The best microwaves in the UK for every kitchen and budget – tested

Review The best microwaves in the UK for every kitchen and budget – tested They’re perfect for time-poor cooks, but which deserves your counter space?

From combi models to smart designs, here’s what our expert recommends The best air fryers If you’re at a restaurant and hear a ping a couple of minutes before your meal arrives at your table, it’s unlikely to be a good sign.

But microwave ovens are a brilliant tool in the home kitchen.

They’re fearsomely fast at heating up – or even cooking – food when you’re time-poor and lacking the energy to make something wholesome after a hard day at work.

And in hot weather, cooking by microwave isn’t just quick: it also won’t warm your home.

Microwaves work best for heating food with a high water content (they make the water molecules in food vibrate to create heat).

However, before testing, I asked around to find out what people use theirs for most, with a view to using this information to shape my tests.

I learned a few things – like lots of people eat mug cakes.

Who knew?

And that wheat bags are a popular alternative to hot-water bottles.

But the majority of folk use their microwave for reheating cold cuppas, defrosting frozen batch-cooked meals, warming food, popping microwave popcorn – and, of course, cooking jacket potatoes more quickly.

I used these insights to shape my testing.

Ease of use is important, too.

Most of us only ever use a few buttons on repeat, often having to reach for the instructions if we want to use some of the smarter functionality these appliances now come with – some can even air-fry.

Microwaving can be healthy and fast, and it uses less energy than an oven.

So, if you want to discover the best microwaves for your needs, read on.

At a glance Best microwave overallPanasonic NN-CD88 4-in-1 combi with air fry £379 at Amazon Best budget microwaveSalter DuoWave 2-in-1 £184 at Currys Best microwave for controlsLG MH6565CPS NeoChef £148.98 at LG Why you should trust me I’m an award-winning consumer technology journalist who’s been reviewing gadgets for almost 30 years.

I live in a terrace house with my children and several pets, meaning there were plenty of mouths for the extra food I was making while testing these microwaves.

The humans got a lot of jacket potatoes and beans; the animals helped with the rest … which is how I discovered that hens love poppadoms!

How I tested Microwave magic … every model was put through the same tests, from jacket potatoes and baked beans to defrosting and popcorn.

The models differed in capacity and features but were similar in other ways.

They all had a dial and buttons for control on a panel on the right-hand side.

They all opened to the left, other than the Samsung Combi microwave, where the door opens downwards.

And they all had a one-metre power cable at the rear that came from the top right (looking front on).

I used each model to prepare the same set of foods.

I made microwave popcorn, cooked jacket potatoes (200 to 250g each), and heated up 150g of baked beans.

Next, I used each microwave to heat 250ml of chilled (starting at 9C) tap water for two minutes, using a digital thermometer to check its temperature after heating.

I also used the defrost settings on a 500g block of ice in each microwave for 10 minutes, weighing how much ice was left.

Finally, I cooked poppadoms to evaluate a microwave oven’s ability to cook evenly, and frozen oven chips in those models that come with an air-frying feature.

None of the food I made went to waste, with the chickens happily eating any leftover popcorn and – surprisingly – the poppadoms, and the dog eating everything else.

With testing done and dusted, any models that weren’t collected by the manufacturers were donated to Furnishing Futures, a charity that fully furnishes social housing for survivors of domestic abuse.

The best microwaves in 2026 Hot competition … the microwaves battling it out for a place on your worktop.

Best microwave overall: Panasonic NN-CD88 4-in-1 combi with air fry Panasonic NN-CD88 4-in-1 combi with air fry from £379 £379 at Argos £379 at Amazon What we loveHuge capacity; proper jacket potatoes What we don’t loveBulky; greasy fingerprints show up on it £379 at Argos £379 at Amazon This microwave is huge, arriving with the biggest capacity on test.

The turntable sits on a roller with six wheels, rather than the usual three, and the controls are a dial with a button at its centre, plus six clearly labelled buttons.

Helpfully, the display features scrolling text, so you always know what you’re doing, and you’ll find a list of all the programmes inside the door, so you never need to consult the instructions to make full use of it.

Why we love itPerformance was excellent: the microwave cooked popcorn fast, the poppadoms evenly, heated my mug of water to 75C and defrosted the ice well.

