New Weber Genesis II EX-335 Smart Grill Review (Is this grill actually smart?)

Byamazingfoodstv


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You guys have all probably seen my full in depth review of the Genesis 335 gas grill, if not watch it here: You will see in this review, I would say the 335 series is my favorite gas grill in the genesis line up. I am not a fan of the other models that are more affordable. I just think its a good spot for the price along with features and quality. So I am really hoping that this new grill further improves on that.
Lets go over what upgrades you get with this grill compared to the regular 335.
You get back lit knobs, which to me are no the biggest deal in the world. You also get a handle light which again can just be purchased so not a big deal either. But of course the one feature we want to talk about is the new smart feature which gives us the full integrated weber hub or weber connect feature. Does it actually make your grill smarter?

The answer left me disappointed. This grill is not a smart grill. All the hub does is what any other 3rd party meat probe technology does, except its control panel is actually built into the side shelf. Which to me is a gimmick. There are a lot better third party guys that do a much better job in my opinion. My favorite being MEATER. I love their wireless meat probes. And its cheaper then paying for the “smart” feature here. All and all I am disappointed in the long awaited smart grill. To me its nothing more then marketing.

Save your money and buy the regular 335 if you want a weber. Otherwise check out our top 5 sellers and see what else is out there.

Don’t forget if your in the Denver Colorado Area.

7705 W 108th Ave
Westminster, CO 80021

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38 Comments

  4. Is that nice or what put electronics in a harsh environment along with high heat hot oil and shock it will not last plus in 3 years you can't get parts made in China. I have all JEN AIRE kitchen appliances and the oven has all that kind of crap and it screws up at least twice a year you would be a fool to buy that thing.

  10. I’m in the market for a new grill and I’ve been watching your videos for the last few days. I’ve always been all about Weber but I’m seriously thinking about getting a Napoleon pro 500 after watching you. Also you look like you could be brothers with Mitch at town and country ford in Alabama. Look him up if you don’t know who he is check out his channel town and country tv. You look just like him. Anyway thanks for the awesome videos.

  15. Its a risk management issue. Any disruption in wifi connectivity could render the grill unresponsive and suddenly become a fire hazard if you are not able to turn off or lower the heat remotely. Naturally you don't want to reinforce the idea that people can grill remotely. Its not a slow cooker. While there could be auto shut off built into these grills which would be smart, grilling inherently is a social activity meant to be done with friends and enjoying the process. I think Weber's implementation of smart grilling hits the right balance as you demonstrated in your update video. I have updated the review as well. Thanks

  19. I have the stand alone connect, got it 2nd hand for half the price and since I had some probes from before it's not a bad thermometer hub. I like that it can connect to wifi since I got good wifi coverage outdoor but horrible Bluetooth if I go indoor.
    Same with the meater, they also can connect to wifi with the meater block, but I like to have a probe just right over the grates to see the temp there.
    Yes, the meater also read ambient temp but depending on what you grill, the ambient it reads may not be right over the grates all the time.

  22. I bought this grill recently. I somewhat regret it and somewhat don't. I guess what I regret is not looking to find one used. For whatever reason a lot of people selling used weber grills for a fraction of cost of new. I was a die-hard charcoal guy but wife bought me small Weber spirit 3 years ago. I loved the durability of the grill. It sat outside, I almost never covered it and with a good cleaning every 6 months she bounced back to life. I replaced flavorizer bars once and burners once and she was good as new. But she never got hot enough. That spirit is hard to get temp up to 500 degrees. This genesis can easily go up past 700 degrees. I love that it's all stainless (grates, flavorizers deflectors) which should last much longer than the regular steel. Now the million dollar question, are the smart features a gimmick? Honestly, they aren't as much as a gimmick as one would think. I know we are all manly me. A d nobody can tell us anything and of course we know how to grill a steak by look and feel but sorry, I've eaten too many peoples over cooked steaks. This system seems to have some.algorithms or something that know how to account for the temp of the cooker and the temp of the food probe to adjust the cooking time accordingly. I've had it work really well cooking steaks where I always forget because I'm grabbing another beer or getting sidetracked and it has cooked the steaks perfect. I also had pretty good success doing a brisket too and not gonna lie, I went to a friend's house for 4 hours while I had ribs going and it worked flawlessly! My bottom.line is this. All BBQ grills are overpriced when you compare them to what you seem to easily find them for on the used market needing minimal parts replacement and this Weber is no different. The few extra features are worthwhile. I ran a brisket on this overnight and went out to check and the lighted knobs were great for seeing exactly where my y burner was at and the light on the handle was helpful as well. Those are useful features if you have this grill out camping or somewhere other than a well lit patio.i expect it to be durable like other Weber's and last 10-15 years so I look at those added costs as minimal. It just sucks because I'm probably gonna do a proper outdoor kitchen soon and if I sell this used I'll be lucky to get $400 for it

