GeoSmartPro Air Fryer Review: Not Smart Enough

What can you add to an air fryer to encourage people to allocate some of their limited kitchen counter space to it? Some manufacturers opt for other cooking methods, such as the rotisserie or grill function. But this is not the only way to go.

When I was testing the GeoSmartPro, I mentioned to a colleague that I was having trouble connecting an air fryer to my Wi-Fi.

He immediately responded, “Why does an air fryer have to be online?

That’s a reasonable question, and a reasonable answer would be: it’s not. But this creates a difference between a device and competing models. Less cynically, this opens up new possibilities, such as remote operation, cooking alerts sent to your phone, and in-app recipes with automatic cooking times.

The GeoSmartPro isn’t the first smart air fryer we’ve tested. We also looked at the more budget-friendly models, the Xiaomi Mi Smart Air Fryer and the Proscenic T21. But to get the smart features of the GeoSmartPro, you’ll have to pay more. So, are they worth it?

Design and build

• 8 liter capacity
• Touch screen
• Shake alert but no keep warm setting

It’s strange to think that something as modern as an air fryer could have a traditional shape, but it does. Most original air fryers were cylindrical, with a single sliding drawer, which is pretty close to the construction of the GeoSmartPro.

It is a large, chunky appliance (39.9 x 30 x 30.5 cm), with rounded edges and a bright LED screen on the front, above a single cooking space. drawer. The door has a glass panel and the oven has interior lighting so you can see how your food is turning out.

It only comes in black, like most air fryers, which means it will look like an imposing presence on a counter.

The GeoSmartPro has an 8 liter capacity, which means you can use it to prepare a family-sized portion of food. You can also purchase accessories including silicone baking molds and liner, as well as baking sheets for cakes, although these accessories can be expensive.

Inside, it has a non-stick coating and comes with a ventilated tray for the base, which can also be placed higher in the drawer for smaller portions of food. Setup is easy. Simply attach the drawer handle and wash and dry the interior of the cooking compartment. The basket and tray are dishwasher safe, but as with all air fryers, we don’t recommend putting them in the dishwasher too often.

It’s controlled via a touchscreen with buttons for time/temperature (which you then adjust via the + and – buttons), start/pause, power and a menu button. There are eight cooking preset icons, but you can’t choose them by tapping the icon itself – you’ll have to use the menu button and scroll, which isn’t as convenient.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

It doesn’t have a keep warm function, but if your food needs to be turned or shaken mid-cooking, it will beep to alert you.

If smart features are enabled, it will even send a text alert to your phone, although it’s wordy and oddly translated: “Turn the pot to call back.” The food has been cooked for a while. Please confirm the cooking status of the food in time and turn the pan/side of the food reasonably.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

The alert might as well have read: “Shake.”

The air fryer emits a loud beep each time you press a button, or to let you know when to shake or flip your food, and a series of five beeps when the cooking program is finished. The beeps are loud enough to be heard from the next room, which is good news when you’re in the next room – let alone when you’re standing right next to the device. There is no option to disable it.

Application, performance and features

• Eight presets for different types of food
• In-app recipes can be hit or miss
• Doesn’t produce the crispiest results

Many air fryers have presets such as bake, roast, air fry, dehydrate – useful because they focus on the desired cooking result. This is not the case with the GeoSmartPro. Instead, its presets specify food types: chicken thigh, steak, fish, cake, pizza, sausage, chips, bacon.

The problem is deciding on a setting if you want to cook something not specified in the list above. There is some help in the manual, which has a chart of suggested cooking times and temperatures, but it is quite vague and not very comprehensive.

This is where its Smart Recipe feature should, in theory, come in handy.

The GeoSmartPro app has 60 from-scratch recipes that you can browse and follow. Most are simple dishes like baked potatoes, grilled cheese, egg toast, or pita pizza, but a few are more complicated, like berry turnovers.

Once you have prepared the dish according to the instructions, put it in the air fryer. Then tap “Start” at the bottom of the recipe page in the app, and the correct cooking time and temperature will be chosen.

Nice in theory. Things start to fall apart, however, when you realize that some recipes don’t involve an air fryer at all, like that for Wild Mushroom Sauce, which requires the use of a frying pan, whisk and a hob – but no air fryer. Mmmm. Air fryer sauce. It’s astonishing that he’s here.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Obviously, we would expect to see included recipes optimized for air fryer cooking. That’s why it’s also curious that some recipes specify that you preheat the air fryer – yet the GeoSmartPro doesn’t have a preheat setting.

The smart features don’t seem well thought out or usefully integrated into its functionality. And the recipes themselves are hit or miss.

The first clever recipe I tried was for potato wedges – and it revealed a key problem with the air fryer. I made them precisely according to the recipe and started the air fryer using the app. When they were done cooking, they seemed perfectly cooked – but they weren’t crispy at all. The recipe suggests that for crispier results you should add another 5-10 minutes of cooking time. So I did it. Five minutes later, the resulting wedges were blistered and slightly overdone – and still not crispy.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

The next clever recipe I tried was for roasted potatoes, again using the suggested time and temperature. The result was the same. They were cooked well but not crispy. In an effort to make them crispy, I cooked them longer and ended up with another undelicious waste of potato.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

But if you cook foods with less moisture, like cheese toast, you’ll get crispy, crunchy results. Typical beige air fryer foods, like nuggets and fries, also come out pretty well. Don’t be fooled by clever recipes.

Pricing and availability

The real problem with the GeoSmartPro Air Fryer is its price. With an RRP of £189.99 and an everyday price of £169.99, this is one of the most expensive air fryers we’ve tested. You can purchase it on Amazon or directly from GeoSmartPro.

While it has a large 8-quart capacity, it’s not as huge as an air fryer oven, nor is it multi-functional, nor does it have a dual drawer – like the more expensive models we’ve tested. To see which air fryers have these features and all of our top recommendations, take a look at our roundup of the best air fryers we’ve tested.

Should you buy the GeoSmartPro Air Fryer?

The GeoSmartPro is spacious and easy to use. Its smart features can also come in handy if you want to receive alerts on your phone when your food is cooked, rather than listening to a distant beep, or if you want the ability to set up the air fryer remotely. Keep in mind, however, that remote operation is limited in its usefulness by the fact that you have to put the food in the appliance first – and it’s not a good idea to leave most things at temperature ambient for a very long time.

That leaves the smart recipes, which aren’t really as smart as they should be.

Overall, it’s a bit overpriced for what it offers, and if you want one, we recommend waiting until the price drops before purchasing.