Air fryers must be the most talked-about kitchen appliance of the moment, and with good reason. They’re much more versatile than you’d expect; they’re not just for heating up beige frozen food. You can use them to roast, bake – and even make a top-notch cheese toastie.
We’ve tested some of the best, from straightforward, dial-controlled appliances, to combination air fryers, to dual-zone, smart and air fryer ovens.
If you’re wondering what an air fryer is – well, it’s not really a fryer at all. It’s a mini convection oven, which means you can use it to cook anything you would in a conventional oven. It’ll mean tweaking your favourite recipes to get the best results, but ask the legion of people who have switched their daily cooking from oven to air fryer and they’ll tell you it’s worth it.
There are good reasons to invest in an air fryer. They cook more quickly than an oven, are easier to clean, give crispy results without the need to add extra oil and, perhaps most importantly now – when bills have skyrocketed – they’re much cheaper to cook with than a conventional oven. And depending on the model you choose, you can get a combination appliance with a variety of cooking methods.
The downside is that it’ll take up a big chunk of your kitchen counter space, so you’ll need to measure up and see what space you have available before you buy.
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Why you should trust us
Tech Advisor has been reviewing air fryers since 2021 and in that time, we’ve tested all types – smart, dual drawer, oven and combination – from major and independent brands. It puts us in a strong position to be able to compare models and recommend those that are the best value and best performing. We don’t rely on manufacturers’ specs or use a testing centre. Instead, we take the air fryer home and use it in place of our usual cooking appliances for several weeks. We think that’s the best way to find out how well they perform in everyday life.
If you already know you’d like a Ninja appliance, have a look at our dedicated Ninja round-up. We’ve also got specific recommendations for air fryer ovens and air fryer toaster ovens and dual-drawer air fryers.
And, if you’re on the fence about getting an air fryer at all, have a look at our article on whether you should buy an air fryer. If you need more help on which size and features to go for, read our FAQs under the chart. Otherwise, read on to see our top picks.
Best air fryer
1. Ninja Foodi FlexDrawer – Best air fryer
Pros
- Large cooking area for baking and roasts
- Flexible cooking options
- Even crispy results
- Sturdy and simple to use
Cons
- No shake alert
- No viewing window or option to open a single drawer to check on food
If you want to move away from your oven, the FlexDrawer is an excellent option. Uniquely, you can combine its two 5.2-litre cooking spaces into a 10.4-litre ‘megazone’ for large roasts and baking full-size cakes.
But you can also use the two cooking areas separately, just as you’d use any dual-zone air fryer. The FlexDrawer has all the functionality you’d expect, with match and sync functions to make dual-drawer cooking easy.
The FlexDrawer has seven cooking modes: max crisp (for frozen food), air fry, roast, bake, reheat (for leftovers), dehydrate (for jerky and dried fruit) and prove (for dough). It comes with a guide complete with recipes and a cooking chart, with times and temperatures for popular food, so it’s a good option if you’re new to air fryer cooking.
However, its controls and digital display are so intuitive and easy to use that you’re unlikely to need to resort to the manual.
It’s extremely powerful, so you’ll probably need to adjust your air fryer recipes down but once you do so, it’ll produce evenly cooked, crispy food.
Read our full
Ninja Foodi DualZone FlexDrawer review
2. Cosori 6QT/6L TurboBlaze Air Fryer – Best medium capacity air fryer
Pros
- 9 functions
- Touchscreen controls
- Dishwasher-safe parts
- Turbo modes
Cons
- Button to open drawer
- No manual mode
- Limited capacity for a large family
Cosori is a fairly new brand and certainly not one of the best known. But if you’re looking for a medium sized air fryer, the 6QT/6L TurboBlaze is definitely one to consider. It has an easy to use and easy to read digital display and touchscreen controls and a single drawer cooking space.
One of the things we liked best about it is that its cooking functions aren’t defined by food types (fries, chicken) but by cooking methods. It has nine functions in all: including proving dough, yogurt making, warming food, dehydrating, plus four Turbo modes with a fast fan for much faster air frying, cooking from frozen, roasting and grilling. This means it’s a far more useful kitchen assistant than some of its competitors and can be used for more cooking tasks. It doesn’t have a manual mode, however, but you can adjust any cooking setting by time and temperature. Its temperature settings are wide as well: from 90°F/30°C to 450°F/230°C, which adds to its versatility.
It gives good results and it’s easy to clean as well. Its crisper plate and drawer and drawer are dishwasher-safe. Still, we didn’t love the fact that the pull-out drawer is button-operated – if you forget to push it, you’ll just drag the whole appliance towards you.
