostat but later added Solar panels It will still go energy saving but now I don’t care Although it makes sense not to pull more from the grid during high usage times
mattacular 9mo ago
My Nest works great other than the app trying me to get to change my account to Google, which I just close out of every-time. Basic functional UI and works as billed. The unit itself has a nice sturdy feel to it with a very intuitive wheel-and-click interface. It's the only smarthome thing I have besides Hue lightbulbs

timenotwasted 9mo ago

By far the most disappointing for me has been the Roomba x2. I love the concept and when the first one didn't live up to the hype I somehow convinced myself the newer version surely had the bugs worked out. Neither lasted working in my house for longer than a few weeks. Not because they were broken but I spent more time dealing with them than I did just vacuuming. Haven't tried another robot cleaning device since.

RajT88 9mo ago
Roomba as well. Awesome at first when we bought our first home. But then we filled it with stuff and got a doggo. Those hairs fast-track the process of jamming the wheels and sweeper. Why do we need a robot vacuum when we still have to vacuum by hand?
frm88 9mo ago
Roomba i9. Its predecessor (can't remember the model) lasted for 12 years and its random cleaning algorithm was great. I only bought the i9 because the old ones battery stopped charging and there were no more replacements. It was not smart and worked perfectly via infrared remote. The i9 tho, let me tell you: you can't place it farther than 2m from the router because otherwise it loses WiFi permanently. 2nd battery within 5 years. IRobot demands an account login for every use of the app. I ask you, why would I login to an app? This is a robot, I press button and machine goes brrr - anything more and I get irritated. When it's done, it beeps. Sometimes directly after, sometimes 2 hours after, sometimes in the middle of the night. The cleaning is nowhere near as complete as the old, random algorithm. I will never buy IRobot again.

EspadaV9 9mo ago

Not sure I'm at the regret stage, but the 3D printer has been sitting mostly unused, and I'm not sure that'll change. There have been a few things that were good to print, but mostly used to print fidget toys for the kids and their mates.

bilsbie 9mo ago
I’d use it all the time but the workflow is obnoxious. Download a model, manually run the slicing software. Load it onto a usb. Plug it into the printer. If I could click print from my phone I’d be running it constantly.
- itsdrewmiller 9mo ago
  Bambu printers have this ability - works amazingly well.
  - bilsbie 9mo ago
    How do they handle the slicing? Just make good default assumptions and slice for you?
    - itsdrewmiller 9mo ago
      Yeah - I don’t see any option to configure it from the mobile app (Bambu Handy). ChatGPT confirms too.
dangus 9mo ago
I’m actually surprised I didn’t hit this problem. My 3D printer has been wildly useful. I seriously thought it would be another fad hobby that I drop immediately. But now I’ve gone as far as learning 3D modeling which I never really expected to do. I actually have more projects going on than I have printing capacity for sometimes. I wish I had perfect advice for getting the most out of it. Maybe this one will help: remember that even cheap plastic products are often more expensive than printing your own. That $10-20 doodad from the store is still more expensive than a LOT of filament. I’ll list out some stuff I’ve printed: - Planter pots - Knock box (for espresso) - portfilter stand for tamping (espresso) - espresso machine mod kit enclosure - A loom for a friend who weaves - “neon” LED signs with custom words (designed by me based on YouTube tutorial) - Same concept but used to make might up address numbers for the house - A triangle-shaped piece to guide the extending kitchen sink sprayer hose so it stops getting caught on stuff under the cabinets - A replacement clip for a Packit reusable container - Designing your own wall or under-desk mount for any custom size object is trivial - Tea bag organizer - Bookmarks - Name tags/3D labels (you can pause prints and change filament colors at a specific layer even without an automated material system) - Bag clips - Toothpick dispenser - Toothpaste squeezer dispenser thing to keep the tube neat - storage organizers, including a whole pegboard system hanging up all my tools and junk - Contact lens storage boxes - Replacement latches for plastic bins I haven’t printed them yet but I’m very interested in some of the cool mini-racks, mini NAS systems, and small form factor PC cases you can print from scratch rather than buying them. For example there’s a design on makerworld where you grab a cheap mini PC, an nvme to SATA adapter, and an AliExpress SATA 3.5” backplane, and boom, you’ve built a consumer NAS alternative for a fraction of the price. Hopefully some of these ideas inspire you to get more use out of your machine!

