Expert Reviews Product of the Year Awards 2023: Home

It’s been another astonishingly busy year for Expert Reviews’ home category. Our experts made the most of a slightly underwhelming summer by filling their gardens with more pizza ovens and BBQs than any sane person should; meanwhile, things reached boiling point at our offices after we involved our department in a mighty group test of the latest kettles from dozens of household brands. On TikTok and YouTube, we pushed an air fryer to its limits by making a full English breakfast in 15 minutes.

Why do we risk the disapproval of our partners and colleagues with endless BBQs, breakfasts and cups of tea? Simple: it’s our mission at Expert Reviews to put as many products as we possibly can through their paces, inspecting every nook and cranny to make sure that the latest and greatest from the biggest (and smallest) players in the industry are living up to their grandiose marketing claims. That way, you need simply read our detailed reviews to separate the wheat from the proverbial chaff – and choose an air fryer, mattress or blender that you know you can count on.

This year, we’ve chosen products across 25 home-related categories, from multi cookers and stand mixers to air purifiers and electric toothbrushes. You’ll find two top-tier products per category: one overall winner, and one runner-up that also earns our commendation. We’ve also selected an overall Home Product of the Year that we feel stands out as a game-changer and a must-have item. In other words: if you were looking for a definitive guide to the best gadgets and appliances for your home, look no further.

Welcome to the Expert Reviews Home Product of the Year Awards 2023.

Home Product of the Year | Winner

Ninja Speedi | £138

For the second year in a row, Ninja has bagged the top spot thanks to its innovative and versatile kitchen products. This year, the Ninja Speedi takes the spotlight, nabbing our Home Product of the Year award. 

Ninja has ripped up the rulebook with its newest multi cooker, creating an appliance that not only distinguishes itself with its sleek, squared design but also its unique cooking capabilities. While the Speedi comes with all the classic functionality that makes Ninja’s multi cookers so desirable, here we’ve also seen the introduction of Speedi Meals, a function that can cook carbs, grains and vegetables at the bottom of the pot while simultaneously air-frying your proteins on top, for a full, balanced meal in as little as 15 minutes.

Home Products of the Year 2023

Air Purifier of the Year

Winner | Acer Acerpure Pro P2 | £229

Although air purifiers may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the name Acer, the popular laptop manufacturer’s foray into the world of air purifiers is a hugely successful one. This mid-sized purifier stands just under 58cm tall and packs enough of a punch to tackle rooms up to 45m2 in size. It passed our noise tests with flying colours, producing barely a whisper on its lowest settings, and offers a huge number of extras including a bundled remote and an OLED display that houses a very slick user interface. A worthy – albeit unexpected – winner. 

Highly Commended | Levoit Core 300S | £155

This compact air purifier is stylish and effortlessly simple to use. With support for smart assistants and a companion app, the Levoit is as smart as air purifiers come; it’s effective, too, thanks to a sensitive laser sensor and enough grunt to tackle rooms up to 80m2 in size. Throw in a beautifully simple display and an intuitive automatic setting and it’s clear why the Core 300S makes this list.

Fan of the Year

Winner | Princess Pedestal Air Circulator | £125

Making our roundup as the “best super-powered small pedestal fan”, the Princess Pedestal Air Circulator is astonishingly powerful for its diminutive size. It’s just 80cm tall, but it can oscillate both vertically and horizontally and has a whopping 12 speed settings for maximum versatility. The highest of these delivers a fan speed of 4.3m/sec, which makes this Princess fan one of the most powerful we’ve ever tested; the lowest setting, meanwhile, delivers a decent breeze with virtually no noise to note. Well built and simple to operate, the Princess Pedestal is a dream. 

Highly Commended | Levoit 36in Tower Fan | £72

At the opposite end of the spectrum sits the Levoit 36in Tower Fan. As the name suggests, this is a heavy-duty fan designed for larger rooms, but it’s stylishly designed and sturdily built, with no hint of wobble and a sleek touch-sensitive control panel adorning the top. As expected, the Levoit is powerful and effective, whether you opt for its highest Turbo mode or the near-silent Sleep mode.