Read our full
Cosori TurboBlaze Air Fryer review
3. Ninja Double Stack XL – Best space-saver
Pros
- Smaller countertop footprint
- Racks double the cooking space
- Fast and easy to use
Cons
- Uneven cooking for certain food types
If you want a dual-drawer air fryer but can’t justify its countertop footprint, the Double Stack (DoubleStack in the US) is worth a look. It provides a lot of cooking capacity for the amount of space it takes up. Not only does it have two cooking drawers with an overall 9.5L/10QT capacity, but the cooking racks allow you to stack food in two layers in each drawer. If a common menu for you is chicken or fish and several types of vegetables, you’ll be able to do it all in the Double Stack without resorting to other cooking methods.
Like Ninja’s other dual-drawer air fryers, it has an easy-to-use control panel, with match and sync functions. It has has fewer modes than many other models – air fry, max crisp (for frozen food), bake, roast, reheat and dehydrate – but you can adjust them by time and temperature to cook almost anything you want.
But as its heat sources are at the backs of the drawers we found that it cooks some types of foods slightly unevenly. As there’s no shake alert, you’ll need to remember to step in midway and mix up potatoes or fries. Altogether though, it’s fast, efficient and makes crispy, crunchy food.
Read our full
Ninja Double Stack XL review
4. Tefal Multicook Actifry – Best multicooker
Pros
- Dishwasher-safe parts
- 6-litre capacity
- Stirring paddle
- 14 programmes
Cons
- Settings can be complicated
- Steam is slow to heat up
- Large worktop footprint
If you want to save counter space, an air fryer multicooker is a great option. And the Tefal Multicook Actifry offers much more than most. Not only can it function as a steamer, slow cooker, rice cooker and mini oven, it can be your bread maker (albeit with more interaction) and an air fryer too. What’s more, you can cook two types of food at once, using different methods, one above the other, so you can cook entire dinners at once.
One useful feature is the paddle inside, which means you don’t need to pause cooking to turn, stir or shake food. It also comes with all the accessories you’ll need, and they’re all dishwasher safe – although you will need to wash the lid by hand.
It has a digital display, although we didn’t find it straightforward to use and you’ll probably keep the instructions to hand for a while. You may also need to experiment a little to perfect your favourite cooking your favourite recipes.
Read our full
Tefal Multicook Actifry review
5. ProCook air fryer health grill – Best multifunctional air fryer
Pros
- Can cook almost anything, with any method
- Easy to use and clean
- Food has good crunch and flavour
Cons
- No integral meat probe
- No shake/turn alert
- Meagre instructions
The best thing about this combination cooker is its versatility. It has 12 cooking functions: air fry, roast, broil, bake, dehydrate, slow cook, griddle, stew, steam, keep warm, grill and preheat. It’s fairly rare to get an air fryer that also steams and stews but this does both to a high standard.
There’s not enough space to cook an entire dinner for a larger family. However, it would be perfect for singles, couples or young families. You could cook a different type of meal in it every night and never have to resort to your oven.
It has a high-quality build, is easy to use and easy to clean afterwards. Altogether, it’s an impressive appliance. But the accompanying instructions are flimsy and you’ll need to spend a little time figuring out the best times and temperatures for your favourite dishes.
Read our full
ProCook air fryer health grill review
6. Sage/Breville smart oven air fryer – Best air fryer oven
Pros
- Ten functions with programmed presets
- Nicely made accessories
- Great results
- High quality design and build
Cons
- Sides get hot
- No clock
- Expensive
If you’re in the US, you can buy this appliance under the Breville brand name. In the UK, it’s Sage.
It’s a microwave-sized and shaped countertop air fryer oven with ten separate cooking functions: toast (6 slices), crumpet, grill, bake, roast, warm, pizza, air fry, reheat and slow cook. We tested a bright, brushed stainless-steel silver model, but there are plenty of other colour options: there’s a choice of eleven in the US. The oven is well made and and will look great on your kitchen counter, unlike many plasticky rivals.
It has an LCD display and button and dial controls. Inside the oven are three shelf height options. Along with the oven, you’ll get a set of high quality accessories: a 30cm/12in pizza pan, a wire shelf, a grilling rack, a roasting pan, an air-frying basket, and crumb tray.
But it’s when cooking that this appliance really shines, producing crispy and flavourful food. This may be down to the ElementIQ system, which uses a smart algorithm and sensors to control the temperature perfectly and evenly. You’re paying more for its high quality build and performance but we think it’s well worth it.
