The Best Microwave Ovens

Operating this microwave felt remarkably nice; the intuitive controls and “soft-close” door are very easy to use and the buttons and dial operate smoothly and distinctly, giving the user reassuring feedback.The large vertical door handle is simple and painless to grab. Setting power levels and adding or subtracting time are very simple. It melted both butter and chocolate smoothly, with less fuss than other models. The brushed metal surface shows no fingerprints. We appreciated that the bottom of the door is higher above the countertop than other microwaves in our lineup, with nearly 1¼-inch clearance, so it can swing open over a potholder or other low item; we found this a thoughtful design touch. It lacks a timer, which most microwaves have.

We found it relatively easy to see inside the spacious, bright-white interior of this oven while it was running, which was great for monitoring functions such as melting butter. Its sensor programs worked well, giving us a one-step setting when defrosting meat or baking a potato. Mac and cheese came out nicely molten and creamy, and it melted chocolate to perfect, silky smoothness. Linking to the Alexa app and using voice control were straightforward, but unless you need this functionality, it doesn’t save much time or effort. The black glossy control panel and steel trim tended to show fingerprints.

This very traditional-looking microwave basically cooked well. It had all the usual functions plus Wi-Fi connection that let us operate the oven with Alexa voice or its own Smart HQ app, which included a “Scan-to-Cook” barcode reader for frozen foods. Voice and scanning are neat tricks, but they didn’t save us significant time or effort. Three of the five frozen foods we tried to scan were not yet in the app’s database. However, this capability might be helpful for users who need this type of assistance. The control panel showed fingerprints, and the door on our model drooped slightly when closed. The button to open the door was a bit hard to push.

With a plain, dark front (just a dim clock and a few essential controls) and a hidden handle (pull the recessed edge along the right side of the door), this is a very minimalist appliance, and one tester couldn’t figure out how to open it for several minutes. The main controls are hidden inside the door. Its smooth front is billed as being “Easy Clean” and indeed fingerprints didn’t show. It softly chimed and played a song instead of the traditional microwave beeps, which was odd but refreshing. The controls flashed symbols that assisted us in setting the microwave. A unique “slide” line on the front let us swipe to add or subtract time, a nice plus. It cooked fairly well, especially when we could use sensor cooking. While a 10-year warranty claim is displayed on the front door, it only covers the magnetron (the part that generates microwaves).

With an extra big, bright clock; large door handle; and typical microwave controls, this model was not too difficult to use, though one tester noted that the “Start” button is red and “Pause” is green—the opposite of the usual meanings. Its power level of 1,000 watts was effective in most standard tasks, although this particular model was not a consistently good performer: It was the only model that caused the butter to explode when we added a bit of extra time, and it scorched coconut. That said, it did an excellent job defrosting beef and heating frozen macaroni and cheese. A tester noted that the oven felt lightweight and “chintzy” when opening and closing the door. The control panel didn’t show fingerprints.

Colorful and compact, this retro-look microwave is cute and comes in a few colors. We liked its door handle and simple dial to start routine cooking, but some settings were printed in spidery black paint on mirrorlike chrome and were hard to read, since they reflected our clothing. At 700 watts, it was the lowest-powered model we tested, and it often needed more time to complete tasks, but it never burned or overcooked food, either. It lacks a timer, unlike most other microwaves, and the settings could be a bit cryptic—there was a learning curve for anything beyond basic on/off and time, so keep the manual handy.

You can’t see inside this big, dark machine when it’s on, so melting butter was suspenseful, for instance. Luckily, to our relief, its “soften/melt” setting melted butter perfectly, and its regular cooking was mostly fine (though we saw no evidence that its “triple distribution system” made it cook more evenly than other microwaves that didn’t share this function). Its controls include extra, oddly specific buttons: “Kids’ Meals,” “Healthy Cooking,” and “Snack.” We tried the “frozen chicken nuggets” selection using the “Kids’ Meals” button with terrible results; our center nugget was fine, but the rest overcooked until they were hard. Other features were underwhelming too: We never did figure out how to make the “Sound” button mute beeping. Eco mode sounded better than it is; it turned off the display when we weren’t using the oven. We had to hit “Start” after any setting; there were no automatic-start buttons. Every touch left fingerprints on the glossy controls and steel trim.

We liked this oven’s window, which was just clear enough to let us monitor tasks like melting butter. At 1,200 watts, this oven was sometimes a bit too powerful. If you’re not in the habit of using lower-power settings, you could be in trouble; we quickly burned coconut instead of toasting it, and it overheated and curdled frozen mac and cheese. Inverter technology didn’t provide any measurable benefits; we had better results when we used its sensor cooking modes. Its glossy control panel and steel door trim showed fingerprints. We had to hit “start” after any setting; there were no automatic-start buttons. Bottom line: There are better choices.