Anova Precision Cooker 3.0

Great product easy to use

I;ve had two of the original cookers and they were good. The 3.0 is definitely a few steps up. It heats up a fair bit quicker with less noise. Connectivity is way smoother with my network, and the build feels more refined. One of my earlier cookers used to have a sleeve that rattled. So far this cooker is working flawlessly.

I was happy with the original which was still running strong until it;s bottom plastic piece broke causing the circulator blades to hit things. The original worked long enough that I accepted the upgrade offer without doing any reading about the new model. The new model does it;s main job just as well as the original, maybe quieter. However, I don;t understand why they would try to force us to create an account or get a subscription. I don;t want my kitchen appliances communicating over the internet. That;s an unnecessary security risk. I preferred the old one that spoke directly to my phone via bluetooth and didn;t try to get me to create an account. Fortunately, it doesn;t rely on connectivity, and I can still use the manual controls.

It cooks like it is supposed to but it has a high pitched whine when cooking. The Precision Wi-Fi/Bluetooth cooker was almost silent so I compare the newest model to that one. I don't like that my old cooker no longer connects to Wi-Fi. But, I can still use it without the app.

The assembly holding the sous vide into pot is plastic and so is the screw. After the first use, the screw broke in half. My husband had to use a small wrench to loosen the screw so I could remove the sous vide from the pot. Not what we were expecting, especially after all the good reviews for this product.

I liked my Anova cooker, and when I got notice that they would stop supporting connection to it in several months but --"if I act now!" -- I could get half off the updated version, I jumped at the chance. It;s good but, I have to be honest, I find myself missing the old one. The 3.0 feels smaller and sleeker and it connects via wifi. That part is all good. It gave up the physical button for touch buttons. I liked the wheel. It is quieter, even going so far as to being hard to hear when it ends. Now, I find myself having to constantly monitor my phone app. I didn;t mind the v1 beeps. They were helpful beeps. Friendly beeps. Quiet the motor down? Sure. But the alert sounds were functional, not annoying. Don;t change things just to change them. Fix what;s broken, yes. Iterate and improve but make it an improvement.

I have the original Anova Cooker so this is a comparison. Positives: Gets to temp fast and doesn;t start cooking until that temp is reached, unlike the original which starts straight away so you have to reset the time. Negatives: Cost cutting! Far too short compared to the original so requires twice as much water even to cook some eggs. Display is in line with the length of the tub. The original display is 90 degree so much easier to use. The box says Wi-Fi and BT connection but the manual only shows Wi-Fi and I couldn;t connect with BT anyway. It is handy to have BT if Wi-Fi isn;t available. It didn;t turn off after reaching zero time. Not a big issue as you may want to continue cooking but the motor keeps running so not practical or efficient IMHO.

I bought this as the Anova app is forcing me off my original precision cooker. Feels a lot cheaper than the original (e.g. the plastic holder that clips to the bucket is nowhere near as nice as the old style) and runs a lot louder than the old one. At least the connectivity seems to be better.

I had to buy this because anova discontinued support for my Gen 1 cooker. After using it once, they then started charging for use of the app (the entire reason I bought this) even though they said I;d be grandfathered in. Absolutely terrible way to treat your customers, and I wouldn;t have bought it if I had known they were doing this.

I;ve had a sous vide for many years and always enjoyed using it. Recently ANOVA informed customers that the older devices will no longer be supported by their app, but as a show of good faith, they will sell me a new one for half price! Like a sucker, I made the purchase. Once the promotion was near its end, ANOVA announced that moving forward the app will require a paid subscription. This will be the last ANOVA product I purchase, due to the fact that I don;t trust them as a company.