By Bryan Wall
Product Test Journalist | Kaipūrongo Whakamātautau Hautaonga
This article appeared in the spring 2026 issue of Consumer magazine.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right? But some products have faces only a mother could love. Here are my picks of those beasts – and a selection of the beauties!
The 5 ugliest products
1. Russell Hobbs Brooklyn air fryer
Air fryers are a hard product category to love for their looks – most are ugly blobs of plastic, sitting on your kitchen benchtop, waiting to gobble your nuggets. My pick of the ugliest is this Russell Hobbs model, an amorphous blob of shiny black barrelness with a bizarre copper handle to distract you from its lump of a body.
The Brooklyn has now been discontinued, which is no great loss – we gave it an overall score of just 63. Check out our air fryer reviews to find a better (and better-looking) model.
2. Apple AirPods Max
Apple makes some of the most beautiful products around, but it dropped the ball with the AirPods Max. As objects on their own, they look good – the usual simple forms, subtle detailing and build quality we’ve come to expect from Apple – but stick them on your bonce and they look all kinds of wrong. The bulky rectangular earpieces are like two suitcases strapped to your head. They just don’t look cool.
Looks aside, here’s how the AirPods Max performed in our test.
3. Sebo Felix Platinum vacuum cleaner
I’m not sure what the German designers were smoking when they came up with the Felix Platinum. If you buy it, make sure you have a big cupboard to store it in and only vacuum at night, when no one can see you.
But first, check how it managed our tricky vacuuming test.
4. Dyson Purifier Hot+Cool HP1
Dyson’s design language is easily recognisable; its use of colour and geometric shapes revolutionised the look of vacuum cleaners. But it’s not been so successful in other categories, this air purifier being a prime example. It’s like a giant’s bubble machine – quite the eyesore to display in your lounge.
Is it more substance than style? Here’s how we rated it.
5. Dyson Spot+Scrub Ai robot vacuum
Dyson’s first robot vacuum, the 360 Vis Nav, was a classic Dyson design with bright purple housing and Alien-style cyclone detailing – but it didn’t make it to our shores. So I waited with bated breath for the arrival of its follow-up, the Spot+Scrub Ai … but what an anti-climax! A safe, dull design that follows the visual language of every other robot vacuum on the market, with only some purple and red highlights to indicate its true identity. Very un-Dyson and very disappointing.
But did it impress our test team?
The 9 most beautiful products
1. Dualit Classic Cordless D7 kettle
Dualit’s gorgeous kettle has a price tag to match its looks, but as a statement of simple beauty and quality, it’s hard to argue with. Plus, the element is replaceable, so this kettle can actually be repaired (although you can’t do it yourself), meaning it should last for a very long time – and that is a beautiful thing, too.
Of course, for that much money, you’d want remarkable performance, not just a pretty face. Here’s what we thought.
2. Noda Horo Amu kettle
If you prefer to heat the water for your cuppa on the hob, this Japanese kettle is my pick. Compatible with all types of cooktop and in a range of colours (with green being the best!), it has a timeless yet modern look that would suit any home.
3. Bang & Olufsen Beosound A5 speaker
Okay, so it looks like a modern take on Yogi Bear’s picnic basket, but this Bang & Olufsen Bluetooth speaker has a level of refinement and simple beauty that only the Scandinavians could achieve. The “Nordic Weave” fabric and bentwood handle give a retro vibe, and the detailing is top notch, with an understated interface on top.
Does it sound as good as it looks? Here’s our verdict.
4. Mill Silent Pro air purifier
The Mill Silent Pro does look quite a lot like a headless penguin, but it’s that character that makes it stand out amongst its cylindrical and boxy rivals. We reckon David Attenborough has one, and probably Batman too.
We just hope they checked our test results before buying.
5. Samsung front loader washing machines
It’s hard to imagine a washing machine being an object of beauty, but with the performance of many top brands getting ever closer together, manufacturers are turning to design as a point of difference.
Samsung has done a good job of refining the fascias on its range to make them stand out from the crowd. It’s simplified and shrunk down the control panel to a slim strip along the top, which looks rather neat and understated. The digital display means programmes and settings don’t have to be printed next to the dial, leaving the rest of the panel uncluttered and clean.
For a prime example, check out this beauty. Then check out how well it tested.
6. Profitec Go manual espresso machine
The Profitec Go is a cute little machine that comes in a range of cool bright colours to jazz up your kitchen. It has a very honest, functional aesthetic; it looks like it’s good at what it does.
7. Motorola Edge smartphone series
Aptly named for the screen that wraps around to the edges of the phone, the Motorola Edge has an instantly recognisable aesthetic.
Sadly, we haven’t yet tested any of the latest Edge models, but you can find several alternatives within our mobile phone reviews.
8. Dyson PencilVac Fluffycones cleaner
Oh, Dyson, I have a love–hate relationship with you. The PencilVac Fluffycones cleaner has rekindled our romance, though. It’s a crazy idea – a vacuum that looks like a broom, with the dust stored in the handle – but Dyson has executed it beautifully, even if the bizarre “Fluffycones” look like four barbershop poles spinning together. And it has not one but two awesome green “laser” LED lights, which illuminate dust so well that they make vacuuming feel like a video game.
While we haven’t tested this specific model, you can see how several other Dyson stick vacs did in our lab.
9. Honda HR-V
The previous incarnation of Honda’s omnipresent mid-size SUV was pretty vanilla, but the new HR-V is far from it. This superbly styled hybrid has real presence, looking great in any of the available colours.
Is it worth the splurge? Check out our score.
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