Best Air Fryers of 2020
In the market for an air fryer but don’t know which air fryer is best? We’re running through the top air fryers on the market to suit every kitchen!
We love air frying around here, relying on it for everything from pizza to kale chips. But if you haven’t tried out air frying before, it may still seem shrouded in mystery. How does air frying work? And which air fryer is best?
Well search no more! We researched dozens of air fryers on the market and landed on these 7 best air fryers of 2020. Reviews are based on both personal experience as well as extensively nerding out on hundreds of buyer reviews.
I personally own (and love) the Philips Airfryer, which I use to create all the air fryer recipes here on the blog. This post contains affiliate links, and purchases via these links may benefit Live Eat Learn.
So what the heck is an air fryer?
An air fryer is an electric kitchen appliance that blows hot air quickly around food to create a crispy exterior. It’s similar to a convection oven, but with much faster, circular air movement that cooks the food more evenly and quickly.
Is air frying healthy?
Not only does deep frying add a ton of extra calories to your food, but the hot oil damages fat-soluble vitamins. Air frying fixes that, requiring very little (or even no) oil to produce a similarly crispy outside, while cooking the food in less time.
Types of air fryers
While there are many air fryers on the market, they generally fall into two categories: basket air fryers and convection oven air fryers. The basket air fryers are the most popular, with a basket similar to a deep fryer to hold the food. Convection oven air fryers are similar to toaster or convection ovens, with racks to place food on and added air frying functionality.
7 Best Air Fryers Review
We dug into every element of the air fryers on the market and found the 7 best air fryers based on budget, functionality, look, and buyer reviews (click read more to jump around this guide!):
- Best Basket Air Fryer: Philips AirFryer – read more
- Best Color Selection: GoWISE Air Fryer – read more
- Best Air Fryer Oven Combo: Breville Smart Oven Air – read more
- Best Budget Oven Combo: Cuisinart Air Fryer Convection Toaster Oven – read more
- Best for Hands-Off Cooking: T-Fal Actifry Air Fryer – read more
- Best Budget Air Fryer: Black + Decker Purify Air Fryer – read more
- Best Seller: Cosori Air Fryer – read more
Latecomer Bonus: Instant Vortex Air Fryer – read more
Philips Airfryer
Best basket air fryer – With intuitive controls and quality build, the Philips Airfryer is great for cooking a variety of crispy dishes on the daily.
- Price: $$$
- Cookbook: 200 recipes included
- Warranty: 1 year
- Accessories: not included
Size: Philips has a small air fryer (2.75 quarts) as well as an XXL version (4 quarts). In both versions, buyers loved the roomy basket, which could fit two layers of food.
Look: The Philips AirFryer comes in black. Its compact design makes it easy to store, though it makes a slick addition to your countertop appliances.
Function: This air fryer produces some of the crispiest results due to the way air can flow through the basket. Its intuitive controls are easy to use, and there are many presets to make cooking even quicker.
People say: Most buyers love the Philips AirFryer, with the biggest complaints being the smaller capacity (compared to the air fryer oven combos) and the premium price.
GoWISE Air Fryer
Best color selection – The GoWISE Air Fryer comes in a variety of fun colors and is more affordable than the Philips line, making it a great choice for trying your hand at air frying.
- Price: $
- Cookbook: 50 recipes included
- Warranty: 30 days
- Accessories: 6 racks and pans included
Size: While the GoWISE Retro Collection (with the fun colors) holds 2.75 quarts, they have larger lines with models that hold 3.7 and 5.8 quarts.
Look: The Retro Collection comes in many colors, like mustard yellow, blush pink, and mint green, and teal, while the larger models come in black, white, red, and purple. It’s compact enough to store yet pretty enough to keep on your counter.
Function: While not quite as intuitive as the Philips AirFryer, GoWise has a bunch of presets to make cooking easy.
People say: While many buyers loved the GoWISE Air Fryer (especially its more affordable price point), some had issues with the durability of the nonstick coating.
Breville Smart Oven Air
Best air fryer oven combo – Acting as both an air fryer and a convection oven, the Breville Smart Oven Air can fry, bake, dehydrate, and roast!
- Price: $$$$
- Cookbook: not included
- Warranty: 2 years (limited)
- Accessories: pans included
Size: The Breville Smart Oven Air holds 5.8 quarts, making it large enough to bake a 12-cup muffin tin or cook a 13-inch pizza.
Look: This model comes in brushed stainless steel.
Function: With 13 smart cooking functions, from roasting to dehydrating (to air frying!), this appliance can be used for so much more than just air frying. Great for serving a crowd!
People say: Buyers loved the multi-functionality of the Breville Smart Oven Air, but it comes with a higher price tag. Some also reported it taking longer to preheat than a smaller air fryer.
