Smart homes, smarter gadgets

WHEN YOU THINK of home appliances, what probably comes to your mind are products such as microwaves, refrigerators, air conditioners and washing machines that are more or less designed to carry out a single purpose.

- SREYA DEB

However, as square footage gets more expensive, and urban lifestyles more quick-footed, homeowners are now opting for multi-purpose appliances that can perform several functions simultaneously.

“This shift is being driven by evolving consumer lifestyles where convenience, efficiency, and space optimisation are becoming essential across every part of the home,” says Gulbahar Taurani, MD and CEO of Versuni India (formerly Philips Domestic Appliances), a specialised player in small domestic appliances, manufacturing and selling products under the Philips, Preethi, and Saeco brands.

Philips’ OneChef, launched in March, for instance, is a comprehensive step in this direction, as per Taurani. You can now steam, stir-fry, air fry, sauté, boil and more (33 cooking functions in all), with one single device. OneChef is priced at ₹19,995.

For the kitchen, there are now also pressure cookers that double up as steamers and yoghurt makers like the Nutri-Pot, and ‘kitchen robots’ that can perform a range of culinary functions (18 in all) from chopping to sautéing and stirring like the Chef Magic, both from the house of Wonderchef, a premium cookware and kitchen appliance brand. Chef Magic, launched in 2024, is an all-in-one kitchen robot, “which represents the pinnacle of our smart appliance range... and has over 500 recipes from Chef Sanjeev Kapoor”, as per Ravi Saxena, CEO and founder of Wonderchef.

A visit to multi-brand digital gadgets and home electronics retailers like Croma will introduce you to a wide range of multipurpose appliances such as sandwich makers, OTGs, hand blenders, rice cookers, air fryers, food processors and multi-cook kettles. “These products combine functions like boiling, steaming, baking and blending, making them highly relevant for modern, space-conscious households,” says Shibashish Roy, CEO and MD of Croma (Infiniti Retail).