Review: AmazonBasics Microwave
WIRED—November 14, 2018
Moments after plugging in Amazon’s new Alexa-connected microwave I was about to review, the first thing I noticed was the word that popped up on its screen: FAIL. It hadn’t—it had just jumped the gun a bit in the connection process, but that word hung over the testing process in surprising ways.
The AmazonBasics Microwave is a 700-watt, 0.7-cubic foot appliance that costs a mere 60 dollars and connects with Amazon devices like the Echo, allowing you to control many of the microwave’s functions with your voice. Say “Alexa, microwave 30 seconds” and the appliance starts whirring away on high. Trying “Alexa defrost ten ounces of fish” will result in more-regulated microwave blasts. For many functions, it’s very similar to GE’s new Smart Countertop Microwave with Scan-to-Cook Technology, though that oven has the additional ability to scan the bar codes of thousands of microwaveable products and deliver cooking instructions to the oven.
Clever as it sounds, I never quite saw the value add of the Scan-to-Cook, but was curious and excited about Amazon’s first foray into kitchen hardware.
The question that kept nagging at me, though, is, ‘If you have to go to the microwave to put your popcorn inside, and it only takes .2 seconds to press the popcorn button, do we need to be able to talk to our microwaves?’
Read the full review and find out in WIRED.