11 Of The Weirdest Smart Devices Ever Made

With so many innovations happening every day, it's probably not surprising that there is a long list of smart gadgets you never knew existed. New ones are coming out all the time, and it can be hard to keep up with all the intriguing and potentially useful as they enter the market.

On the other hand, there are also plenty of weird smart devices that will leave you scratching your head. For just about any need you can think of, there is a smart gadget to help out. Need to remotely water your plants? There's an app and a moisture sensor for that. Need to check in on your home while you're away? There are hundreds of products (mostly security cameras) and apps for that.

But what if you have a more offbeat need. Maybe you want to see your teeth via a live video feed while you're brushing, or you want your wine bottle to tell you how many glasses of vino are left? In that case, we have some good news. These exceptionally weird products haven't all charmed the retail market, but there are some you can still buy today.

Have you ever gotten to the grocery store only to realize you have no idea what you need? The aptly named Quirky Egg Minder was meant to solve that dilemma — partially, at least. The design idea is fairly simple; Each well in this smart egg holder has a sensor, and when the sensor is blocked, the tray counts an egg there (it doesn't know the difference between an egg and anything else, though).

The egg minder not only counts your eggs and sends the information to you via the Wink app, but it also claims to know when they're going bad, and will alert you. It appears that the freshness indicator is based on the number of weeks you set in the app, however, which may not tell you much. It could give some peace of mind if you're concerned about your eggs going bad, but you have to choose what "bad" means.

As far as we can tell, the original egg minding device is still available, despite seeming like it would only get 15 seconds of fame. You can find the Quirky Egg Minder on Amazon, but this weird smart product doesn't seem to be worth the investment, according to customer reviews.

Of course, since smart refrigerators exist, an egg-counting tray might not be that useful of a device. These days, major smart fridge brands like Samsung offer a glimpse into your fridge via an app.

Despite being used for thousands of years, the toothbrush was patented for the first time in 1857. After that, it took more than 100 years for the first electric toothbrush to debut, and they've since become some of the weirdest smart devices out there.

'90s kids might remember toothbrushes that played music that only the person brushing could hear. These days, we have other choices for offbeat toothbrushing. Although a teaching toothbrush may be an odd AI-powered gadget you've heard about, another toothbrush tech add-on is even quirkier.

The Prophix toothbrush was first promoted about nine years ago, with many media outlets calling it the next big thing in brushing. The biggest selling point was its camera, which let you see inside your mouth while brushing. The brush could, at the time, take 10-megapixel photos and stream video over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.

Of course, checking on your dental health is what dentist visits are for, which might explain why the Prophix toothbrush dropped off the market for years. Now, though, Prophix's website says the toothbrush is coming soon in 2026.

Water filtration pitchers have been around for a long time, but have you ever owned one that could order its own replacement filters? The apparently now-defunct Brita Infinity Pitcher not only filtered water, but it also tracked your usage and re-ordered filters when the device determined one was needed.

The Infinity pitcher came out during the era of Amazon's relatively short-lived Amazon Dash program, which let you reorder items automatically or by way of a Bluetooth-enabled button. While the Dash program has since evolved into an Amazon Alexa-assisted function that has to be enabled by sellers, the Brita pitcher doesn't seem to have come along for the modern upgrade.

Although the Brita Infinity Pitcher is still listed on Amazon, it's not currently available, and it's no longer listed on Brita's website, either. That might be a good thing; Customer reviews are not great for the Infinity pitcher, and it comes down to non-smart-device complaints like issues with cracking and seals. Other complaints relate to the lid accidentally closing, which then tells the pitcher it's been refilled twice, throwing off the metrics that help it predict when it needs a new filter.

Brita has made some smart choices since the Infinity pitcher, however. It turns out the Brita GmbH (the original German brand that sold North American sales rights to Clorox in 2000) purchased LARQ UV-purifying water bottle seen on "Shark Tank" last year, so its smart water days aren't over.

An electric wine opener might be a gadget worth trying out at home, but do you need to go so far as to buy cartridge wine? One company thought so, and went so far as to crowd fund the project on Indiegogo. The smart wine bottle, named the Kuvee, claimed to keep an opened bottle fresh for 30 days, which sounds like a handy feature.

