The 8 Best Air Fryers of 2024, Tested & Reviewed

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These top-performing models bake, broil, dehydrate, and even rotisserie with speed and efficiency.

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Food & Wine / Russell Kilgore

Sometimes the fastest way to a home cook’s heart is a shortcut, and the ever-present air fryer has proven that true. It might not be the sleekest appliance, nor a chef’s darling like the cast iron skillet or sous vide cooker, but we’d be lying if we said we didn’t find a great use for this decade’s must-have kitchen tool.

Our years of testing, researching, and judging more French fries than we can count (not that we’re complaining) have brought us to this point in selecting the best air fryers. After more than 50 models tested, we’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly (soggy Brussels sprouts and grayish chicken wings), so we know a great air fryer when we see one. We’ve pored over countless air fryer reviews, tried dozens of machines, and can confidently say we might know way too much about air fryers — but we’ve distilled that knowledge here, so you don’t have to do the same.

An air fryer is, for all intents and purposes, a convenient countertop convection oven. It uses a fan to circulate hot air to cook, crisp, or caramelize food faster than the radiant heat in a standard toaster or traditional oven. Air fryers began with the reputation of being a “healthy” eating appliance thanks to the tiny amount of oil needed to make classic comfort food like chicken wings and French fries. These days, they’re present in plenty of home kitchens, including those looking to make quick and simple meals or those adding an option beyond the oven or the stove while cooking for a crowd.

Air fryers have pretty much two possible configurations. A basket-style air fryer has a handled basket that pulls in and out much like a countertop deep fryer. This lets you periodically shake the food to ensure even crisping, but you can't see inside the machine to judge doneness without removing the basket and dropping the temperature. Some basket-style machines have separate baskets to cook different foods at different temperatures, as well as various inserts designed to work with different types of items.

Other air fryers look more like toaster ovens, with a front-opening door and slide-in trays. The door is usually transparent so you can watch the food without opening it, and many of these models incorporate both air frying and toaster oven capabilities like toasting, broiling, dehydrating, or even proofing bread dough. One style isn't always better than the other; it depends on your needs. Both types are available in different sizes, with different levels of power, and at different price points.

This user-friendly tool has a reasonable price and offers the strongest cooking results of any machine we’ve tested.

It's slow to pre-heat, lacks smart functions, and has only medium capacity.

Instant Brands brought us the revolutionary time-saving Instant Pot, but the company has moved well beyond that, with various countertop appliances including toaster ovens, rice cookers, and more. In general, Instant's tools are formidable performers at middle-of-the-road prices, and this air fryer has proved its mettle in round after round of testing.

We like the wide, square-shaped basked of the 6-quart Vortex Plus, which can accommodate batches of fries or wings without overcrowding. The air circulation and power have provided the best results for almost every food we've tried, including tricky coconut shrimp and Brussels sprouts. It’s quiet enough to run in a busy kitchen, and the nonstick interior makes cleanup easy. Over the long term, we've found this model to be very consistent and accurate; it may not create quite as much browning as more powerful machines, but it can cook salmon and pork tenderloin evenly every time without any rubbery or raw areas.

Food & Wine senior food editor Breana Killeen has this one at home. "The instant Pot has easy controls, is affordable, and is the right size to remain on the counter," she says.

Our complaints about the Vortex Plus are fairly minor. It's somewhat slow to pre-heat, though once it's at the proper temperature it can maintain it well. It also doesn't have the advanced functionality or WiFi controls some models offer, but we're not sure the ability to select a specific food and start cooking from your phone is worth the extra price you'd have to pay to get it. And if you're planning to air fry for a crowd frequently, you might be better off with an extra-large model.

Dimensions: 12.4 x 14.9 x 12.8 inches | Capacity: 6 quarts | Power: 1,500 watts | Functions: Air fry, broil, roast, dehydrate, bake, reheat

This compact, powerful machine has lots of functions at a well-below-average price.

It couldn't achieve quite the same level of crispness as other air fryers.

We've tested a succession of Cosori air fryers, and the low-cost brand just keeps getting better with every new generation. Its latest, the TurboBlaze, is similar to but larger and more powerful than the Pro LE and Pro II — both of which were favorites in previous tests. All three of these are among the lowest-priced models we've tested, but they punch well above their weight in terms of performance.