Aurornis 9mo ago

I’m probably risking a lot of downvotes with this one, but for me it was a Home Assistant setup. Not really a purchase because it’s an open project, but I invested a lot of time into reading the docs and setting it all up only to realize I didn’t actually like it better than using the smart home products directly. It seems like a great option for people who like to tinker and get a thrill out of getting some cheap Aliexpress gadget or ESP32 project to work with their home, but I just wanted something simple that worked for my house without extra complexity.

deleted 9mo ago
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gitaarik 9mo ago
I think Home Assistant is when you want to connect multiple IoT devices together and have automations around them, that you normally can't do because the devices are using different protocols because they're from different manufacturers. But if you don't need that it's probably a useless overcomplexification.
- cbull 9mo ago
  I use mine so I own my own data. Almost nothing I use talks to the internet but I still have a smart house (that runs just fine when my internet is out). And while it took some tinkering to setup (back in the "edit all the yaml" days), I barely touch it anymore, I have it set how I like it and that's that.

kbuck 9mo ago

Mysa thermostats - don't integrate well with Home Assistant and can't even reliably follow schedule. Every Samsung phone I've ever owned - great hardware, but the software is a mess, especially with all of the Samsung apps that duplicate the Google apps. Sony smart TV - was excited about running Android TV apps, but the onboard hardware is so bad that everything lags, and I actually ran out of space after installing 10-20 apps (it only has 4GB of flash storage). Also, its Ethernet adapter has a hardware bug that occasionally freezes up my entire network by spamming it with flow control frames.

chc4 9mo ago

Amazon Fire Tablet, one of the only things I've ever returned.

LakesAndTrees 9mo ago
100%. Ours has become so inexplicably slow it’s wild, even after factory resets. The Amazon OS experience is also terrible. It sits unused.

impure 9mo ago

The MacBook Pro with Mini-LED has this terrible vignette effect. I do not understand how no one mentions it, it’s completely unacceptable at this price point. Also any backlit keyboard that isn’t shine through. Also linear switches but maybe that’s a preference thing.

cnlwsu 9mo ago

Quest VR. It’s fine but I just get nauseous too easily

deleted 9mo ago

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gcapu 9mo ago

Ecobee smart thermostat. I’m the only one in the family that knows how to change the temperature now.

registeredcorn 9mo ago

Kinesis Advantage360 SmartSet. If you need an ergonomic keyboard for any reason, do not use Kinesis. RSI is preferable to interacting with the arrogant twits who work there. Now, to their credit: The keyboard itself is of a reasonable build quality, aside from the fact that it will just occasionally completely die on me until I unplug it for a few minutes and try again. On the other hand, their customer service was not only unhelpful but actively antagonistic and rude towards me. I gave basic feedback once or twice, and asked for an updated technical manual on the keyboard I purchased and I was treated like I shit on their cat. --- "Hello, I can only find (this) and (that) manual regarding the 360 SmartSet. One document appears to be an outdated version of the other, and the more up-to-date version is no longer accurate. Do you have an up-to-date manual I can work off of? I was able to parse out some other functions like XYZ by looking at manuals for (devices that are no longer for sale) but I think I'm still missing some crucial information." "It's on the site, but since you can't find it yourself, here you go." (It's the more outdated manual that I already referenced by name and included already.) --- "Hello, I noticed it occasionally has issues when I use it with my KVM. Is this a known problem, or should I perform an RMA?" "Well, that's why we say don't use a KVM!" (Take a wild guess at what information was not listed on any page of their website in regards to the 360 SmartSet.) --- "Hi, some of the marketing material on your site on (this page) is inaccurate. It would be good to update it to reflect how this thing work now. I've provided a few points to consider updating. (Two or so changes)" "Too many people have complained about this! This issue is closed now!!" (The entire page is subsequently deleted, making it even less clear how things are intended to work, what future customers will be paying for, giving even less information about their products.) --- To be clear, I know that some times people will overstate things and make it sound much worse than it actually are, but I really am just trying to tell things as they were. If anything, I've probably understated how rude some of their responses have been. I have never had a positive experience interacting with any person at that company. Moral of the story is: Never buy from Kinesis, even if it causes you physical pain.

pugger 9mo ago

Samsung tablets and TVs, in general smart watches and "intelligent" kitchen gadgets. Also most Windows notebooks.

