Power, capacity, preset functions and safety features are some of the most important aspects to look at when buying an air fryer. Based on our hands-on testing, our top recommendation is the Philips HL9252/00 air fryer with 4.1 litre capacity. It has an inner basket with handle, making it easier to use. Most other options just have a tray with a rubber beading to keep it in place. With 1400 watt heating element, it was the fastest to cook too. The preset functions too worked optimally, making it a better choice for newbie users.
If you are looking for something a bit more budget-friendly, Agaro Galaxy Digital Air Fryer would be a good option to consider. It too comes with a 1400 watt heating element. Just like Philips, it too comes with a detachable basket that makes it easier to toss french fries and any other stir-fried food. With 7 preset functions, it too offers fairly good performance. An added advantage is that while all options come with a 60 minute timer, here the timer can be set for up to 120 minutes, in case you want to slow cook something.
Air fryers with higher wattage cooks quicker. As a result, food will be crispy and brown on the outside without losing moisture inside.
Overview of the Air Fryers We Tested
| Model | Wattage | Capacity/ Diameter of tray | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philips HL9252 | 1400 Watts | 4.1 L/18 cm | – Quicker than other air fryers – Effective preset functions – Easy to use | – Baking preset not optimal |
| Agaro Galaxy | 1400 Watts | 4.5 L/19cm | – Quick and easy to use – Detachable basket | – Sometimes, longer cooking time is needed |
| Inalsa Nutrifry | 1400 Watts | 4L/ 21cm | – Optimal cooking when you set temperature and duration on your own. – Budget-friendly. – Slightly wider tray. | – Presets don’t work optimally. – Inner tray does not firmly fit the basket. |
| Hestia Nutriview | 1100 Watts | 5 L/ 20 cm | – Innovative design. – Elegant touch panel – Adequate cooking performance | – Comparatively longer to cook. – Inner tray does not firmly fit the basket. |
| Wonderchef Prato Digital | 1450 Watts | 3.8L/ 18cm | -Quick cooking – Fairly easy to use – Compact footprint | -Doesn’t have preset functions or pause button. |
How We Tested?
For this list of best air fryers, we first analyzed the physical parameters like size of the basket, capacity, surface area of the basket etc. Then, we tried cooking a variety of food trying out each preset functions. We checked how well the air fryer was able to cook noting aspects like duration of cooking, evenness in browning, whether the food gets dried, crispness while retaining succulence inside and more. Further, we use each appliance for weeks in a regular Indian kitchen to know more about the positives and challenges a user faces in day-to-day usage.
Best Air Fryers In India
Philips HL9252/00 4.1 Litre Air Fryer
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| Pros |
|---|
| Quicker than other air fryers |
| The preset functions work effectively. |
| Very easy to use as the handle is attached to the inner basket. |
| Cons |
|---|
| The cake-baking preset does not work optimally. |
If you are new to air fryers and are willing to splurge a bit, then Philips HL9252/00 is the best option we recommend. The air fryer has a 1400 watt heating element and the temperature can be set from 80 to 200 C and timer up to 60 minutes. As mentioned earlier, the detachable basket makes it easy to toss food while cooking.
It comes with 8 preset functions. As the preset functions have just icons and not labels, it can be a bit confusing. They are frozen fries, fresh fries, chicken drumstick, fish, bake, roast, vegetables and defrost.
The overall performance of the air fryer is good. Its preset functions work as promised. In many air fryers, you have to adjust the timer and temperature as food often doesn’t get properly cooked within the preset functions. In Philips, that is minimal, provided you fill in food as per the capacity mentioned.
The food gets browned evenly, without losing the juiciness. Be it french fries, samosa, chicken or fish, the air fryer did a good job with each dish. However, the preset function isn’t enough for baking cake. Ideally, you will have to run it at around 160 C for 25-40 minutes for a pound cake.
Overall, it is an option we highly recommend over others on the list.
