Need to know
- Our experts have tested Kogan dishwashers, coffee machines, air fryers, stick vacs, fans, steam mops and more
- Some rated well in our tests, but others performed poorly
- Kogan has received a CHOICE Shonky Award for its poor customer service and for flouting Australian consumer law
Since starting in 2006, Kogan.com has become one of the country's biggest online retailers, selling thousands of products across hundreds of categories, including its own range of cheap house-brand items.
It hasn't been all smooth sales, though. Along the way, the company has been busted for bad behaviour, including questionable customer service, flouting Australian consumer laws and misleading price discounts (see the ACCC's successful case last year).
We've even given them a Shonky Award and we continue to advise shoppers to be cautious when buying from Kogan.
But if Kogan's bargains are just too tempting to resist, you should know that our experts have tested many of their house-brand products. To help you avoid the bad buys, here are some of the appliances and products that failed to impress in our tests.
Kogan EasyClean R10 Robot Vacuum.
Kogan EasyClean R10 Robot Vacuum
Price: $99
CHOICE Expert Rating: 30%
Model name: KACOMROBVCA
When it comes to cleaning, this budget bot just doesn't compute. Earning the lowest score in our lab tests by a long way, it rated poor for hard floors and corners, and very poor for carpets and pet hair.
This robo vac is very cheap compared with others, but a broom is probably a better bet
If that doesn't short your circuits, the vac also constantly hits objects and even gets stuck moving from hard floors to carpet and back. A low battery life and small dirt receptacle further lower its chances of actually cleaning the floor. Yes, this robo vac is very cheap compared with others, but a broom is probably a better bet. Read the full review.
Kogan SmarterHome™ Bladeless DC Motor Slim Smart Fan.
Kogan SmarterHome™ Bladeless DC Motor Slim Smart Fan
Price: $150
CHOICE Expert Rating: 44%
Model name: KASBLSSLFANA
Our testers were less than blown away by the performance of this space-age-looking fan – it received the lowest score in our reviews of a wide range of pedestal and tower fans.
Our experts say the air flow was extremely poor and barely above ambient. Which is kind of awkward for a fan, really.
And when you consider that many of the CHOICE Recommended fans cost less than $150, we don't see any reason why this would be a good buy. Read the full review.
Kogan ThermoBlend Elite All-in-One Food Processor & Cooker.
Kogan ThermoBlend Elite All-in-One Food Processor & Cooker
Price: $349
CHOICE Expert Rating: 68%
Model name: KAPRETHBLNA
With some all-in-one brands such as Thermomix costing thousands of dollars, this Kogan cooker comes at a very attractive price. To its credit, our experts rated its cooking performance as very good, and it outscored some other models that cost more than a thousand dollars more.
Sadly, performance dropped off dramatically in our 'ease of use' tests, where it scored just 58%. The lack of included recipes and basic guidelines make it difficult for all-in-one first timers to get started. And there were some notable build issues, such as the lid still locking despite being in an incorrect position, and a loose measuring cap and weight-scales cover.
Baked-on food on the jug's bottom was also difficult to clean, and strong foods left the jug smelling, requiring bicarb soda to get rid of odours. Read the full review.
Kogan KAGDWS15CTA dishwasher.
Kogan KAGDWS15CTA dishwasher
Price: $900
CHOICE Expert Rating: 67%
Washing score: 76%
Drying score: 32%
To be fair, this basic Kogan dishwasher does a very decent job of washing dishes. It just leaves them sopping wet afterwards, with the lowest score for drying in our current test. Which seems to kind of defeat one of the purposes of having a dishwasher in the first place. We test quite a few dishwashers at this price point or less, and there are a few that perform better in our scoring. When you add in Kogan's questionable history of dodgy customer service, we think it's safe to say that this one is best avoided. Read the full review.
Kogan 13-in-1 KAMOP131STMA steam mop.
Kogan 13-in-1 KAMOP131STMA steam mop
Price: $79
CHOICE Expert Rating: 65%
Steam mops were all the rage for a while, but don't count on this one. We've found a couple of Kogan steam mops that are fairly good, but this one scored the lowest in our testing.
Like many of our other bottom scorers, this one leaves quite a bit of residual water on your floor after mopping. It also received an average ease of use score (69%), which means it's probably difficult to manoeuvre and do things like filling the tank or attaching the mop pad. Read the full review.
Kogan Food Dehydrator.
Kogan Food Dehydrator
Price: $110
CHOICE Expert Rating: 66%
Model name: KA06DHDTIMA
While this product's price may be tempting (it's the cheapest model we reviewed), it performed the worst in our test, taking a long time to deliver disappointing results.
In individual food tests, it earned a perfect score for dehydrating kale, but was only OK for semi-dried tomatoes, apple and fruit leather.
It's also hampered by basic controls and no rubber feet for stability (it moved when we pushed buttons), while the shelves can be fiddly to stack and hard to clean. Pass! Read the full review.