I used a special programme to cook the jacket potato, which took 15 minutes but was well worth the wait.

In fact, the Panasonic was the only microwave on test to produce a jacket potato that could have passed for oven-baked.

This model also offers grill, convection oven and air-fryer cooking – personally, I think those last two are the same thing.

Again, though, performance impressed.

It comes with a circular rack, a crisper tray and a wire basket, which I used to air-fry frozen chips to perfection.

If you want a microwave that does it all and gives you extra cooking capacity – essentially, an extra shelf’s worth of oven – this is the one to buy.

It’s a shame that … fingerprints show on the brushed stainless steel finish.

Dimensions: 56 x 45 x 34cm (WDH) Power: 1,000W (1,300W grill)Capacity: 34l Turntable diameter: 36cm Other cooking options: oven, grill, air fryer Panasonic NN-CD88 4-in-1 combi with air fry from £379 £379 at Argos £379 at Amazon What we loveHuge capacity; proper jacket potatoes What we don’t loveBulky; greasy fingerprints show up on it Best budget microwave: Salter DuoWave 2-in-1 Salter DuoWave 2-in-1 from £184 £184 at Currys £187.99 at Salter What we loveGood value; a whole shelf for air frying What we don’t loveYou’ll need the instructions for some functions £184 at Currys £187.99 at Salter The “duo” in the name refers to the fact that this microwave doubles as an air fryer.

And it performed brilliantly on all fronts.

If you don’t have the worktop space or the budget for the Panasonic, the Salter is a great buy.

Microwaving is on a standard glass turntable, but you air-fry on a full-width, rectangular roasting tray that slides into the unit like a shelf, with a rectangular mesh basket that sits on top of this tray.

Why we love itIt’s clever.

Most microwaves have a jacket potato programme that takes five minutes, but that’s never quite enough: I experimented and found 5mins 20secs was the optimum time.

The Salter automatically went for 5mins 20secs and cooked it perfectly.

It’s quick, too, heating my mug of water to an impressive 73C and cooking two poppadoms quickly and evenly.

I used the basket to air-fry frozen oven chips, and they were ready within 15 minutes.

Controls are intuitive, with a button in the middle of the dial.

It was easy to figure out how to defrost, and I could do so by time or weight.

It’s a shame that … there isn’t a list of all the programmes inside the door.

Dimensions: 45 x 52 x 30cm (WDH)Power: 900WCapacity: 26l Turntable diameter: 31cm Other cooking options: air fryer Salter DuoWave 2-in-1 from £184 £184 at Currys £187.99 at Salter What we loveGood value; a whole shelf for air frying What we don’t loveYou’ll need the instructions for some functions Best microwave for controls: LG MH6565CPS NeoChef LG MH6565CPS NeoChef from £148.98 £148.98 at LG £149 at Amazon What we loveLooks classy and packs a good grill What we don’t loveThe musical alerts are an acquired taste £148.98 at LG £149 at Amazon This feels like a high-end microwave for a mid-market price.

The design is sleek, with a full-width door and a control dial that you can push in to sit flush when not in use.

Inside the door is a list of all the programmes.

The cooking area is impressive, too: the turntable sits on a roller ring with six wheels, rather than the usual three, so it doesn’t wobble.

It comes with a circular rack and a crisper tray, too.

Why we love itThe look is high-end and performance impressed, too.

My mug of water was heated to 72C, and the 14-minute programme for the jacket potato gave decent results.

The “healthy fry” setting did a great job of frozen oven chips as well – cooking them to perfection in 15mins 30secs, without the need to turn them midway.

It’s a shame that … I couldn’t find a setting to defrost by time, so I had to do it by weight.

Nevertheless, it worked well, defrosting more than half my ice in 10 minutes.

Also, its alerts are a bit musical, which you’ll either love or loathe.

Dimensions: 48 x 39 x 27cm (WDH)Power: 1,000W (900W grill)Capacity: 25lTurntable diameter: 29cmOther cooking options: grill LG MH6565CPS NeoChef from £148.98 £148.98 at LG £149 at Amazon What we loveLooks classy and packs a good grill What we don’t loveThe musical alerts are an acquired taste For more, read our guide to the best air fryers skip past newsletter promotion after newsletter promotion The best of the rest Samsung Combi All-In-One 32L MC32DB7746KCE3 Samsung Combi All-In-One 32L MC32DB7746KCE3 from £298.99 £349 at AO £298.99 at Amazon What we loveLarge capacity and app control What we don’t loveNot the best, nor the fastest, on test £349 at AO £298.99 at Amazon Best for: app control One of the priciest microwaves on test at RRP, although it’s worth keeping an eye out for discounts.

