We’ve tested microwave ovens for their cooking performance and ease of use.
Lifetime score for microwave ovens
Our overall score for microwave ovens combines:
cooking performance (how well the microwave works)
ease of use
predicted reliability (how likely models from the brand are to remain free of faults)
owner satisfaction (how likely owners of the brand are to be very satisfied).
We’ll only recommend appliances you’ll love to own, that work well and keep working well for a long time.
Cooking performance of the microwave oven
Microwave oven performance is based on cooking broccoli, defrosting mince and a whole chicken, and reheating quiche.
Grill performance is based on grilling toast.
Convection performance is based on cooking pizza, scones and roasting a whole chicken. We used the convection setting to bake scones and the combination setting to cook a pizza and a whole chicken.
Ease of use of the microwave oven
How easy is it to use the microwave’s controls?
How easy is it to see through the microwave’s door during cooking?
How easy is it to clean the microwave?
Predicted reliability of the microwave oven
It’s reasonable to expect a new appliance to remain fault-free for at least the first 5 years. Our predicted reliability won’t tell you whether your microwave will stop working tomorrow, but it does show which brands make models that are less likely to fail.
Microwave oven owner satisfaction
Satisfaction is important – no appliance should be a source of buyer regret. Microwave ovens with very satisfied owners are more likely to get cleaned regularly and maintained well. Their owners are more likely to seek repair for faults than look for a quick replacement.
Survey data 101
In our annual reliability and satisfaction survey, consumers tell us about faults that have left an appliance they own unusable or mean they’ve had to change how they use that appliance. We also ask consumers how satisfied they are with the appliance. We use their data to produce our predicted reliability and owner satisfaction scores.
We use a statistical test to rate the relative performance of each brand. Compared with data we have for all products (of the same type) in the survey, we rate each brand with highest, high, average, low or lowest reliability and satisfaction. You can compare the rating of different brands for the same product type (for example, the reliability rating for Panasonic and Breville microwave ovens), but you can’t compare the results for different product types (for example, satisfaction of Panasonic microwave ovens and Panasonic TVs).
We analyse brands that get at least 30 responses in our survey. That means there are some brands we can’t analyse because we don’t have enough data. We assume those brands have average predicted reliability and owner satisfaction.
Our data is based on responses for 1,568 built-in and benchtop microwave ovens in our 2025 survey.
