How is anyone supposed to tell usefull engineering from luxury branding in everyday appliances ?

Keep seeing normal household items turn into sleek tech objects, and I genuinely cannot tell where the line is anymore. My best friend gave me a Laifen se lite with a diffuser after graduation because my wavy hair had been looking rough from dorm water and rushed drying. The results are better than what I got from my old dryer, mostly because it feels like it uses airflow instead of just blasting heat. But it made me wonder how much of this is real engineering and how much companies are realizing people will pay more if a basic appliance looks futuristic.

Are digital motors and temperature sensors actually costly to make, or is the middle ground just disappearing?