The Best Air Fryers, Reviewed by Our Experts
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There are plenty of air fryers out there that can give you crispy-enough french fries and chicken wings, but the very best air fryers are versatile countertop convection cookers that do so much more. Though they can look like oversized toaster ovens, these do-it-all kitchen appliances can bake, broil, toast, and slow-cook, and some even dehydrate and steam. Thanks to built-in convection fans, these modern multi-ovens also function as top-notch air fryers, turning out perfect whole pizzas as well as whole chickens with exquisitely crisped skin.
But if a bulky air fryer oven is out of your price range, or you don’t have the counter space to spare, you can still get perfectly crispy air-fried food with one of BA’s favorite basket-style air fryers. What you save in space and money, you’ll lose in versatility (they don’t bake or roast as well), but if you mainly want to crisp up frozen foods or reheat last night’s leftover french fries, a basket-style air fryer is all you need.
No matter which air fryer is the right kind for you, here are four expert-tested recommendations, ranging from $50–$500.
What is an air fryer? Is it just a convection oven?
An air fryer is a countertop oven that uses hot air, circulated by a fan, to give foods more crisp textures than you can achieve in a regular oven or toaster oven. What makes an air fryer an air fryer is a built-in convection fan that blows the hot air around the food to crisp it up. It’s the combination of heat and moving air that produces the kind of crispy exterior you’d otherwise get from deep-frying or pan-frying. But unlike a deep fryer, an air fryer doesn’t require any cooking oil—and it doesn’t leave your house smelling like a grease trap for days or weeks.
So, technically speaking, yes, air fryers are simply small convection ovens, but the most classic form of air fryer isn't really in oven-shaped. Products marketed as air fryers are traditionally egg-shaped, with small pull-out baskets that you shake, as you would a deep frying basket, in order to get an even cook on, say, french fries or zucchini slices.
Whether you're a purist and only consider products that contain baskets and have that classic round shape to be true air fryers, or you find the term “air fryer” to be stupid marketing jargon for a convection oven is up to you to decide. For the purposes of this review, we've included both toaster ovens that contain convection, or “air fryer” settings and the classic basket-containing air fryers. You can read more about each type below, and decide which might be right for you. Overall, if we were going to decide for you, we'd recommend the versatility of a convection toaster oven, which can fit more foods—and give food more space for air to circulate around it and get crispy. They also make great toast, and can sometimes even be used to roast a whole chicken.
How we tested and selected the best air fryers
For the purpose of this air fryer review, contributors Lukas Volger and Rachel Tepper Paley each individually spent hours testing top competitive air fryer models, as did our staffer Alaina Chou when she updated the review this year. We have spent countless hours over the past few years researching, testing, and retesting popular air fryers from top-name brands, including Breville, Cuisinart, Ninja, Philips, and Cosori. When we tested these machines, we cooked hand cut fries, slices of zucchini, cubes of marinated tofu, chicken breasts, salmon filets, and myriad of frozen foods in each model, and assessed the following factors. We also solicited enthusiastic recommendations from our own test kitchen editors and recipe developers who use air fryers both in their Bon Appétit work and in their own homes.
Crispiness
This was one of the most crucial things we evaluated. We wanted to assess if each machine could crisp food better than your average oven.
Even cooking
While an air fryer basket needs to get shaken or stirred at least once while cooking, we also wanted to make sure each model produced evenly browned and crunchy results—we didn't want to see any fries that are super crunchy on one end and raw on the other.
Easy of use
While a lot of air fryers come with additional presets, we focused mostly on how easy it was to set the time and temperature on each model. Was it a simple dial and few buttons, or did it feature a confusing and hard to navigate interface?
Functional design
Square- and rectangularly-shaped air fryers tend to offer more surface area than round ones. We also preferred models with fewer interlocking pieces, which makes the air fryer easier to clean.
Easy to clean
We took these machines apart and scrubbed them after we tested them. Like we said above, in general, the fewer pieces there are to the air fryer, the easier it is to clean.
Mobility and storage
Some home cooks will want an air fryer that's light, with a slim profile that makes it easy to store in a cabinet and take out only for occasional use. Others won't mind a larger appliance that they can keep out on their countertop, especially since a larger machine can accommodate more food and likely offer more versatility. We looked for options that would suit both kinds of air fryer users.
A few of our favorite air fryer recipes
1/4The best air fryer overall
Summary: A countertop convection oven, or air fryer oven, is the most versatile kind of air fryer, and in our testing, Breville’s are the best you can buy. This model, the Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro, is packed with smart features but isn’t too techy, and it’s our top pick based on function, performance, and value.
More about this air fryer: If you want a super versatile air fryer and have the counter space to spare, spring for the Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro. Breville is making the best air fryer toaster ovens on the market right now, and various models can be found in the home kitchens of many of our editors (including my own). This mid-range model is the top pick for award-winning cookbook author Nik Sharma, who’s developed some of BA’s favorite air fryer recipes. “I prefer toaster oven–style to basket-style air fryers, because they’re easier to use for more common tasks like baking, toasting bread, and roasting more efficiently,” says Sharma. Though it does indeed look like an oversized toaster oven, this countertop cooker can also bake, broil, roast, slow-cook, dehydrate, and, of course, air-fry. The air fryer function is one of 13 presets on the digital control panel, and each one employs the right combination of heating elements for perfect toast, bagels, cookies, pizza, slow-cooking, and more. (A smarter, pricier model allows you to use Breville’s companion app for more advanced presets, including an impressive rotisserie-style chicken).
Pros: Most versatile cooking functions; large capacity; better performance than basket-style air fryers
Cons: Large footprint; high price pointBest for: If you want an air fryer oven with a large capacity, a variety of functions, and don't mind that it will always sit on your countertop.
