The Instant Pot Smart WiFi is different from all other multi cookers we have reviewed in our best Instant Pots buying guide. The difference? The fact that this version is smart-enabled. The high quality tech enables you to control your cooking from the touch of your smartphone. And you don’t even have to be in the same house to do it. But because of this feature, the Instant Pot Smart WiFi is a lot more expensive than say the Instant Pot Duo Nova.
Instant Pot Smart WiFi: Features
The Instant Pot Smart WiFi effectively is eight kitchen gadgets in one handy machine. Like many of the other Instant Pots, it can pressure cook, sous vide, slow cook, be used as a yogurt maker, turn into a sauté pan, steamer, warm food, cook cake, and even be used as a rice cooker.
It has 13 really easy-to-use one-touch smart programs. These preset programs make cooking soups, chicken, rice, beans, and desserts super easy because all you need to do is add your ingredients, press a button, and let the Instant Pot do the rest for you.
Due to the WiFi connectivity, the Smart WiFi Instant Pot is compatible with Amazon’s Alexa. So you can control your multicooker through your voice. If you purchase this model, you’ll also get access to more than 1000 pre-programmed recipes via the brand’s app. You can set this app to give you notifications about your food – for example how long left to go, and the current cooking temperature.
It also has a ‘delay start’ button and ‘keep warm’ function so you can eat your food when you're ready, not when the food has finished cooking.
Similar to the Instant Pot Duo Crisp, the Smart WiFi edition has more than 10 safety measures. This includes a safety lock, overheat protection, a leaky lid detector, automatic temp control, and steam release.
Instant Pot Smart WiFi: Design and accessories
The Instant Pot Smart WiFi has a stainless steel design. It has a large LED display so you can see the cooking program, temperature, and time. It comes with a steam rack which is made from stainless steel, a measuring jug, rice paddle, and a spoon to use for soup.
To connect this device to your smartphone, you need to make sure you have an Android 5.0 or later and iOS 9.0 or later edition. The inner pot of this Instant Pot is dishwasher friendly, which is great when it comes to tidying away.
Instant Pot Smart WiFi: Performance and size
The Instant Pot Smart WiFi is available in one size which is six quarts. This makes it suitable for up to six people. If there aren’t many of you in your home, this Instant Pot is a great size for batch cooking should you want to get ahead with your weekly meal prepping.
The Instant Pot can cook foods up to 70% faster than normal cooking methods. It can even cook the likes of poultry from frozen. It has 1000 watts of power and weighs just over 12 pounds. It’s on the smaller side of Instant pots measuring: 13.2 x 12.2 x 12.5 inches. It has a warranty of 12 months.
Instant Pot Smart WiFi: User reviews
On Amazon, this Instant Pot has an average 4.7 out of five stars rating. With nearly 5,000 Amazon reviews at the time of publishing, this is a popular choice but not in comparison with the Instant Pot Duo Nova which has over 160,000 customer ratings.
Some users talked about the limited control you had over the machine, despite it being connected to your phone. Some pros about the machine included the ease of use and the regular updates you can get via the app. One user said they really liked the notifications alerting you to each stage of cooking. Another user also said they liked the control you got over your cooking as you are able to start, set the time, temperature, and pressure levels for the recipes.
Should you buy the Instant Pot Smart WiFi?
If you want more control over your cooking than ever before, the Instant Pot Smart WiFi might be for you. It will give you more flexibility over your cooking. It’s also ideal for busy homes. For the Instant Pot WiFi, you’ll pay a decent amount but won’t have the same amount of functions as the other models such as the Instant Pot Duo Evo Plus.