However, the Kuvee was a more complicated system than a simple seal for wine bottles. The Kuvee is the outer device, which has touch-screen label viewing, and uses Wi-Fi to report how much wine is left in the bottle. The cartridges, which are the actual bottles of wine, are aluminum bottles equipped with RFID chips.

The product's Indiegogo page noted that the aluminum bottles reduced shipping cost and carbon impact, and they were recyclable. Since the Kuvee clearly appeals to a specific niche of the wine-lover market, it's not surprising that its first fundraiser in 2016 sold out; the Kuvee was $179 at the time. Later, additional wine cartridge offers went unclaimed, as did the late ordering option of the device, which cost $181.

Unfortunately for wine lovers who would like to stock up on this weird smart device's collection of vino, Kuvee has fallen out of the marketplace. The brand's Shopify website is now defunct (it says the site is not configured correctly), and there doesn't seem to be any recent reporting on where the company is at with its product.

Back when it came out, SlashGear reported on Samsung's bizarre waist-monitoring smart belt, and the media everywhere was abuzz over the offbeat smart device. Perhaps the first sign of the device's downfall was its name — the Welt, short for "wellness belt" — but either way, the device didn't last long.

Samsung reportedly let a team of three people imagine and manufacture the smart belt, which might have been where it went wrong. While we can all giggle about the name of the belt, it did have some interesting features, according to the product's Kickstarter campaign. For one thing, it functioned as a step tracker and could tell when you remained sitting for too long.

The belt also promised to prevent stress-eating by warning wearers when the belt got a little too snug. It also charged via USB, and the battery was said to last for about 20 days. A lot of the marketing suggested the belt could be a fitness tracker that you wear around your waist, pointing out that the stylish belts were perfect for office work and corporate settings, specifically.

The original product earned plenty of attention, but according to the Kickstarter page, only a couple hundred people ever pre-ordered the belt. Despite a later version of the Welt earning an innovation award, the belt never really took off and doesn't seem to be available to purchase today.

While it might be one of the weirdest smart devices ever made, the Furbo 360-degree Cat Camera was apparently exactly what pet owners wanted. At first, we all might have thought a cat or dog-specific security camera that doles out treats was overkill. That was before smart cameras took over our lives, however, and before every home had a camera-enabled doorbell. These days, Furbo is far from the only smart camera for pets, but it's one of the most popular on amazon.

The Furbo promised to let pet owners not only check on their critters while they were away, but also give their furry friends treats from afar. An onboard camera even rotates, so you can track your pet's movement remotely and make sure they're okay (and not getting into too much trouble).

With automatic tracking based on movement, the camera will also perform its own pet surveillance without your instructions. There's also two-way audio so you can scold (or praise) your pet for their behavior. Furbo has a few options on Amazon, including devices for cats and dogs, plus options with included subscriptions.

Today, the Furbo 360-degree Cat Camera has tens of thousands of great reviews on Amazon. It's one of the coolest pieces of tech for your pet, though it will cost you around $200, depending on price cuts and sales. Another perk, though, is that Furbo sales help other pets by providing shelter, food, and training.

Although forgetting an umbrella is probably something a lot of people experience, an umbrella with tracking in it is one of the weirdest smart devices ever made. Granted, the Oombrella was developed before Airtags were ubiquitous, so the team behind the offbeat umbrella might have been onto something.

According to its Kickstarter page, the Oombrella had everything from tracking (and notifications if you left it behind) to weather sensors to let you know if it was about to rain, plus it could connect to your smartphone and offer light and buzzing notifications for calls and notifications. Oombrella also made a capsule you could attach to your own umbrella, but that didn't seem to be a big seller. The original Oombrella came in white, black, or an iridescent multi-color, and many people seemed to be excited about it at first.

Ultimately, the smart umbrella doesn't seem to have made it past initial production, as the Kickstarter page is now defunct, with the latest update in 2016. The Oombrella website is also out of commission, and the company's social media has gone silent, too.