Air Fryer of the Year

Winner | Instant Vortex Plus Dual Drawer | £150

A worthy winner, the Vortex Plus not only comes with an array of high-performing functions including grilling and reheating, but also has two spacious drawers that work both together and independently using the Sync Cook and Sync Finish settings. The Vortex also has a fantastic manual range, letting users adjust the temperature in 1ºC increments for ultra-precise cooking. In our full review, we also rave about this model’s usability, thoughtful design touches and all-round build quality, which puts it well above competitors in a similar price range.

Highly Commended | Ninja Foodi FlexDrawer | £270

The Ninja Foodi FlexDrawer won us over this year with its new and improved design. Like its much-loved Dual Zone predecessor, the FlexDrawer comes with an array of useful functions, including Max Crisp, Air Fry and Dehydrate, to name a few. However, its new design upgrade allows you to turn this dual drawer fryer into a single MegaZone drawer simply by removing the middle section. It’s big enough for a medium-sized chicken or 2kg leg of lamb and offers excellent performance for classics such as oven chips and fish.

Pressure Cooker of the Year

Winner | Ninja Foodi 11-in-1 SmartLid | £220

Pressure cookers can take up a lot of space on your kitchen counter, so having one that can perform multiple functions is essential. That’s where the Ninja Foodi 11-in-1 SmartLid does some serious heavy lifting. In our testing we were blown away by the cooker’s ability to effortlessly pressure-cook a speedy curry, as well as roast a whole chicken, air fry and slow cook, among other handy tools. It has incredibly simple controls, making it perfect for beginners and experienced chefs alike. For an appliance that does almost everything for you, and does those things alarmingly well, the Ninja Foodi 11-in-1 Smartlid was an easy winner of the Pressure Cooker of the Year Award. 

Highly Commended | Instant Pot Duo Evo Plus | £98

If you’re on the hunt for a pressure cooker that takes all the stress out of cooking a tasty meal, then the Instant Pot Duo Evo Plus is a fantastic choice. It has a whopping 48 preset functions for a variety of ingredients and meals, and a humongous 5.7l capacity that makes batch cooking a breeze. It’s a little less beginner-friendly than the Ninja Foodi above as it won’t automatically adjust cooking times based on the weight of your food, but it’s still a great option if you’re familiar with one-pot cooking.

Stand Mixer of the Year

Winner | KitchenAid Artisan 5.6L Bowl Lift 5KSM60SPXB | £749

If you need a stand mixer you can really put through its paces, then the KitchenAid Artisan 5.6l Bowl Lift is a fantastic option. Most stand mixers fall victim to an increased level of shaking when mixing thick doughs or operating at heavier capacities. As its name suggests, the KitchenAid Artisan Bowl Lift’s unique design lifts the bowl up from a fixed base, which means that heavier doughs can be mixed with minimal rattling. It also comes with 11 speeds and is compatible with 15 different attachments. All in all it’s a foolproof choice for heavy-duty chefs and an easy winner of the Stand Mixer of the Year award.

Highly Commended | Kenwood kMix Stand Mixer KMX754A | £229

The entry-level Kenwood kMix KMX754A is easily the best-value mixer on the market. In our tests it outperformed some of its pricier rivals and at no point in its testing did it overheat or fall apart, even when mixing thick and heavy doughs. If you’re on the hunt for an affordable stand mixer that makes light work of cake batter, has dishwasher-safe attachments and has a generous 5.7l capacity, then the Kenwood kMix Stand Mixer KMX754A won’t let you down.

Blender of the Year

Winner | Nutribullet 600 | £50

The worthy winner of our best blender award, the multi-faceted Nutribullet 600 proves itself to be a highly efficient blender, pulverising seeds, nuts and fibrous veg with ease to create silky-smooth mixtures in just 30-40 seconds. It’s equipped with classic and short cup attachments that can be used for blending while doubling up as drinking vessels to reduce unnecessary mess and clean-up time. What’s more, it also features a handy keep-fresh lid for hassle-free storage in the fridge so you can prep your smoothie the night before ready for the next day.

