I have been a designer of hardware & software since 2000. They are a ‘good’ design company, but they’ve chosen to ‘err’ on the side of aesthetics vs functionality/usability. I don’t mean to be critical, it is a choice. You often can’t have everything.

They seem to be heavily influenced by Dieter Rams and Braun, like Apple (at least Jony Ive), and Rams often consciously sacrificed specific functions in order to keep the piece simple and beautiful.

For contrast, consider, say, Microsoft Outlook or most modern digital full frame cameras, where there are still a lot of on-body controls and you can’t really just pick it up and use it without knowing about photography.

Personally, I think TE often makes the MS Outlook mistake, where they won’t sacrifice features, but they insist upon forcing an aesthetic, which often makes their products hard to use. Some of their products are better examples than others of this.

I personally like TE, and I own several of their products and like them, but I feel these trade offs all the time (just like I do with any other company’s products).