Real Reviews of Air Fryers, Countertop Ovens, Blenders and Stand Mixers

We are four at home and this replaced a small Tefal that needed three rounds for one dinner. A big bag of frozen fries fits in one go and they come out crisp and even, the fries program is spot on. Chicken thighs I set by hand at 180 degrees and they are done sooner than in the oven, so I check early. What I don't love: it is loud. You hear the fan from the next room, and the end beep is so quiet that I miss it when I'm not in the kitchen. The fat separator under the mesh catches a lot of grease, nice idea, but after wings scrubbing it is the job nobody wants. Dishwasher works for the parts but they take up half the rack. It's also heavy and deep, and the cord is short so it has to live right by the socket. Five months in, used almost every day. Good machine, just not a quiet or tidy one.

We bought this to replace a dying wall oven we couldn't afford to fix right away, and for about two years it did almost all our cooking for a family of four. Sheet pan dinners, chicken thighs, frozen fries on air fry, a 9x13 lasagna. Results were really good and very even once I learned to use the top rack position for air frying. It heats up way faster than a big oven. Downsides I lived with: toast is slow, a couple of slices take ages compared to a real toaster. Dehydrating jerky left water dripping out of the door onto the counter. And cleaning the inside is a pain, grease bakes onto the walls around the elements and you can't scrub near them because the quartz elements are fragile. Then at about 26 months the convection fan stopped spinning. Warranty was two years, so we were just past it, and getting the part was a runaround. At that price it should have outlived two years easily.

We use it pretty much every day for the four of us. I love that I can see through the glass and stop things before they burn, and the containers go straight in the dishwasher. The 6 qt one did a whole chicken on roast with room to spare, and leftovers go in the fridge in the same dish with the lid on.

It's quiet, I'll give it that, you can hold a conversation next to it. The presets run way too long though. On the fries setting ours were burnt at the edges well before the timer finished, so now I set my own time and temp and check halfway. Basket goes in the dishwasher no problem. Two pork chops is about the limit before they're touching. The glossy top panel shows every fingerprint. OK for the money.

Replaced a cheap little 2 quart with this one. Fries and wings come out properly crisp and for two people it's much quicker than heating the big oven. I like that it reminds you to turn the food halfway. The first few times it smelled like hot plastic. Ran it empty twice with the kitchen window open and that went away. My real complaint is the basket. About ten months in the nonstick has started coming off near the bottom even though I only wash it by hand, and the handle feels a little loose now.

We are two people so I mostly do beans, chili and the odd pot roast, and it handles all of it without fuss. The steam release is loud and the sealing ring holds onto the smell of whatever you cooked last, so I keep a second ring for sweet stuff. Saute mode is weak for browning, I still sear in a pan first.

Dead after 5 months, just a blank screen and no power.

Give me the physical switches. The Ascent X2's knob and levers are much more appealing to me than a blender covered in touch controls. I can also see the point of the smoothie and cleaning programs: those are shortcuts I'd actually want, rather than a long menu of things to scroll through. The self-detect containers are the part I'm less sold on. I'd prefer a simpler arrangement without container detection. Nice controls, but I don't love having that extra layer built into such a basic appliance.