Home & Kitchen
The Best Touchless Kitchen Trash Cans: 4 Compared (and One to Skip)
We compared four motion-sensor kitchen trash cans on sensor reliability, build, odor control, liner handling, power, and long-term value.
The short version
The simplehuman 58L is the definitive touchless kitchen can: a flawless sensor, optional voice control, heavy steel, a hidden liner pocket, and a warranty to match its flagship price. If that's more than you want to spend, the iTouchless 13-gallon is the value pick, with a responsive lid, a built-in odor filter, and a wide mouth. The Nine Stars is a legitimately cheap stainless option that works fine early on but tends to get flaky with age, so treat it as a budget or secondary can. Skip the Brightroom resin can, which charges near mid-range money for a plastic body and a sluggish sensor. Best for: most kitchens are best served by the iTouchless, while heavy daily users who want the best should buy the simplehuman.
The verdict in 30 seconds
What mattered most
- Sensor responsiveness & reliability
- Build quality & materials
- Odor control
- Liner / bag management
- Power
- Warranty & support
A touchless trash can lives or dies on two things: a lid sensor that opens when you want it and stays shut when you don't, and a body that still looks and works right two years in. We weighed a flagship, a value champ, a popular budget stainless, and a plastic pretender. Two are easy recommendations, one is a fine buy if you go in clear-eyed, and one we'd walk past.
The one that quietly does everything right, if you can stomach the price.
Best for: Anyone who wants a set-and-forget can for a high-traffic kitchen and treats it as a long-term appliance.
- Fast, accurate motion sensor plus optional voice control that owners report rarely misfires
- Heavy-gauge steel body with a hidden liner pocket and a built-in bag-tensioning rim that keeps trash bags from slipping
- Long multi-year warranty and easy-to-source proprietary liners; runs a long time between charges on a rechargeable dock
- Costs multiples of every other can here
- Locked into simplehuman's fitted liners for the cleanest look; standard bags work but bunch
Most of the flagship experience for a fraction of the outlay.
Best for: Value-minded buyers who want odor control and a roomy opening without paying flagship money.
- Responsive infrared lid with adjustable open time and a manual open/close override
- Built-in carbon odor filter genuinely dampens smells, a rarity at this price
- Wide opening swallows big bags; can run on batteries or an optional AC adapter
- Plastic lid module feels less substantial than the all-steel simplehuman
- Replacement odor filters are an ongoing consumable
A lot of stainless can for the money, if you don't ask too much of it.
Best for: Renters, dorms, garages, or a secondary can where low cost matters more than longevity.
- Genuinely inexpensive way into a stainless touchless can
- Simple, wide opening and a tall footprint that fits standard tall-kitchen bags
- Sensor works crisply when the batteries are fresh
- Owners report the sensor and lid motor becoming erratic after a year or two of daily use
- No odor filter, no inner liner bucket, and the thin lid feels tinny
- Eats disposable batteries; no AC option
Looks like a steel can from across the room, and that's about where the value ends.
Best for: Almost no one at its asking price; spend a little more on the iTouchless or a little less on the Nine Stars instead.
- Molded resin body won't show fingerprints the way brushed steel does
- Light and easy to move for cleaning
- Priced up near far better mid-range cans while delivering a plastic body and a budget sensor
- Owners note slow, hesitant lid response and quick battery drain
- No odor filter, no liner pocket; the stainless 'rim' is trim, not structure
| Criteria | simplehuman 58L Rectangular Sensor Can with Voice & Motion Control Top pick | iTouchless 13-Gallon Extra-Wide Stainless Steel Sensor Trash Can with AbsorbX Odor Filter | Nine Stars DZT-50-9 13.2-Gallon Automatic Motion Sensor Trash Can | Brightroom 13-Gallon Resin Motion Sensor Trash Can with Stainless Rim |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Buy it | Buy it | It depends | Skip it |
| Best for | Anyone who wants a set-and-forget can for a high-traffic kitchen and treats it as a long-term appliance. | Value-minded buyers who want odor control and a roomy opening without paying flagship money. | Renters, dorms, garages, or a secondary can where low cost matters more than longevity. | Almost no one at its asking price; spend a little more on the iTouchless or a little less on the Nine Stars instead. |
| Price tier | $$$$ · flagship | $$ · mid-range | $ · budget | $ · budget |
| Sensor responsiveness & reliability | Excellent, plus voice control | Very good, adjustable timing | Good when fresh, fades with age | Sluggish and hesitant |
| Build quality & materials | Heavy all-steel | Steel body, plastic lid module | Thin stainless, plastic lid | Resin body with steel-look trim |
| Odor control | Sealed rim; liner pocket | Built-in carbon filter | None | None |
| Liner / bag management | Hidden pocket + tensioning rim | Wide mouth, basic retention | Basic, bags can slip | Basic, bags can slip |
| Power | Rechargeable dock, long runtime | Batteries or optional AC | Disposable batteries only | Disposable batteries only |
| Warranty & support | Long multi-year | Multi-year | Limited | Limited store warranty |
| Capacity & footprint | Large, slim rectangular | Large, extra-wide | Large, tall rectangular | Large, tall rectangular |
| Price tier | $$$$ · flagship | $$ · mid-range | $ · budget | $ · budget |
Which one is right for you?