It has a generous capacity and plenty of cooking options, including oven, grill, air fryer and steam.

It comes with two circular racks (so you can cook on two levels at once), a crisper tray and a plastic steamer.

Unusually, the door opens downwards like an oven.

It’s also smart: the SmartThings app lets you view cooking progress, get notifications, and even control the microwave from your phone.

You can connect it to voice assistants, too, but I didn’t find this especially useful.

It didn’t make the final cut because … cooking performance was so-so.

My water heated to only 66C; it was slow to cook a jacket potato, and air-frying chips was a 19-minute programme – slower than most dedicated air fryers and closer to an oven.

Dimensions: 52 x 52 x 33cm (WDH); power: 900W (1,500W grill); capacity: 32l; turntable diameter: 34cm; other cooking options: grill, oven, air fryer, steam Samsung Combi All-In-One 32L MC32DB7746KCE3 from £298.99 £349 at AO £298.99 at Amazon What we loveLarge capacity and app control What we don’t loveNot the best, nor the fastest, on test Caso MCG 25 Ceramic Chef Caso MCG 25 Ceramic Chef from £159 £159 at Homebase £159 at Wilko What we loveIts flatbed design means more cooking capacity What we don’t loveUneven cooking; annoying controls £159 at Homebase £159 at Wilko Best for: a larger flatbed The flatbed design means this model has more usable space than a microwave with a turntable.

For example, I could fit in three poppadoms without any overlapping, which is good for a mid-size microwave.

However, they cooked unevenly: I had to flip them over and give them another minute.

It did a good job of heating baked beans, but it was slow to cook the jacket potato and the popcorn.

It didn’t make the final cut because … I hated the controls.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that all microwaves should have a button you can bash for 30-second increments.

But this one does 30 seconds, a minute, then goes up in minutes (to a maximum of 10 minutes).

Dimensions: 49 x 48 x 29cm (WDH); power: 900W (1,200W grill, 2,050W oven); capacity: 25l; turntable: 31 x 32cm (flatbed); other cooking options: grill, oven Caso MCG 25 Ceramic Chef from £159 £159 at Homebase £159 at Wilko What we loveIts flatbed design means more cooking capacity What we don’t loveUneven cooking; annoying controls Beko MCF25310 Beko MCF25310 from £179 £179 at Very £179 at Amazon What we loveGreat controls and good jacket potatoes What we don’t loveIt didn’t defrost well enough £179 at Very £179 at Amazon Best for: a mid-price combi microwave This is a combi: a microwave, grill and oven that can combine cooking styles.

However, performance was a mixed bag.

It turned out a jacket potato in 6mins 30secs – which, although no replacement for an oven-cooked spud, was better than a microwaved one.

It heated my mug of water to 76C, but defrosted less than 20% of my ice.

I was a fan of its controls, though: a dial with a button in the middle, plus six clearly labelled buttons.

It didn’t make the final cut because … I found it confusing; sometimes it would keep cooking, but the timer didn’t go down.

Plus, defrosting yielded disappointing results.

Dimensions: 48 x 44 x 28cm (WDH); power: 900W (1,950W grill, 1,950W oven); capacity: 25l; turntable diameter: 27cm; other cooking options: grill, oven Beko MCF25310 from £179 £179 at Very £179 at Amazon What we loveGreat controls and good jacket potatoes What we don’t loveIt didn’t defrost well enough Russell Hobbs RHFM2365B Russell Hobbs RHFM2365B from £119 £119 at Appliances Direct £119 at Hughes What we lovePowerful microwaving What we don’t loveUneven cooking; annoying controls £119 at Appliances Direct £119 at Hughes Best for: a flatbed microwave on a budget Doing away with a turntable means flatbed microwaves can fit in more food.

For example, this one is compact but can accommodate a large 30cm dinner plate.

On the downside, flatbed microwaves often struggle to cook evenly, and this model was no exception in my tests.

