There's a million air fryers out there and whilst each one promises it, they can't all be the best.
After testing these tremendously useful kitchen appliances for four years now, I'm pretty good at separating the sub-par fryer from the real deal. But if you've resisted the call of an air fryer thus far, you probably need some convincing on why you need one in the first place. The long and short of it is an air fryer will save you time (it's essentially a mini fan oven) and add convenience and extra space to your kitchen.
In all my years of testing, its products produce the best cooking results and prioritise ease of use. That's why there's 2 of the best Ninja air fryers in my top 3: the best of the best Ninja FlexDrawer and the insanely compact Ninja Crispi. Those are joined by my favourite affordable option from Salter in my top 3. Here's more information on each of those stand out air fryers or you can skip straight to my advice on how to buy the best air fryer for you.
Quick list
This ultra-versatile pick wins in every category when pitting air fryers against each other.
This four-zone air fryer has the highest quality of any affordable alternative I've tried to the big names like Ninja.
This glass air fryer was tailor-made for small households or students and anyone who wants to stash this appliance away in a cupboard when not in use.
Why you should trust me
Why should you trust my opinion on which air fryer to buy? For starters, I've been testing them for my 9 to 5 since 2021, both in a controlled environment in our test kitchen and at home.
And I cover news of all of the latest releases as part of my role as Ideal Home's Kitchen Appliances Editor, so there's no new feature or design that I don't know about. I've tested dozens of air fryers with a set menu of foods in order to bring you this list and eaten a lot of beige food along the way.
Best air fryer overall for most people
Why is it the best?
The concept of the Ninja FlexDrawer is simple, but the execution is nothing less than perfect. Instead of choosing between a dual-drawer or single-drawer model, you get both thanks to this standout multi-zone air fryer.
While your old air fryer might require you to still turn on your oven for bigger jobs, you can leave your old built-in appliance behind for good with this kind of flexible capacity.
I found several other reasons to love this excellent air fryer during our review process. While I tested it out at our test centre, our expert reviewer Helen mastered everything from a leg of lamb to a toastie during tests at home too, with a perfect cook every time. And seeing as this is a Ninja air fryer, it goes without saying that it’s simple to use, with well-thought-out settings and controls.
The cons?
It might be too big for single-person households unless you host a lot. And if you have a teeny kitchen, you’ll need to be prepared to find space for it, since it’s quite wide and tall. Furthermore, it’s one of the most expensive Ninja air fryers – a fact that can’t be ignored.
Having said that, if you’re looking to limit how often you need to turn on your big, power-guzzling oven then look no further than the Ninja FlexDrawer - I think it's answered every air fryer conundrum out there.
Design points? ⭐⭐/5
OK, so this isn't the prettiest air fryer, but it is the most versatile in terms of space. During sales events (think Black Friday and Amazon Prime Day) it often gets released in more palatable colours too (like white, grey and even a quite fetching stone shade recently) so keep an eye out for those.
Suitable for: any households with more than two people.
Our Ninja Foodi FlexDrawer Air Fryer review has the full details.
Best air fryer under £100
Why is it the best?
If this air fryer looks familiar, then you might want to take a second to compare it to the Ninja DoubleStack (which we've also reviewed) as well as the respective price-tags.
With an RRP under £100 compared to £230 for the Ninja version, it was an easy decision to vote this as Ideal Home's favourite affordable choice. During at-home testing, our reviewer Annie found that this spacious product was tailor-made for family meals without taking up too much worktop space.
The cons?
This is one of those air fryers with preset programs for different foods (eg chicken or chips). I never find these useful and prefer just to convert whatever I'm cooking via air fryer maths (shave around 30% off what it would take in an oven) but our reviewer Annie was more impressed with them for balance. She also loved that she didn't need to wait around for it to preheat.
Chips took just 14 minutes to cook with this air fryer and it has ample space to feed four people. Though there are some spots where cooking can be a little slower (like in the back corners), overall the results with this air fryer are stellar for the price. It's simply fantastic value for money.
Design points? ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Cleverly vertically stacked, it's also a design-led winner. Our reviewer Annie tried it in black, with windows on the drawers for checking on your food, while I loved using the all-white version. There's also a version with a 'wooden' handle finish (£94.99 at Amazon) too, though the control panel on all of them is a little unbecoming.
Suitable for: those with under £100 to spend.
Read our full Salter VertiCook View Air Fryer review for the full details.
Best air fryer for two people
Why is it the best?
The Ninja Crispi is the most unique air fryer on this list. It's not a big, boxy thing with drawers or trays. Instead, it consists of an air frying lid, which plugs into the wall, and two glass containers. Once you attach that lid onto either container, you've got the option to Air Fry, Roast, Keep Warm or Recrisp whatever is inside.
It's a design that's perfect for those with cluttered kitchen who definitively do not have the room for another appliance on their worktop. The glass containers are also perfect for keen meal preppers, as they have matching lids that allow you to put the contents straight into your fridge.
If you're on the hunt for an air fryer for the uni student in your life, this is certainly the one I'd recommend. I tried it with a range of foods from chicken wings to asparagus and it did a stellar cooking job with everything, with far more power than I expected. It's also an affordable Ninja pick, which is good if you want to try the brand without investing in a huge appliance.
All in all, this somewhat strange device is a total winner. Plus, if you want an air fryer that you can stash into your cupboard to keep your kitchen pristine when guests arrive, this is it.
The cons?
It's just a bit too small to be a family air fryer and maybe would be better as a second supplementary one in a family home if you need it. You also can't change the temperature outside of the presets which can be annoying if you want to freestyle.
