It boils water. And it looks red. Yay
Update: the tea filter broke and thus the auto shutoff as well (fix this with a towel on the top of the kettle). There’s a fragile plastic rod that attaches to either a string or a spring that controls the tea filter’s mounting. It broke for me and just flopped downwards instead of shutting the kettle. Managed to get a replacement, but I wouldn’t get this exact model.
Why does a kettle need firmware?! It does one thing. Heat water. It turn electricity on when water is below a temperature.
Unless physics is getting updates on a regular basis, there is no good reason for a kettle to need anything except electricity.
I’m just throwing out there homekit integration and automation. You can open your door home from work and the kettle starts boiling. Or heats up before you get downstairs for morning coffee.
Niche, but not useless.