NuWave Oven vs Air Fryers – Which is Better?

By Boniface Muriuki. Last updated on 1st March, 2025

Every year, distinctive and proficient cooking devices hit the market to help meet the wishes and demands of hungry customers.

Are you aware that over the last few years, air fryers and nuwave ovens, have been some of the hottest products in the market?

Well, you’ll be excited to know how both gadgets work. These appliances offer faster and more energy-efficient ways to prepare your favorite foods. They also help in retaining nutrients like vitamins.

However, with so many choices, similarities and variances, this leaves customers with more questions than answers when making a decision on which one is the best to pick.

Nuwave Oven vs Air Fryers? Which one should you buy?

This article will focus on the two kitchen appliances and examine where they differ, where they are similar and how each one may be useful for you!

Air fryer vs. Nuwave Oven

NuWave Oven vs Air Fryers – Comparison

Nuwave oven vs air fryers? Do you want to settle for one but you are not sure which suits you best? Well, this section gives a summary of the crucial nuwave oven vs air fryers differentiating factors. Read further to get an even deeper analysis of nuwave oven vs air fryers expert opinions.

NuWave OvenAir Fryer
Uses oven-like cooking technique where you cook on a rackYou cook in a basket
More spacious -you can cook turkey without a hassle!To cook turkey, you'll require the extra large (XXL) air fryer
Majority of NuWave Ovens get to 350° FWorks up to 400° F
May take a little longer to cook Cooks faster than NuWave Oven
Ideal for making meals for a large familyIdeal for a smaller family

What is an Air Fryer?

An air fryer is a kitchen appliance that cooks by circulating hot air around the food using the convection mechanism. 

A mechanical fan circulates the hot air around the food at high speed. The food is then cooked producing a crispy layer via the browning reactions of caramelization and mail lard reaction.

How Does an Air Fryer Work?

An air fryer is much the same as an oven in that it bakes and roasts. The difference is the heating elements of an air fryer are only located on top.

How Air Fryers Work

The heating elements are accompanied by a large, powerful fan, resulting in food that’s super crispy in no time. One unique feature of an air fryer is that you use less oil than its deep frying counter parts.

You’ll also be interested to know that, air fryers heat up very quickly and they also cook food quickly and evenly. Thanks to the alloy of a concentrated heat source, the size and placement of the fan.

Best Air Fryers to Consider – Unique Features and Functionality 

In this section we’ve reviewed some of the best four air fryers to help you make mouthwatering and healthiest fried food.

1. Phillips Premium Air fryer XXL

Nuwave oven vs. Air Fryer

The Philips premium air fryer produces the most reliable crisps on both chicken tenders and French fries.

Phillips premium air fryer comes with a large size basket which is ideal for feeding a big crowd. The easy pull-out drawer enables smooth and secure motion when checking whether the food is ready.

Although the appliance is quite costly, it’s also one of the most effective air fryers in the market today. The basket, drawer, and “fat reducer” heat plate are all dishwasher-safe, which makes the device easy to clean.

The Philips premium air fryer is hefty to move from cabinet to counter, so it’s best if it would live on the counter full time. The air fryer is suitable for families with larger kitchens.

2. Cosori Premium 5.8-Quart Air Fryer

Best Air Fryer

If you love crispy and evenly cooked meals, then this is your ideal air fryer. This appliance from cosori makes for efficient evenly cooked meals every time. 

The cosori premium air fryer features a 5.8 quarts capacity. The appliance fits 9 to 10 nuggets and two servings of fries at a time.

The cosori premium air fryer comes fitted with a sleek LED screen which features a number of presets.

 It also comes with unique features like displays for time and temperature. It even reminds you when you need to shake the basket.

The basket of this model is notably deeper than other air fryers. This takes it a little longer to fully preheat and cook food.

The basket and the drawer of this appliance are both dishwasher safe. The only snag about the unit is the condensation collected at the bottom of the basket and spilled on the counter when opened.

3. Phillips Compact Air fryer HD9641/96

Nuwave Oven vs. Air Fryer

If you have a small kitchen with limited space, then this is the best fit for you. This model is small enough to fit on nearly any countertop. 

The Philips compact air fryer allows you to fry 2.5 quarts or 1.8-pound servings at a time. 

This makes about two servings with 75% less fat than traditional frying.

The Philips compact air fryer comes with either a digital or analog temperature display. A quick control dial makes it easy to heat any food excellently.

The dishwasher-friendly pieces are easy to clean. A non-stick removable base and a quick-clean basket takes just a few minutes to wipe off.

