Of all the devices that could benefit from Bluetooth, pressure washers would have been low on my list. But over the past decade or so, “smart” devices have become more common.
I have a connected coffee maker, a smart oven, and a dishwasher with WiFi connectivity in my kitchen. The washer has a feature that connects to an app to read diagnostic codes; the dryer has NFC to add custom programs. And that’s not even counting the Bluetooth light bulbs and WiFi plugs scattered throughout the house.
But some features are better than others. Adjusting cooking settings or adding a new coffee drink is convenient but not essential. The smart oven feature is rarely used, except when I need to see how long it’s been on. The question isn’t whether we can make things smarter, but whether we should.
I can’t help but ask this question every time I review the Kärcher K5 Premium Smart Control Pressure Washer. I understand a smart robot vacuum, but why does a pressure washer need Bluetooth? It’s a pressure washer; you turn it on, point it at something, and it blows away the dirt. If you need more pressure, you increase the pressure; if it starts to scrape paint off your walls, you’re probably using too much pressure.
But I was also new to pressure washers. Aren’t there few jobs that require a little physical effort to complete? It seems that at a certain age, everyone suddenly has one. Pressure washers are as essential appliances to suburban homes as a car that can easily accommodate children and dogs, or an air fryer.
At some point every year, pressure washers are wheeled outside to wash cars, clean dirt off driveways, or wash down walls. It even spawned a game called “PowerWash Simulator.”
With that in mind, smart pressure washers don’t seem as big of a leap as they might initially seem.
Let’s talk about Bluetooth. Strictly speaking, you don’t need it. You don’t need to connect your phone at all, and your pressure washer isn’t useless without it.
If you’re new to pressure washing, like me, you might find it useful. It helps guide you through the process, and without it, you might find yourself accidentally stripping paint off a small area of your home. I’ve been there again.
Not only does it tell you what settings to use when cleaning specific items (e.g. cars, RVs, stone walls, houses), it sends those settings directly to the machine, making sure nothing goes wrong. It also walks you through the cleaning process step by step if you need it.
Sometimes it can be a bit of a hassle, switching between the vacuum and your phone to get the job done. Plus, there are only so many times you’ll need someone to watch over you during the process.
But as a beginner, it’s really useful. You can also customize the instructions by adding accessories you’ve purchased, from a brush for washing your car to the various detergents you can add.
You can also use the app to adjust the pressure without having to touch the button on the gun, although given that it’s right in front of you, I don’t see any real benefit to doing so in 99% of cases.
As a pressure washer, the Kärcher K5 Smart Control is impeccable. It’s powerful enough – as evidenced by the small circle of spray paint on my wall – and it made light work of sweeping away a winter’s worth of grime from my patio. Plus, it tells you how much water you’ll save by using the pressure washer versus a regular garden hose.
If you need some help, the Bluetooth guide comes into play, helping you easily walk through the steps and giving you the right settings so that you can get the best pressure for the job.
For most people, Bluetooth connectivity is just a bonus, not a necessity. Guiding you through the cleaning process requires you to stop and pay attention to the app instead of focusing on the cleaning.
The K5 Premium Control is a powerful device that can easily handle almost any cleaning situation you can think of. At the very least, I am completely impressed by the practicality of this pressure washer.
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