The best microwaves used to have a bad reputation, but these squat little boxes have a lot of uses beyond preparing ready meals and reheating ready meals. Microwaves can do a lot more than just heating up pizza, cooking meat while leaving it looking raw, and performing the general food texture- and taste-ruining duties they have traditionally fulfilled. That's because these are the best microwave ovens. With the cost of energy sky-rocketing, these quick ad economical ovens could really see a huge boost in popularity in the next few years.
We also bring you a smattering of combi ovens, which combine the arcane power of radioactive food bombardment with more traditional convection and grill cooking. A new combi oven or microwave – or meecrowaavé as Nigella Lawson puts it – could also be a very handy purchase if you are off to college or university. Speedy, convenient and compact, they can do everything from the obvious – reheating food and heating ready meals – to the not-so-obvious – they're a very healthy way to cook veg, believe it or not.
If you want inspiration for an update to the rest of your kitchen's cooking appliances, we also have handy guides to the best oven, best range cooker and best induction hob. For now though, we've tested a range of microwaves and combi ovens and decided that these are the best microwaves the market has to offer right now.
Best microwave & combi ovens 2024 ranking
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Panasonic NN-CS89LBBPQ – or just CS89 to its friends – is a great option if you’ve decided that the turntable found in many other models is hampering your cooking. Yep, this particular model comes with a flatbed interior, without the round bit that you normally plonk your meals on. That, in effect, means you get extra space and if you have a family, or just a big appetite, that’ll be worth it’s weight in gold.
It’ll take on square and rectangular-shaped plates and dishes too, which many turntable models can’t.
Being a Panasonic means you get a well thought out exterior too, with sensible styling that’ll suit pretty much any kitchen area. Controls are laid out in a no-nonsense way and operating the 27 litre capacity microwave is gloriously simple. Those touch controls offer access to the likes of 18 auto-cook functions while the manual defrost is hugely impressive. A highlight, in fact.
Panasonic appliances are generally very reliable and the NN-CS89LBBPQ doesn’t look to be any different.
Read our full Panasonic NN-CS89LBBPQ review for more information.
Undeniably inexpensive, this family-sized combination model looks good enough on any large worktop and features a 900w microwave with five power settings, a 1100w grill and a 2500w fan-assisted convection oven.
The 31.5cm glass turntable is large enough to accommodate most oven-proof dishes, 12-inch dinner plates and large Pyrex bowls. The dual function doesn’t allow for individual power and time settings but, in the pantheon of mid-priced all-in-one cookers, that can be considered par for the course. It's also available in white.
This is an exquisitely intuitive and generously sized 25-litre and 1000 watt microwave, designed to cook or heat a wide variety of food types.
The Sage’s intuitive interface couldn’t be more self-explanatory. Simply select one of the unit’s three Smart keys (cook/grill, reheat, defrost) and up pops a selection of tried-and-tested heating options covering a wide variety of different foods.
Microwave ovens are great for heating moist stewy foods but usually struggle with crispy ingredients like pastries, quiches and pizza, which is why we'd usually recommend a combi. However, with this microwave, you just preheat the supplied crisper pan and slap on the pizza/quiche/tartlet. After several minutes, it comes out deliciously melty on top with a dry, crispy base. Hotly recommended.
This simply-styled 26-litre table-top model combines microwaves with a quartz grill for browning and it’s a breeze to use: just select the power output (from 80 to 900 watts) and the required cooking time and hit the start button.
Alternatively, you can input the weight of the food being cooked and the appliance will automatically determine the cooking period and the amount of power required.
The controls and lettering on the side panel of this model are clear enough to see even if you haven’t been to Specsavers and in typical Miele style it cooks evenly and is built to a high standard for long-term reliability.
Whilst this budget-priced microwave from Bosch is a basic model, a system this simple has huge advantages for those who aren’t very tech savvy. It’s also an excellent – and very cheap option – for Air BnB owners fed up with having to write instructions for every gizmo on the property.
To use, simply bung in the food. select the required power output – it’s always labelled on off-the-shelf ready meal – and the time scale. If you're unsure of what output to select, there's also a QuickStart feature which heats up your food with just a touch of one button.
If you’re after a ridiculously easy-to-use standalone microwave that doesn’t cost much and comes with a good brand name attached, then make this an early port of call.
How to choose the best microwave for you
The egg timer style dial which many microwaves employ to allow you to set the amount of time your food will be heated for is both a blessing and a curse. They're very easy to use, and allow you to easily add more time to your meal if you feel it needs it, but on the other hand they tend to lack the exactness of their digital counterparts.
On balance we valued the convenience they offered over the digital alternatives, but if you're someone who prefers to follow microwaving instructions to the letter then we'd advise you to stick with a digital timer.
Meanwhile programme modes, which allow you to automate your microwaving by inputting the type of food and the weight, remain divisive. A quick straw poll of the office revealed that only one person used the functionality on their microwave at home, with most opting to rely completely on just power and time settings.
Not worrying about automatic programs will take a lot of the stress out of a microwave purchase, since this is a big point of differentiation between the different models. Ignoring them allows you to focus on features such as controls, aesthetics, and capacity.
Finally, on the issue of dial vs button controls, we found dials to be overall much more responsive, but buttons are undeniably easier to clean since they're often completely flush with the front surface of the unit.
