7 Best Smart Toilets of 2023, Tested by Experts

Jan 05, 2024

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Heated seats and spray-wash features are replacing traditional thrones.

In May 2023, we checked the availability and pricing of our recommendations and added a new one: Toto's S550E Washlet.

Hate scrubbing the toilet? Always running out of toilet paper? Consider investing in a smart toilet or smart toilet bidet that does most of the cleansing for you.

Though smart toilets aren't as popular in the United States as they are abroad, these high-end commodes are making their way into more households, thanks to unique features that traditional home toilets don't have. In addition to offering handy functions like spray-cleansing and an air drying feature, many smart toilets are able to automatically flush the toilet after you're finished, as well as automatically close and open the lid, self-clean the toilet bowl after every flush and heat the toilet seat. Some even have adjustable water and pressure settings and the ability to store user preferences for the most comfortable and luxurious experience every time. Though smart toilets are a sizable investment and can cost anywhere between $1,000 and $7,000, the extra bells and whistles may certainly be worth it for your home.

Our engineers and home product experts at the Good Housekeeping Institute have tested bathroom products for decades, using quantifiable data to determine everything from the best toilet bowl cleaners and toilet brushes to the best showerheads and bathroom scales. To select the best smart toilets and bidets, we evaluated more than 24 models from 10 reputable brands, whittling down the list based on positive online reviews, our analysts' personal favorite models and top-performing brands we know have performed well in our previous tests. We then put several models to the test, vetting each on five key criteria: installation, ease of use, performance (cleansing and drying), feature set and design.

After our reviews, continue reading to find out whether a smart toilet is worth considering for your home, and check out our latest Home Renovation Awards for more expert-vetted product recommendations.

Though our experts haven't tested this particular model yet, in prior tests, we've found American Standard toilets to be of exceptional quality and come with abundant useful and intuitive features, and we expect this toilet to deliver the same.

Featuring a heated seat with five temperatures, adjustable water temperature, a warm-air dryer, auto-flush technology and multiple nozzles for a unique cleansing experience, there's a lot to like.We particularly appreciate that the toilet seat automatically opens and closes (no more leaving the toilet seat up!) and that there's a soft light to guide you in the middle of the night.

There's also a convenient deodorizer to help clean the air in the bowl and keep things fresh. It may not come cheap, and the low-height design might be a deal-breaker for some, but this ultramodern smart toilet is a worthy investment for those looking for advanced features and increased comfort. Our pros are fans of the elongated shape, which means you have an oval-shaped design with several more inches for comfort and convenience — and a more contemporary aesthetic.

This smart toilet comes with many of the same great features as the more expensive options on the market.

Automatic flush, auto open and close, claimed air purification and a heated seat are just a few of them. Our experts like that you can choose from multiple wash options (posterior wash, feminine wash, etc.) and that the included touch screen remote can be either handheld or wall-mounted for ease of use.

To help ensure a simple and effective setup, our home-improvement pros advise taking note of the specifications, the location of the angle valve on the toilet and access to a power supply.

If you're looking for the biggest savings on your water bill, this smart toilet beats the others by a mile, using, at most, one gallon of water per flush. Such high efficiency will cost you, but this luxurious smart toilet offers other delightful features, such as multiple customizable cleansing options, adjustable temperatures, two user memory settings, an easy-to-access wall-mounted remote control, an automatic open and close seat and auto flush.

Rothman has tested dozens of toilets in the past two years (and countless more in the preceding decade-plus), and while she hasn't yet tested this model, she feels confident recommending it. The brand constantly gets top scores in our tests and has time and time again proved its durability and high-quality flushing capabilities.

Sleek and compact, this smart toilet from Kohler will look minimalist in any bathroom.

We love that it comes with a self-cleaning wand, air dryer, adjustable temperature settings, hands-free seat opening and closing and an LED light that illuminates the bowl at night. The single-flush toilet, certified by the Environmental Protection Agency's WaterSense program, uses only 1.28 gallons of water per flush, which is on par with most smart toilets featured on our list.

Though we're longtime fans of Kohler toilets in general, our experts did note that the instructions they were able to find weren't as helpful as other instructions for installation purposes.

The Japanese manufacturer Toto invented the bidet-style toilet seat in 1980, and the company remains a market leader today, with a reputation for innovation and reliability.

