GE Profile Smart Stand Mixer, Built-In Smart Scale & Auto Sense Technology, 7qt Stainless Steel Bowl, 11 Speed, Includes Dough Hook, Beater, 11-Wire Whip, WiFi and Smart Connected, Carbon Black

Nobody likes good stand mixers like my wife does and we have had really nice ones. Being a geek by nature and in a way by profession, I couldn't resist the appeal of a smart mixer although we didn't actually need another one and I must admit I was afraid my wife would laugh at me and tell me nicely how stupid I was. My solution? I ordered and gave it to her as a present. I knew she wouldn't say what she actually thought about it, except that I was a thoughtful husband. That was a good plan and it worked. However, I later found out that she actually loved it and the smart features even more than I did. And because it is a GE Profile product, she was delighted because our kitchen is full of products of that series.While it is not cheap, it is within the price range of other good ones we have had, and even without the smart features, it would still be comparable to the best ones in the market. It is heavy as it should be for a mixer this big, which gives us confidence that it will stay in place no matter what.The scale is very useful although it is not for very fine measurements, which is fine since baking requires some adjustments that a scale won't help that much. A good example is when you use an egg that is too big or too small for the amount of other ingredients. You will have to adjust based on your experience, not based on weight. Still, we love the built-in scale.As for the smart features, I use them about eighty percent of the time. However, my wife uses just a few of them every time and she rarely or never uses others. I believe she doesn't have the patience to use an app like I do. And unlike me she bakes every time she has an opportunity.Lastly, one of the best features for somebody who owns or owned a KitchenAid is that the attachments are compatible. We didn't have to buy anything else. As for performance, it has handled anything we have tried in the last 6+ months effortlessly.In summary, this is an excellent heavy duty stand mixer with great smart features and even without that intelligence, it is on par with the best mixers. GE Profile focuses on quality and good looks and in my opinion it aced it with this mixer. I may sound a bit like a salesman but I have no interest in promoting any product. It is that we simply and honestly loved it.

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We previously used a KitchenAid 6qt stand mixer for many years, and this GE stand mixer offers a number of convenience improvements. First, GE's built in scale is fantastic. You can precisely measure ingredients in grams or ounces directly within the mixing bowl. It is both convenient and accurate. Second, everything is dishwasher safe. The attachments are all dishwasher safe, and since the built in scale negates the need forseparate measuring bowls you also have less to wash. Third and finally, the attachments are very simple to use. Quick connect and disconnect and smooth operation.However, there are some drawbacks too. The heavy weight of the mixer (~40lbs) means it is not portable. Wherever it sits in your kitchen is where it will stay. However, the heavy weight also makes it very stable for mixing and kneading dough. Since this is a smart mixer, there is an app and it can connect to yournetwork. I'm wary of this. Big IT companies are already victims of security breaches and hacks, and I don't see a good reason to have this mixer online. The app lets you monitor the mixer, but you can't remotely start mixing. (This would be a very bad idea anyway.) GE advertises smart sensing for app based recipes so the mixer knows when something is sufficiently mixed, but overall its clunky to use. Foregoing the online feature means the autosense functionality is disabled, unfortunately. I'm also not confident the app will stay updated and relevant for the life of the mixer, assuming this mixer lasts as long as our old KitchenAid.And finally, there's the price consideration - this mixer is expensive. It offers great convenience, but is the convenience worth $200 over the KitchenAid? If you use the smart features and autosense, I think it is worth the premium. But if you plan to stay offline, it is hard to justify the convenience advantages for that price.