BewareTheYiga 9mo ago

The Loupedeck S. Its been nothing but a pain. Should have gotten a Stream Deck

etrautmann 9mo ago
+1 Loupedeck is so annoying. The software is insane and heavyweight and takes forever to start, wants to run all the times etc.

000ooo000 9mo ago

Spam post. Check the account.

chkaloon 9mo ago
Useful tho
throwaway89201 9mo ago
Still a useful thread. The two comments the account posted are really painful AI responses though.

darreld 9mo ago

Synology 923+. Turns out I’m the only one that connects to it in the house. I don’t actually need it. I’m now retired and really only need some external drives or some HDD’s in a hard drive docking station. I just got a docking station. I’ll grab a couple HDD’s and be done with it. Sell the Synology

xela79 9mo ago
> Synology 923+ supports running dockers, running adguard DNS filtering, youtube-dl container and adblocker is such a time saver self hosted image hosting etc so much potential lost... if you just use it as a "HDD on the network"
myvoiceismypass 9mo ago
I have a DS220+ and I use it pretty heavily as a local plex server for music and videos. Actually barely use it as a backup solution (Time Machine kinda sucks, need to find a better solution for backing up my mac to it)
- moepstar 9mo ago
  Having a Synology 2 bay NAS myself and also using the Time Machine feature - what do you find sucky about it? From my experience it does work, although I never experienced it, say, using a Time Capsule or similar?
  - myvoiceismypass 9mo ago
    It corrupts all the time - does not seem to handle network changes/disconnects very well when Time Machine is doing its thing. I am currently facing (XYZ time machine folder is on the synology): 'Time Machine detected that your backups on “xyz Time Machine Folder” can not be reliably restored. Time Machine must erase your existing backup history and start a new backup to correct this.'

moepstar 9mo ago

My Apple Watch (Gen 6). Really not getting much value out of it, despite being all-in on Apple otherwise (iPhone, Mac, AppleTV, Homepods). I really feel like it absolutely should be more integrated into the other devices. Set a timer on the phone? Can’t see on watch. Stuff like this bugs me like hell. And I think there’s too much of it.

artyom 9mo ago

Steam Deck. An awesome piece of hardware, a leap forward for Linux gaming, but as an early adopter I got the black screen of death (common issue) fairly soon. Tried everything to no avail. Now it's a very shinny and barely used brick.

deleted 9mo ago
[deleted]

currency 9mo ago

Alexa. I use Alexa constantly, except my Echos drop off the network and have to be manually restarted by unplugging them. And I curse every time one of them starts up with, "by the way...." I have several smart power strips that stopped responding; I have had better luck with individual smart outlets. Digital audio players with Wi-Fi radios that support AirPlay. I've purchased three, two from Hiby and one from FiiO. The idea was to stream AirPlay to the DAP from one of my PCs, getting quality audio over wired headphones, while I walked around the house. The Hiby models would drop the stream occasionally and both had batteries that died in a year or less. The FiiO would accept streams from Apple devices, but not third-party AirPlay streams. I ended up listening to my phone. I found bone conduction headphones don't come anywhere close to audiophile quality. Wi-Fi in general, living in a row home in a neighborhood crowded with 2.4 GHz transceivers. I bought and stored away a large drawer full of microphones, headphones, mice, and keyboards before I settled on the models I like. I've never used a Windows trackpad that was worth spit. I can't use a Mac without a trackpad next to my keyboard and mouse. The difference on Windows is maddening. I was getting frustrated with the battery in my old Apple watch as it got older, but now that I have two watches and can switch between them, I wear one or the other 24 hours a day.

stogot 9mo ago
The Mac trackpads are outstanding. I consider it one of their best hardwares
mrbadguy 9mo ago
Yeah bone conduction headphones are awful, I don’t know how people tolerate them.