Highly Commended | BlendJet 2 | £50

The BlendJet 2 is a simple, compact, lightweight blender perfect for gym trips, puréeing baby food and all-round everyday use. Coming in a vibrant range of 32 colours, the stylish blender is equipped with a small motor that’s both quiet and effective. It also features an additional 450ml plastic jug for accurate measurements and a handy carry strap on the lid, making it a superb companion for life on the go.

Hand Blender of the Year

Winner | Cuisinart Cordless | £79

The Cuisinart Cordless was described by our reviewer as a “kitchen must-have”. Equipped with a mini processor, jug and whisk attachment, the battery-powered blender is a treat to use, capable of making an array of soups and sauces without the wires. And, unlike some cordless kitchen gadgets that can be cumbersome to use, the Cuisinart is lightweight and easy to hold in the hands. With its sleek design, efficient blending and 30 minutes of continuous charge, it’s clear to see why the Cuisinart Cordless takes the number one spot.

Highly Commended | Braun Multiquick 9 | £169

If you’re looking for a multi-use cordless blender that can chop, slice, grate and purée, the Braun Multiquick 9 has you covered. With a powerful 1,200W motor and multipurpose handle, you can interchange the attachments with ease, allowing you to julienne vegetables or produce creamy dips, sauces and soups in a matter of minutes. When it comes to cordless versatility and efficiency in the kitchen, the Braun Multiquick 9 is certainly one to consider.

Toaster of the Year

Winner | De’Longhi Ballerina | £60

Looking for a statement piece? Drawing inspiration from Murano glass and the pleats of a ballerina skirt, the De’Longhi Ballerina makes for a highly unique and aesthetically pleasing piece of kitchen equipment. Of course, you need more than aesthetic appeal to win toaster of the year. A top performer in testing, the Ballerina impressed with its five heat settings, which include three standard toasting levels, as well as reheat and defrost functions. The standard settings showed reliable, even browning and the reheat and defrost functions produced slices that crisped up nicely, while holding onto their moisture and freshness.

Highly Commended | Kenwood Elegancy | £45

A quality runner-up, the stylish Kenwood Elegancy proved to be a cut above other mid-price toasters. Perfect for breads of all sizes, the Elegancy has independent, extra-wide slots, as well as a high lift lever, which makes it easier to fish out smaller items. It browns bread evenly and reliably, with its defrost setting working well to toast frozen bread without drying it out. Thanks to its removable crumb trays, the Elegancy is also a doddle to clean.

Kettle of the Year

Winner | Russell Hobbs Attentiv | £63

The Russell Hobbs Attentiv takes the kettle crown this year, thanks to its brilliant balance of value and features. This well-priced kettle boasts precise, wide-ranging variable temperature settings, making it perfect for preparing everything from baby formula to coffee and green tea. It also has a 30-minute keep warm function and a handy timer, with all of the above functions being easily programmable via the slick touchscreen buttons and LED display on its base. A final fun touch: the Attentiv even comes with a removable steeping basket, allowing the kettle to function as a teapot in a pinch.

Highly Commended | KitchenAid Artisan Variable Temperature | £199

Our favourite luxury option, the KitchenAid Artisan is well built, classically handsome and comes in a range of striking colours. Practical as well as pretty, the Artisan boasts variable temperature settings, a handy old-fashioned temperature gauge and dual-walled insulation, meaning it stays cool to the touch, even just after boiling. If you like to keep a tranquil kitchen, you should also note that the Artisan was our quietest performer in testing.

Capsule Coffee Machine of the Year

Winner | Nespresso Vertuo Pop | £99

The compact Nespresso Vertuo Pop is truly a tiny powerhouse, allowing users to brew espressos and long coffees at the touch of a button, without taking up too much space in the office or kitchen. As well as being supremely easy to use, we’re also big fans of the colourful designs and affordable, entry-level price point. With over 50 Vertuo-style pods to choose from, the Pop offers excellent versatility in a neat package.

