Looking for the best air fryer? We've tested 7 of the most popular air fryers on the planet to see which one makes the best crispy chicken wings, which makes fries as good as a deep fryer, and how one add-on can sear a steak... right in an air fryer!
I know, I know, this is an outdoor cooking website, so why are we working with air fryers?
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We live in the midwest where it can get pretty cold and nasty in the winter so to be honest: We don't cook outside 7 days a week all winter long.
With 2 kids in the house, our air fryer gets a ton of use, especially in the winter, and recently ours needed to be replaced. So we wanted to know which air fryer was the best for our family, and that's how this review came about.
Best Air Fryer Results:
Winners
Product Information
BEST PREMIUM
Typhur Dome
Temperature: 105°-450°
Features: Self-cleaning programs, connected app, 10 cooking presets, super-wide basket
Warranty: 3 years
Winner: Best Premium Air Fyer
BEST OVERALL
Ninja Foodi FlexBasket
Temperature: 80 to 450°
Features: dual-zone cooking with Smart Finish and Match Cook capabilities, optional "Megazone" cooking
Warranty: 1 year
Winner: Best Overall
BEST BUDGET
Cosori Pro 5 Quart Air Fryer
Temperature: 170-450°
Features: "shake" alert option, 7 cooking presets
Warranty: 2 years
Winner: Best Budget Air Fryer
Why trust our review?
We purchased the top-selling air fryers and had a couple sent our way to test against them, so here's our disclaimer: None of the brands featured here have paid us anything to be a part of this video and article.
The only way we make any money is if you click our links and we earn a small commission on the sale. None of the brands gave us any talking points or had any say in the tests, so our thoughts are our own, and we're going to let the tests speak for themselves. With that out of the way, let's look at the contenders.
How We Tested For The Best Air Fryer
We'll cover the stats for each air fryer in a little bit, but more importantly, I want to know which air fryer performs the best, and whether the price matches up with performance.
We're testing the foods we air fry the most for dinner here at the house, and chicken wings are up first. Some of these air fryers have a chicken wing preset, while others do not, so here's how we tested:
If there was a chicken wing setting or recommendation in the user manual, we used that. If there wasn't, we set the air fryer to 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes, since that seems to be what we've found produces a great air-fried chicken wing.
Chicken Wing Test
We picked up some value pack chicken wings at Sam's Club and seasoned them with our favorite wing rub from the Smoked Bros website called Gun Run.
It's a Hot Buffalo seasoning that's not too hot for Melissa and I, but a bit too much for the kids. It's my current favorite way to buffalo chicken, and if you want to try a bottle or two, you can save 20% off your order if you use the code BBQLAB20 at checkout.
We put about 2 pounds of chicken wings in each air fryer covered in buffalo rub and pushed the start button.
Chicken wings cooked in the Chefman air fryer
Chicken Wings cooked in the Cosori air fryer
We found that the deeper basket air fryers like the Chefman, Cosori, and Ninja Max struggled the most with getting a consistent cook on all of the wings despite turning the wings partway through the cook. They all looked great on top, but were underdone on the bottoms.
Wings cooked in the Ninja Max air fryer
Wings cooked in the Nuwave air fryer with second shelf
Even the Nuwave, which offered a second wire shelf to separate the layers really struggled to create any crispiness below the top of the top layer.
Those with the wider, more shallow air fryer baskets including the Foodi, Instant, and Typhur performed much better with this test.
Wings cooked in the Ninja Foodi FlexBasket air fryer
Wings cooked in the Instant Vortex Slim air fryer
The other lesson that we learned in this test is to not trust the presets.
Wings cooked with the Typhur air fryer preset
Wings cooked at a higher temperature in the Typhur Dome air fryer
The Typhur preset really surprised us, only cooking wings for 14 minutes at 380°, and while they had reached a safe temperature they were not the texture we prefer for our wings. However, taking another stab at a higher temperature later on really produced delicious wings with nice crispy browning.
French Fry Test
For a test of frozen french fries, we grabbed bags of crinkle-cut fries from our local Aldi and cooked about a pound of the same fries in each air fryer.
