Beyond Appliances Eris review: Smart Android chimney with strong suction under Rs 20000

A few months back, I visited the Beyond Appliances factory near Delhi and saw the assembly lines and processes involved in manufacturing chimneys. Later, the brand sent us a review unit of one of its key products: the Beyond Appliances Eris chimney, which is called India’s first Android chimney. It has a phablet-sized touchscreen above the suction area that runs on Android and comes with quick controls, cooking guides, and even a full-fledged app library, including YouTube, Spotify, and popular OTT apps. My family has been using the chimney for a month or so now, and I have a bunch of thoughts about this thing.

If you are thinking of installing a chimney in your kitchen and have a budget of under Rs 20,000, I think you should read about my experience with the Beyond Appliances Eris chimney. Here’s everything you need to know regarding the installation, using the chimney in the hot Delhi summer, whether that screen makes sense, and what it was like to have a phone-like screen hovering over our cooktop.

Eris chimney: Installation and ducting

The Eris chimney came in first, and upon intimation, the brand sent a technician for installation. If your kitchen doesn’t have a duct opening, you’ll need to have one installed before calling in the Beyond Appliances technician. If you don’t want to or can’t create a ventilation opening, you can consider Cube, a ductless chimney from the brand.

The technician unboxed and mounted the chimney on the wall without our help. If needed, you can offer a hand to lift the chimney. It will be convenient for you and the technician if you vacate the area beneath or cover the cooktop and other items present there. This would allow for easy cleaning of the dust from the drilling in the installation process. This part of the experience could differ based on the technician and the ducting layout.

For our setup, we repurposed the exhaust opening, so no hammer and chisel were required. The required ducting length was also short. A proper ducting with fewer bends is advisable to maintain airflow efficiency and keep noise levels in the house under control. Also, if the duct is just above the chimney, the duct hole and pipe can be hidden behind a bundled black metallic enclosure.

Eris chimney: Design and screen

Eris is a slant-style chimney with a black glossy finish. I can’t lie, it is a looker, and even in our modest kitchen setup, it adds a modern charm. It should easily blend in with modular kitchens, especially darker countertop setups. Since it isn’t too heavy, you should be able to easily unmount and reinstall it.

As a chimney placed above the cooktop or hobtop, over a period of usage, it collects grime and oil residue. The good thing, however, is that this dirt isn’t visible easily. Only if you get very close to the chimney and rub with your finger will you see this.

The materials in use on the chimney and duct pipe are good. We tested the 60 cm variant, which is suitable for cook/hobtops with 3 or fewer burners. It doesn’t take up too much space. The slant design offers ample headroom for the person standing in front of the cooktop.

And for people standing next to the cooktop, the Eris chimney offers light through a built-in lamp on it. This is present above the suction inlet. Thanks to this, you don’t have to always put on a different tube light or bulb in the kitchen. One minor gripe I have with the lamp is that it stays on by default, and the only option to toggle it off was in the homescreen of the Android screen. That means you have to switch on the screen first to turn off the lamp.

Well, that 7-inch touchscreen is a big reason the Eris stands out from conventional options in the market. It is present above the suction inlet and the lamp, and shorter folks would struggle a bit to reach it. But if you can access it, its usage is somewhat similar to a phone/tablet. The touch response is serviceable, and the UI is user-friendly with touch-based buttons, knobs, sliders and easily graspable gesture controls. For controlling volume, jumping to the homescreen and opening the recents menu, there is a permanent floating translucent button on the screen. Tap it and access these controls. Nice. And the UI colours, contrast and font offer decent legibility.

In essence, you don’t have to keep a phone in the kitchen for entertainment and information. Earlier, my mom used to place her phone on a stand or lean it against any utensil. Well, that can be unstable and insecure. The phone could drop, or something could drop on the phone, and either way, the phone could get damaged. So the Beyond Appliances Eris acts as a relieving alternative for using smartphones in the kitchen.

