Some products are great at the job they’re designed for: microwaving food evenly or helping you get every crease out of your ironing. But if the product’s awkward to use, it could make your life a nightmare.
Problems with products, such as fiddly buttons or hard to manoeuvre handles, can make using them more of a pain than a pleasure.
Looking through the comments made by Which? members, niggles with the usability of products are a common complaint.
Which? member product reviews
Frustrated with an iron they’d purchased, one member commented:
‘I find that even on the highest heat, I have to press so hard to try and iron out creases that it makes very hard work. I also have to refill it very often as the steam depletes quickly on highest setting.’
Another member left feedback on a tablet, saying:
‘The tablet is sluggish and slow, has a worse battery life than the worst smartphone, has a nasty habit of turning itself off in the middle of an action and cannot multi-task to save it’s life.’
Another member, who had bought a digital radio, told us:
‘The buttons are small and close together so it’s not easy to operate, and I can’t see the time on the screen as it is too dark and not adjustable.’
And unhappy with a vacuum cleaner, one member said that:
‘It blocks every single time I use it, the filters have to be washed almost every week and it blows out more dust then it collects. I spend more time cleaning filters than cleaning floors!’
What makes appliances a pain to use?
To help you avoid these and similar issues, we recently selected the most easy-to-use home and technology products. It includes the easiest to use washing machines, vacuum cleaners, toasters, televisions, tablets, steam irons, simple phones, microwaves, laptops, kettles, digital radios and more (phew!).
But before you check out our selection of easy-to-use products, we want to know what gets your blood boiling about the gadgets that are horrid to use. It might be a kettle that’s awkward to pour, a tablet that’s confusing and complicated to use, or maybe a vacuum cleaner that’s difficult to manoeuvre. Whatever it is, we’re keen to hear your comments on what really frustrates you about your home and tech gadgets.
Have you stopped using a product altogether because it was difficult to use?
Yes (68%, 740 Votes)
No (32%, 356 Votes)
Total Voters: 1,097