- Anyone who wants a set-and-forget can for a high-traffic kitchen and treats it as a long-term appliance. Buy it simplehuman 58L Rectangular Sensor Can with Voice & Motion Control
- Value-minded buyers who want odor control and a roomy opening without paying flagship money. Buy it iTouchless 13-Gallon Extra-Wide Stainless Steel Sensor Trash Can with AbsorbX Odor Filter
- Renters, dorms, garages, or a secondary can where low cost matters more than longevity. It depends Nine Stars DZT-50-9 13.2-Gallon Automatic Motion Sensor Trash Can
- Almost no one at its asking price; spend a little more on the iTouchless or a little less on the Nine Stars instead. Skip it Brightroom 13-Gallon Resin Motion Sensor Trash Can with Stainless Rim
How we judged the field
We don’t run our own lab. Instead, we synthesize independent testing, long-run owner reports, and patterns in aggregated customer feedback, then weight what actually matters day to day. For a touchless kitchen can, that comes down to a handful of things: how quickly and reliably the sensor opens the lid (and whether it stays shut when you walk past), how solid the body and lid feel and hold up over a year or more, whether it does anything about odor, how painlessly it manages a trash bag, how it’s powered, and what happens when something breaks. Price sits underneath all of it, because a cheap can that fails in a year isn’t cheap. The four here span the market from flagship to bargain-bin, and the spread in quality is wider than the spread in price would suggest.
simplehuman 58L Rectangular Sensor Can with Voice & Motion Control — buy
This is the can other cans are measured against. The motion sensor is fast and accurate, and the optional voice control (“open can,” “stay open”) is the rare gadget feature owners say they actually keep using because it seldom misfires. The body is heavy-gauge steel, the lid closes with a controlled, quiet motion rather than a slam, and a hidden liner pocket plus a bag-tensioning rim keep the bag taut and out of sight. It charges from a dock and runs a long time between charges, and it’s backed by a long multi-year warranty. The catch is the price: it costs several times what the others do, and the cleanest look assumes you’ll buy simplehuman’s fitted liners. For a busy kitchen where the can gets used dozens of times a day, owners consistently feel it earns the premium. For a guest bathroom, it’s overkill.
iTouchless 13-Gallon Extra-Wide Stainless Steel Sensor Trash Can with AbsorbX Odor Filter — it depends
Call this the value champion. The infrared lid is genuinely responsive, you can adjust how long it stays open, and there’s a manual override for when you want it open while you clean. The standout is the built-in AbsorbX carbon filter, which meaningfully cuts food odor and is almost unheard of at this price. The extra-wide mouth takes big bags easily, and you can run it on batteries or an optional AC adapter. It isn’t flawless: the lid module is plastic rather than steel, so it doesn’t feel as tank-like as the simplehuman, and the odor filters are a recurring consumable. But for most kitchens, this is the sensible buy, and it’s the one we’d steer the majority of readers toward.
Nine Stars DZT-50-9 13.2-Gallon Automatic Motion Sensor Trash Can — it depends
The Nine Stars is the cheap-stainless default, and for good reason: it gets you a tall, wide, touchless steel-look can for very little. When the batteries are fresh, the sensor snaps open crisply and it does the job. The honest caveats are about the long haul. Owner reports repeatedly describe the sensor or lid motor turning erratic after a year or two of daily kitchen use, the lid is thin and a bit tinny, there’s no odor filter or inner liner bucket, and it only runs on disposable batteries. None of that is disqualifying for a garage, a dorm, a rental, or a secondary can, which is exactly where it makes sense. As a primary kitchen can you’ll lean on every day for years, it’s a gamble.