I could fit two (and even three at a squeeze) poppadoms at a time, but while they were fully cooked at the centre, the sides were underdone.

The microwave was powerful, though, heating my mug of water to an impressive 72C.

It didn’t make the final cut because … it looks classy but the controls proved annoying.

There’s no button in the middle of the dial and I had to read the manual to look up programmes.

Dimensions: 47 x 38 x 30cm (WDH); power: 800W; capacity: 23l; turntable: 33 x 31cm (flatbed) ; other cooking options: none Russell Hobbs RHFM2365B from £119 £119 at Appliances Direct £119 at Hughes What we lovePowerful microwaving What we don’t loveUneven cooking; annoying controls Tower T24041BLK Tower T24041BLK from £79.99 £79.99 at Tower £80 at Dunelm What we loveIt’s cheap and fairly powerful What we don’t loveIt’s too small for a big dinner plate £79.99 at Tower £80 at Dunelm Best for: price At RRP, this was the cheapest microwave tested – but you get what you pay for.

The styling is simple but old-fashioned.

Overall, it looks pretty basic.

When it comes to performance, while my mug of water was heated to only 64C, more than 60% of the ice was defrosted in just 10 minutes.

Capacity is small, though: it could cope with only one poppadom and couldn’t accommodate my 30cm dinner plates.

Also, it has eight preset programmes, but they’re not listed conveniently on the appliance itself, so you’ll be reaching for the instructions.

It didn’t make the final cut because … I liked it, but I think it’s worth spending a bit more on the Salter.

Dimensions: 45 x 35 x 26cm (WDH); power: 800W; capacity: 20l; turntable diameter: 26cm; other cooking options: none Tower T24041BLK from £79.99 £79.99 at Tower £80 at Dunelm What we loveIt’s cheap and fairly powerful What we don’t loveIt’s too small for a big dinner plate What you need to know Choosing the purrfect microwave … think about capacity, cooking modes and available space before you buy.

The room inside a microwave is usually measured in litres, but that’s the total volume, right up to the corners.

I’ve included turntable diameter, so you can measure your dinner plates to see if they’ll fit.

Some microwaves have a flatbed design, with no turntable.

While you can fit more into these models, cooking can be uneven.

Do I need a microwave?

A microwave is a valuable tool in the kitchen, if you have the worktop space for it.

If space is tight, look for one that’s shallow enough that you can make good use of the space in front of it to prepare food.

Microwaves are best at heating, reheating and defrosting food with a high water content.

They’re great for reheating everything from batch-cooked meals to a forgotten cuppa.

Models that feature oven capabilities or air frying are great because they offer valuable extra cooking space, but only if you have the worktop space.

It’s like having an extra shelf’s worth of oven – perfect when you’re cooking for lots of people.

What microwave wattage do I need?

Microwave power is measured in watts – this is a measure of cooking power, rather than electrical draw.

The models on test range from 800W to 1,000W.

They will all cook your dinner, but the higher-power appliances will do it faster.

This shouldn’t use more electricity overall (and, therefore, money and carbon) as they use more per minute but take less time.

Other features to look out for Larger microwaves sometimes offer grill, oven and air fryer modes – or all three.

I consider air fryers and small convection (fan) ovens to be the same thing: they cook food by circulating hot air, and they’re faster than ovens thanks to their small size.

Combi cooking is when one of these styles and microwave cooking are combined for the best of both worlds.

For example, you can cook a crispy-skinned jacket potato in less than 20 minutes.

Some microwaves also come with a set of plastic dishes for steam cooking.

This works well, but do remember that you’ll need to find space in your kitchen to stow any accessories.

Some people also prefer to avoid microwaving in plastic where possible.

For more: The best toasters for toast, bagels and crumpets The best slow cookers for effortless homemade meals The best rice cookers for gloriously fluffy grains at home The best soup makers for healthy, thrifty meals Caramel Quin is a journalist specialising in consumer technology.

She prides herself on real-world testing and plain language.

Her pet hates are jargon, pointless products and overcomplicated instruction manuals.

Caramel is an engineering graduate who has won awards for communicating hi-tech subjects to normal people.

When she’s not testing gadgets, she’s feeding pets (16 beasts at the time of writing) or pottering at the allotment Explore more on these topicsLife and style The Filter Food Gadgets features Share Reuse this content