Capacity: 1 cubic foot | Wattage: 1800 | 13 Cooking functions: Toast, bagel, broil, bake, roast, warm, pizza, proof, air-fry, reheat, cookies, slow-cook, and dehydrate | Color: Stainless steel | Weight: 38.9 lb. | Dimensions: 21.25 x 17 x 12.75" | Warranty: 2 years
2/4The best basket-style air fryer
Summary: Basket-style air fryers are less versatile than air fryer ovens, but they’re also less expensive and take up less space. Our expert home cooks and product testers recommend this 6-quart Instant Vortex Slim because in addition to being powerful and easy to use, the compact design offers quite a bit more cooking surface area than comparable models.
More about this air fryer: In terms of value, we think the Instant Vortex Slim 6-qt. air fryer from the maker of the Instant Pot is the best air fryer you can get right now. By far the top performer in its price range ($100–$150), it’s powerful, versatile, quiet, lightweight, and easy to clean (both the nonstick basket and cooking tray are dishwasher-safe, though we recommend hand-washing anything with a nonstick coating). According to the expert home cooks at Epicurious, what really sets this model apart from the competition is the generous cooking surface area. Though compact, this air fryer offers 8" more basket space (it’s 11.2 x 7.8") than models with a similar countertop footprint, which allows you to cook more food in each batch without sacrificing any of the airflow that makes air-fried food so crispy. One important note: Not all Instant Vortex air fryers are created equal. We also tried the Instant Vortex Mini Air Fryer, the Instant Vortex Plus 4-qt. Air Fryer, and the Instant Vortex Mini 2-qt. Air Fryer, and none impressed as much as this Instant Vortex Slim 6-qt. air fryer.
Pros: Moderately priced, large capacity; small countertop footprint; user-friendly interface; easy-to clean
Cons: Comparatively narrow temperature range (from 180°F–400°F), rectangular basket shape somewhat limitingBest for: Those who prefer a basket-style air fryer over a convection toaster oven. Cooks who can keep it on their counter without worrying about how much space it'll take up.
Capacity: 6 qt. | Wattage: 1700 | 5 Cooking functions: Air-fry, bake, reheat, roast, broil | Color: Black | Weight: 14.7 lb. | Dimensions: 17.8 x 10.2 x 11.9" | Warranty: 1 year
3/4An excellent air fryer upgrade
Summary: The sleek, modern Typhur Dome is fast and powerful, and the basket is big enough for a 12" pizza. It is pricey and has a large footprint, but the dome design will surely be a conversation starter in your kitchen.
More about this air fryer: If you want something sleek and spacious and have room in the budget, the new Typhur Dome offers just over 150 square inches of cooking surface area in its squarish basket. Our testers were able to fit a 12" pizza, six slices of toast, 20 chicken wings, and 10 slices of bacon per batch, while maintaining enough space for airflow around each item. It’s powerful and fast as well; the Typhur Dome doesn’t require any preheating, and the construction retains heat incredibly well. We found it cooked french fries, chicken, and bread several minutes faster than any other machine we tried. Because it can maintain a temperature as low as 140ºF, it can be used for dehydrating foods too. The relatively simple digital control panel has 10 presets, plus arrows to adjust the temperature and cook time, and the companion app has even more settings—including a self-cleaning function—as well as 50 one-touch air fryer recipes. The entire basket, which has a ceramic nonstick surface, is dishwasher-safe. Because it’s so roomy, this air fryer does take up a lot of space, but if you’re into kinda-cute, futuristic small appliances, you might not mind making the space for this on your countertop.
Pros: Extra large capacity; self cleaning; powerful heating; wide temperature range; unique aesthetics; good tech via Bluetooth connection and a useful app; long warranty
Cons: Expensive; heavy; low height makes large protein cooks hardBest for: If you want a super advanced, tech-y looking air fryer with an ultra-big capacity.
Capacity: 5.6-qt. | Wattage: 1750 | 10 Cooking functions: Air-fry, toast, bake, reheat, roast, broil, dehydrate, fries, wings, steak, bacon, frozen | Color: Silver | Weight: 20.5 lb. | Dimensions: 19.7 x 15.6 x 9.6" | Warranty: 3 years
4/4The best small air fryer
Summary: The Corsori Lite 2-qt. Air Fryer is our recommendation for anyone who is short on space or wants to experiment with air-frying without breaking the bank. It has just enough room to air-fry two servings of frozen food and crisp up your leftover french fries.
More about this air fryer: If you’re on a tighter budget, have very little counter space to spare, or simply want to reheat restaurant french fries every now and then, consider the Cosori Lite 2-qt. Air Fryer. This compact air fryer did a beautiful job crisping and browning small servings of frozen tater tots and fries, sliced zucchini, and veggie burger patties (two at a time, max). Depending where you buy, it only costs $50–$60 at the time of publishing—not at all bad for a lightweight, quiet, digital air fryer with four easy-to-use presets (air-fry, roast, bake, and reheat). It’s easy to tuck into a cabinet and to clean. Again, while the manual says the nonstick basket is dishwasher-safe, we always recommend hand-washing anything with a nonstick coating.
Pros: Low countertop profile; lightweight for easy storage; inexpensive; easy controls
Cons: Only room for 2 servings of food; few cooking functionsBest for: If you need a smaller model that's easy to use and won't take up much room on your counter—but is also lightweight enough to easily move back into a cabinet.
Capacity: 2.1-qt. | Wattage: 900 | 4 cooking functions: Air-fry, bake, roast, reheat | Colors: Gray, red, white, green | Weight: 4.9 lb. | Dimensions: 10.1 x 8.3 x 10.5" | Warranty: 2 years
