Anova Precision Cooker Nano

This smart sous vide is slightly slower at heating water and doesn't have a Wi-Fi connection, but what it does have going for it is its great size, price, and precision. Most importantly, you have the option of controlling the user-friendly Nano either through your smartphone (via Bluetooth) or through its touchscreen display.

Anova Precision Cooker Nano

Versatile and precise

Affordable

User-friendly

Precise temperature control

Bluetooth enabled

Touchscreen display

No Wi-Fi connection

Less power and slower at heating water

Fixed clamp

Breville Joule Sous Vide

The Breville Joule Sous Vide is what you think of when it comes to smart kitchen gadgets. It's sleek and compact, doesn't have a display, and comes with a magnetic base. Though the Joule isn't cheap, it's perfect for anyone who wants an accurate and extremely powerful device that can be operated while running errands.

Breville Joule Sous Vide

Innovative and powerful

Powerful

Small, sleek, and compact size

Precise temperature control

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enabled

Magnetic base

Expensive

No physical display

A powerful and accurate sous vide machine is essential to sous vide cooking, a popular technique that slowly cooks vacuum-sealed food in a temperature-controlled water bath to achieve evenly cooked, tender, and flavorful results. You can actually make this lengthy (yet rewarding) process easier with a smart sous vide simply by connecting it to your phone and letting it work its magic while you leave the kitchen and relax.

Two of the best smart sous vide machines available today are small, powerful, accurate, and connected: the Anova Precision Cooker Nano and the Breville Joule Sous Vide. The affordable Anova Precision Cooker Nano is best suited for sous vide beginners looking for flexibility. The more expensive Breville Joule is for someone who wants a modern yet mighty product.

Anova Nano vs. Breville Joule: What's the difference?

At first glance, the Anova Precision Cooker Nano and the Breville Joule Sous Vide might seem similar. Both are small and compact and will easily fit in your kitchen drawer—though the Joule is two inches smaller and half a pound lighter.

Each has excellent temperature accuracy within 0.2 degrees Farenheight, guaranteeing reliable cooking results. And both have a super sleek design, though one's white and the other's black. But that's not the only difference between these two products. Let's take a closer look at what really sets these two top sous vide machines apart.

The Anova Precision Cooker Nano and the Breville Joule Sous Vide are distinct when it comes to power—the Nano has 750 watts, while the Breville Joule has an impressive 1000 watts. What this really means is that the Breville Joule will heat water in a pot much faster than the Anova Nano. If you're new to sous vide cooking, you may not even notice that the Anova Nano is slower, but if you plan to use your sous vide frequently, power isn't something that should be overlooked.

Anova Nano vs. Breville Joule: Getting connected

A major difference between these sous vides is that the Anova Nano is Bluetooth enabled, while the Breville Joule has Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. This plays a role if you have a busy lifestyle and absolutely love the idea of starting up your sous vide while you're at the gym or commuting home from work.

With the Joule, this dream is a reality, and you can control your Joule remotely. And with the Joule app's "visual doneness" feature, you can even pick how you want your food to look before you've started cooking. For some, these features will make the Joule feel extremely easy to use, while others might find it more complicated than necessary. I live to see the day my mom successfully pairs a Joule to her iPhone.

Though you can pair the Anova Nano to your phone via Bluetooth and operate it from the Anova culinary app—home to the world's largest collection of sous vide recipes—you won't be able to move quite as far away as with the Joule. But the Anova Precision Cooker Nano has something the Joule doesn't: flexibility and a physical display. If you're not particularly tech-savvy and don't want to rely on an app while cooking, you can operate the Anova Nano through its intuitive touchscreen display (and stop worrying about your phone falling into a pot of water). Having both screen options makes this device easy to use for everyone.

Anova Nano vs. Breville Joule: Getting attached

Another difference to note between the Anova Nano and the Breville Joule is how they attach to a pot and how much water they require. The Breville Joule only needs 1.5 inches minimum of water to function, while the Anova Nano needs a minimum of 2.5 inches. This makes the Breville Joule faster and easier to use for quick projects that don't need too much water.

When it comes to attaching to a pot, the Joule is also a step ahead. It has a clip and a unique magnetic base that attaches to metal cooking pots so that it stands upright, whereas the Anova Nano has a fixed clamp that could be more of a hassle when initially setting up. The Joule's set up is pretty seamless, assuming that the base works with your pot.

Anova Nano vs. Breville Joule: Which should you buy?

The Joule is my top pick by far when it comes to smart sous vide machines, which is probably why it's also a best smart kitchen product. Though it's more expensive than I'd like it to be, its advanced tech features and the ability to control it away from home are well worth it. For anyone who doesn't mind connecting the Joule to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and operating it via a smartphone, this device is easy to use and easy to set up with its magnetic base.

I also appreciate that the Joule is smaller, lighter, and can easily fit into a kitchen drawer. As someone with a tiny NYC kitchen, I'm a huge advocate for eliminating clutter and putting away gadgets. This extremely powerful sous vide machine is ideal for anyone who likes the Joule's minimalist design and won't miss having a physical display, but won't take anything less than the best results.

The Anova Precision Cooker Nano, on the contrary, will speak to those who are looking for a sous vide that's more versatile and not entirely smartphone-dependant. This device will be much easier to use than the Joule if pairing devices and cooking via an app isn't your thing. It's also nearly half the price and an excellent pick if you're just getting started in sous vide cooking and not ready to invest quite so much. But whichever device you pick, know that both smart sous vide machines are easy to use, precise, and guaranteed to revolutionize the way you cook. They'll also help you make some pretty amazing dinners at home and get some compliments while you're at it.

Breville Joule Sous Vide

Compact and connected smart sous vide for the modern home chef
This powerful little device is compact enough to fit in your kitchen drawer while still delivering precision. Some might dislike the Joule's high price or lack of a physical display, but others will revel in its quality, advanced tech features, sleek design, and magnetic base.

Anova Precision Cooker Nano

Easy-to-use smart sous vide that's perfect for beginners
The Anova Precision Cooker Nano is small, accurate, and comes at an affordable price. Though it can't connect to Wi-Fi, you can still operate it via the Anova culinary app or through its physical display. But one key drawback of the Nano is that it's not as powerful, meaning it'll take a bit longer for water to come to temperature.