15 Of The Worst Home Appliances Consumer Reports Tested In 2025

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Figuring out the right home appliances to buy can be challenging, to say the least. After all, there's an almost dizzying number of brands competing for your hard-earned dollars, whether you're in the market for a refrigerator, robot vacuum, washing machine, or video doorbell. Having a resource that can offer some guidance when it comes to products to buy and avoid can be very useful, and that's where Consumer Reports (CR) enters the picture.

The nonprofit organization tests a wide range of consumer goods every year, some of which it heartily recommends to buyers — and some that it feels are definitely worth avoiding. Going through all its reviews can admittedly be a hassle, but Consumer Reports thankfully releases a list of the worst home appliances it tests every year. Here, then, are 15 of the worst products to grace CR's labs, covering everything from staples like microwaves, fridges, and dishwashers to slightly more specific products like generators and humidifiers.

On paper, the GoWise GW44800 toaster oven looks like a solid product, with its three-rack interior, 12.7-quart capacity, and rotisserie functionality, all for around $80 or so. Owner reviews would seem to back it up, too, given that it has a decent-enough 4.2-star rating from more than 11,800 ratings on Amazon. Despite all of that, Consumer Reports considers the GoWise the worst toaster oven it reviewed in 2025.

The outlet pointed out that the GoWise was not good at baking, nor did it do well when tasked with toasting a single slice of bread. Sure, you're not buying a three-rack, 12.7-quart toaster oven to toast a single slice, but it should still be able to do so when asked. CR also thought the GoWise was particularly hard to use and not that easy to clean.

Returning to the topic of Amazon reviews, a bit more digging reveals that the rating is shared between the 12.7- and 14.7-quart versions of the toaster oven. Filtering the reviews to the 12.7-quart version reveals quite a number of 1-star reviews, which highlight several issues with the oven. These include notably poor build quality, suspect durability, and uneven cooking — the latter especially noticeable with the middle and bottom racks.

Fisher & Paykel's OR30SCG4X1 range was Consumer Reports' least-favorite range of 2025, with this 30-inch, four-burner range earning the outlet's ire for several notable reasons. CR slammed it for its poor baking and temperature control. CR found that it couldn't keep a pot below boiling, for example, nor was it particularly good at simmering dishes.

There aren't that many owner reviews out there, but the ones that are available indicate issues with the range. Of the 10 owner reviews on the Fisher & Paykel website, four rated it 3 stars or lower, with complaints including a lack of a preheat indicator, a temperature gauge, difficulties with temperature regulation (namely an inability to simmer, which tallies with CR's observation), and low-quality, hard-to-read knobs. The result, then, is a range that's tough to recommend at any price, let alone the $5,000-plus that Fisher & Paykel is asking. Sure, it's sleek and stylish, but one buys a range to cook, not to have it look good in a kitchen, right?

You would think that washing machines are a solved problem by now, but the Midea MLTW41A1BWW shows that you would be very much mistaken. While Midea's 4.1-cubic-foot top-loader is admirably efficient, earning a CR Green Choice award and boasting an admirable FTC-rated 121 kWh yearly electricity use, this energy-friendliness comes at the cost of its cleaning ability.

CR found that the Midea washing machine's 50-minute cycle was simply not enough to clean clothes. It placed at the bottom of CR's testing, a bad result for its $700 MSRP. This, however, isn't an opinion shared by the handful of reviews owners have left on Walmart; while there are indeed quite a few 1- and 2-star ratings, the Midea washer has an overall rating of 4.2 out of 5 stars, with owners seemingly generally satisfied.

That said, a few reviews have noted poor drying performance, and the fact that there have only been 25 reviews tells us that it's potentially not very popular. So, if you're looking to buy a washing machine, you're probably better off buying one from one of the best major washing machine brands, like LG, instead.

Fridges don't have to be expensive, and there are a few cheap but high-quality refrigerators available for those on a budget. However, fridges like the 7.4-cubic-foot Danby DPF074B2WDB-6 seemingly indicate there is such a thing as being too cheap.

Going by Consumer Reports' testing, the Danby is not a good buy, even if its $500 MSRP might make it seem like a great budget choice. For one, the outlet noted that the fridge is hard to use. It's also notably energy-inefficient, despite its Energy Star rating. The crisper drawer doesn't perform well, either, with produce stored there not retaining moisture.

User ratings are a bit of a mixed bag: The fridge has a 4.4-out-of-5-star rating on the Danby website, which is decent enough. However, listings on Home Depot and Lowe's paint a completely different picture. While there are only 11 and 72 ratings, respectively, the fridge has abysmal average ratings of 2.4 and 3.2 stars out of 5. Admittedly, most of the negative opinions center on shipping damage, which may not be Danby's fault — but you're probably best off steering clear anyway.

Video doorbells and home security systems in general are all the rage these days, and it's quite easy to see why. They make homeowners feel safer and allow them to monitor their homes while at work, among other benefits. For some, these may be worth the potential privacy risks associated with data leaks and the cloud-based storage of surveillance footage.