The TurboBlaze has the same capacity as the Instant Vortex above with a smaller overall size, a nice plus for compact kitchens. It also includes additional cooking functions, with a special mode for cooking frozen foods as well as keep warm and a proof setting to help raise your sourdough bread or pizza crust. We love how easy it is to clean, too: The basket and crisper plate are both dishwasher-safe, no self-cleaning or scrubbing required.

The TurboBlaze cooked accurately in testing, but it struggled to achieve perfect crunch with some ingredients. The skin on our salmon fillet, for example, didn't get as crispy and browned as in other machines in the time needed to cook the fish properly.

Dimensions: 11.8 x 11.8 x 11.9 inches | Capacity: 6 quarts | Power: 1,725 watts | Functions: Air fry, broil, roast, dehydrate, bake, frozen, reheat, keep warm, proof

This huge combination toaster oven/air fryer has smart sensors and heating elements for perfect cooking every time.

It's expensive and takes up a lot of space.

Breville's two-in-one machine scored top marks in our tests of not only air fryers but also toaster ovens and combination toaster oven/air fryers. It truly is the best of both worlds, able to "fry" up crisp Buffalo wings or French fries just as easily as it can toast six slices of bread, bake a 13-inch pizza or even roast a whole chicken. The capacity is huge compared to most air fryers, and we love the clear viewing window to check on doneness.

The Smart Oven is smart, too, with Element IQ heating elements that sense the interior temperature and adjust their strength accordingly to eliminate hot and cold spots. It produced juicy pork tenderloin and (mostly) crispy-skinned salmon in our latest round of air frying testing, and it's been consistent across other tests of baking, roasting, toasting, and other non–air fry functions.

The problem? The Breville Smart Oven is a big investment. It's double to triple the cost of some other air fryers that work just as well. But those don't have the added abilities of a toaster oven. It also takes up a lot of counter space, but it kind of has to in order to hold as much food as it can.

Dimensions: 18.9 x 15.9 x 10.9 inches | Capacity: 23.9 quarts | Power: 1,800 watts | Functions: Toast, bagel, broil, bake, roast, warm, pizza, air fry, reheat, cookies, slow cook

This small air fryer outperformed every other air fryer in our tests with six different foods.

It has only four modes and can't hold more than about two servings of food at time.

This Ninja is not only our favorite small air fryer but also performed better in testing than much larger, much more expensive competitors. The 4-quart workhorse delivered near-perfect cooking results on garlic, wings, shrimp, biscuits, and of course, fries. It’s perfectly nonstick for cleanup, quiet while running, and, thanks to the compact footprint, it's easy to store. Though the settings are simpler than some advanced models, it does the trick for every classic air fryer function. It’s a smart pick for solo cooks and apartment dwellers, whether they're beginners or advanced.

There are smaller air fryers out there than this one (we've tried ones that hold just 2 quarts), but at the end of the day, they don't save much counter space over this one.

Dimensions: 8.5 x 12.3 x 11 inches | Capacity: 4 quarts | Power: 1,550 watts | Functions: Air fry, roast, reheat, dehydrate

You can cook two different items at two different temperatures at the same time in this clever dual-basket air fryer.

Its temperature control isn't quite as accurate as other models.

With a dual-zone air fryer, you can make your tater tots on one side and your salmon on the other, cooking each one for the right time and at the right temperature to deliver a perfectly cooked meal, all at once. Ninja has sold dual-zone models for a few years, but this one has the advance that you can use its baskets separately or combine them into one 7-quart beast.

Our tests found this Ninja worked well on chicken wings and hand-cut fries (our litmus test for all air fryers). It lacked somewhat in temperature control, however — both baskets varied from their set temperature by a wider margin that our other favorites. Once you get used to this and adjust your settings accordingly, it's user-friendly, large in capacity when it needs to be, and has the versatility that families both large and small will appreciate.

Dimensions: 18 x 11 x 11 inches | Total Capacity: 7 quarts | Power: 1,500 watts | Presets: Air fry, air broil, bake, roast, reheat, dehydrate

For anybody who cooks for large groups, this air fryer is an absolute steal for its size and performance.

It won't work as well with small batches.