Design points? ⭐⭐⭐/5
The glass plus air fryer 'head' design is unconventional to say the least, and while the food containers aren't terrible to look at, I doubt it's going to earn a permanent spot on many worktops. But the small and reconstructible design wins top marks in my book as it's so easy to stash into a nearby cupboard (and for stashing leftovers in the fridge!).
Suitable for: students, meal preppers, single or two person households.
Read our Ninja Crispi review for the full details.
Also recommended
I've tested dozens of air fryers in total to compile my top three; these are the ones I liked that didn't quite earn a top spot, but might just fit the bill for you for different reasons.
Instant is another phenomenally good air fryer brand with so many fantastic value options. This compact one is packed full of features that should set you back far more than its very affordable RRP and it cooks like a dream.
If your principal air fryer gripe is that you can't fit your favourite pizza in one then may I introduce you to the fantastically performing solution: this product from Tefal. It's big enough for 1kg of fries at a time too and it's under £100! A bonafide steal.
Read our review of the Tefal Easy Fry Pizza.
If you want to get rid of your oven altogether then this American style air fryer is a godsend. Yes it's huge but it's also extremely speedy, packed with functionality and has intuitive controls. Great for baking too.
Read our review of the Ninja Foodi 10-in-1 Multifunction Oven.
How I test air fryers
Every air fryer in this roundup has been tested hands-on by the Ideal Home team for a minimum of two weeks in line with our testing protocol should help. Our explainer on how we test air fryers has all of the details if you want to learn even more.
We've written full, in-depth reviews of over 50 air fryers over the last two years to narrow this list down to the very best 3 models, with plenty more that we've taken for a spin at our test centre.
This allows us to compare air fryers directly in terms of performance and it also helps us when deciding which air fryers will be the right pick for different living situations (including how design-savvy they are).
Because all air fryers claim to do very similar things, it's important to us that we put them through their paces before recommending any air fryer to our readers. We used a standard recipe for air-fried chips, bacon, broccoli and asparagus across all air fryers, recording the cooking timings and considering how evenly the foods come out, as well as how well cooked they are.
Bacon cooks brilliantly in air fryers, allowing fat to drip away and leaving crispy rashers in the basket. We used the speed and evenness of cooking as a way of measuring how well an air fryer distributed heat and how fast it circulated hot air.
Based on our findings, we gave every air fryer a rating out of five and then sorted them into this list (while excluding those that didn't make the cut!) to recommend to our readers.
Below you can find out more about exactly which members of the team tested the air fryers within this round-up, as well as an insight into the air fryers we are currently testing out for you.
Tested by
I'm Molly, and I've spent the last four years of my career testing every kitchen appliance and gadget out there to tell you which ones are worth your time, with a focus on air fryers since 2022. I'm a keen home chef and baker and right now I am heavily relying on my Ninja Crispi for saving money on meal prepping.
Hi, I'm Helen and I test a huge range of kitchen appliances from a small village in Buckinghamshire. After completing a Home Economics degree, I went on to work for the Good Housekeeping Institute and have been reviewing home appliances ever since. Now a freelancer, I've tested countless air fryers to find out which are worth your time for Ideal Home, alongside halogen ovens and AI assisted appliances too.
I'm Annie, and I have 7+ years of reviews experience, having tested everything from cookware to hot tubs for Ideal Home. I test air fryers regularly in my busy family kitchen to cook for myself, my husband and my daughter. The basics never go amiss when testing: I'm talking bacon, chips, and fish fingers! My recent favourite has been the Salter product featuring in this guide.
FAQs
How do air fryers work?
Air fryers work like a convection oven to circulate air around your food and cook it evenly from every angle. That means any fat you add to the air fryer will circulate your fries, chicken or fish as it cooks, making it crisp and crunchy.
Air fryers typically come with an in-built basket that has space for air to get underneath your food, as well as cook it from above and the side. In the Ninja Dual Zone for example, you can remove this and use the tray like a regular oven tray to add a crisp cheesy top to a pasta bake or roast vegetables and potatoes for convenient mealtimes.
How to buy the best air fryer for you
Look for easy-to-use controls for both temperature and time, as these are the most important features of any air fryer. Auto-stop and keep warm functions can be useful but chips, if left for any amount of time will soon lose their crispness. More expensive machines will feature touch screens rather than dial controls, which will help with accuracy.
The bigger the basket capacity, the more people you’ll be able to cook for. So if you’ve got a family, then a 5-litre machine (which usually provides a chip capacity of around 800g to 1kg) is probably a must.
A loud beep to signal the end of cooking time is a good idea if you’re using the time to wander off and do something else. Most air-fryers will only cook one food group at a time (ie meat or veg) but some will cook a whole meal in one go if you’re after a one-pot solution.
The best air fryer for you will also be the one that falls within your price range. To help with this, we'd recommend checking out our air fryer deals page, which can go a long way in helping shave a few pounds of any given model's RRP.
Are air fryers economical?
Air fryers can be an economical way to cook depending on the voltage of any model. That's partly thanks to the fact that they usually cook food 60% of the time your oven takes, meaning that your electricity is in use for less time.
To get into the specifics, basket air fryers tend to be smaller and therefore may be a little more economical than countertop oven models, but it really depends on voltage and how long you'll be using your air fryer, so bear that in mind.
Can an air fryer be used as an oven?
Yep, your air fryer can achieve everything that a standard oven can. If it helps, just think of an air fryer like an oven that sits on top of your work surface.
These clever appliances can achieve the same as an in-built oven can, though they do tend to be smaller in capacity. Our dedicated feature on air fryers vs ovens has all of the details you need on the main differences and similarities.
Hopefully, your journey to elevating your mealtimes has now started thanks to this round-up of the very best air fryers on the market. I'll be updating this list regularly to keep you up to speed with all of the air fryer newness you need to know about and to let you know if my top 3 changes!