  27. Another great video. Thanks.

    When you said 'if this could control the heat' I was waiting for you to say 'then we would be cooking with gas'.

    It sounds like you have the Meater block. I am looking at that one. My wife asked if I wanted it for Father's Day. Mmmm. Intriguing. How many probes does a person need?

  35. I`m glad I saw this review because I was actually thinking of getting this. I ordered the SE-315 which is the upgraded SS version of the 3 burner Weber. No need for the sear station because the grill gets hot enough to sear, just takes a few minutes longer. Also no need for the sideburner. Now I can just add the Meater probes over the Igrill probe system.

  38. It's going to tell the temp of my meat probe anally!
    Now that's some clever marketing! LOL 😂
    On a more serious note. I love that you guys are real people! Not slick marketing guru's out to make a buck! You guys shoot your video. Yes you struggled with a few words, (so what) but you still told us your true opinion in the end. Therefore I subscribed to your channel. I don't need perfectly edited YouTube videos. I need truth about the products you are showing us and you provided that! Thank you!

    Weber makes an excellent product. But can we really say it's a just a gimmick? Calling it smart isn't very smart!

    I have a WiFi controlled GMG pellet smoker. It is a "Smart" smoker by design because as you said you can control the device. Attaching a battery powered thermometer doesn't make it smart.
    Pellet smokers require electricity, pellets, and some form of temperature control as a basic function of how they operate. So they have to be somewhat "Smart" from the get go. Adding WiFi to a pellet smoker isn't really a giant technological leap.

    Now, remotely controlling the flow of propane would be considered a technological leap for gas grills. But quite honestly it's nothing more advanced than how a smart thermostat remotely controls our HVAC system temperature within our homes remotely.

    Having said all that! Do I really need a "smart" gas grill? Not really! Gas Grills already easily maintain a consistent temperature! I suppose that it would be nice to be able to remotely monitor the internal temperature of what I am cooking, but I don't use a gas grill for long cooks like I do on a smoker. If I was cooking something for 12 to 17 hours on a gas grill than I would probably want to be able to control the temperature remotely. But even when smoking meats on a pellet smoker if there is a temperature change required usually there is also something you have to do with the meat you are smoking too. Such as wrapping the meat at the stall, or applying a sauce, etc..
    Even on a pellet smoker, the remote temperature control isn't really a necessary item.
    So, in my humble opinion a remote Internal meat temperature monitoring system is the only real smart feature anyone really needs on any cooking appliance.

    Therefore I can't really fault Weber for building into their gas grills a WiFi temperature monitoring system. I've owned many battery powered external thermometers over the years and their biggest flaw is trying to protect them when it starts to rain! So, considering all those details, in this case, it's actually "Smart" of Weber to build a WiFi enabled temperature probe monitoring system into the gas grill. As you said, It doesn't make their gas grill "smart" per se, but it definitely makes it easier to protect the Thermometer from the elements and Weber can make replacement sales for when their probes and thermometers eventually go bad. That's a smart marketing idea.

    Which I guess brings up a downfall I didn't think of until now to having a built in WiFi thermometer system. Leaving it outside every winter won't make it run better come spring! On the other hand my Pellet Smoker Thermometer system seems to make it thru the winter fine every year, so perhaps it's not a negative after all.
    Anyway, again thanks for the great review guys! 👍😊

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