The 10-quart Instant Vortex produced great fries, wings, and air-fried apples in testing, and was a breeze to operate thanks to the clear display and good instructions. The trays and rotisserie insert add to its functionality, but all pull out completely and were easy to clean after every recipe we tested. Though it doesn't have any smart connectivity, the preset modes, available accessories, and large size make it an attractively versatile tool in the kitchen. And for all the features and accessories included, the price is an excellent deal.

Dimensions: 13.23 x 13.23 x 14.3 inches | Capacity: 10 quarts | Power: 1,500 watts | Functions: Air fry, broil, bake, roast, dehydrate, reheat, rotisserie

Choose your specific recipe in the phone app, and this futuristic fryer cooks it to perfection for you.

It's extremely expensive, especially for its moderate capacity.

No, this bubble-shaped machine isn't a Star Wars robot; it's a unique design for an air fryer that puts the fan directly atop the heating element, suspended over the food. This makes it quieter and faster than comparable machines and enables a unique auto-cleaning mode you must run just once a month to keep the interior free of grease and charred bits.

But the bigger advantage of the Typhur Dome is its Wi-Fi capability. You can set any of its 10 cooking modes from your phone or pick from more than 50 built-in recipes to let the oven do everything for you. (Except actually start cooking; you have to hit the button to do that physically.) You'll even get convenient notifications when pre-heating and cooking are done, too. We found the app easy to set up and use, a real rarity among "smart" appliances.

In our tests, salmon and bok choy both cooked very nicely, with a good char on the exterior of the former and a perfect crisp-tender texture on the latter. It didn't do quite as well with pork, leaving the meat a bit dry. The Typhur Dome is a great option for a beginner or someone who wants to air fry a wide variety of foods. Just beware that it's extremely expensive, especially given its average capacity.

Dimensions: 17.3 x 15.5 x 9.7 inches | Capacity: 5.6 quarts | Power: 1,750 watts | Functions: Air fry, roast, broil, toast, dehydrate, frozen, bacon, steak, fries, wings

The huge capacity, powerful wattage, and extra features of this model compete above and beyond other air fryers.

The machine takes up a lot of space, and it's more expensive than necessary for small households.

This extra-large toaster oven air fryer is a versatile countertop appliance with lots of extra functions. It can bake, broil, air fry, and even dehydrate, thanks to the consistent air circulation and powerful heating elements. The size accommodates a 12-inch pizza, a whole chicken, or even a 9-by-13-inch baking dish for a quick batch of brownies. (And, of course, it also made perfect toast in testing.)

We struggle to find a downside with the performance and features of the Omni Plus, but it might be more than you need. It's pretty expensive compared to the 6-quart Instant Vortex above, and it's not any better at basic air fryer functions. It has more than triple the capacity, but not every kitchen needs this much air fryer space. It's fairly cumbersome, so it's not easily portable or easy to tuck away in a cabinet.

Dimensions: 15.75 x 16.54 x 13.9 inches | Capacity: 19 quarts | Power: 1,800 watts | Presets: Air fry, broil, bake, roast, dehydrate, reheat, rotisserie, toast, warm, convection

The Instant Vortex Plus 6-Quart Air Fryer has impressed us time and time again as the best air fryer available. It’s the right balance of a generous capacity with a manageable overall size, boasts the blasting convection power necessary for crispy results, and, of course, has a user-friendly interface. If you're looking for something slightly smaller with similarly excellent results, we'd recommend the Ninja 4-Quart Air Fryer.

Food & Wine / Will Dickey

Over the past few years, our editors at home and our testing lab have had their hands full with air fryers from dozens of brands. We’ve noticed that in the second, third, and further generations of products, models with the same name changed significantly, so we keep testing and re-testing our winners to make sure they're still tops. This list of the best air fryers reflects our historical data and the most recent models we’ve tested — over the years, some brands have held strong, others have dropped out of the ranks, and new machines have shown up on the list for the first time.

Our original test included 11 popular models from go-to brands: Instant, Philips, Ninja, Cosori, Chefman, GoWise, Dash, Cuisinart, and Breville. We focused on the bread-and-butter air fryer staples of frozen French fries, vegetables, and chicken tenders. To test their baking capabilities, we also made cornbread, and once we found the top performers from the first four rounds, we used them to try roasting a whole chicken.