Highly Commended | L’or Barista Sublime | £65

With its unique double shot capsule capability, the Barista Sublime is an admirable espresso pod machine. Not only does it fit neatly into your kitchen and office with its compact design, its dual spout allows you to pour two espressos at the same time or one double espresso if you need a stronger coffee hit. The Sublime is compatible with all Nespresso classic pods as well as third-party options, and lets you choose from three drink sizes: ristretto, espresso and lungo.

Bean-to-cup Coffee Machine of the Year

Winner | De’Longhi Magnifica Evo One Touch | £550

Having been crowned the best bean-to-cup coffee machine in last year’s Home Product of the Year Awards, the De’Longhi Magnifica Evo One Touch remains at the top of our recommendations. A fully automatic machine, it grinds beans, brews espresso and froths milk, all for £529 – which is a very reasonable price overall. You may want to tweak the settings a bit to get the best results, but if you want cappuccinos, lattes and more at your fingertips, the Magnifica Evo One Touch is a convenient and great-value machine.

Manual Espresso Machine of the Year

Winner | Sage Barista Touch Impress | £1,200

Mastering the art of manual espresso is no small feat, but Sage’s ingenious Barista Touch Impress makes it simple. This semi-automatic marvel automatically grinds the correct amount of coffee, tamps it to perfection and expertly guides you on the path to the perfect coffee. Delivering delicious espresso, cappuccino, latte and beyond at the prod of a touchscreen, this machine blurs the lines between bean-to-cup convenience and manual espresso perfection like no other.

Food Processor of the Year

Winner | Ninja 3-in-1 Food Processor with Auto-IQ | £169

The powerful, feature-packed Ninja 3-in-1 is a worthy winner at this year’s awards, going above and beyond our expectations during testing. With a 1,200W motor, three interchangeable bowls, a reversible blade and dough hook, it has everything needed to chop, blitz and purée with ease. Add to this a host of automatic processing functions as well as plenty of manual options, and it’s easy to see why this is the best food processor for the majority of keen home cooks. 

Highly Commended | KitchenAid Cordless Food Chopper | £129

Cordless is king right now, so it’s no surprise KitchenAid’s super-stylish cordless food processor has picked up our Highly Commended prize in this year’s awards. Its compact size, portability, quick two-hour charging time and useful whipping and chopping attachments make it the ideal choice for small kitchens and solo households. This is simplicity and style at its best.

Multi Cooker of the Year

Winner | Ninja Speedi | £138

With a new squared design, cool colour palette and its ingenious Speedi meals setting, this is the must-have multi cooker of 2023. As well as all your favourite functions, such as slow cooking, steaming and air frying, the Ninja Speedi cooks full meals in as little as 15 minutes by steam cooking on the bottom of the bowl while air frying on top. It’s a dream to use, and the square, non-stick bowl means you can cook just about anything – even lasagna – without worrying about a big cleaning up job.

Highly Commended | Instant Pot Duo Crisp with Ultimate Lid | £199

This multifunctional marvel lets you do just about everything – from pressure cooking to the more usual sous vide – at the touch of a button. In our tests, it wowed us with speedy cooking times and consistent results, particularly when air frying and pressure cooking. We were also impressed by how easy the Duo Crisp was to clean, making it an excellent all-rounder well worthy of our Highly Commended award.

Vacuum Cleaner of the Year

Winner | Shark Stratos IZ400UKT | £430

Shark’s cordless sticks are exceptional across the range, but at the top they’re truly next level. The IZ400UKT is the latest refinement, bringing exceptional cleaning across both carpet and hard floor. It uses a single floor head (so you don’t have to keep changing it), with both a fluffy roller for hard floor and a carpet-friendly brush bar in the same unit. It detects how dirty your floor is and adjusts its power accordingly, and it comes with a hair detangling system that ensures you don’t need to constantly cut out tangles. The icing on the cake is its perfumed cartridge, which leave rooms smelling fresh when the vacuuming is done.

Highly Commended | Dyson Gen5detect | £749

With its latest top-of-the-range cordless stick, Dyson has taken all the best bits from its previous models and tweaked them to be the best yet. Its fluffy roller shines a green laser light on dust, so you can easily see how clean your hard floors are, while the anti-tangle carpet head is superb at capturing all types of dirt from carpet. We particularly love that it’s most useful attachments are built into the extension wand, for easy, ever-ready access.