Dan DiClerico, director of the Home Improvement & Outdoor Lab at the Good Housekeeping Institute, tested the Washlet at his home in Brooklyn, New York. "For all its high-tech wizardry, the seat was very easy to install, taking under 30 minutes," he says. The feature-rich, remote-controlled unit takes some getting used to (DiClerico likens it to mastering a new universal remote for your entertainment center), but once you're there, the experience is transformational. "Lots of giggles from the kids at first, but now they're hooked," he says, adding that "a little toilet paper is still often needed at the end, if only as a spot-check." The heated seat, night-light and water temperature controls are family favorites, as is the pre-mist feature that helps keep waste from sticking to the bowl.

Keep in mind, however, that in addition to the steep up-front cost of a luxury bidet seat like the Washlet, luxury bidet seats also use more energy and water. The device's energy-saving features will help reduce those costs, "though that's another thing to think about, whereas before the Washlet, remembering to raise and lower the toilet seat was about all I had to remember," DiClerico says. Still, he doesn't see going back to being a toilet paper-only household anytime soon.

Designed by renowned industrial and interior designer Philippe Starck, Duravit's Sensowash Starck F model is sleek and modern and can be hung on the wall to save space.

Unlike other toilets in the category, its features can be operated via remote control or an app on your phone that allows you to program profile settings. Plus, this smart toilet offers automatic open and close, auto flushing, various washing settings, a heated seat, a warm-air dryer and more. "I love the style and design of the toilet, which is spectacular to look at," says the general manager of the Good Housekeeping Institute Laurie Jennings, who installed the Sensowash in her home. "The bidet for back and front really delivers a sense of clean that you might find surprising at first, but then really love. The nightlight feature is cool, and the powerful heated seat is next-level awesome." She also appreciates the wall-mount, robust remote control and invisible bidet feature.

Rachel Rothman, the Good Housekeeping Institute's chief technologist and executive technical director, notes while wall-hung toilets are still relatively novel in the U.S. consumer market, the style has been around for decades and is particularly great for urban dwellers or others who are tight on space. However, the installation is more complicated because it requires opening the wall, rerouting the waste pipe and possibly reconfiguring the wall studs. Keep in mind that this model needs to be plugged in so you'll need a power source nearby.

If you want to upgrade your toilet without having to replace it entirely, opting for a smart toilet seat, such as this one from Kohler, is a great option. Suitable for most elongated toilets, this high-quality seat comes equipped with a stainless steel wand with UV light for automatic sanitizing, along with other bidet features, such as various spray settings, a heated seat and a drying system.

Grace Wu, a GH Institute product reviews analyst, tested this seat and agrees that it's "simple to use and intuitive" and likes being able to program a series of her favorite settings — such as the temperature and position of the water — under two user presets. Though it's comparable to other bidet seats on the market, this one is "sturdy, comfortable and looks sleeker than other models, thanks to well-hidden circuits and wires," Wu says.

Our engineers and analysts have been testing smart home devices for more than two decades — even before they started to go mainstream in the early 2010s!

While we haven't tested all of the smart toilets featured on this list firsthand, our Lab has conducted comprehensive categorical tests and at-home reviews of toilets from Duravit, Kohler, Toto and American Standard.

We also looked at similar, albeit less sophisticated, units that have consistently performed and delivered in our tests. Finally, to round out our data analysis, we examined each toilet's price, features and style to select our list of the best smart toilets.

Smart toilets have now been around long enough that there's a breadth of options to choose from when finding the perfect model for your home. Here are the keys to consider:

✔️ Smart toilet vs. smart bidet seat: If you're tackling a bathroom remodel or willing to replace your existing commode, a smart toilet makes sense, since it will tie directly into the plumbing and deliver the cleanest look. But full-size toilets are expensive, often costing between $2,000 and $5,000. A smart bidet seat can be retrofitted to just about any toilet for fast, easy installation; there are even manually operated seats that don't require a power hookup. Bidet seats are less expensive, ranging from $500 to $2,000, but they don't deliver the fully integrated look and feel of a smart toilet.

