The best air fryers could completely change your food preparation. Air fryers need a lot less oil than you'd use for regular frying, which means you'll get healthier food that's just as delicious, and because they're much smaller than standard ovens they heat up quicker and cook faster and more efficiently. So not only will you get your dinner much sooner, you'll save on energy bills too.
Air fryers don't actually fry food in the conventional sense. They're compact ovens that sit on your countertop and mimic the effects of frying with hot air and powerful fans that are large relative to the cooking space. Combined with designs that maximize airflow, they quickly deliver crisp and great-tasting results with not very much oil.
In October 2025, Ninja launched a new countertop version of the Ninja Crispi air fryer – the extra-large Ninja Crispi Pro. We'll be testing the new glass air fryer very soon, so stay tuned to see whether it can earn a space in this guide.
The best air fryer 2025
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The best air fryer overall
With most air fryers, the more generous the cooking capacity, the more counter space you'll need to sacrifice. This Ninja model cleverly avoids that issue by stacking its baskets one on top of the other, rather than side-by-side. It's such a smart design, we gave it the prize for Best Air Fryer in the 2024 TechRadar Choice Awards. Each drawer holds 5qts / 4.75L, and you can create even more cooking space by slotting in one of the provided trays. Although do note that the tall-rather-than-wide approach means you won't get able to fit in, say, an uncut pizza. (If you just need something compact and don't need a large capacity, head to our guide to the best small air fryers.)
In our review, our tester noted no compromise in performance with this new design approach – the Double Stack delivers the same excellent performance as other Ninja air fryers we've tested. A wide range of different cooking modes make this model ultra-versatile, while the Sync and Match functions take all the pain out of cooking foods with different timing requirements – select your cooking mode, set your finish time and, if you're synchronizing the two baskets, select the cooking times for each, and it'll do the math for you. There's also virtually no heat leakage between the two trays, which is good news if you’re dealing with precise foods or don't want to waste energy when only using one basket.
The main down-side here is that the Double Stack is pricier than other dual-basket air fryers, so if you don't need to save on counter space you could get something as good for a lower price. But if you have a small kitchen, it could be well worth the extra investment.
Read our full Ninja Double Stack review
The best budget air fryer
This versatile twin-drawer air fryer has a list price of £199 (about $250 / AU$400), but you can find it online for half that price, making it incredible value. It's a great-looking appliance too, with a matt black finish and champagne-toned accents, though it's also relatively large so you'll need to measure your kitchen counter to make sure it'll fit comfortably.
It has several features you'd expect to find in much pricier models, such as synced timing so you can cook two different foods and have them finish at the same time. It doesn't have as many presets as some others, but those it does offer will cover all the essentials (including steal, fries, chicken, and pizza), and in our tests they performed very well. We also achieved good results for other dishes by paying close attention to the instructions in the manual, which helps take the guesswork out of preparing your favorite meals.
There are a few quirks, and we found that it wasn't ideal for baking, but the Russell Hobbs Satisfry punches well above its weight and you won't find a better air fryer for the price.
Read our full Russell Hobbs Satisfry Dual Basket Air Fryer review
The best air fryer/microwave combo
If you don't have room for both an air fryer and a microwave on your kitchen counter, this multifunctional cooker from Samsung combines them into a single appliance - and it works as a convection oven and a grill as well.
During our tests we found that the Samsung Combi took a bit longer than a standard air dryer to crisp our fries, but it was extremely versatile. There's a huge array of presets, but the intuitive controls make them easy to find and select, and the mobile app allows you to control it from afar. We were particularly impressed by its capabilities as a convection oven, and could see it replacing a freestanding oven in a small kitchen if you're particularly short of space, or need to make room for a dishwasher.
It's certainly not small, and it's pricier than most of the single-purpose air fryers in this guide, but it has a smart design that won't look out of place in a modern kitchen, and it can replace so many other appliances that it does represent good value.
Read our full Samsung Combi Smart Microwave Oven review
The best portable air fryer
Technically you could carry any air fryer around with you, and use it wherever there's an electrical outlet, but doing so would be extremely cumbersome and awkward. That's where the Ninja Crispi comes in. Rather than a drawer, your food is held in resealable glass containers that you can carry around and store in the fridge like regular Tupperware. When you want to cook, just remove the regular lid and attach the Crispi PowerPod, which contains the heating element and fan, and switch it on.
It's an interesting design, and during our tests we were impressed by how well it handled everyday dishes like fries, which turned out perfectly golden on the outside and fluffy inside whether they were fresh or frozen.
