I had a soup maker ( until it died, POI I have never had a saucepan die on me!) .
The only advantage was that I could go away and let it do its thing without having to remember 1 had a pan on the go.
The huge disadvantages were
lack of control over the texture
inability to add flavour by sautéing ingredients
washing the damn thing up by hand.
only made a small quantity not enough for batch making and freezing
I use a lot of frozen vegetables and I think they are what killed the soup maker.
There are some really easy soups that I would start with :
pea soup using frozen peas, fresh mint, bit of bacon if you have it.
courgette soup, really quick and easy, can be eaten hot or cold
Whatever sort of soup you end up making OP there are certain little flourishes you can do that will raise your soup to the next level.
1 frying pan croutons, cut nice bread, eg a good white loaf or sourdough bread into crouton sized pieces , put some oil into a non stick frying pan and start to heat it gently, while it is heating put the bread in as well in a single layer, then immediately turn over the bread to oil the other side. Cook until bottom of bread is golden, turn over, cook other side. I like to sprinkle sea salt on them. I save stale bread in the freezer, sometimes I remember to cut it up before I freeze it.
2 Other embellishments for soup, finely chopped chives, spoonful of thin cream or plain yogurt, swirl of chilli oil, grated cheese. Not all at once.