There are many great doorbell cameras available on the market for those who want to invest in one, but there's one particular model to avoid, according to Consumer Reports: the Eufy S220. CR's main criticisms centered on the fact that the S220 fails to send out alerts and establish live feeds promptly. Some 1-star reviews on Amazon also claim that the detection algorithms are spotty at best, with the Eufy either failing to detect people or logging far more activity than there actually is.

CR also found that the Eufy S220 was particularly vulnerable to being hacked, making it a poor choice for privacy and security overall. Eufy doesn't have a good track record here, with much-publicized issues involving security vulnerabilities and scrutiny over its handling of user recordings, which led to a $450,000 fine for three Eufy distributors in January 2025.

Modern robot vacuums are available at all sorts of prices, from the very capable (and very expensive) Mova V50 Ultra, which will set you back $1,399, to budget-friendly options like the $200 Lefant M210. While a $1,399 robot vacuum is likely to be an unnecessary luxury for most, Consumer Reports' testing indicates that it doesn't always pay to go down the ultra-budget route, either.

The Lefant M210's primary weakness is its cleaning ability, with CR noting that it didn't do particularly well on carpet, nor was it all that good at sucking up pet hair (one area where the Mova excelled). It didn't clean edges or corners adequately, either. Amazon reviews echoed CR's findings, with one reviewer claiming that the Lefant failed outright to suck up cat hair.

The issues don't stop there. For one, the Lefant's 500 ml (just under 17 ounces) dustbin is on the small side. Many also had issues with the Lefant's navigation (including how roughly it banged into furniture) and the fact that newer revisions only work over Wi-Fi, which itself can be quite spotty.

One buys a dishwasher so that it does what it says on the tin: wash dishes. Unfortunately, Hotpoint's HDF330PGRWW can't even do that well. The HDF330PGRWW is a 24-inch dishwasher that's designed for quiet (60 dBA) operation, with features including a hard food disposer and a quick one-hour wash cycle that should, on paper, make it a solid choice at its $300 MSRP.

However, CR's testing revealed that the Hotpoint was not great at washing dishes, nor did it impress when drying them. On top of that, the brand itself is generally disliked by CR members, with an exceptionally poor owner satisfaction score. This is echoed by user ratings on the Lowe's website: 1-star ratings make up 20% of the 2,600-plus ratings.

There seem to be two recurring themes. The first is poor durability, with some owners having theirs break within a few months. The second is the Hotpoint's ineffectual cleaning, with many dishes in a load still dirty after supposedly being washed. Hotpoint is generally considered one of the worst major dishwasher brands and, on the evidence of this product, it's not hard to see why.

If you're one of the two-thirds of American adults who drink coffee daily, then you're probably aware that having a good coffee maker at home can be something of a godsend. There are many great coffee makers available, but Consumer Reports' testing indicates that there is a particular coffee maker that is definitely worth steering clear of.

The Ratio Six Series 2 is a 40-ounce coffee maker that, in its defense, actually makes a solid cup of coffee — CR thinks so, and so do some Amazon reviewers. But there's more to a coffee maker than the quality of the coffee. The user experience is also important, and that's where the Ratio stumbles.

The carafe is hard to use and has a tendency to drip coffee — not ideal if you're in a rush and don't want to have to clean up after yourself every time you pour a cup. Owners also claim that it doesn't keep the coffee hot, which isn't ideal either. On top of these faults, CR and owners found that the Ratio Six was hard to clean and maintain, all headaches one shouldn't have to deal with on a $350-plus product.

In a world where a stand mixer from a high-quality major kitchen mixer brand like KitchenAid can cost $500, the fact that the Hamilton Beach 64655 stand mixer costs just $63 might make it seem like a no-brainer bargain. As Consumer Reports' testing shows, though, that cheap price comes with plenty of cons.

The major issue with the Hamilton Beach is that it doesn't seem very capable. It struggles when mixing dough, vibrating heavily as it does so; it also takes a lot of time to whip and doesn't mix CR's test ingredients very well. Amazon buyers, on the surface, are a bit more satisfied, with over 7,800 reviews giving it an adequate 4-star average rating.

Looking past the surface, though, it's worth noting that 15% of the ratings on Amazon are 1 or 2 stars, with the mixer also listed as a frequently returned item. Plenty of complaints echo CR's issues with the mixer's poor performance, possibly down to how the beaters don't touch the bottom of the mixing bowl — thereby stopping it from mixing ingredients properly. Owners also have had issues with poor durability, and the overall impression is that it's not worth the money.

The best steam cleaners are great for keeping a home clean, and there are many to choose from, depending on budget and what you need the steam cleaner to do. As you might expect, there are also many steam-cleaning tools that aren't really worth considering — one of which, according to CR, is the Shark S1000 steam mop.