Brightroom 13-Gallon Resin Motion Sensor Trash Can with Stainless Rim — skip
This is the one we’d leave on the shelf. From across the kitchen it reads as a modern steel can, but the body is molded resin with a thin stainless rim for looks, and the sensor is budget-grade. Owners note the lid responds slowly and hesitantly and that it drains batteries quickly. There’s no odor filter and no liner pocket. The real problem is price: it lands near what the far more capable iTouchless costs, while delivering less can. If your budget is tight, the Nine Stars gives you more for less; if you have a bit more to spend, the iTouchless is in a different league. The Brightroom is stranded in between with nothing to recommend it.
simplehuman vs iTouchless: which should you buy?
These are the two we’d actually put in a kitchen, and the choice is really about budget and how hard the can will work. The simplehuman wins on everything tactile: a faster and more reliable sensor, optional voice control, an all-steel body, a smarter liner system, a longer runtime, and a longer warranty. If you open your trash can dozens of times a day and plan to keep it for many years, it amortizes well and you’ll never think about it again. The iTouchless closes most of that gap for a fraction of the price. Its sensor is very good rather than best-in-class, its lid is plastic rather than steel, but it adds real odor control and a wide, forgiving opening. For the large majority of kitchens, the iTouchless is the smart-money pick; step up to the simplehuman only if you want the very best and the price doesn’t sting.
What to look for
- Sensor control, not just speed: the best cans let you adjust sensitivity and open time so the lid isn’t triggered by foot traffic or pets.
- Body material vs. price: steel should cost more than plastic; be wary of resin cans priced like steel ones.
- Odor handling: a built-in carbon filter and a well-sealed lid make a real difference if you toss food waste.
- Liner management: a hidden pocket or a bag-tensioning rim keeps bags from slipping and looks cleaner than a bag bunched over the edge.
- Power source: an AC option or a rechargeable dock spares you from constantly buying batteries.
- Warranty and parts: longer coverage and easy-to-source liners signal a can built to last.
Our final take
The simplehuman 58L is the best touchless kitchen can you can buy, and if it fits your budget it’s a genuine buy-it-for-a-decade appliance. But most people don’t need to spend that much: the iTouchless 13-gallon delivers a responsive lid, real odor control, and a roomy opening for far less, and it’s our pick for the majority of kitchens. The Nine Stars is a fair budget or backup can as long as you accept that its sensor may not age gracefully. The Brightroom is the one to skip, charging near mid-range money for a plastic body and a lazy sensor. Match the can to how hard your kitchen will use it, and buy from the top two.
Questions, answered
Do touchless trash cans go through batteries quickly?
It depends on the can. Budget models like the Nine Stars and Brightroom run only on disposable batteries and owners report replacing them fairly often with heavy use. The iTouchless can take an optional AC adapter to avoid batteries entirely, and the simplehuman uses a rechargeable dock that lasts a long time between charges.
Are stainless steel or plastic-bodied touchless cans better?
Steel bodies generally feel sturdier and hide dents better, though they show fingerprints. A plastic or resin body isn't automatically bad, but paying a steel-can price for a plastic one, as with the Brightroom, is poor value. Fingerprint-resistant stainless finishes, like those on the simplehuman and iTouchless, are the best of both worlds.
Why does the sensor sometimes open on its own?
Infrared sensors can trigger from passing foot traffic, pets, or a nearby wall or cabinet reflecting the beam. Better cans let you adjust sensitivity or the open-time window; cheaper ones don't, which is part of why the budget cans here feel less controllable over time.
Is odor control worth paying for?
If your can holds food waste, yes. A built-in carbon filter, like the iTouchless AbsorbX, and a well-sealed lid, like the simplehuman's, both meaningfully cut smell. The Nine Stars and Brightroom have neither, so odors escape more freely when the lid opens.
Will a standard trash bag fit, or do I need special liners?
All four accept standard tall-kitchen bags. The simplehuman is designed around its own fitted liners for the cleanest look and best bag tensioning, but ordinary bags still work; they just bunch a bit at the rim. The other three are built for standard bags.
