Smarter iCoffee Remote Grind and Brew Drip Coffee Maker On Demand with Smarter App, Built-In Bean Grinder, and Warming Plate for Kitchen, Dorm Room, or Office in Black

Back StoryDrink a lot of coffee. Had a Breville BDC650 that died (thankfully). I really like fresh ground coffee. I tolerated the Breville, it was nice but lacking. We had tried to get a Spin coffee maker, first round, after a year realized it wasn't going to happen got our money back. Had ninja, multiple Kuerig and a dozen other brands. I am not an expert, most I bought used or on sale, most given away. Still use a k-Café® Special Edition for hot chocolate, family/inlaws, tea, hot water.... The other coffee makers died or I broke the carafe. I will base my reviews compared to other coffee makers with grind and brew.ReviewPros1. works with alexa, I say "make coffee" & it starts to make it if the door shut, carafe in place and has water2. Uses enough water to make the requested amount of coffee3. Grind the coffee well, has SEAL on hopper to help keep fresh4. Stays clean ( my Breville needed to be cleaned up a lot) hopper was a pain to clean out5. Coffee filter pretty good, much less fine grounds then other coffe makers make it through6. App is decent, I can set start times, set it to start when I come home ( not sure why)7. Strength settings of weak, medium and strong (yes the strong is strong for me)8. carafe poors well lid opens easily for filling or dumping out.9. The smallest setting (4 cups) is really 1 mug for me so that worked out10. the cone filter extracts a lot of coffee flavor from small amount of grounds11. Decent simple display and controls. No annoying dials that don't work well.12. can Turn off keep warm but has pre warm. This way the coffee hits a warm carafe but doesn't burn.13. You don't have to clean out the filter every time you brew. I don't mind putting new grounds on slightly old grounds. The Breville had to have the grounds door opened and closed to brew again.Cons1. can't dispense directly into mug, which is fine because a few times i forgot a mug and had a mess2. Water tank is a bit small. and a little hard to fill. its on the back and the fill level is on side. Not ideal3. Coffee hopper is Mhee. Sealed but still small for me and oily coffee might not dispense well.4. non-insulated carafe, not a big deal since I can just say "make coffee" and have fresh coffee5. Manual is a joke (to be honest not needed and wasn't going to read it anyways).6. Setup not perfect but close, first sync failed, maybe i did it wrong 1 minute of my life wasted.7. Cord is a bit short. Longer then some others but still way too short for me.8. Louder then all others. its nice to know its working but don't like waking up the houseI am really hoping this review doesn't jinks me. So far haven't had any real complaints, will update when I have the time. If it does or tries to kill me I will immediately update. this reviews.Again this is NOT a perfect machine for me or others, but It suits me well and better then anything else I have tried. I would love a bigger water capacity or auto fill water. Would love it to empty its grounds between runs. Would love direct to mug (with mug detection). Would like Thermal Carafe (Will try other carafes I have to see if they fit).After reading the other reviews I almost didn't try this, maybe they lowered my expectations. I have watched Technoman on youtube for years and he wasn't very happy with it. But looks like they made some improvements.I am not a shill, Not paid for this review, paid for the coffee maker, I absolutely would sell out for the right price but this review is completely honest.

Definitely not a good pick. Regret doing so strongly. The major issue is the machine doesn’t keep coffee warm. It displays “Keeping Warn 40 mins” but as soon as you pick up the pot to pour a cup of coffee, it no longer keeps the pot warm. So the rest of the coffee made in the pot goes bad and is cold by the time you want to pour another cup. Completely wasting cups and cups of coffee every time you make a pot.Second issue, the beans do not filter into the grinder on their own. They get stuck on the lip of the grinder and you end up with an extremely weak pot of coffee because the machine doesn’t recognize that there’s not enough grinds to make a full pot. So I have to stand in front of the machine every time I make coffee each morning and push the beans into the grinder - EVERY TIME!Third issue- It still can not connect to my internet. After reading the manual and emailing the manufacturer, it’s suggested that my internet is too “fast” and the machine can not connect to it. I have to go into my internet settings, change technology settings in order to make it work. Connecting to the internet shouldn’t be that difficult. And since it’s not connected to the internet, it beeps continuously every 60 seconds 24/7.This product was suggested by Amazon when I was looking at machines. Not sure how they came to that suggestion but in this case it was the worst suggestion amazon has provided and the biggest purchase mistake on Amazon.