Baking in the Crispi proved less successful, but since this is mostly an air fryer designed for heating and crisping, that shouldn't be too much of an issue in everyday use.
Cleanup is refreshingly simple because you don't need to clean the PowerPod – only the glass containers and lids, which are dishwasher-safe or can be washed by hand. We also tried using paper air fryer liners, which made things even easier.
Read our full Ninja Crispi review
The best air fryer for small households
It's hard to believe the Series 6 is Bosch's first air fryer – it performs so well and so consistently – and it's an excellent choice for couples and those living with one or two housemates.
During testing, one of the first things that struck us about the Series 6 Air Fryer is how compact it is considering its 7-liter capacity. If you want lots of cooking space but don't have room on your kitchen counter for a full-size dual-drawer fryer, this is definitely an option to consider.
This fryer has a relatively small number of presets (just eight) but they all worked very well during our cooking tests, and we were impressed by the instructions in the cooking guide, which generally kept guesswork to a minimum. Fries (both frozen and home-made), chicken, and meat-and-veg skewers were all done to perfection. We prepared the skewers using the Series 6's grill accessory, which is good, but can be a little tricky to remove after cooking.
We did, however, appreciate that so many of this air fryer's components are dishwasher-safe, so we didn't have to spend time at the sink after dinner.
It's worth bearing in mind that the Series 6 Air Fryer isn't available globally at the time of writing (August 2025) but hopefully that will change soon.
Read our full Bosch Series 6 Air Fryer review
The best extra large capacity air fryer
This extra-large air fryer has enough cooking capacity to feed a family, delivers consistently good results for a wide range of foods, and is very reasonably priced too. If you're looking for a fryer that can cater for a crowd, it comes highly recommended. It's not available in the US, though. If you're outside the UK, the closest model is the Philips 3000 Series Dual Basket Air Fryer.
According to our reviewer Vic Hood, "when the 1000 Series works well, it's excellent: chicken is succulent with just enough crispiness on the skin, muffins are soft inside without being dry, and chips (homemade and frozen) are golden and fluffy inside."
The biggest downside for us is the instructions. You'll have to go online to get the full manual, and even then, the food and cooking time tables provided aren't as detailed as we'd like. However, the app is packed with great recipe ideas, and the fryer's presets work well.
Read our full Philips 1000 Series Dual Basket Air Fryer review
The best air fryer and grill combo
This is the best multi-functional air fryer we've tested this year, and its roast, grill, bake, and dehydrate modes blew us away during testing.
It's a particularly great choice if you enjoy meat thanks to its built-in heat probe, which helps ensure your dishes are properly heated all the way through, but still moist and juicy. Our chicken and beef were cooked to perfection, as were our burgers.
We rarely achieve great results when baking with an air fryer, but the Ninja 5-in-1 is the exception. We made perfect herb flatbreads and blueberry muffins, which were evenly cooked and (in the case of the muffins) perfectly risen, just as if we'd made them using a conventional oven.
Only the air frying mode let us down slightly, producing somewhat inconsistent results until we got used to its idiosyncrasies. If you're looking for an air fryer to replace your oven though, this would be a solid choice. It's big enough to feed a family of four, and super versatile (though the grill takes a little more scrubbing than most air fryer accessories).
Want to save on a Ninja air fryer? Check out our Ninja discounts for the latest deals on high-performance cooking essentials.
Read our full Ninja 5-in-1 Grill and Air Fryer review
The best air fryer with steam
The super chic Smeg Combi Steam Oven is a lot more than just an air fryer. It also functions as a small convection oven, just the right size for preparing a cake, loaf or a pan of muffins, and as the name suggests, it has a steam mode that's ideal for keeping meat and fish succulent.
It also has an excellent range of preset modes for different dishes, and during our tests these worked extremely well, taking any guesswork out of cooking. Our reviewer Karen Freeman prepared frozen and freshly made fries according to the instructions, and reported that "In both cases, the fries came out crisp on the outside, soft on the inside, and totally delicious."
Roasted vegetables and veggie burgers also turned out perfectly (even sprouts), and both frozen and homemade pizzas "came out perfect: lightly browned, fully cooked in the middle, not burnt anywhere."
There are a few potential drawbacks. For example, in addition to its high price tag, this multi-function appliance probably won't be able to replace your oven if you're cooking for more than two people - it's just not large enough inside. It also proved somewhat tricky to de-grease. It could be an excellent choice for individuals or couples in small living spaces though, freeing up valuable space under your kitchen counters.
Read our full Smeg Combi Steam Oven review
We also tested
We've tested 45 different air fryers here at TechRadar. Here are some of the ones we've tried that didn't quite make our shortlist:
