6 Of The Most Returned Tech On Amazon

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Buying technology online can be a tricky ordeal. When ordering a gadget from Amazon, it can be helpful to rely on customer reviews to know if the product is good or have issues. You know there's a big problem with an item if you see the "Frequently Returned" banner at the bottom of the product description. That banner only appears if an overwhelming number of customers have returned it in a short amount of time, and those products go back to Amazon (we did learn what happens to those items when they go back). There are several types of technology from Amazon that are frequently returned, even if they're not listed.

We've scoured the marketplace website to track down the most infamously returned pieces of technology from customers. The reasons behind why they were returned may surprise you, but they're significant problems to consider if you want grab these products yourself. These are the 6 most returned tech items you can find on Amazon.

Standard, Ultrawide, and Curved Computer Monitors

Computer monitors are a tricky piece of technology, and they can be hit or miss for your computer setup. As these become more advanced, they also become more fragile, with a higher chance of being damaged or not arriving in perfect condition. There are multiple reasons this delicate piece of technology might need to be returned shortly after you receive it. You might open the box to find that there's a chip or crack in the screen, there's a side with dead pixels, or the back panel might be damaged from the delivery trip. These problems have a high chance of happening while on a delivery truck, especially if the packaging is not protective enough. The CRUA 34" Curved Gaming Monitor suffers from these issues, as customers have received it with dead pixels or damaged when they've arrived.

Even if the delivery trip was perfect, a monitor might be defective. You might find that there are dead or stuck pixels on the side of the monitor, screen flickering, or significant backlight bleeding. There can be cosmetic problems, like it might be too big for your desk, or you might not enjoy the picture quality after trying it for yourself. The LG 39-inch Ultragear WQHD suffers from this, as customers returned it to false advertising and fuzzy text. If you're looking for an ultrawide monitor to add to your desk, we recommend three cheap options that are worth buying.

Sennheiser Wireless Headphones and Earbuds

Wireless headphones and earbuds can be problematic items to purchase. For many customers, the Sennheiser wireless headphones and earbuds are an exceptionally bad product, and many frequently find themselves returning these items for replacements or to get their money back. Customers not only dealt with the risks and traditional problems that come with buying Bluetooth headphones, such as the Bluetooth signal no longer working, disconnections, or audio lag, but also these headphones' audio was poor and poorly insulated. The inadequate insulation forced customers to turn up the volume as loud as possible, and only receive a fraction of the quality they expected. This problem occurred with the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless, which also upset customers with its automatic features and movement anticipation. They automatically turn off when you take one speaker off an ear.

Others encountered issues with the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 earbuds, where customers ran into connection issues and sound quality problems. One customer had their right earbud malfunction shortly after buying it, to the point where it wouldn't charge anymore, play music, or connect to their smartphone. There are multiple customer reviews sharing how bad the connection problems are, along with it only connecting to certain devices and not others, not being able to filter background sounds during calls, and the overall price of these earbuds. Many recommend avoiding Sennheiser entirely, and if you're on a budget, there are cheap wireless earbuds that you can try.

Impulse Heat Sealer

A more specific gadget frequently returned on Amazon is the Impulse Heat Sealer, which could be highly beneficial to someone if it worked as intended. It's supposed to be a plastic sealer, where you place one end of a plastic bag into the feeder, and it uses the heat from this side to seal the bag. For many customers, unfortunately, the gadget didn't work as specifically advertised. Some found that the handle wouldn't heat properly, and they were unable to seal the plastic bags they were trying to use with it. Others found that they had to place it on a particular setting, as it would only work if they cranked it up to five or above.

There are other customer reviews with even worse functional problems. Several received it and found that the heat sealer was dead immediately, as it wouldn't work after they plugged it into an outlet. Others found that when they used it, it melted the base of their unit, which may have occurred because of the number of bags they wanted to seal. Still, the fact that it would only work for a short time doesn't sit well with them, and they needed to return it. Multiple customer reviews warn others that if they do plan to get this item, they should try it out for themselves to ensure it works before letting it sit past the return date. For those who want to make their kitchen smarter, we recommend 5 gadgets that can do that.