***Update***Been using this machine for 2 years now and thought I'd update my review since some folks really seem to struggle with the machine. I still stand by my original comments and 4-star rating. There really has been no change in the app, although I would've loved to see more robust Alexa integration by now. Something simple like "Alexa, have Joe brew 8 cups" vs still only the ability to turn it on with the last settings. Not too big a problem since I'm relatively consistent with volume but its unfortunate they haven't improved. I've never had to re-pair to wifi after numerous power outages except after I changed my network hardware. Cleaning the grinder is still absurd, especially when an identical knockoff allows you to remove the pointless guard over the grinder for cleaning, but I finally realized it's easier if you go from the bottom. I'm still loving this machine and hoping they come out with a newer iteration soon with the couple improvements I mentioned. I hope this helps anyone considering this machine.***Original Post***I've been using daily for about 8 weeks now, so here goes:Grinder - burr grinder that does a nice job and allows you to adjust coarseness. Has a small dot on dial to show the setting it's on. TBH, I'm not one to analyze grind uniformity looking for perfection, but it makes a great cup of coffee. Amount of coffee ground, however, is predetermined based on how many cups you choose to brew. Your only option on strength is what the company considers weak/med/strong. I like mind stronger than what they consider strong, but I deal since it's easier than having to grind extra to have handy. Defeats the purpose of the integrated grinder imo. Grinder is definitely loud, I can just hear it from my master bath, two rooms away and behind closed doors. Hasn't bothered us, but be aware if you brew early in the morning with sensitive sleepers around. Dual grind option (bean/filter) is great for when I need to brew a filter pot of decaf for guests or can choose filter if I just want to pull and heat water for tea.Hopper - Holds about 4oz/113g of beans. That does get me several cups of coffee, at least 2 full pots worth, without refilling. I know some reviews indicated it uses a ton of beans, but I've not really had any difference from the volume from my standalone. Just wish it could hold my full 8oz/227g bag like my standalone grinder. Lid seals well to keep steam out. Hopper itself has funnel-style base to help beans slide into grinder, but there is a 'tent' over it that hinders the beans ability to slide under. Not sure the purpose other than a Darwin flap to keep fingers out but that's why there's a lid. Never had a standalone grinder with something like that. Anyone that grinds beans knows the oily residue will line the hopper so sliding under a Darwin flap is not a great idea. Pieces cannot be removed for cleaning like they can be with the physically near-identical Atomi. Instructions are to use a pipe cleaner. Really?! Again, not a great idea.Water - Not sure how they call this a 10-12 cup machine. If 1 cup is 150ml and the machine holds 1500ml, my math skills say 11-12 cups is never going to happen. It does solidly do 10c, but it's not going to do more. My travel mug takes about 4.5c, so I brew 5c and just fill water every other day. Do not exceed max fill 1500ml as there is a hole (again, why??) just above, so if you accidentally add more you will have water spilling out the back. Please note that the water level displays in ml, even though the Smarter website shows one image with ml and one with cups.App & Wifi - First time I've ever seen pairing by holding your phone to the coffee maker display, but it worked well. It did take me a second try because I was expecting a prompt or something (there wasn't one) when it was time to hold the phone up so I was delayed in getting it to the display. My wifi coverage is solid, so no issues connecting or staying connected. Reconnects perfectly after any power outages and we've had several due to both weather and home improvements. App is easy to use. You can see your water level (to see if you have enough for the desired pot) and choose how many cups to brew, choose bean vs ground, preheat timer, and strength. Panel on the machine has physical buttons for same choices and is easy to use. Have not used the home mode as I'm just a morning coffee drinker.Misc - Ability to set a few different schedules (like weekday vs weekend) for auto brew is great, but basically pointless with only having a 40 minute warmer unless you have military precision with your routine timing or like nuked coffee. A reviewer mentioned a workaround to get additional time, but when I followed that process I again only had a 40 min max. Really needs to be updated for maybe the standard 90-120 minutes like in US then anyone that wants <40 minutes can very easily adjust down. Once the warmer turns off things get cold pretty quickly and there is no way I've seen to even turn the warmer back on without at least pulling more water for a new pot. Alexa integration works, but even though there is a special skill for it, Alexa can only see it as a switch. You set options in the Smarter app then Alexa can on-off those settings, but nothing else. Fine if your needs never change with a pot of coffee, but if they do, you have to change in the Smarter app anyway. Ability to change the color of the front panels is fun. Bottom one, on the grounds basket door, easily pops off when the hidden buttons are pressed, then the new one just snaps on. You can do red or white in addition to the default black. Top one, over the display panel on mine was quite difficult as the left side button is blocked by the hinge on the filter door. I was convinced that release button did not exist until I found a video showing how to change it. While the video had it unobstructed and easily removed, it gave me confidence to continue trying to mash my small fingers in there to find it. Definitely was not easy (aka not something I'll ever do again) but finally got it. Preheat feature is neat, but I've never had burnt coffee in 40 years of not having preheat in the past...at least not from the brew cycle lolOverall I do love the coffee maker and would recommend it for anyone looking for a decent machine with the built in grinder and wifi. Filling water is the standard pain as you need to pull out the maker to access the rear-load. Never understood why easy access to the water bin never caught on...I don't think I've ever seen a coffee maker on a counter that did not have a cabinet overhead. Had hubby connect a water line for easier fill, so that will make it even more convenient. Got the PureSec-CMK01 kit found on Amazon and added a filter since we're on well water. Works great.