4. Go WISE Electric Air Fryer 

Best Air Fryer under $500

The Go Wise electric fryer comes with adjustable temperature range of 175 to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and can cook variety of foods within 30 minutes.

The electric fryer features a 3.7-quart and 1400 watts of power. This air fryer is ideal for smaller households and anyone who doesn’t need to cook large quantities of food.

The machine comes fitted with a touchscreen which is easily accessible and has seven built –in smart programs.

 From the selection of the seven smart programs, you can chose menu items such as chicken, fish, and meat so that the fryer will be accurate in its functionality.

The go wise electric fryer comprises of a 30 minute timer that switches to standby mode when the time is up.

To read more about Air Fryers, how they work, and the best products to consider, visit here

What is a NuWave Oven?

Parts of Nuwave Oven

The Nu Wave infrared oven is simply a new method of cooking that uses three different systems simultaneously; infrared conduction, and convection.

Infrared is an invisible, radiant form of heat. It penetrates through food to cook the inside, while browning the outside.

The Nuwave oven is also environmentally safe as it does not involve the use of any type of gases or hazardous materials.

 

How Does a NuWave Oven Work?

As stated above, a nuwave oven uses a combination of conduction, convection, and infrared heat to quickly cook your meals with less energy usage than other ovens.

The temperature range for the nu wave oven is 100 to 420 degrees Fahrenheit. NuWave ovens do not require pre-heating, and you can also cook your frozen foods without having to defrost them.

With the NuWave oven you can make your meals up to 70% faster and use less consumption of power than with a traditional oven.

How Nuwave Oven Works

NuWave Ovens- We’ve Chosen The Best 4 

1. NuWave PRIMO Grill Oven

How Nuwave Oven Works

The nuwave oven pro comes with unique features, it’s one of the most manageable and accepted design of NuWave ovens.

The nuwave oven pro reduces your cooking time by up to 70% and uses 75% less power consumption than a traditional oven. The temperature settings of this oven range from 107 to 342 degrees Fahrenheit. 

And well, it’s easy and fun to work with this oven. When your meals gets cold, all you need to do is to push the reheat button to keep your food hot.

All the parts of the nuwave oven pro are dishwasher safe. However, you need to clean the power head by hand to maintain the oven for long.

You can also buy an extender ring which is sold separately from the oven. This increases the oven’s capacity by 50%.

2. NuWave Oven Pro Plus

Nuwave Oven vs. Air Fryer

NuWave oven pro plus comes fitted with a power dome which is stronger than the standard dome that comes with the pro edition. 

The Nu wave oven pro plus features a higher temperature range of between 100 to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Additionally, the oven has a reheat function. The NuWave oven pro plus comes with a delay and a keep warm feature.

With this oven, you can buy an extender ring to increase the capacity. 

The device will decrease your cooking time by up to 70% and uses 75% less consumption of energy over the traditional ovens.

3. NuWave 20633 Pro Plus Oven 

Nuwave Oven vs. Air Fryer

The nuwave oven 20633 pro plus oven is a contemporary countertop oven that features convection, conduction, and infrared cooking technologies.

This compact appliance will help you bake, steam, broil, roast, grill, air fry, barbecue and even dehydrate your meals easily.

With this contemporary appliance, you can put in frozen meat and still end up with tasty food.

The elevated cooking rack of this oven will allow all the fats and oils to drip away from your foods, while other natural juices will remain. This results in nourishing and delicious meals.

Additionally, cooking in this amazing appliance does away with the need to preheat and thaw. In this oven, you can warm, reheat and delay, with preset temperatures for up to 10 hours.

The nuwave 20633 pro plus oven comes fitted with unique features including: an upgraded polyetherimide dome, a black base and a digital panel, with two cooking racks, a porcelain enamel liner pan and a stainless steel extender ring for effective use and maintenance.

4. Nuwave Oven Pro Plus 20601 Upgraded Shatter Resistant Dome (Black) 

Best Nuwave Ovens

The nuwave oven pro plus 20601 comes with amazing heating systems. The oven uses conduction heat like a conventional oven.

The convection heat feature circulates hot air around the food. The infrared heat penetrates food, cooking on the outside and inside at the same time.

The oven is highly energy saving, equipped with quality heating systems which saves you up to 75% energy as compared to a standard oven.

The oven is also fast which helps to reduce your cooking time by 70% as compared to standard or traditional ovens.

