Report · Culture

Americans prefer physical buttons on small kitchen appliances

Reading

When it comes to small kitchen appliances, physical controls are the draw: more than a third of Americans (36%) most prefer a model run primarily through physical controls, with an app adding basic or extra functionality, according to a December 2025 Verasight survey.

Another 29% would rather keep smartphone apps out of appliance controls altogether, and 27% like a model controlled equally through an app and physical buttons. App-first designs find little appetite: just 6% prefer primarily app control with basic physical buttons, and 3% want an app-only machine.

Topline

single choice

Topline distribution

Americans prefer physical buttons on small kitchen appliances.

If you were considering purchasing a small kitchen appliance, which of the following control options would you prefer most?

  • Controlled primarily through physical controls, with basic or additional app functionality 35.6%
  • None of the above (I prefer not to use smartphone apps for appliance controls) 29.1%
  • Controlled equally through a smartphone app and physical controls (same controls across both formats) 26.6%
  • Controlled primarily through a smartphone app, with basic physical controls on the product 5.6%
  • Controlled only through a smartphone app (no physical controls on the product) 3.1%

2025 · base n 1,000 · +/- 3.2%

tech_behavior

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Methodology

Full methodology
Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting
Field dates
2025-12-03 → 2025-12-08
Base (unweighted)
1,000
Margin of error
+/- 3.2%
Module
tech_behavior

Source

Citation

Verasight Human/LLM Comparison Survey #2025-172, fielded December 3-8, 2025, N=1,000 US adults age 18+, +/- 3.2%.

https://reports.verasight.io/r/verasight-human-v-synthetic

Verasight survey methodology

How Verasight conducts surveys.

This page describes the Verasight general survey contract, separate from how the Data Library packages it. When a wave report is published, its field dates, sample sizes, and module breakdown are listed in that report.

Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting.
Population
US adults age 18+.
Sample design
Surveys are run as omnibus or single-topic waves. Omnibus waves are split into modules with their own respondent set, typically around one thousand respondents per module.
Field window
Each wave specifies its own field dates. Most omnibus waves field across roughly two weeks.
Weighting
Per-module weighting to CPS targets including age, race and ethnicity, sex, income, education, region, and metropolitan status.
Partisanship benchmark
Pew Research Center's NPORS benchmarking surveys, three-year running average.
Vote benchmark
2024 presidential vote population benchmarks.
Margin of error
Typically about plus or minus 3.4 to 3.6 percent per module at standard module sizes. Question-level MoE is recomputed when a base shrinks materially below the module baseline.
Reporting
The canonical report hub is reports.verasight.io. Verified legacy reports remain on their original hosts, and unpublished reports are marked pending.
Transparency
Verasight is a member of the American Association for Public Opinion Research Transparency Initiative.

The canonical report hub is reports.verasight.io; older reports may remain on verified legacy hosts.