If there was a french fries button or preset, we used that, but we learned very quickly that the presets probably weren't designed for the thicker crinkle-cut fries. It appears that these settings are for thin straight-cut fries, and left the thicker crinkle-cut french fries a little limp.
The general takeaway is that the smaller baskets with more vertical room air fry somewhat unevenly while the air fryers with larger baskets where french fries don't have to sit on top of each other while they're cooking outperformed the smaller basket air fryers every time.
In the Ninja Foodi, the dual-zone allowed us to air fry both french fries and tater tots at the same time and at different temperatures if we wanted to, which was nice since we have kids who rarely agree on what's for dinner.
There are a few models that have a shake button to add an audible reminder to cooks like this to remind to flip the french fries over or shake the air fryer basket, which is a nice feature.
Steak Test
Since we're an outdoor cooking and barbecue channel, it seemed only logical that we test what it's like to cook a steak in each air fryer. As the temperatures go below zero here in the Midwest, I know I don't always want to stand by the grill when there's a 30-mile-per-hour wind and a windchill of negative 20, so if there's an indoor steak cooking option that works, I'm here for it.
There's one addon that I want to show you that really makes grilling on air fryers work, and that's these circular grates from the GrillGrate company.
They're made of hard anodized aluminum, and they're designed to channel the heat that the entire grate collects to the top of the grate where the food will sit, enabling us to get grill marks using an air fryer.
There's a 7-1/2" round side and an almost 9" round size, so depending on the size of your air fryer basket, you can choose the size that fits best. They're not that expensive, and you can also use the code BBQLAB10 to save 10% on your purchase, making them a "grate" gift for you or that loved one on your list that's hard to shop for.
We tested a tri-tip steak in each air fryer, and though we were able to achieve grate marks on each steak, the units that had a top temperature of 450 degrees generally had better color on the side that wasn't making contact with the grates.
Typhur Dome air fryer steak results
Cosori 5 quart air fryer steak results
Ninja Foodie FlexBasket air fryer steak results
Ninja Max air fryer steak results
Those models were the Typhur Dome, The Cosori, the Ninja Foodie which had some nice browning on the top in addition to the grill marks on the bottom, and the Ninja Max. The takeaway here for me is that you can cook a steak in an air fryer when you're in a pinch, and the GrillGrate accessory is the way I'd do it.
Instant Vortex Slim air fryer steak results
Ninja Max air fryer steak results
Chefman air fryer steak results
The other accessory that we used was the Meater 2 wireless temperature probe, which came in handy during these tests. It's a wireless probe that you can use on a grill or in the air fryer. It tells you both the internal temperature of the meat you're cooking as well as the ambient temperature of the air surrounding your food, and it made this test easy.
Without it, we'd have no way to tell when the steak was done other than continually opening and closing the drawer, and the ability to know when you've hit the internal temperature you're shooting for means we didn't overcook our steaks. Two thumbs up from us on the new Meater 2 wireless thermometer.
Bacon Test
Bacon is another meat that I don't immediately think, "I'll fire up the air fryer for some bacon" but for a few of these models, it makes sense.
There are 3 air fryers that have a bacon setting: the Typhur, Cosori, and Nuwave.
On the Nuwave and Cosori, the first challenge is that you need to cut your bacon down to fit it inside the drawer. We got 4 pieces of bacon in, and it was a little undercooked for what we usually shoot for.
Bacon cooked in the Nuwave Brio 7.25 quart air fryer
So the lesson learned here is while you "can" cook bacon in the deeper basket air fryers, it's more trouble and mess than it's worth since you can only fit a few slices and they have to be cut in half to fit.
The Instant Vortex Slim and the Ninja Foodie FlexBasket both have longer baskets that wanted to take a stab at bacon despite the absence of a bacon preset. We were able to fit 4 full strips of bacon without cutting them down in the Instant Vortex, and without a preset, we were able to get the crispness we were looking for without any trouble.
The Ninja Foodi basket is wide enough for 5 whole strips of bacon. The challenge we ran into was that the fan inside blew the bacon around during the cook, so we ended up with a mass of bacon to unravel, but it was delicious nonetheless.