Under the hood, this phone-like screen on the Eris chimney has Android 11 operating system and supports apps like YouTube, Spotify and recipe platforms. The older Android version is fine for a kitchen appliance. The chimney also has fairly loud speakers. So with that display and speaker setup, you can watch recipe videos while cooking, listen to songs, the news, or watch a movie, for all you care. You do not have to touch your phone with oily hands.

The Chef Connect section has some pre-built recipes with text and image-based guides. Navigating this wasn’t the smoothest experience, and you can see some typos, which suggests the brand can work more on polishing this feature. And every time you boot this Android OS, a pop-up window asking for access appears, which is a little annoying.

But, overall, the large touchscreen UI becomes the focal point of this appliance. Guests notice it instantly. And it is a handy thing to have while cooking in the kitchen.

Also Read: Hisense Intelli Cool Pro 1.5 ton AC review: Reliable cooling with reasonable smarts

Eris chimney: Suction performance and cooking experience

Eris performs well. My parents weren’t very big believers in a chimney. But lately, I have seen them putting it on frequently. At 1500 CMH, the suction is genuinely powerful. It quickly sucks smoke and steam from frying pans, kadai, and cookers. Using it led to less smell, also. Mind you, we were using the Eris during the hot Delhi summer in a kitchen involving basic boiling, steaming and frying things multiple times a day to deep-frying snacks and cooking heavy masala dishes for lunch or dinner.

The Eris chimney offers multiple speed levels, and for most daily cooking, the middle setting was enough. You can use the highest mode for intense cooking sessions, but this one can be noticeably louder. Premium chimneys with BLDC motor may produce even less noise.

For a better experience, I figure you may switch on the chimney as soon as cooking begins, so that the smoke doesn’t accumulate.

You can tap the fan hotkey (touch-based) on the right side of the touch screen to control the speed. You can also control the fan speed on the homescreen of the touchscreen interface. There are three speed levels.

By the way, the touchscreen Android interface is off by default. When you turn on the chimney, it isn’t on. You have to manually activate it by tapping the power button on the left side of the touchscreen.

Unlike a baffle filter-based chimney here, grease gets collected internally and flows into an oil collector tray through the auto-clean mechanism. Still, you are advised to maintain the chimney regularly to avoid oil buildup. Cleaning the tray is easy. So, maintenance isn’t a problem.

That said, I do think Beyond Appliances could simplify the software experience further. Most people buying chimneys primarily care about suction, reliability and maintenance. OTT apps on a chimney feel more like a bonus than a necessity.

There is also the long-term durability question. Kitchens are hot, greasy and humid environments. The screen survived our testing period without issues, but durability over several years will matter more than first impressions. Beyond Appliances does include physical touch controls as backup, which is reassuring.

Should you buy Beyond Appliances Eris chimney?

After using the Beyond Appliances Eris for over a month, I can say it is not just another chimney with an Android screen attached to it. This screen does add value, as you can use it to follow recipes, listen to music or watch videos while cooking or otherwise. My family, particularly my mother, who is not tech-savvy, ended up using the screen more than I initially expected.

At the core, the chimney does its primary job well. The suction power is effective in quickly clearing smoke and steam. The fan noise from its operation is manageable. The slant design also offers good headroom and doesn’t feel intrusive while cooking.

The Android experience is passable for a kitchen appliance, but it needs a bit more polish. Coming from fast phones and other devices, this UI feels a tad slow. Some of its features, like Chef Connect, could use further refinement. Since Beyond Appliance is approaching kitchen appliances from a technology perspective, my task is not just to judge the chimney’s performance, but also to point out these quirks. And after a long-term use, only I will be able to tell you how well that touchscreen UI ages in the hot, humid and greasy kitchen environment.

You see, if your priority is simply getting a chimney, there are several other options in the market with different tiers of features, performance, brand recall and service support. But, at Rs 18,999, the Eris makes sense if you are already looking for a premium chimney and like the idea of having entertainment and recipe guidance built directly into the appliance. The screen is not something I would buy the chimney for on its own, but after living with it, I can see its appeal. Now in time, I will see if the novelty wears off and whether I actually keep using it regularly.

Keep reading Digit.in for similar stories.

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