You wouldn't know that from the Amazon reviews, however: there, the S1000 has a solid-enough average rating of 4.3 stars from nearly 63,000 reviews. That should, by most accounts, be enough to indicate that the Shark S1000 is a dependable product that's worth considering for those on a budget. But CR begs to differ, claiming that the S1000 fails at mopping and generating steam.

CR's claims aren't total outliers, as there have been a fair number of dissatisfied Amazon reviews that echo the outlet's comments regarding weak steam and poor cleaning ability. Opinions on the Shark website are more mixed, with a 3.8-star overall rating; many of the 1-star reviews there echo the opinions of the negative Amazon reviews and the results of CR's testing.

The Hoover company was, at one point, so synonymous with the act of vacuuming that its name passed into common usage as a genericized trademark in the U.K. The Chinese-owned Hoover that exists now isn't quite the same company it used to be, though, and offerings like the $300-plus Hoover SmartWash Pet Complete FH53000PC carpet cleaner are a seemingly perfect example of how things have changed.

CR tested the Hoover and found that it failed at its one and only task. Not only was it not particularly good at pulling up stains from carpet, but it also left carpets damp after cleaning. The Amazon rating may seem like it contradicts CR's opinion, with its strong 4.3-star rating from more than 29,400 reviews, but this is another case of the rating being for several different products within a listing.

Zeroing in on SmartWash Pet reviews paints a different picture, with nearly 19% of the 1,700-plus reviewers dissatisfied enough to leave a 1-star rating. Leaks seem to be a common complaint here, but owners also expressed disappointment with the Hoover's inability to truly remove stains.

Most people probably need a blender at home, even if they only ever cook basic dishes. Does one need a high-speed vacuum blender, though? That's a whole other question, and one that we can't answer. What we can tell you, though, is that if you do, the Tribest Dynapro DPS-2250 vacuum blender is one to skip if you trust Consumer Reports' judgment.

CR was particularly critical of the Tribest's ability to crush ice, with the Dynapro not quite being able to handle CR's testing routine of seven ice cubes without water. The outlet wasn't too hot on the Tribest's durability, either, which is a bit of an issue given the $600 MSRP.

Amazon owner reviews echo CR's concerns, although the small number of reviews (17 at the time of writing) means that we wouldn't necessarily consider the 3.3-star average rating to be fully representative. That said, there's no denying the fact that there are some very displeased owners, with problems including poor durability and a lack of power.

CarePod isn't one of the best humidifier brands on the market, and on the strength (or, well, lack thereof) of the Cube Plus, it's not hard to see why. The CarePod Cube Plus may appear like a nicely minimalist 1.1-gallon humidifier perfect for larger rooms, but as CR's testing shows, that's far from the case.

CR's main gripe was that the Cube Plus just couldn't generate enough water vapor to humidify the rooms it's designed for. That said, CarePod's 700-square-foot maximum is, in its defense, a bit short of the 999-square-foot upper limit that CR uses to define a large room. So perhaps it's more of a mismatch of expectations than anything else, really.

Owner opinions on the CarePod site are quite positive, with around 600 reviews leaving it with a solid 4.4 out of 5-star average rating. Even then, though, there are quite a few 1- and 2-star reviews that indicate issues with a dripping noise and the fact that it didn't humidify a room well. These issues are also present among Amazon reviewers, which lends some weight to CR's dim view of this CarePod.

General Electric may be one of the microwave brands still making products in America, but its offerings generally can't quite compete with the best of the major microwave manufacturers anymore. That doesn't necessarily mean GE microwaves are all worth avoiding, but there's one that definitely is: the GE Profile PEM31SFSS.

This is a 1.1-cubic-foot countertop microwave capable of 800 watts over 10 power levels that retails for nearly $500. CR didn't think the PEM31SFSS was all that good, with uneven and slow cooking being the primary issue. It's an observation backed up by quite a few user reviews on Amazon, where the GE boasts a 4-star rating from 1,300 reviews — not bad, but not that great either, especially considering that 13% of those reviews are 1-star reviews.

The GE's uneven and slow heating also appeared in Amazon reviews, with some noting that it felt underpowered compared to previous GE microwaves. The GE Profile's reliability (or lack thereof) was also a concerning pain point, as were the hard-to-read buttons — all major issues for the price.

Not everyone needs a massive generator at home, but it can be useful for those who want to be prepared for power outages or severe weather. Inverter generators are especially great here, as they provide clean power for the electronics we rely on, but, as usual, not every inverter generator out there is worth considering.

On paper, the Briggs & Stratton Q6500 looks great, with its four 120-240V outlets, single locking outlet, a QPT mode that significantly reduces noise levels, and 5,000 watts of sustained power for just over $1,360. During its testing process, though, CR found that the Q6500 couldn't deliver the 5,000 watts it promised.

Amazon owners are more specific, pointing out that the locking outlet maxes out at 2,500 watts and 20 amps, well below the 5,000-watt max. If that wasn't bad enough, the generator's QPT mode also reduces its output voltage from 120 volts to 104 volts, which can potentially damage electronics.