Bacon cooked in the Ninja Foodi 7 quart air fryer
Bacon cooked in the Typhur Dome air fryer
The Typhur Dome comes with a drawer that can accommodate 7 full slices of bacon, and there's a bacon preset that didn't disappoint. While we can disagree about the chicken wing preset, we wholeheartedly agree with the preset for bacon on the Dome.
Decibel Test
Using the app Decibel X on my phone, we tested the decibel readings for each of these air fryers while operating.
The quietest of the group was the Instant Vortex Slim with a max reading of 58.2. The Cosori and Typhur were just barely on its heels and all 3 of those air fryers kept things pretty quiet.
The other 4 were several decibels louder when operating, with the Chefman being the loudest with a max reading of 65.2 decibels.
Air Fryer | Max Decibel Reading |
|---|---|
Instant Vortex Slim | 58.2 dB |
Cosori Pro | 59.3 dB |
Typhur Dome | 59.6 dB |
Ninja Max XL | 62.6 dB |
Ninja Foodi FlexBasket | 63.4 dB |
Nuwave Brio | 64.8 dB |
Chefman Turbofry XL | 65.2 dB |
Cleaning Test
Every single one of these air fryer brands advertises that the baskets and inserts are dishwasher safe.
While I believe that is true of most air fryers, not all baskets will comfortably fit in your dishwasher alongside any of your other dirty dishes. So if being able to fit the basket in your dishwasher rather than hand washing is a high priority for you, keep that in mind.
Each air fryer basket is coated in a nonstick coating that really does make for easy clean-up.
There is one brand, however, that features a self-cleaning cycle. And based on the price range, you could probably guess that it's the Typhur.
I don't know about you, but we air fry a lot of foods that kick up a decent amount of grease, and it doesn't all stay contained to the basket that you can pull out to clean. It sprays up into the heating element and the fan, and I would suspect has a negative effect on the longevity of an air fryer.
However, through the Typhur app, you can run a self-clean or a deep self-clean cycle that will last 1-2 hours and utilize high heat to break down the buildup that has accumulated. Typhur recommends running a self-cleaning cycle about once a month.
So now that you've seen how they each performed in our testing, let me answer a few questions you may still have on each of these air fryers.
Air Fryers We Tested
Ninja Foodi FlexBasket
Quick Stats
Weight: | 17 lbs |
Unit Dimensions: | 18.19"W x 11.81"D x 11.26"H |
Capacity | 7 qt |
Temperature: | 80-450°F |
Cooking Presets: | broil, fry, roast, bake, reheat, dehydrate |
Discount Code: | 15% off with code BBQLAB |
The Ninja Foodi FlexBasket weighs 17 pounds and has a footprint of just over 18 inches wide, almost 12 inches deep, and around 12 inches high.
The Foodi FlexBasket is unique in this roundup in that it's the only air fryer with dual-zone capabilities. It has a 7-quart basket that can be divided into two 3.5-quart zones. So you can go ahead and cook nuggets on one side and fries on the other simultaneously. Or you can remove the divider and cook a larger batch of something in the "Megazone", which just sounds fun and impressive, doesn't it? Who doesn't want something with a Megazone?
The actual basket dimensions with the cooking trays in place are approximately 3 inches deep, 13 inches wide, with the optional divider down the middle, and about 8-1/2 inches long.
The Ninja Foodi FlexBasket has presets to broil, fry, roast, bake, reheat, and dehydrate and has a temperature range of 80 to 450°.
This air fryer comes with a 1-year limited warranty and retails for $179, however, you can save 15% on your purchase with the discount code BBQLAB.
15% Off Ninja Discount Code: BBQLAB
Instant Vortex Slim
Quick Stats
Weight: | 14.6 lbs |
Unit Dimensions: | 12"H x 10"W x 16"D |
Capacity | 6 qt |
Temperature: | 120° to 400°F |
Cooking Presets: | Air fry, broil, bake, roast, and reheat |
Discount Code: | none known at this time |
Next, we have the Instant Vortex 6Qt. Slim. It weighs about 14-1/2 pounds and has a footprint of about 12 inches high, 10 inches wide and around 16 inches deep.
The Instant Vortex Slim has presets to air fry, broil, bake, roast, and reheat, with a temperature range of 180 to 400°.