OutOfHere 9mo ago

Google Glass, the original one. It was my worst purchase ever for so many reasons. I want my $1500 back. Never be an early adopter of hardware. In fairness, it was not as bad as a desktop computer running Windows Me. Microsoft was evil then, and Google has been evil since then.

QuiEgo 9mo ago

Pretty much every soundbar I've ever tried. They are okay, and I use one for the sake of keeping my living room looking clean, but it can't hold a candle to proper speakers with real separation, or any mid-range pair of headphones.

brailsafe 9mo ago

Matias Sculpted keyboard. I definitely didn't expect it to be good, and since I got the first shipment, reviews didn't exist yet. Now they seem to accurately describe its problems. Although it was a decent effort, their overall build quality is pretty cheap, and it's not good enough to recommend. I took a chance on their 2nd revision and it was at least good enough to keep for periodic use, but it really isn't worth buying atm. Half of the spacebar stops working nearly every day and I need to reset it

reaperducer 9mo ago
Matias Sculpted keyboard… Although it was a decent effort, their overall build quality is pretty cheap, and it's not good enough to recommend I concur. I thought I'd save a few bucks by buying the Matias keyboard that looks like the Apple Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad. After all, there are thousands of people on the internet who swear that Apple's prices are disconnected from build quality. It turns out the chattering masses online are wrong. The Matias keyboard lasted all of a year. I ended up replacing it with the real deal from Apple, which is still going strong six years later. More often than online "experts" would have you believe, you really do get what you pay for.
- xethos 9mo ago
  Maybe I got lucky - my Matias Quiet Pro has been fine (though I did have to replace one failing switch >10 years in) since ~2013 - possibly earlier, but at least since 2013.
  - brailsafe 9mo ago
    Maybe, or they did. The switches on my Matias Sculpted only detract from the design imo. They feel crunchy and don't align well with their cutouts. I'm fully willing to believe that their reputation comes from not investing heavily in reducing the variability in their manufacturing process. Once a viable but far from imperfect product gets shipped, they might stop improving it, idk tho.
- krackers 9mo ago

1vuio0pswjnm7 9mo ago

I thought I would be able to run a user-chosen OS, e.g., a custom ROM, on the early Chromecasts I loved the form factor but was disappointed at the level of hostility toward user control, which only increased over time

Fire-Dragon-DoL 9mo ago

My wife Steam Deck. She used it in the beginning,but she ended up playing mostly on the pc. I used the Steam deck extensively,I thought she would do the same,but she prefers to read when waiting for stuff.

John23832 9mo ago
Same. My steam deck ended up being a “donation to Linux gaming fund for valve”.
- andreidbr 9mo ago
  Same. I was looking to see if others had the same experience. With a toddler and my personal goal of being as present as possible with him, I rarely find enough time to use it. When he sleeps, I go on the PC and that's it. Maybe as he gets older. Until then, I'm just periodically charging it up.

returnInfinity 9mo ago

KEF Q Series Speakers, Q11 Meta, Q6 Meta

sebazzz 9mo ago

Apple iPad Pro 2021. It replaced a failing aging Microsoft Surface tablet but is so much less powerful. It is really just a phone with a keyboard. It becomes real powerful used as a remote desktop client to my Windows computer though.

fuzzfactor 9mo ago

Nobody ever regretted anything about an HP printer, or an HP laptop having inadequate mechanical design? Oh wait, reviews were not great, never mind.

instagib 9mo ago

Google home, nest thermostat, Alexa, roomba, Apple Watch, iPad. GHome consistently gets worse voice recognition or usability. Nest has many notifications to enable eco modes making me uncomfortable in own home. Alexa terrible voice recognition. Roomba kept getting stuck, errors. Apple Watch useless versus oura ring even if steps aren’t as accurate. iPad usage not worth the cost. Either get a laptop full featured or a small tv and android shield box.

pickleglitch 9mo ago
I hated Google home too. I switched to Home Assistant and was amazed at how much better it was. I don't use any voice recognition though, so I can't speak to that.

myvoiceismypass 9mo ago

Anyone else here have Sonos? When it works, it is great, but when it doesn't - super frustrating. Sonos pushed out some really awful software to end users a year or so back that completely degraded the experience for pretty much everyone. It is mostly fixed but seems much flakier than when I originally put my system together.