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Meater Pro review: A pleasure to meat you

Life changing kitchen gadgets are a rare medium well done.

meater pro
Meater Pro
Our Rating
4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
5
Range
4 out of 5 stars
4
Expert testing
4.3 out of 5 stars
4.25

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Anula Wiwatowska
Jan 13, 2025
Icon Time To Read4 min read
Quick verdict: Meater Pro

An instant kitchen essential.

pro
Pros
pro Companion app is easy to use and legitimately useful
pro Super easy set up
pro Magnetic charging case is brilliant
con
Cons
con Interference can really mess with the Bluetooth
Meater Pro prob held in a hand with the wooden box stuck on a matte black rangehood in the background

The problem with being a foodie is that everyone is constantly buying you kitchen gadgets, but so few live up to their hype. Deep within the abyss of my second kitchen drawer you’ll find a wasteland of abandoned single-use tools, and novelty serving utensils. The minute a new tchotchke fails the useability test, I send it straight to its mass grave.

A gadget like the Meater Pro could easily have ended up with the same fate. A Bluetooth thermometer has a bunch of potential points of failure; set up could be too hard, it may not stay paired, the app could be a disaster, it could even be inaccurate and potentially dangerous. Yet, the Pro is none of these things. It is simple, smart, and instantly indispensable.

Meater Pro: Set up

Pairing the Meater Pro with your phone is easier than pairing a set of headphones. In the Meater app just tap set up a new device, and the Pro should automatically pop up. No pairing buttons required. Admittedly you do need to tap through a quick tutorial, which you don’t usually have to do with headphones, but it takes a few minutes and you’re good to cook.

Meater Pro: User experience

There are two main aspects of the user experience - the practical, and the digital within the app. Practically the Meater Pro isn’t complicated. It’s a stainless steel spike with a couple of markings to show you how deeply to push it into the meat. Most of the user experience happens on the app.

When you set up a cook, the app prompts you the whole way. You pick what meat you’re cooking, the cut, and how you want it cooked; rare, medium rare, medium, medium well, or well done. It uses USDA temperature standards to determine at what temp you’ll need to take your food off the heat and let it rest.

Throughout the process the app tracks both the internal temperature, and the ambient temperature around it. After a little while it can predict how much longer the cook will take, and sends you a five minute warning via a push notification. It also shows a little line chart tracking both temperatures, so if you really want to nerd out you can watch the correlation. If you’re cooking a brisket, the line chart of the stall is oddly entertaining.

Meater app UX flow

In my household resting time has always been a bit of a sticking point. I’m the person in the relationship with a cavalier relationship to food safety, while my partner is the opposite. It means we’ve always had a bit of a push and pull when it comes to meat readiness - while I’ve been known to say “ah close enough,” my partner always errs on the side of caution. Having precise temperatures beamed directly to my phone has helped balance this out, and also help me be right more often. So it’s a win, win.

I tested the Meater Pro with an iPhone 16 and a connected Apple Watch so I also got to benefit from the persistent UI in the Dynamic Island, and Watch notifications throughout. Like tracking an Uber, the Dynamic Island UI shows you the current temperature and how long it thinks until the final destination - deliciousness.

Meater Pro: Bluetooth range

Equipped with Bluetooth 5.2 Coded PHY Long Range, the Meater Pro should be able to connect from up to 75 metres away, but that is assuming there is no interference. During testing I found that cooking inside the house was fine. No matter where I went my phone and the Pro remained paired, but outdoor cooking was a bit trickier.

As soon as I put a brick wall between the Pro and my phone, the range dropped down to around 10 metres before cutting out. For the most part this wasn’t a huge issue. You don’t really need eyes on the temperature 100% of the time, but when you get down to the pointy end of the cook it gets annoying. Sitting at the table with friends on Christmas Eve I found myself holding my phone up Lion King style to try and keep tabs on those last few degrees.

Still though, I could sit at the table. I didn’t have to excuse myself every 5 minutes to check on the meat, or stand idly in the yard away from everyone else. Regardless, for those with a big property, or spaces with thick walls who like to cook outside, it may be better to opt for the WiFi version.

How much does the Meater Pro cost?

An individual Meater Pro retails for $249, but you’ll save some money buying in bundles if you need more than one. The Meater Pro Duo, which comes with two probes will set you back $399, while the Meater Pro XL with four probes costs $649. That is the equivalent of $199.50 or $162.25 per probe, respectively.

Is the Meater Pro worth it?

It only took one dish for me to fall in love with the Meater Pro. Technical aspects aside, the resulting meat consistently comes out tender, and perfectly coloured to the style that I’m after. Whether it’s a medium rare steak, chicken thighs on the pan, lamb falling off the bone over charcoal, or chops on the BBQ, the Meater Pro came through.

Couple results like that with a user-friendly design, and smart tracking options and I can’t imagine cooking without it anymore.

Anula Wiwatowska
Written by
Anula is the Home and Lifestyle Tech Editor within the Reviews.org extended universe. Working in the tech space since 2020, she covers phone and internet plans, gadgets, smart devices, and the intersection of technology and culture. Anula was a finalist for Best Feature Writer at the 2022 Consensus Awards, and an eight time finalist across categories at the IT Journalism Awards. Her work contributed to WhistleOut's Best Consumer Coverage win in 2023.

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