Inalsa Nutrifry Digital Air Fryer
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| Pros |
|---|
| Cooking performance is optimal when you set time and temperature on your own instead of using preset functions. |
| Budget-friendly option. |
| Slightly larger inner tray. |
| Cons |
|---|
| Preset functions don’t work effectively. |
| The inner tray moves when tossing french fries and stir-fried vegetables. |
Inalsa Nutrifry comes with a 1400 watt heating element. Its temperature can be set from 80 to 200 C and timer up to 60 minutes, just like the previous Philips Air Fryer. Nutrifry has a slighly larger tray measuring 21cm in diameter. Also, it has 8 preset functions, namely french fries, frozen french fries, chops, steak, fish, prawns, baking and roasting.
If this is not your first air fryer, then Inalsa Nutrifry could be a good option to consider. You are most likely to have a good idea of the temperature and time required for various food items and can hence adjust the settings accordingly. This is because, the preset functions run for too short duration, leaving food uncooked. For example, chops, steak and frozen fries all run for 12 minutes at 180 C, which is grossly insufficient.
You will also notice that the air fryer takes slightly longer timer for cooking compared to Philips, even though manufacturers claim same wattage. Yet another disadvantage is that the inner tray of the air fryer moves about when tossing food like french fries and stir-fried vegetables. Something you don’t experience in Philips and Agaro.
Agaro Galaxy Digital Air Fryer
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| Pros |
|---|
| Budget-friendly option |
| Larger tray |
| Good cooking performance |
| Cons |
|---|
| Sometimes, needs to be run for longer duration for optimal cooking |
With 1400 watt heating element, and a slightly larger capacity of 4.5 litres, Agaro Galaxy Digital Air Fryer is one of the best budget-friendly options we recommend.
It has 7 preset functions. They are French fries, Chicken leg, Shrimp, Cake, Steak, Fish and Ribs. The preset functions work fairly optimally and is able to cook various food to perfection.
The tray is also large enough that you can cook 500 gm of chicken at a go. Unlike other options, the digital control panel is at the top of the air fryer and the display is at the sides.
The cooking performance is optimal, evenly browning food with a crunchy texture, all the while maintaining the juiciness inside.
The aftersales service of Agaro is also fairly prompt.
Hestia Nutriview Digital Air Fryer
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| Pros |
|---|
| Innovative and eye-catchy design. |
| Elegant touch display panel |
| Adequate cooking performance |
| Cons |
|---|
| Comparatively takes a long time to cook. |
| The inner tray moves when tossing french fries. |
With a 1100 watt heating element and 5 litre capacity, Hestia Nutriview comes with an innovative design. One of the main advantages here is that you can look through the lid to see the progress of cooking.
The air fryer has 8 preset functions. They are defrost, fries, paneer tikka, samosa, pizza, nuggets, chicken tikka and muffin. Just like every other air fryer on the list, the temperature can be set from 80 to 200 C and timer up to 60 minutes.
When it comes to the performance, owing to the lower wattage, it takes much longer to cook compared to other options on the list. For example, it took us almost 50 minutes to air fry 500 gm of chicken. Because of this, there is a high chance that food could get dry.When we tried various preset functions available, we found that we had to run it for a few more minutes to be cooked perfectly. The cake preset works fine for cupcakes. But when it comes to baking a whole cake, it almost burnt the surface- something we did not face in other air fryers.
While all other options have a proper handle, in Hestia, there are narrow handles at the edge like what you see on a Kadai. But being narrow, you need to be careful while holding it. It gets warm while cooking, but not too much that you cannot hold it.
Just like Inalsa, Hestia too has an inner tray that is kept in place with rubber beadings along the edges. So while tossing french fries for uniform cooking, it tends to move around and become a hassle.
Overall, when it comes to cooking performance, it lags behind Inalsa.
Wonderchef Prato Digital Air Fryer
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Wonderchef Prato is pretty much similar to other options on the list. It comes with a 1450 watt heating element and 3.8 litre capacity. Although a bit smaller than other options, you can still fry half kilo of chicken at a go. Note that this air fryer uses a 16A plug.
Something to be noted here is that unlike the previous options on the list, this air fryer doesn’t have any preset functions. There is a rough guideline mentioned on top of the air fryer. But otherwise, you are on your own and will have to depend on online recipes as a guide.