Read our full
Sage smart oven air fryer review
7. Sharp dual drawer digital air fryer – Best budget dual drawer
Pros
- Two 4-litre drawers
- Sync and match functions
- Well-priced
Cons
- Short cable
- Slightly confusing controls
- Drawer sizes can be restrictive
If your budget won’t stretch to a Ninja, this Sharp dual-drawer air fryer is an excellent alternative. It has many of the same features, including the ability to match and sync cooking across both drawers. It’s more compact than most Ninja dual-zone models as well, but it does have a slightly lower cooking capacity.
The controls can be slightly confusing until you get comfortable with them, which isn’t helped by the fact that the accompanying manual is thin, so be prepared for a bit of experimentation at first. You can choose to cook by food type (including fries, beef, vegetable, whole chicken, bacon, fish, potato, pizza, chicken nuggets, prawns, snacks, and toasted sandwich) or by cooking mode (air fry, bake, roast, cook from frozen, dehydrate, keep warm, pre-heat, or reheat).
Once you’ve figured out how you prefer to use it, you’ll find that cooking is fast and produces great results. It’s easy to clean as well.
Read our full
Sharp dual drawer digital air fryer review
8. Ninja Speedi – Makes entire meals quickly
Pros
- Full meals in 15 minutes
- Steam and air fry at the same time
- Hard to think of anything you can’t cook in it
Cons
- Large appliance that takes up a lot of countertop space
- Heavy lid doesn’t lock in its open position
- Not as economical to cook in as smaller air fryers
The Ninja Speedi is a huge appliance but if you invest in one, you can say goodbye to all your other countertop cookers. Its ten cooking functions mean it can do almost anything – and often at the same time, such as steam cooking and air frying. Its USP is its ‘Speedi Meals’ setting, which allows you to cook rice or pasta and vegetables on the bottom while air frying above. It genuinely means you can cook an entire meal in 15 minutes flat and its 6QT/ 5.7 litre capacity means that’s a meal for an entire family. People use the phrase game-changer too often – but in this case it’s true.
Still, as it’s 1,760W, you’ll find that it’s not as cheap to cook certain foods that take a bit longer, like baked potatoes, as it is in a more compact air fryer. It’s much more economical to use for quick cooking. Plus, you’ll want to discourage kids from touching it as its heavy lid does not lock in place in its open setting.
Read our full
Ninja Speedi review
9. Instant Vortex Plus 6-in-1 air fryer – Viewing window & odourless cooking
Pros
- ClearCook window
- OdourErase technology
- Fantastic for chips and roast joints
Cons
- No cooking pre-sets
- Tricky to serve from drawer
- Rubber tray feet must be removed for cleaning
This is a traditional air fryer, with a deep, pull-out cooking drawer. It’s capacious too, at 5.7 litres/6 QT. It’s not particularly heavy, but it is still designed to have a permanent space on your countertop. It’s controlled via a digital touchscreen on top of the appliance.
There are six programmes to choose from: air fry, bake, grill, dehydrate, reheat and roast. But there are no pre-sets, so there’s no guidance as to the time and temperature you should use when cooking. This won’t be a problem for people accustomed to air fryer cooking but novices might have to do a bit of online research and be prepared to experiment at first.
There are some excellent features to recommend it over rival products: there’s a window to allow you to see how your cooking is getting on without opening the door, and the OdourErase technology really works. But if you’re buying specifically for these features, make sure you get the right model as Instant makes a number of similar models, with none, one, or both of them.
Read our full
Instant Vortex Plus 6-in-1 air fryer (5.7L/6QT) review
10. HySapientia 26QT/ 24-litre air fryer oven – Largest capacity
Pros
- Stainless steel build
- Huge capacity
- Crispy results
- Faster and cheaper than an oven
Cons
- Annoying control panel
- Feels like overkill for for small volumes of food
- Maximum one-hour cooking time
This air fryer oven is the largest we’ve tested, with a whopping 26QT/ 24-litre capacity. It’s also one of the rare air fryers made from stainless steel (along with other food-grade metals), which means it looks a lot better on your kitchen counter than many of its rivals. But you will need plenty of room to house it.
But if more cooking space is what you’re after, this HySapientia model delivers. And it’s cheaper to run than you may think, especially if you’re cooking for a larger group. You can cook an entire family meal in it, and it’ll cost much less than in a traditional oven. It produces very crispy food as well – perhaps because there’s plenty of room for hot air to circulate. It comes with plenty of cooking accessories, including a rotisserie spit, making it a versatile option.