Smart Televisions

When you're looking to upgrade your living room, a Smart Television might seem like a good investment. However, for many on Amazon, this type of technology is frequently returned by customers who find an array of issues when it finally arrives at their homes. A common problem for many customers is that the television comes with a crack in it. A crack in a smart television, in any screen gadget, means it's not going to work as effectively as it could. You can try to look past it, but it all comes down to the crack, how new the item is, and it brings down the quality of your experience with it. For many, a crack in a smart television means it's time to return it and get a new one. It's a common issue for the Samsung 70-inch Class Crystal. 

There are customer reviews with additional problems, such as dealing with a slow screen, blown pixels and white blotches on it, green lines on the bottom of the screen, not connecting to their Wi-Fi, and there are multiple customers who had problems with using a smart television's remote control. These issues popped up often with the Panasonic W70 Series 65-inch. The idea of getting a smart television can be fun, but many find that stuffing so much technology into a device like that can be overwhelming. If you want a smart television, we've ranked the best smart TV brands you can choose from.

Specialized Coffee Machines

Coffee machines can range from a simple drip model to an expensive espresso machine that belongs in a coffee shop. For some, a specialized coffee machine is a desirable option, as it can be a good way to save money rather than paying for a single drink at an expensive, local business. However, these machines can run into a range of problems. There's the Hot & Iced Coffee Maker from Kidisle that customers don't recommend due to poor instructions, pods exploding, clogging up so it doesn't brew, or the machine stops working out of the blue.

Another problematic machine is the Braun BrewSense might look like a traditional drip coffee maker. It's advertised to have more flair than that, as you can use it to make a whole pot or smaller cups, while keeping your coffee warm for whenever you need it. Customers had issues ranging from the coffee maker continuing to brew past the set timer and clogs to the machine displaying frequent error codes that prevent it from being used. Although these machines want to go beyond a standard coffee maker, they cause more headaches than they make someone's morning easier. If you're looking for a coffee maker, we drank over 250 cups of coffee to find the best ones.

Wearable Body Cameras

Getting a wearable body camera for hiking, riding a bike, or any adrenaline-filled activity can be a lot of fun if you want to review the footage to share or grab pictures later. However, these devices can have a range of issues associated with them that you have to deal with. There can be a range of issues, especially in the image quality department. If it can't capture your entire footage well, it's not a camera you want to use while you're riding through a trail or jogging on a nature path. The Mini Body Camera from Meoilkolmn has several of these problems. where the application for the camera doesn't work well, it stops working after a few hours or days, has problems with the Wi-Fi connection, or has issues with image stabilization. For those who are trying to use it for catching sights while they move around erratically, image stabilization is a must-have, and a wearable camera might not be optimized appropriately when you get it.

Another wearable camera that customers returned often was the Waterproof Underwater Camera from SJCAM. Customers reported constant connection issues, that the application was glitchy, and the performance was subpar. Overall, knowing if these products are worth it can be tricky and they might fall short of expectations when put to the test.

Methodology

For all of the products featured on this list, they had to have the "Frequently Returned" banner on their Amazon page. This banner might have been featured with a specific product or a type of model from that page, but all were valid. After determining that the banner was there, we then browsed through and explored the customer reviews that mentioned they had returned these items, and why.

The reasoning for returning an item had to go beyond delivery issues, but those were valid, especially for the computer monitor and smart television screens. Those products were often returned to Amazon because of cracks in the screen or poor packaging protection. The additional problems had to be with the products themselves, ranging from faulty issues that could happen to other products in this category. Additionally, we had to see this problem mentioned by several customers, not only one-off ones, and they had to be justified for wanting to return the item, or returning it to Amazon.

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