Compare the 10 Best MicrowavesOctober 2017

Capacity

A microwave is a necessity of any modern kitchen. It is a versatile tool that can be used for far more than just reheating leftovers - it can be used for all manner of cooking, from poaching salmon to baking potatoes.

Microwaves come in all different shores and sizes, and are primarily differentiated by their capacity. The bigger the capacity of your microwave, the larger the food you can cook in it. Some microwaves just fit single plates or bowls, while other models are large enough to fit an entire chicken or soup pot in.

Power Levels/Cooking Programs

Microwaves are all given a power level, rated in Watts. The higher the power level, the faster your food will be cooked. Most modern microwaves come with a range of power levels, allowing you great flexibility when preparing your food. They also come with specific setting for warming, reheating or defrosting food - extremely useful in speeding up cooking times, or reheating food previously cooked. Defrosting is an especially useful setting, meaning that joints of meat and frozen food can be brought up to room temperature in a matter of minutes.

Many microwaves now have a selection of automatic cooking functions as well. These allow you to input a type of food to cook (potatoes, chicken, soups, etc) and a weight, and the microwave will automatically calculate the power level and time needed to cook it perfectly. Conveniences like this can make preparing dinner hassle-free, and remove the guesswork and constant checking to see if your food is ready.

This automatic cooking function can also extend to defrosting and reheating leftovers, making the microwave an invaluable tool for easy food heating and prep. Some advanced models of microwave also offer a 'power defrost' setting, which can defrost frozen meat far quickly than usual defrost programs. However because this defrost cycle is far more powerful, care has to be given to make sure that you don't accidentally part cook the food while it's being defrosted.

Oven & Grill Functions

Some microwaves have the ability to function as ovens and grills in addition to standard microwave cooking. Microwaves that have an added grill function combine the normal microwave cooking with a heated element either on the top or the sides of the machine - this allows it to function similar to a standard grill. Microwave ovens, on the other hand, can cook and roast food exactly like a convection oven. Whichever model you pick, these types of microwaves greatly increase the types of food you can cook, and turn your microwave into the central cooking tool in your kitchen - you can roast fish and beef, roast vegetables and grill cheese toasties!

Steam Functions

More advanced models of microwave may also have a steamer function. As the name suggests, a steamer addition to the microwave uses boiling water to generate bursts of hot steam inside the microwave. This is a great method of delicately cooking vegetables so they retain the maximum amount of nutrients, and can also be used for cooking fish, dumplings, or Chinese-style pancakes for roast duck. While normally only found in the most high-level and expensive microwaves, it allows the appliance to become even more versatile as a cooking tool, and therefore may well be worth the extra expense.

Extra Features

Finally, some microwaves comes with a collection of extra features, to make cooking easier or more convenient. These can include recipe books detailing how to cook different types of food, baking trays designed to fit comfortably into the machine, or racks to allow multiple dishes to be cooked at once. Some microwave ovens even include a rotisserie spit, allowing you to cook spit-roasted chicken or pork.

Microwave Prices

The price range of microwaves is from $31 to $1,599 and in total we found prices for 43 microwaves. The average price of a new microwave is $244 and the 80% of microwaves are priced between $89 and $479. The cheapest microwave that we found is the Siemens iQ700 at only $31, and the most expensive is the Miele M6160TC at $1,599.

Microwave Brands - Price Range

The %8highest average microwave price out of all brands is Miele microwaves with an average price of $1,599. Miele microwaves start at $1,599 and the most expensive Miele microwave costs $1,599.

The average price of AEG microwaves is $602 which is the second highest average price of all microwave brands. AEG microwaves range in price from $602 to $602.

The average price of Smeg microwaves is $499 which is the third highest average price of all microwave brands. Smeg microwaves start at $499 and the most expensive Smeg microwave costs $499.

Microwave Brands - Average Ratings

We have checked 2 expert reviews and 7,769 user reviews for microwaves written online and used this information to calculate the average rating for each brand of microwave. The top rated microwave brand is Belling with an average rating of 93%. The second best brand is Hotpoint with 89% and the third best brand is Samsung with 89%.

Biggest Microwave Retailers

The biggest microwave retailer by number of products currently for sale is eBay. We found 30 current microwave offers from eBay. The second biggest microwave retailer is Amazon US with 15 offers. That means eBay is much bigger than Amazon US when it comes to microwaves. Walmart is the third biggest retailer with 14 current offers.

When Are Most New Microwaves Released?

May to July is the most common period for new microwaves to be released in. Last year most new microwaves were released in May, with 51 new microwaves released that month. July was the biggest month in 2015 for new microwaves, with 128 new microwaves released that month. The biggest month in 2014 for new microwave releases was February, with 269 new microwaves released that month.

How Fast Do Microwave Prices Drop After Release?

On average microwaves drop in price by 3% in the first 6 months after release. That means that on a typical microwave costing $244 you could save on average $8 by waiting 6 months before buying.

Microwave Powers

This denotes how strong the cooking power of the microwave is, measured in watts (W).

Comparing all microwaves, the microwave powers range from 500W to 2,800W. The microwave powers of the majority of microwaves range from 790W to 880W. The SamsungMG28F303TCS, which is priced at $189.56, has the biggest microwave power and is a 1,400W microwave. The microwave with the smallest microwave power is the SamsungMG28F303TCS, which is a 500W microwave and currently retails for $133.21.

Interior Capacities

This is how much the microwave can hold, measured in litres (L).

The interior capacities of microwaves range from 8L to 62L. The interior capacities of most microwaves range from 17L to 21L. The PanasonicNN-SN966S has the biggest interior capacity. This microwave is a 62L capacity microwave and currently retails for $204.00. The PanasonicNN-SN966S has the smallest interior capacity. This microwave is a 16.8L capacity microwave and is priced at $308.43.

Colour of Products

The most frequently found colour of product amongst new microwaves is black. We found 236 microwaves that are microwaves that have a black coloured. We found 206 microwaves that are microwaves that have a stainless steel coloured, making stainless steel the second most frequently found colour of product amongst new microwaves.

Case Designs

We found 238 microwaves that are countertop microwaves, which makes countertop the most common case design amongst new microwaves. The second most common case design amongst new microwaves is built-in. We found 182 microwaves that are built-in microwaves.

Biggest Microwave Retailers

The biggest microwave retailer by number of products currently for sale is eBay. We found 30 current microwave offers from eBay. The second biggest microwave retailer is Amazon US with 15 offers. That means eBay is much bigger than Amazon US when it comes to microwaves. Walmart is the third biggest retailer with 14 current offers.

Which Are the Cheapest Retailers for Microwaves?

With the cheapest price on 30 microwaves, eBay is most frequently the cheapest microwave retailer.

Proportion of Microwaves for Which Each Retailer is Cheapest?

The cheapest retailer by number of microwave for which they offer the cheapest price is eBay with the cheapest price on 100% of its microwaves.