✔️ Size and shape: As with standard toilets, smart toilets come in all shapes and sizes. There are two main shapes: rounded and elongated. If you're retrofitting a bidet seat, it will need to match the shape of your current toilet bowl. Our engineers also caution that if you have a one-piece toilet with little to no space between the toilet and tank, some bidet seats won't fit; measure the gap between the bowl and tank, and check that it meets your bidet's minimum requirements. If you're starting from scratch, our tests have found elongated bowls to be a bit more comfortable, while rounded bowls are more space-efficient.

✔️ Height: Many models come in "comfort height," usually between 17 and 19 inches, versus the 15 inches of traditional toilets. Those extra few inches make them easier to get on and off, which older homeowners or those with knee issues may appreciate.

✔️ Feature set: If this is your first smart toilet, you won't believe how far the humble commode has come. Here are the features that our experts say are worth it:

"There are varying levels of what constitutes 'smart,'" says Rothman. "For traditional smart home products, it usually means the device is connected, but in the sphere of smart toilets, it's more akin to offering advanced features."

Sometimes these come as add-ons; sometimes they're embedded in the toilet itself. Ultimately, Rothman defines a smart toilet as "any toilet that integrates technology to make it more capable and/or interactive, either with the user or with features."

Smart toilets offer a variety of advanced features that you won't find with a traditional toilet. Common features of smart toilets include:

Some smart toilets also offer sanitary features, such as hands-free flushing or automatic toilet lid closing; aesthetic touches like music or lighting; and sustainably minded technology, such as the ability to auto-detect the flush required, as a means to save water.

On average, you can expect to spend at least $1,000 for a high-quality smart toilet.

Rothman shares that "smart toilet pricing varies considerably depending upon the build quality of the toilet and special features," and some can even cost several thousand dollars. One major advantage of a smart toilet is that bidet cleansing features reduce the need for toilet paper use, saving you a few extra bucks a month.

Many smart toilets are low-flow models, meaning they use 1.28 gallons per flush, compared with the maximum allowed by law of 1.6 gallons. That helps offset the extra water the toilets consume during cleansing. Some smart toilets also come with self-sanitizing features, meaning that you don't have to clean your toilet bowl as frequently. (Though you'll still have to clean it, unfortunately.)

The major downsides of smart toilets are that "they do usually require more money up front and typically require different repair and maintenance expertise, which could end up costing you more in the long run," according to Rothman.

Another big difference between smart toilets and traditional models is that they need to be plugged in. "If you don't already have an electrical outlet behind the toilet, you'll need to pay an electrician a few hundred dollars to put one in," says DiClerico. And of course, the extra power consumption, especially on models with heated seats and water, will be reflected in higher electricity bills.

Media & Tech Reviews Analyst Olivia Lipski covers everything from consumer electronics to appliances, health, home and fitness. Olivia brings years of product review experience to the Good Housekeeping Institute and continues to stay on top of the industry's latest innovations to help readers make better buying decisions.

Rachel Rothman, chief technologist and executive technical director at the Good Housekeeping Institute, has a B.S.E. in mechanical engineering and applied mechanics with a mathematics minor from the University of Pennsylvania and has been at GH for over 14 years. She leads efforts for the constant evolution of GH's technical and testing protocols, responding to market drivers and growth opportunities.

She has led toilet testing for the GH Institute for the past decade, having flushed thousands of golf balls, Kool-Aid mixtures, tissues and more down hundreds of toilets. (Once, she even had the good fortune to test toilets with Property Brothers' Drew Scott.) Plus, she has three toddlers at home who have tried their best to clog the toilets being road-tested in her home.

Olivia (she/her) is a media and tech product reviews analyst at the Good Housekeeping Institute, covering tech, home, auto, health and more. She has more than five years of experience writing about tech trends and innovation and, prior to joining GH in 2021, was a writer for Android Central, Lifewire and other media outlets. Olivia is a graduate of George Washington University, with a bachelor's degree in journalism, political science and French, and she holds a master's degree in communications from Sciences Po Paris.

Rachel Rothman (she/her) is the chief technologist and executive technical director at the Good Housekeeping Institute, where she oversees testing methodology, implementation and reporting for all GH Labs. She also manages GH's growing research division and the analysis of applicants for the GH Seal and all other testing emblems. During her 15 years at Good Housekeeping, Rachel has had the opportunity to evaluate thousands of products, including toys and cars for GH's annual awards programs and countless innovative breakthroughs in consumer tech and home improvement.

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