Loved mine, until I didn't
Last night threw some pork chops on and seared them at 550. After moving the chops up when I tried to set the temperature the controller would cycle off, come up with the R and V numbers, cycle off and repeat. Unplugged it for 2 minutes, plugged it back in, same result. Unplugged it for 10 minutes, repeated and same results. It would come up at the 225 and seemed fine unless I tried to change temps. Was fine with any of the other functions. Unplugged over night, same issues. Back to the pellet pooper for the superbowl I guess.
The Good
When this works it is pretty much a set it and forget it. Amazed at how well it holds temperature as well as how accurate it is. The "smoke" is also incredible and being able to sear as well as smoke makes this unit worth the price point.
The Bad
As I have a MES 40 and a MES 30 I am familiar with Masterbuilts quality and construction so was not terribly concerned with what I saw. That being said the first time I cooked on it I ran a couple Chucks for six hours. Lump being what it is the design of the grate allowed a lot of small pieces to drop into the "ash bucket" filling it up 3/4 of the way with still burning coals which subsequently allowed enough heat to the door to burn the paint which resulted in the melting of the rubber gasket around the door. Needless to say that allowed extra air in which allowed the burn to move higher than it should which caused the paint on the hopper door to also burn. I personally don't need the app or really care about it but had the same issues with my android phone that everyone else has been having. The other "bad" which is really more of just a complaint is the terrible cord it comes with. Just don't really want to be BBQing with a cord that looks like it should be charging the wifes tooth brush.
The Ugly
As of today I have had this for a week as my wife picked it up for me last Friday for my birthday. A $500 price point for something I got to cook on 5 times in 6 days before it went south is...…. well in a word, crappy. It seems to me that this hit the market a little soon as I am not the only one having issues. Kinda like a car I guess, never buy one in the first model year.