The multi-functional oven can be used for different cooking styles including:

Baking, roasting, barbecue, steaming, broiling grilling, searing, and air frying.

Nuwave Oven vs Air Fryer: What are the Similarities?

To help you make a critical decision on nuwave oven vs air fryer, you should consider the similarities and the differences between the two appliances. This section highlights all similar features of nuwave oven vs air fryer.

  • The air fryer and the nuwave oven cook variety of foods quickly and thoroughly.
  • Both appliances are digital thus easy to use because the touchscreen interface is easily navigable.
  • Both devices have instinctive controls from a digital touchscreen interface. 
  • They both come with recipes to guide you as you get started.
  • Both appliances also comes with shut-off safety that shuts off after a period of inactivity.
  • They both have removable parts which are dishwasher friendly and which take a few minutes to clean.
  • If you also happen to have limited space in your kitchen, well, you don’t have to worry. Both devices take up minimal space as compared to standard ovens.
  • Both the machines have a manually controllable temperature range of between 175F to 420F that helps to cook food to your ideal taste.

Nuwave Oven vs Air Fryer: What are the Differences?

Nuwave oven vs air fryer: although both appliances have a lot in common, there are also several differences that could help in your decision making.

  • While most air fryer parts are long lasting than the nuwave ovens, the dome of the nuwave pro plus oven needs some improvement. This is because it’s less durable as compared to that of an air fryer.
  • Both the machines comes packaged with offer recipe books, but nuwave oven models provides the user with an instructional DVD.
  • With an air fryer, the user needs to cook in batches. While with the nuwave pro plus oven you can cook meals with bigger portions at the same time.
  • The nuwave oven is bigger in basket capacity than an air fryer which offers a basket with less capacity.
  • While a nuwave oven can reach a maximum temperature range of 420 degrees Fahrenheit, an air fryer can only reach a temperature of 390 degrees Fahrenheit.

Nuwave Oven vs Air Fryers – Which is Better for You?

Nuwave oven vs Air fryer? Selecting your cooker between the two choices can be a tricky affair. Both appliances offer superb cooking experiences. 

Nuwave oven vs air fryer. Which gives crunchy meals?

You’ll get unmatched crispiness and crunchiness when using both of them. However, an air fryer is known to achieve more crispiness and crunchiness when compared to the nuwave oven.

That said, what do you do when you’re presented with Nuwave oven vs Air fryers choose one scenario? Well, here are factors you should consider:

  • Capacity. In most cases, the NuWave oven will have more cooking space than an ordinary air fryer. As such, we recommend a NuWave Oven if you have a large family. Alternatively, you can go for high-capacity air fryers, which will certainly be a bit pricey.
  • Personal Preference. NuWave Oven vs Air Fryers? What’s your desire? While these two appliances have more or less similar uses, the cooking techniques are relatively different. The NuWave oven has all aspects of your ordinary oven cooking, which are lacking in the air fryer. As such, you should choose that which suits you the best. 

Nuwave oven vs Air fryers? It’s fair to say that the differences between these two appliances are minimal. As such, the appliance you choose depends largely on your preferences as well as how you intend to use it.

  • If you want to cook for a large family, then Nuwave oven wins hands down!
  • If you want to experience cooking escapades that mimic deep frying, then you can go with air fryers

Nuwave Oven vs Air Fryers – The Bottom Line

Nuwave Oven vs Air Fryers? Wondering which one to buy? Well, both the air fryer and the nuwave oven will definitely simplify the way you cook your meals.

However, your choice will depend on your preferences and what you really enjoy cooking. If you love fried foods, then an air fryer is ideal for you. If you prefer baked products, then a nuwave oven is the way to go.

Nuwave oven vs Air fryers – Choosing the best?

Both are amazing appliances to add in your kitchen that will bring down your energy consumption and speed up your cooking process.

The ball is in your court to make your final decision. Nuwave oven vs air fryers comparison in the article was to help you know the features of each appliance and decide on which will serve your needs best. 

Nuwave oven vs air fryers? This article outlines the differences, similarities efficiency and beauty of both the machines. So go on make a choice that best suits you.

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Boniface Muriuki's avatar

Boniface Muriuki

Chef Boniface is a graduate in Culinary Arts from the Institute of Culinary Education, New York. He has worked in several restaurants and is currently the Head Chef at Cavali Restaurant. He has excelled in developing unique recipes and influencing the menu at the restaurant. He prides himself in sharing his knowledge at wordpress.thekitchenpot.com where he writes about the best cookware for various recipes.