Robot Vacuum Cleaner of the Year

Winner | Ecovacs Deebot X1 Omni | £899

While many robot vacuum cleaners have a mopping function added on as an afterthought, the Ecovacs Deebot X1 Omni is a true multipurpose master. On the vacuuming side it flew through our tests, deftly collecting dirt and transporting it back to its base station, where it empties itself into a large bag. It’s the mopping that’s truly exceptional, though, with spinning pads that add significantly more agitation to your mopping than the average robot. Its base station also holds clean and dirty water tanks, so you don’t need to keep refilling the robot, and it rinses out its mop pads after use. A truly labour-saving device.

Highly Commended | Ezviz RS2 | £1,200

This vacuum proved to be second to none in terms of how much dirt it could collect in our tests, with the only shortcoming being that it didn’t then return to its base station and empty itself – you have to do that job yourself. It also comes with a rotary mopping system that makes a decent job of cleaning floors, and it uses clean and dirty water tanks in the base station to keep the robot topped up and its mopping pads rinsed through.

Handheld Vacuum of the Year

Winner | Shark WandVac 2.0 WV270UK | £179

You want a handheld vacuum cleaner to be always at the ready, and the stylish appearance of the Shark WandVac 2.0 and its charging stand means you don’t need to hide it away. It keeps the attachments close by, too. The vacuum itself is powerful and more than capable of tackling quick and simple jobs that don’t need a full-sized cleaner, such as tidying-up crumbs or giving furniture a quick once over. This latest version has two power settings, so you can easily give its cleaning power a quick boost if you’re up against particularly stubborn dirt.

Highly Commended | Gtech Multi MK2 K9 | £200

A powerful handheld vacuum cleaner, the Gtech Multi MK2 K9 comes especially equipped with a motorised pet tool accessory to help tease stubborn pet hair out of your upholstery. It also has the usual brush and crevice attachments, and its rechargeable battery means it’s easily transported around the house or out to the car. With fragrance capsules available, too, it freshens the air around your house as it cleans.

Carpet Cleaner of the Year

Winner | Vacmaster EasyClean Carpet Spot Cleaner | £100

The Vacmaster EasyClean Carpet Spot Cleaner has one job – to target small but dirty sections of carpet – and it performs that job really well. It has two tanks, a hose and a lead to connect to the mains for powering its pump. You fill the clean water tank with water and cleaning solution, spray it on your dirty carpet, then brush it with the hose attachment while sucking the dirty water back into the device. It performed wonders in our tests. Best of all it’s small enough to pack away and store under the sink, so doesn’t take up much more room than a traditional mop bucket.

Highly Commended | Numatic George | £259

Most people are familiar with Numatic’s red Henry vacuum cleaner, but George possibly deserves even more attention. It can do all the vacuuming work that Henry can, but is also capable of washing both carpet and hard floor, and can even be tasked to collect up liquid spillages of significant proportions. Converting between the different wet and dry modes is a faff, but well worth it to get the most from George’s versatile cleaning skills.

Steam Cleaner of the Year

Winner | Karcher SC4 EasyFix | £290

The Kärcher SC4 EasyFix is a powerhouse steam cleaner that can tackle the toughest jobs. The potent 2,000W heater delivers oodles of steam cleaning power, and the removable tank enables uninterrupted steaming. In our tests, it effortlessly deep-cleaned bathrooms and battled limescale, and the assortment of nozzles allows it to tackle a vast array of jobs around the house. A true home cleaning superhero.

Highly Commended | DuPray Neat | £160

The Dupray Neat’s unique cuboid design immediately sets it apart from its peers, but its design isn’t just eye-catching, it’s practical through and through. The wide range of accessories, ample 1.6L tank and long running time make for a fantastically versatile steam cleaner that makes light work of tackling grime and stains throughout the home. The fact that it packs away so neatly for storage is the icing on a particularly Neat cake.