However, its huge size means you’re heating up much more space than you need to if you just want to cook a couple of fish fingers for the kids. And we didn’t love its control panel. It’s largely dial-operated, where a touchscreen would be preferable, and makes a lot of annoying beeps as you choose your settings.
Read our full
HySapientia 26QT/ 24-litre air fryer oven review
11. Xiaomi Mi Smart Air Fryer – Best compact smart air fryer
Pros
- Attractive design
- Easy to use
- Recipes included
Cons
- Not very robust build
- Smart features limited
- Small capacity
This Xiaomi air fryer has a really attractive, minimalist design that would look good in most kitchens. Still, it doesn’t have the most robust build (the drawer can get stuck when you’re putting it back in). And, as it’s on the small side (3.5 litres), it’s really only suitable for a household of 1-2 people.
The sole control beyond an On/Off switch is an innovative dial which houses a digital screen. There’s a top level menu of food options, including the expected fries, chicken wings and fish, but also steak and cake. There are eight pre set programmes in all. You can also set the time and temperature yourself, using the dial – or perform any of these actions via the app.
Because clearly, one of the key reasons to buy this model is its app control. Download the Xiaomi Home app and you can create custom recipes, monitor your cooking and pause or end the cooking programme remotely. It’ll also alert you when your food is done or needs to be turned over. There’s also a database of recipes you can try, with automatic cooking programmes and step-by-step instructions.
Read our full
Xiaomi Mi Smart Air Fryer review
FAQ
What can an air fryer do?
An air fryer is basically a mini convection oven. That means that it cooks in the same way that your oven does when you select the fan-assist setting, by circulating hot air around the cooking area and over your food. This means you can make anything in an air fryer that you can in an oven – as long as the space allows. You can roast meat and potatoes and even bake cakes, as well reheating and cooking food from frozen.
But as it’s a much smaller cooking area, food cooks much more quickly and gets crispier as well.
Depending on the design of the air fryer, the main cooking method can be supplemented by others. You can get air fryers that also grill or have multi-cooker functions such as making soups, stews or rice. You can also get air fryers that double as a slow cooker. The Ninja Speedi can air fry one dish and steam another at the same time.
What size air fryer should I get?
Air fryers are quite large appliances – from around the size of a small bread maker to the size of a microwave, if you get a two-drawer appliance. To get the most from one, you’ll need to find a dedicated spot for it on your kitchen counter. So, the first thing to check is the external dimensions.
But really, the internal dimensions are more important. The cooking space inside an air fryer ranges from around 2 to 6 quarts or 1.5 to 6+ litres. At the lower end, you’ll be able to cook fries for one to two people, two burgers, or two servings of chicken. At the higher end, you can fit in a main course for four people.
Then there are air fryer ovens and dual-zone air fryers, with a 10 quart/ 10 litre capacity. Dual-zone, or dual-basket air fryers are divided into two drawers you can use separately. But they have excellent additional features that make cooking a breeze. You can just cook with one drawer for smaller meals or sides, match the programme in both drawers, or use two different cooking programmes at the same time. Look out for an air fryer with a sync function, which will ensure that both programmes finish at the same time, so you can just walk in when it’s ready and dish up.
If you’re a single person household and generally just cook for yourself, you can go for a smaller appliance but in general, we’d advise that if you have the space for it, go larger. It’ll give you more cooking options and the extra space will give faster and better results.
Bear in mind though that larger air fryers will likely have a higher wattage, and will likely cost more to run. If you’re looking to save money on your electricity bills, a smaller, simpler appliance is best – although almost all fryers will be much more economical to use than an oven.
Is a smart air fryer worth it?
Smart features on cooking appliances are limited by safety. Some appliance makers may suggest that you can fill your air fryer before going out and schedule cooking, or set it to start cooking remotely, via an app, so that you can come home to hot food. We wouldn’t advise this. First off, it’s never a good idea to leave food at room temperature for a long time before cooking, or to use cooking appliances when you’re not home.
That being said, there are some genuinely handy smart features that you may use. If you get stuck doing something while your food is cooking, you can pause or stop the programme via the app.
There may also be a database of recipes you can use for inspiration. Browse recipes in the app, pick up the ingredients on the way home and start the programme when you get in: the app will guide you through the steps of cooking and automatically set the time and temperature.
You can even monitor the cooking progress from your phone, while you relax on the sofa – and you’ll get an alert when your food is done.