Smart home appliances may not last as long as 'dumb' counterparts, finds Which? investigation

Expensive smart white goods may not last as long as their dumb counterparts 
Samsung says it provides software updates as needed to white goods and not limited to warranty periods
Samsung
Amelia Heathman9 June 2020

From thermostats to washing machines and fridges, there’s a whole host of gadgets and appliances out there that are “smart” - i.e connected to the Internet of Things (IoT) allowing the owners to control certain features via their smartphone or notify engineers when there’s a fault.

According to an investigation by consumer agency Which? the ‘smart’ factor of these products could cause them to be rendered obsolete before the end of their shelf life. According to the agency, white goods appliances such as fridges and dishwashers should last between 10 to 11 years. However, there are concerns that manufacturers aren’t specifying how long the appliances will receive software updates. Without updates, the products will be unable to access some of the smart functionalities, effectively rendering the goods obsolete before their time.

“Being able to check the contents of your fridge from your smartphone or having your dishwasher order itself more salt when it starts running low may seem appealing with some appliances costing up to an extra £900, these smart features don’t come cheap,” said Which?’s head of home products and services Natalie Hitchins.

Which? contacted a range of white good makers to find out how long they pledge to support products. Beko said it was “a maximum of 10 years," whilst Miele also told Which? that its smart appliances would be supported with security updates for 10 years.

Samsung said it provides software updates "as needed and not limited to warranty periods."

Other white goods makers, such as Hoover/Candy said an appliance’s lifetime depends on factors such as regularity of use and whether the appliance is loaded or maintained correctly.

“Until manufacturers are clear and upfront about how long they will support these products for, consumers could be better off avoiding smart appliances that might ‘turn’ dumb after only a few years and stick to more reliable and significantly cheaper non-smart alternatives,” added Hitchins.

It’s not just the money spent that’s at stake when it comes to obsolete connected appliances. It’s important they are protected by security updates because the consequences if they aren’t can be catastrophic. In 2016, a massive Denial of Service (DDoS) attack took down most on the internet, with sites like Twitter and Reddit unable to function. The Mirai botnet caused the takedown, which took control of unprotected IoT devices around the world and coordinated them into bombarding servers with traffic until they collapsed.

The UK government has set out plans for legislation to require smart appliances to meet minimum security standards to prevent attacks like Mirai from happening again. As part of the legislation, manufacturers would have to state the minimum length of time a device will receive security updates.

It makes sense to introduce this type of legislation now: according to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, there will be 75 billion IoT devices in homes globally by 2025. And let’s be honest, no one wants a hackable fridge.

Additional reporting by Press Association

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