Electric Toothbrush of the Year

Winner | Oral-B iO Series 3 | £81

The Oral-B iO Series 3 is a high-quality toothbrush equipped with an array of handy features to deliver a thorough, all-round cleaning experience. It includes the same magnetic drive technology as the other brushes in the series but comes without the advanced sensors and Bluetooth connectivity, which in practice provides for a quieter and more comfortable vibration. The Series 3 also benefits from effective pressure-sensing to indicate if you’re brushing too hard or not hard enough, which, along with the 30-second pulse timer, helps to ensure your teeth always get a consistent clean.

Highly Commended | Philips One | £27

Sometimes it’s better to keep things simple, and the Philips One does exactly that. It comes with just one setting and a 30-second timer, but its cleaning abilities are tremendous. And, although it may not have the power of a larger Sonicare brush, it beats the other battery-powered options to provide a gentle yet deep clean. The straightforward and lightweight design also makes it an excellent choice for trips away.

BBQ of the Year

Winner | Weber Lumin Compact | £399

The Lumin is Weber’s best electric BBQ to date, with impressive heat-up times and improved versatility over its predecessors. With options to steam, boil and even smoke alongside electric barbecuing, this compact model is both extremely versatile and built to last. Our tests showed it to be a great all-rounder whether cooking meats, fish or vegetables and, what’s more, its size, weight and build mean it’s as suitable for a garden as it is for a balcony. With so much going on, the Lumin Compact throws tradition out the window without compromising on results.

Highly Commended | Ninja Woodfire Electric BBQ and Smoker | £250

Another excellent electric grill that’s well worth shouting about is this year’s Highly Commended Ninja Woodfire Grill and Smoker. Alongside barbecuing, the Woodfire can air fry, dehydrate, roast, bake, reheat and even work as a smoker, with a section at the side for flavoured wood pellets. It impressed us in tests, producing smokey joints of meat in just a few hours that were almost indistinguishable from using a full-sized smoker. Ideal for small gardens and balconies, the Woodfire is another compact champion.

Pizza Oven of the Year

Winner | Witt Etna Fermo | £579

The Witt Etna Fermo stunned in our tests with its impressive design, fast heating up times and even faster cooking. This gas-fuelled outdoor oven has a huge capacity big enough for 16in pizzas, and its distinctive U-shaped burner means dough gets an exceptional amount of flame coverage during cooking, reducing the amount of turns needed to get that perfect blistered crust. This, paired with its slick design and colour choices, make it a worthy winner in this year’s awards. 

Highly Commended | Ooni Karu 16 | £695

Another top performer, the Ooni Karu 16 continues to impress with its multi-fuel capabilities. Whether you prefer gas, wood or charcoal to BBQ with your pizza oven, the Karu delivers with decent heatign up times and results. As well as offering flexibility with fuel, the Karu is compact enough for smaller gardens despite its huge 16in pizza capacity, making it a great choice for a variety of pizza enthusiasts.

Mattress of the Year

Winner | Emma NextGen Premium | £959

The Emma NextGen Premium marries two disparate types of mattress innards to extraordinary effect. Combining a layer of large, supportive pocket springs with several more layers of cushioning foam, the NextGen Premium achieves what most mattress simply cannot: it lets your skin breathe, even in those sweltering summer months. Mattress are a slightly subjective thing, but our reviewer adored the NextGen Premium, remarking that it “hit a delightful balance of comfort, breathability and ergonomic support” – if that’s not a ringing endorsement, we’re not sure what is.

Value Mattress of the Year

Winner | Nectar Essential Hybrid | £949

Picking up the win in our value mattress category this year is the excellent Nectar Essential Hybrid. A little like the Emma mattress above, the Essential Hybrid combines memory foam with pocket springs, for a supremely comfortable night’s sleep even in warmer weather. Supportive, breathable and supremely comfortable, the Essential Hybrid is built to cater to all kinds of sleepers, even ones who share a bed with a fidgeter – that’s thanks to its uncanny ability to limit motion transfer. It’s a deserving winner, especially if you can pick it up at a discount (which you usually can).