The actual basket interior dimensions, with the cooking tray in place are just under 4" deep by about 8 inches wide and 11 inches long.
Instant boasts that this is their #1 quietest air fryer, and our testing did confirm that.
The Instant Vortex Slim also comes with a 1 year limited warranty and has a list price of just under $120.
Cosori Pro 5 Quart Air Fryer
Quick Stats
Weight: | 12 lbs |
Unit Dimensions: | 14.4"D x 10.8"W x 12"H |
Capacity | 5 qt |
Temperature: | 170°-450° |
Cooking Presets: | steak, chicken, fries, frozen foods, seafood, veggies, bacon, preheat and keep warm |
Discount Code: | none known at this time |
We'll take a look at the Cosori Pro 5 quart air fryer next, and it weighs 12 pounds with a footprint of 14" by 11", and 12" high.
The Cosori has a temperature range of 170-450° with presets to cook steak, chicken, fries, frozen foods, seafood, veggies and bacon, as well as preheat and keep warm. It also has a "shake" button that you can push before starting that will remind you to shake the basket half way through cooking.
The interior of the basket measures about 8-1/2" square and 4" deep with the crisper tray in place.
Cosori offers a 2-year limited warranty which is a standout so far in this lineup. The Cosori Pro 5 quart retails for $99.
Ninja Max XL
Quick Stats
Weight: | 12 lbs |
Unit Dimensions: | 14"D x 11"W x 14.75"H |
Capacity | 5.5 qt |
Temperature: | 105°-450° |
Cooking Presets: | Max Crisp, Air Fry, Air Roast, Air Broil, Bake, Reheat, and Dehydrate |
Discount Code: | 15% off with code BBQLAB |
The 5.5 quart Ninja Max XL is next, weighing in at just under 12 pounds. It has a footprint of approximately 11" wide by around 13" deep, and just under 15" in height.
The Ninja Max covers a temperature range of 105 to 450°, with presets for Max Crisp, Air Fry, Air Roast, Air Broil, Bake, Reheat, and Dehydrate.
With the removable tray in place, the interior of the basket has a diameter of about 8 inches and a depth of just under 5 inches.
Like the others, the Ninja Max XL also comes with a 1-year limited warranty and is typically priced between $159-169, however if you buy directly with Ninja, be sure to use the code BBQLAB for an extra 15% off your purchase.
15% Off Ninja Discount Code: BBQLAB
Nuwave Brio 7.25 Quart Air Fryer
Quick Stats
Weight: | 14 lbs |
Unit Dimensions: | 13.5"D x 11.5"W x 14"H |
Capacity | 7.25 qt |
Temperature: | 50°-400° |
Cooking Presets: | 100 presets available |
Discount Code: | none known at this time |
Next, we have the Nuwave Breo 7.25 quart air fryer. The Nuwave weighs around 14 pounds and has a footprint of about 13" deep by 11.5" wide and a height of nearly 14".
This Nuwave air fryer has 100 menu presets, the first 20 of which are visible right on the display, and the remaining are available in the accompanying literature.
This particular model can cover a temperature range of 50 to 400° and also includes a meat probe and probe port so you can know when your meat has reached the desired internal temperature. This is the only air fryer we've tested that included that feature, so we found that to be pretty unique here.
The interior of the basket measures around 4-1/2 inches deep by 9-1/2 inches wide and 10 inches long. It also includes a removable wire rack to allow for 2 separate layers of cooking.
The Nuwave Breo has a 1-year limited warranty and retails for $99.
Chefman Turbofry XL
Quick Stats
Weight: | 13 lbs |
Unit Dimensions: | 12.75"D x 13.5"H x 11"W |
Capacity | 8 qt |
Temperature: | 200°-400° |
Cooking Presets: | fish, fries, chicken, and meat |
Discount Code: | none known at this time |
Next up is the Chefman Turbofry XL, which has a capacity of 8 quarts. It weighs about 13 pounds and has a footprint of about 11" wide and nearly 13" deep with a height of about 13-1/2".
The Chefman has a temperature range of 200-400° and offers four presets for fish, fries, chicken, and meat. And like the Cosori, also has a "shake" button to remind you to flip or turn your food.