Cuisinart Air Fryer Convection Toaster Oven
Best budget air fryer oven combo – A more affordable alternative to the Breville Smart Oven Air, the Cuisinart Air Fryer Toaster Oven is also multi-purpose, though the air frying space is limited.
- Price: $$
- Cookbook: a few recipes included
- Warranty: 3 years (limited)
- Accessories: pans included
Size: Cuisinart has a few models of air fryer convection ovens coming in a range of sizes, from the larger air fryer convection oven (Cuisinart TOA-60), to the smaller air fryer (Cuisinart AFR-25). All are smaller than the Breville oven.
Look: All models come in stainless steel.
Function: The Cuisinart Air Fryer Convection Toaster Oven has seven functions: air fry, convection bake, convection broil, bake, broil, warm, toast. Air frying space in this model is limited to the top rack, so you can’t air fry as much as in most other air fryers.
People say: Many buyers love this appliance and how quiet it is, though some have trouble controlling the temperature and with durability of the knobs.
T-fal Actifry Air Fryer
Best for hands-off cooking – The T-fal Actifry Air Fryer stands out from the rest with its built in paddle that flips food as it cooks, meaning you won’t need to shake or flip your food while it cooks!
- Price: $$
- Cookbook: 38 recipes included
- Warranty: 1 year
- Accessories: not included
Size: The T-fal Actifry holds 2.75 quarts.
Look: This model only comes in black, with a less sleek design than its basket air fryer counterparts.
Function: The T-fal Actifry flips food as it cooks by means of an internal paddle. This makes it great for cooking crispy fries, but larger or breaded foods do not cook well in this air fryer. While the on/off button makes cooking easy, there is no temperature control (set to 338 degrees F for all cooking).
People say: If you love French fries, this is the air fryer for you. Looking to cook more than fries? You might consider looking at a different air fryer.
Black + Decker Purify Air Fryer
Best for a budget – Just getting started with air frying? Dip your toe in the water with the Black + Decker Purify Air Fryer, which is affordable, compact, and has basic air frying functionality.
- Price: $
- Cookbook: a few recipes included
- Warranty: 2 years (limited)
- Accessories: 2 baskets included
Size: The Black + Decker Purify Air Fryer holds 2 quarts, making it slightly smaller than the other basket air fryers.
Look: This model comes in black and white, with a sleek design that would look nice on your countertop.
Function: The Black + Decker has basic air fryer functionality and temperature control, with indicator lights that display when the unit is on and preheated.
People say: People love the affordability of this air fryer, though some found the lettering too small and difficult to read.
Cosori Air Fryer
Amazon Best-Seller – With a unique design, affordable price, and large capacity, the Cosori Air Fryer is a great choice for holiday gifting.
- Price: $
- Cookbook: 100 recipes included
- Warranty: 1 year warranty (can extend to 2 years)
- Accessories: not included
Size: The Cosori Air Fryer comes in two roomy sizes, 3.7 quarts and 5.8 quarts.
Look: With a modern design and LED display, this air fryer is one of the best looking models, coming in black, white, and red.
Function: The Cosori has 11 presets which you can navigate to on the intuitive control panel. Its large size means you can feed the whole family with one batch of cooking.
People say: With almost 3,000 5-star reviews on Amazon, this air fryer is the most loved of them all. People like the modern, smart design, though some buyers reported a plastic smell/taste when first using.
Bonus: Instant Vortex Plus
- Price: $$
- Cookbook: Recipe app included
- Warranty: 1 year
- Accessories: 2 air fry trays, air fry basket and rotisserie spit and forks included
Most Up and Coming – From the makers of the wildly popular InstantPot comes this 7-in-1 combo oven!
Size: The Instant Vortex Plus holds 10 quarts, though you can downsize to the 6 quart option (though it has slightly less functionality).
Look: Though large compared to most air fryers, its slick design make it worthy of the countertop.
Function: The Instant Vortex has 7 functions, including baking, roasting, toasting, broiling, dehydrating, rotisserie (and rotisserie basket!) and air frying. Its large size means you can feed the whole family with one batch of cooking.
People say: While buyers are already loving this new air fryer on the market, some are disappointed by the lack of instructions in the manual.
More Air Fryer Recipes
Here are a few more air fryer recipes you'll love (find all of our vegetarian air fryer recipes here).
Buttermilk Fried Mushrooms
With air fried oyster mushrooms and a crunchy coating, this tastes just like fried chicken!
Air Fryer Pizza
Perfectly crispy, easy to make, personal pan pizzas that are about to revolutionize pizza night.
How to Cook Air Fryer Potatoes
How to make baked potatoes, homemade French fries, and potato chips in your air fryer, using both white potatoes and sweet potatoes.
How to Air Fry Any Vegetable
How to air fry virtually any vegetable into perfectly cooked, healthy deliciousness.
Okay, you have convinced me I’m getting one. I’ve seen your recipes for air fryers, but just wasn’t sure.
Glad I could make a believer of you! 😀