Bosch Home Connect takes smart appliances mainstream

Tradition still holds sway in the American kitchen, a focal point in the home, where the cooking and cultural wisdom of past generations shines through.

Retro appliances are on the rise, and contemporary models with an old-school look ring in at about the same price point as today’s smart appliances. On that note, consumers have been slow to embrace WiFi-enabled fridges and dishwashers.

Bosch Home Connect, a new smart platform for appliances, aims to woo customers into adopting new technology in the space. Its suite of technological features allows users to tune into, remotely regulate, and proactively experience their appliances to the max. We recently tried it on a fridge and a dishwasher, and here is what we found.

First off, what is Bosch Home Connect?

The Home Connect app works with Bosch ovens, cooktops, range hoods, fridges, dishwashers, coffeemakers, and laundry machines. The one-stop app allows you to control functionality, get alerts, and automate certain processes with each appliance.

The app works on smartphones, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Fitbit, and Tesla cars on select models.

What can you do with Home Connect?

Fridges

• Adjust temperature • Adjust lighting • Receive an alert if the door is ajar • Get notified if the ice bin is full • Receive diagnostics remotely • Order water filter replacement via Amazon Dash

Dishwashers

• Order dishwasher tablets automatically • Receive an alert if a leak starts • Monitor cycles and water usage • Adjust lighting on select models • Receive diagnostics remotely

Cooking

• Preheat oven • Activate hood • Look up recipes on Kitchen Stories, a digital recipe resource • Receive diagnostics remotely

Coffee

• Start the machine remotely • Save profiles (grind size, temperature, volume) • Search coffees from around the world via the app

Laundry

• Monitor your loads remotely • Receive cycle recommendations • Monitor energy use

Our experience with Home Connect

We tested Bosch Home Connect on the Bosch B36CL80SNS fridge and the Thermador DWHD770WFM dishwasher.

Setup was pretty standard. We put each appliance into connectivity mode, then connected our phones to them, and finally synced them up to our WiFi.

In the fridge, Home Connect allowed us to adjust the temperature and set a few modes. It also notified us when the ice bin was full.

We also looked up recipes and articles on Kitchen Stories, which is integrated into the app. Of all the cooking and recipe aggregate sites, Kitchen Stories is probably one of the slickest, combining user-submitted content with advice from professionals, all presented in a navigable way. It’s also one of the only digital recipe banks that fully supports English, Chinese, and German.

With the dishwasher, we were able to adjust the lighting inside the Thermador, select cycles, and monitor our water usage. We also appreciated the app’s leak alert, which provides great peace of mind if you go on vacation.

Along with Kitchen Stories, Bosch has also partnered up with Tesla. Apparently, you can remotely start the DWHD770WFM dishwasher from a Tesla dashboard via EVEConnect. We have not confirmed this ourselves. Our editor wouldn’t let us buy or rent a Tesla Roadster on the company dime.

Overall, our experience with Bosch Home Connect was positive. We experienced no major hiccups or crashes. Everything worked as advertised.

However, the competition in this space is fierce. Case in point: the Samsung Family Hub. This fridge is very forward with its smart features. It even has a tablet on its front, whereas Bosch more subtly uses smart features to accent quality appliances.

Bosch Home Connect isn’t a selling point on its own. However, if you’re renovating your kitchen and plan on getting all matching Bosch appliances, it's a nice perk that could prove useful in your home.

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