With the rapid development of science and technology, smart home appliances are becoming more and more popular among consumers, with sales data reaching new highs.
However, some consumers have reported that the actual experience of smart home appliances does not match the propaganda.
Not long ago, a survey report on the consumption of smart home appliances released by relevant agencies pointed out that although some products have novel and eye-catching designs, their functional practicability is insufficient, and the intelligent experience they bring to consumers needs to be improved.
The main contradiction in the current smart home market is that there is a clear gap between the ‘high intelligence’ and ‘future sense’ promoted by manufacturers and consumers’ experience.
Some products are hastily labeled as ‘smart’ and sold at high prices simply by adding Wi-Fi modules, equipped with mobile apps or embedded with simple voice recognition.
This “smart for smart’s sake” design logic causes product functions to deviate from real-life scenarios.
For example, some smart washing machines cannot automatically adjust parameters according to the material of the clothes, but instead cause the clothes to shrink and stain due to misjudgment; some smart cooking machines leave the time-consuming and labor-intensive food preparation process completely to human hands, which runs counter to the promise of “liberating the kitchen”.
The deeper problem lies in ecological barriers and data islands.
Each brand is keen on building a closed ecosystem. Users need to install multiple incompatible apps on their mobile phones to control different appliances.
Instead of simplifying life, this kind of ‘smartness’ has reduced mobile phones to bloated ‘remote control storage boxes’, which is completely contrary to the original intention of pursuing convenience.
At the same time, problems such as insufficient software stability, poor device interoperability, and weak algorithm learning capabilities are common, resulting in a fragmented user experience.
Smart homes are supposed to play the role of invisible housekeepers, quietly improving the quality of life, rather than becoming technological ‘device’ that requires users to repeatedly debug and patiently adapt.
In response to existing problems in the smart home appliance market, in November 2025, the State Administration for Market Regulation (State Standards Administration) approved the release of two national standards related to smart home appliances (will be implemented on May 1, 2026
Shi), clearly defined smart home appliances from the two key dimensions of ‘intelligent capabilities’ and ‘scenario effects’, and pioneered the establishment of a five-level intelligence level system from L1 (basic intelligence) to L5 (high-end intelligence), which is like putting an easy-to-understand ‘intelligent label’ on home appliances.
This system design has multiple meanings: for consumers, it provides a transparent basis for purchasing, helping to establish reasonable expectations and reduce consumer disputes caused by information asymmetry; for enterprises, it clarifies the direction of research and development and the quality ladder, encouraging them to make upward breakthroughs instead of hovering at a low level; for supervision, it provides a technical basis for law enforcement, allowing rules to be followed in combating false propaganda about ‘pseudo-intelligence’.
The introduction of standards is only the starting point. The healthy development of the smart home industry ultimately depends on the industry’s awe and deep cultivation of ‘product power’.
Real intelligence is by no means a simple stacking of functions or a gorgeous packaging of concepts, but should be reflected in the deep insight into and precise satisfaction of user needs.
Enterprises need to complete a fundamental transformation from marketing-driven to innovation-driven.
Enterprises should focus on real-life scenarios and high-frequency pain points for R&D, and not spend energy on flashy and cool functions. For example, they should concentrate on researching how to make sweeping robots build maps more stably and avoid obstacles accurately, how to make smart door locks foolproof in terms of recognition accuracy and safety, and how to make devices of different brands achieve truly seamless collaboration.
We must also pay attention to data security and privacy protection, put security at the top of product design, and use encryption technology, localization processing and other means to build a solid protective barrier so that users can enjoy convenience with peace of mind.
At the same time, pay attention to the needs of special groups, especially elderly users.
Many current smart products are complex to operate and exclude ‘digitally disadvantaged groups’.
A good design should be inclusive and provide functions such as simple mode, voice assistant optimization, and remote assistance for children.
To promote the stable and long-term development of the smart home industry, it is necessary to build a benign ecosystem in which governments, enterprises, industry organizations and consumers collaborate and govern.
Regulatory authorities need to strengthen market supervision in accordance with the law, take decisive action against exaggerated propaganda and shoddy products, and maintain a fair competitive environment; industry organizations should actively promote cross-brand agreement compatibility, establish self-discipline conventions, and promote industry information exchange and best practice sharing; consumers also need to improve their discernment, view marketing propaganda rationally, give priority to the reliability and ease of use of core product functions, and ‘vote with their feet’ to support down-to-earth and innovative companies.
When the power of market selection and the constraints of institutional norms form a combined force, pseudo-intelligent products will naturally have nowhere to hide.
The ultimate vision of smart home is to let technology exist naturally like air, silently empower and improve the comfort and happiness of life.
There is no shortcut to realize this vision. The only way is to peel off the exaggerated marketing coat, concentrate on polishing every detail of the product, and sincerely respond to every demand of consumers.
Returning from ‘myth’ to reality, from gimmick to practicality, this profound ‘productism’ revolution is the only way for the smart home industry to mature and return to rationality.