Chefman offers a 1-year limited warranty with a list price of $119.99.
Typhur Dome
Quick Stats
Weight: | 20 lbs |
Unit Dimensions: | 19.7”D x 15.6”W x 9.6”H |
Capacity | 5.5 qt |
Temperature: | 105°-450° |
Cooking Presets: | Fries, Wings, Steak, Bacon, Frozen, Air Fry, Roast, Broil, Toast, and Dehydrate |
Discount Code: | save 20% with code: BARBECUELAB |
Last, but certainly not least, we have the Typhur Dome, which had a lot to prove with the highest list price of $499. The Dome weighs just over 20 pounds and has an unusual footprint of 15-1/2" wide by nearly 20" deep and less than 10" of height.
It has a temperature range of 105°-450°, with presets for Fries, Wings, Steak, Bacon, Frozen, Air Fry, Roast, Broil, Toast, and Dehydrate.
The interior dimensions of the basket are about 12-1/2" square and 2 inches deep. So... pizza anyone? This is the only air fryer in the lineup that can cook a 12" pizza, so that certainly is a unique advantage for Typhur if that is of interest to you.
The Typhur Dome also comes with a 3-year warranty, which certainly stands out among the others. The question is if those two advantages alone are worth the extra large price tag.
Read our full Typhur Dome review.
20% Off Typhur Discount Code: BARBECUELAB
available at Typhur.com and Amazon!
Is the Typhur Dome worth the price?
The main stand-outs in the Typhur Dome include the 3-year warranty, the ability to self-clean, and did we mention that it has an app?
Now, to be honest, we didn't really use the app a whole lot, but it always surprised me when I got a notification on my watch and phone that the "drawer was not placed back properly" or our "food was ready".
The app also has a library of over 50 recipes that can be cooked in the dome, including some I never would have thought to try, like french toast.
Now, we will admit that the size and shape of the Dome come with some pros and cons. We love that we can cook food like bacon and pizza in this air fryer. However, I'm sure there are some taller foods that we could not cook in it as well.
To be honest, the Dome could replace our toaster since it can also accommodate 4 slices at a time.
For the most part, I think we've determined that the wide and shallow basket is mostly an advantage, however, it does annoy Melissa that she has to set the basket down beside the base in order to work with the contents rather than just put it down in front of it due to counter depth issues.
Ultimately, I suspect that the self-cleaning feature is probably the true game changer that could significantly extend the 2-3 year average lifespan of an air fryer. But what do you think? Do the extra Typhur features tempt you to stretch your air fryer budget a bit further, or are they extras that you don't especially care about? Leave us a comment below and tell us what you think.
Our Final Thoughts On The Best Air Fryer
So, final thoughts to sum it all up...
The Typhur Dome is expensive, but if the price isn't an excluding factor for you, it is undoubtedly the best air fryer in the group so we will call that our premium pick.
20% Off Typhur Discount Code: BARBECUELAB
available at Typhur.com and Amazon!
However, if the price is a factor that you're considering, our overall favorite from the rest of the contenders was the Ninja Foodi Flexbasket.
Over our last several years of air fryer ownership, there have been more times than we could count that our menu could have utilized multiple air fryers at once, so we really appreciate the fact that we can do 2-zone cooking with the option of 1 megazone. We like the size of it, and while it is wider than most of the others, it leaves plenty of usable counter space in front of the unit.
15% Off Ninja Discount Code: BBQLAB
Two of these air fryers were priced right at $99, which was the lowest price of our selection. Out of those two air fryers, the Cosori Pro is our pick for best budget air fryer because of its ability to reach 450° and the 2 year warranty.
As you know, we're currently in the midst of the holiday season so great sales are coming and going all the time, and though we didn't specifically call out any of the current sale prices, there are really good ones going on right now, so be sure to check the links above where you can find the best prices. Any links of ours that you click help support our channel without costing you any extra, and we're very grateful whenever you do.
Besides the air fryers themselves, there were two products we want to remind you of that pair wonderfully with air fryers. The GrillGrate circular panel and the Meater 2 wireless thermometer.
Sear’NSizzle® GrillGrate
save 10% with discount code BBQLAB10
Meater 2 Plus
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