Food & Wine / Russell Kilgore

Since then, we've performed lots of additional tests, taking on more than 20 basket-style air fryers and 10 combination air fryer/toaster ovens with the same five dishes. In our most recent round of tests, previous winners went head-to-head with the new Typhur Dome using Food & Wine recipes for miso air fryer salmon with baby boy choy and bacon-wrapped air fryer pork tenderloin.Though the exact ingredients and recipes have varied, our methodologies for testing air fryers always focus on a few main factors:

Food & Wine / Russell Kilgore

Aside from these performance factors, we also rated the machines' size, weight, noise level, and general feel, looking for any features that are especially helpful or especially annoying to deal with. We only considered value after assigning grades in all the other categories, and we compared pricing across the overall air fryer category as well as between comparably sized and advanced models.

Food & Wine / Russell Kilgore

The price isn't always right. These days, basket-style air fryers can range from $50 to $350, and toaster ovens with air-frying capabilities generally run from $100 to $400. Most of our favorites land in the middle, between $100 and $200. The cheapest models lack decent performance or capacity, but more expensive machines than this range generally don’t add much for their increased cost. Air fryers don’t generally need to be flashy to be efficient, and the prices of our top picks reflect that.

A noisy air fryer isn't a great dinner guest. The powerful fan in many air fryers can make a bit of a racket, so we noted the models that were noticeably loud or quiet while running. If you’d rather not yell over the whirr of the air fryer during your dinner party, this can be an important consideration.

Russell Kilgore / Food & Wine

There is a sweet spot for capacity. Knowing the volume of what you’ll want to cook in an air fryer is just as important as the type of food itself. If you’re slinging standard grocery-store frozen fries, you can generally manage with 4 to 6 quarts, as long as you give them a good shake halfway through cooking. For more finicky recipes like homemade air fryer chicken wings and hand-cut fries, the more surface area inside your air fryer, the better. If the air isn’t circulating while it’s cooking, you’re not going to get the crispy, consistent results you’re looking for. At the same time, you won’t want to give up too much countertop or cabinet space. Our winners strike the right balance between the size of the basket and the actual cubic feet of space needed for the machine.

Extra features are nice, but more is not always more. Most air fryers can also tasks besides air frying, including broiling, roasting, and dehydrating. However, similar to pressure cookers, they may not perform every function especially well. You may, for example, be better off purchasing a good dehydrator if you're into making jerky, dried vegetables, and fruit roll-ups. Other features to look for include a timer and an easy-to-use interface. Smart features vary widely, so it's hard to compare machines directly; we did give special consideration to models with helpful presets and Wi-Fi connectivity. Ultimately, the flashy additions don’t hold as much weight as basic cooking results, but they definitely add some value.

After years of testing, we've seen new brand emerge and established brands waver in our various air fryer tasks. We're wary of recalls on popular brands like Cosori, as well as newcomers that need more long-term trials. We can say with confidence that you generally won't be disappointed with air fryers from a few different brands:

If you've had your air fryer for a number of years or use it frequently enough that it has wear and tear, there are a few things to look out for:

Air fryers use an integrated fan to circulate hot air through the interior, cooking food more quickly and evenly than a standard oven. The principle is similar to a convection oven, only the fan is even more power and the inside smaller, imitating the crispy and crunchy results of deep frying with far less oil. The way you'll use your air fryer depends on the foods you cook, but for some inspiration you can check out some of our favorite air fryer cookbooks."The beauty of an air fryer is that you don't need to preheat it," says Anna Theoktisto, the recipe developer behind some of our top air fryer dishes, including fried chicken with hot honey. “If you want to get your kids some crispy nuggets or chicken tenders on the table fast, this thing will do it. My mom recently purchased one and finds it easier to cook for two people using it. I'd recommend it to empty nesters, working parents, and single people."

With pull-out food drawers, air fryers are far easier to clean than their greasier deep fryer cousins. But the specific steps to clean your air fryer will depend on the type and the exact model you have. According to Julia Levy, a recipe tester and developer with ample air fryer experience, users should always follow the manufacturer's instructions when cleaning any kitchen appliance. In general, Levy recommends handwashing with soap and water and a non-abrasive sponge; most air fryers are not dishwasher-safe, as detergents will deteriorate their nonstick coating."You will want to clean it after each use so oils don't build up and particles don't burn," she adds. "I recommend placing a thin layer of foil in the bottom basket for ease of cleaning."

