Do You Need a Smart Dishwasher?

As enticing as WiFi-enabled capabilities sound, most people could probably hold off on buying a smart dishwasher. “It isn’t really who ‘should’ buy one,” says Jennifer White Boehm at Mintel, a market research firm, “but who wants to.” The smart dishwashers available today don’t offer particularly essential functions, nor do they address the pain points most people have with dishwashers (such as the inability to fully dry dishes).

While most dishwashers offer a similar set of smart functions, such as the ability to monitor the appliance’s current cycle on your phone, there are some key differences. For instance, not all smart dishwashers allow you to start a cycle remotely. While CR’s lab testers don’t assign a specific rating to dishwasher smart features, they do assess their capabilities to see what different models can do.

You can monitor your dishwasher remotely. The primary function of WiFi connectivity in a dishwasher is to allow you to monitor the machine from your smartphone, smartwatch, or tablet. It can show you what cycle you’ve selected (normal, heavy, quick wash, or others) and the time remaining, and send push notifications to let you know when a cycle is done. It’s a handy way to check on dishes, and you may prefer using your phone to bending over the dishwasher, especially if you don’t want to keep going back to the kitchen.

You might be able to operate your dishwasher remotely, too. Some machines let you start a cycle from your phone, whether you’re in another room of the house or at work across town. This might be helpful if you like to prep the detergent in the morning and load dishes throughout the day, so all you need to do at night is press “start” from the comfort of your bed. One thing to remember is that you may need to go into the app’s settings to enable remote control when you’re not connected to your home WiFi network.

You can customize your dishwasher’s interior lighting. Some brands let you choose a color to illuminate the inside of your dishwasher when you open it. This is more an aesthetic perk than a functional upgrade, but as Thermador puts it, you can customize the lighting for “any entertaining occasion.” So get ready to dazzle dinner guests.

You can choose from more nuanced cycle options. Dishwashers using Home Connect—a smart-home app that lets you control it and other smart appliances from the same place on your phone—have an Easy Start option that can recommend a cycle based on information about the dishes you’ve loaded. You need to answer two questions, one about the type of dishes and the other about cleaning preferences (time-efficient, energy-efficient, or other factors), and you’ll get a recommendation. You can also fine-tune a wash based on the functions you want the dishwasher to perform, such as sanitizing dishes or increasing water pressure and temperature. Other smart dishwasher apps, like LG’s ThinQ, let you download new cycles designed for specific dish types. There are cycles for pots and pans, glassware, and casserole dishes, and a cycle “optimized to clean dishes overnight.” Keep in mind, though, that non-smart dishwashers come with similar cycles preloaded.

You can keep track of your detergent supply. Many smart dishwasher apps can let you know when you’re running low. Enter the number of tablets (or boxes of tablets) you have on hand, then enter the number you want remaining when the app notifies you to buy more. You can also connect your dishwasher to your broader smart-home system via Alexa or Google Home so that detergent is automatically added to your online shopping cart at the right time.

You can be notified when something goes wrong. With remote diagnostics, a smart dishwasher can let you know if there’s a leak or another mechanical problem. When Larry Ciufo, who leads dishwasher testing at CR, spilled water beneath one of the dishwashers he was testing to simulate a leak, he received a check-in call from the manufacturer’s customer support. (Most companies will send you a notification via the smart dishwasher app on your phone.) “It surprised the daylights out of me,” Ciufo says. He was a little taken aback that the machine didn’t shut off automatically upon detecting a leak; it just notified him. In case of a real leak or another problem, you can use the app’s troubleshooting manual or call customer support for help.

The smart dishwashers we’ve tested may not have the highest Overall Scores, but a handful of them wash and dry well and have especially strong scores for energy efficiency and noise. Here are six top-rated dishwashers that come with WiFi.