For those who did pre-order on Kickstarter, the expected shipping date was in 2016. If the campaign was successful, there might be a few hundred Oombrellas out in the world now.

Another Kickstarter project with unknown results, the Toasteroid claimed to be the first app-controlled smart toaster, but it did more than just toast bread.

An accompanying app allowed users to toast their bread in specific patterns, with everything from their initials to fun shapes and messages. As Toasteroid's Kickstarter page explains, other toasters offer logos and other "fun" messages on toast, but you're limited to a single pattern or image. Toasteroid's app lets you customize your toast with superhero images, birthday messages, and custom doodles.

The smart toaster also had all the standard functions of an average toaster, like a brownness control and the ability to toast two slices at once. Beyond that, though, it seemed like more of a gag gift — which is how some media outlets described it — even though it might be fun for mornings when you have toast for breakfast.

Unlike some of our other weird smart devices, the Toasteroid appeared to be a hit, reaching its fundraising goals on both Kickstarter and Indiegogo. However, it seems that the product stopped production after those orders were fulfilled; Toasteroid is not available online from the manufacturer. Still, hundreds of Toasteroids might still be out there, as over a thousand pre-orders were taken.

While some new parent tech is worth investigating, is a moisture monitor for your child's diaper really a necessity? It turns out someone thought so, and endeavored to create this unique yet weird product for mass sale online. There are actually a few companies pushing diaper monitors out there, though most of the advertising focuses on senior citizens and those with special needs.

Either way, a moisture sensor kind of sounds like a good idea. Nobody wants to sit in a wet diaper, and even diapers equipped with color-changing lines that indicate wetness can't be checked via a bluetooth-enabled app. A diaper monitor for rash prevention isn't the weirdest thing we've heard of, but it's up there. The problem seems to be in the execution of the concept.

One example of this device is the Opro9, which is available on Amazon. For around $40, buyers get a sensor that attaches to the front of a diaper. When the diaper is wet, the sensor is meant to send a notification to the caregiver's phone.

Unfortunately, the reviews on the Opro9 aren't great, mostly because the device is "finicky," according to consumers. Apparently the Bluetooth connectivity is inconsistent and the moisture sensor doesn't always trigger at the right time. As weird as this device is, maybe the market will continue to grow and improvements will be made on the app and the device design.

No one is arguing that hydration isn't important, but do you really need your water bottle to remind you to drink from it? Someone thought so. There are plenty of smart water bottles on the market, but the flashing lights make this one of the weirdest smart devices. 

The Hidrate Spark Pro water bottle has an LED smart sensor puck attached to the bottom of it, which serves a few purposes. For starters, it alerts you when you need to drink more water, but it also tracks how much water is in the bottle (ostensibly by weight).

Although the water bottle requires charging every 10-14 days, per the manufacturer, some users say it lasts far longer — up to about six weeks. The device isn't perfect though, as many customer reviews complain about having trouble getting the bottle to alert or track accurately. Some suggest the materials aren't great quality, while others didn't like the use of a proprietary charging cable (you have to purchase replacements separately from the manufacturer).

Given its $80 price tag, many consumers seem unhappy with the bottle, but the fact that they bought it in the first place may mean this odd smart device isn't the worst or weirdest ever made.

A self-cleaning litter box is a smart gadget that will keep the house clean, no doubt, but surely you don't need a notification every time your cat does its business? The folks at LavvieBot seem to disagree.

On the face of it, the LavvieBot sounds like a good idea. It's an automatic litter box, so it cleans up the messes your cat leaves. It also alerts you when the waste drawer is full, and can send you reminders to order more litter when it runs low. That all sounds pretty handy, but some of the app settings for this smart litter box allow you to create notifications for when your cat does its business.

The "PurrSong" app offers customizable alerts, so you can get a notification when kitty leaves the litter box, but you can also opt for a "note" from your cat that says "Mommy, I used the litter box."

If that's not enough to have you rushing out to buy your own, the litter box is also the size of a small washing machine. You might not think this is the weirdest smart device ever made if your cat has health issues, so we can admit that's a good use case, if you have the room and the budget for the LavvieBot.