Yes. Unlike a microwave oven, an air fryer is generally safe to use with aluminum and other metals that can handle oven temperatures. However, it’s often best to keep the grates exposed to ensure air is circulating as efficiently as possible and to separate oil from fatty ingredients for maximum crispiness.

Yes, although you shouldn't put paper in the machine by itself while preheating. The airflow can push the paper straight into the heating element. As with foil, you don't want to cover the grates completely: You can actually purchase air fryer parchment paper with perforations to allow air to circulate.

What you can't put in an air fryer is wax paper, which looks similar but isn't heat-resistant like parchment. Wax paper can scorch or even burst into flame in an air fryer, toaster, or standard oven.

When you're learning how to use an air fryer, before you start we’d advise running a brand-new one empty for a few minutes. This is similar to washing new clothes before wearing them. Running it empty will burn off any residual dust or particles that could impart odd flavors to your first batch of food.

Philips Essential Air Fryer XL ($200 at Amazon)

With decent performance, good nonstick capabilities, and great French fry results, this is a machine we'd keep in mind if there's a great sale. The large temperature-adjustment increments (25 degrees), loud operation, and lack of versatility keep it out of the top rankings right now.

Chefman TurboFry Digital Air Fryer, XL 8-Quart ($120 at Amazon)

Despite the generous capacity and nice ergonomics, the Chefman 8-quart left a bit to be desired for cooking consistency. It doesn't handle smaller quantities as well, which isn't ideal for versatility at home.

Ninja Max XL Air Fryer ($170 at Amazon)

A larger version of the star performer Ninja 4-quart, this model delivered truly great results for basic functions. It was touch-and-go on Brussels sprouts in our tests, but we can forgive it for the excellent fries, shrimp, and wings.

Cosori 4-Quart Smart Air Fryer ($100 at Amazon)

The fries, Brussels, and biscuits were all slightly lacking here, but it was extremely easy to use with a great basket for easy cleanup. The dreaded dishes after cooking are an underrated factor in all appliance needs, and this model made that infinitely easier.

Cosori Pro Gen 2 Air Fryer 5.8-Quart ($120 at Amazon)

A little lacking in the Brussels and garlic arena, this air fryer won't do you wrong if you're not too worried about caramelizing vegetables. Great ease of use and smooth operation is a bonus.

We've tested dozens more air fryers, including more Cosori models, the Philips Premium XXL, the tiny Dash Compact, and the Ninja Foodi Dual Zone. We were surprised to see a few of these struggle with the most straightforward food, like fries and chicken wings. Others had decent performance but lacked some of the features that our winners included as a default, like presets, large baskets, and easy cleanup processes. Some we felt the cumbersome size outweighed the results, and others were simply too small to recommend for most household uses.

Senior food editor Breana Killeen has tested dozens of air fryers and created recipes designed for basket-style and toaster oven air fryers. According to her, you have to know your machine and how well it evenly circulates the air. Just like every home oven has its hot spots, every air fryer has its own quirks. Basket-style air fryers tend to cook slightly faster and get all sides of the food crispier than toaster oven air fryers. That's why you should always give your food a quick shake or stir halfway through cooking.

Here are her top five tips for getting the most out of cooking in your air fryer.

Don’t forget to preheat. It's worth it to take a few minutes to preheat the air fryer before adding the food, so the food gets that initial blast of hot air when it goes in. This helps crisp everything up.

Cooking spray ensures crunch. For an extra hit of crunch, coat the food in cooking spray as you put it in the air fryer. You also want to make sure to coat the air fryer basket in cooking spray so nothing sticks. So much better than those silly paper liners.

Make sure you space things out. Don't overcrowd the air fryer or it won't work as you'd like, and the food will steam instead of becoming crispy. If you regularly cook for a family or large group, go with one of the XL models.

Remember to flip and turn your food. Flipping (or stirring) the food halfway through cooking is important for making sure all sides are hit with the hot air, so they crisp up

Finally, look for recipes developed specifically for the air fryer. The cooking times are different than those for recipes created for a traditional oven.