The cooking performance is fairly good. Using the guide on the top, the food comes out fairly well-cooked and uniformly browned. But, when it comes to baking, we recommend against following the settings mentioned on the air fryer. You risk burning the cake on top while the insides remain uncooked. You could rather run it at 160 C for about 30-35 minutes to bake it perfectly.
Overall, the air fryer is fairly easy to use and clean. The lack of preset functions may be a set back for first time users. But you can overcome it by looking at online recipes.
How To Choose An Air Fryer?
Give below are the important factors to consider while choosing an air fryer.
Capacity
Capacity is the first and foremost aspect that you need to consider while buying an air fryer. A 4-liter air fryer has a food tray with a surface area of around 300-350 sq cm ( 18-21 cm in diameter). This is enough to fry around half a kg of chicken. The surface area becomes important when you fry fish, chicken, paneer and any such food that has to be laid down as a single layer.
Philips and Havells also sell 6-litre air fryers. They have a much larger surface area which is sufficient to even roast a whole chicken of 800gm-1Kg.
If you are looking for a smaller air fryer for just 1-2 people, then a 2-3 litre air fryer will suffice your needs.
Power
Almost every air fryer runs at temperatures ranging from 80 to 200° C. But, the power of the heating element expressed in wattage plays an important role in determining the time it takes to cook. The lower the wattage, the longer it takes to reach the desired temperature. So the food gets cooked at a lower temperature for a long duration. As a result, there is a higher chance of food going dry and not developing sufficient browning.
Ideally, a 4-litre air fryer should have at least 1400 watt heating element and a 6-litre air fryer has to have 1700-watt power to be able to cook food quickly without drying it out.
Footprint
Air fryers take up around 30 x 30cm space on the kitchen countertop. Sometimes even more depending on the capacity. So, before buying an air fryer, ensure sufficient space in your kitchen to store it. Also, being a heating appliance, they have a short cord less than a meter long. Hence, see that there is a power plug that is easy to access. If the air fryer has more than 1500 watts of power, it is likely to have a 16A power plug too. Wonderchef Prato despite being a 1400 watt air fryer uses a 16A plug.
Ease of Use
Ease of use is an important factor to consider, especially for first-time users. Ideally, they should opt for an air fryer that has precise preset functions, like Philips. Yet another important aspect is the ease with which you can toss around food like french fries and vegetables which are heaped on top of each other for air frying.
Most air fryers have an inner tray inside the food basket on which food is kept. So when tossing food, the inner tray moves and food could fall into the basket. Without a tray, there is a high chance of food like french fries getting soggy too. But options like Philips HL9252 and Havells Grande have an inner tray as a basket attached to the handle. This can be locked onto the outer basket. So when you need to toss the food, you can remove the inner basket, toss it around and then fix it back to the outer basket comfortably.
Almost all air fryers are easy to clean. As the basket and the tray are nonstick, you won’t have much trouble cleaning them. Most of them are dishwasher safe too. But, we recommend against it as the nonstick coating may peel off in the short run when frequently cleaned in a dishwasher.
Usage Interface
Nowadays, most air fryers have a digital interface using which you can set the temperature between 80 to 200°C and time from 1 to 60 minutes ( some models can be set only to 30 minutes). They usually have 6 to 8 preset functions too. Budget friendlier options have a mechanical interface whereby there are knobs using which you can set the timer and the temperature. This usually is not as accurate as a digital interface. So if budget permits, opt for a digital air fryer.
Price
Starting price of air fryers is from Rs. 3500 onwards. Expensive models have better built quality, precise functions and temperature control, while cheap ones typically lack them. Also, cheaper air fryers may produce a burnt smell initially, but goes off after a few uses. You can overcome this by cleaning the air fryer interiors thoroughly using damp cloth and the basket and try using soapy water. Repeat till the smell goes away.
Safety Features
Air fryers should have basic safety features like cool-to-touch handles, auto-shut off, memory function that resumes operations from where it has stopped and so on. Fortunately, most air fryers in India have these basic safety features.
Recipe Booklets
If you are new to air fryer, it is good to opt for brands like Philips which comes with an app for recipes or options like Inalsa or Hestia which have detailed recipe booklet. Else, look online for resources which provide recipe guidelines. Relying on preset functions alone may not be enough for a beginner.