The Best Microwaves of 2026: an honest comparison

Microwaves: who each type suits, and who it doesn't

Almost everyone needs a microwave, but not everyone needs the same one. The first and most important decision is not the brand, the colour or the price. It is the type: solo, grill or combination. Get that right and you will be happy with almost any reputable model; get it wrong and you will either pay for functions you never touch or wish you had bought more capability. So before comparing litres and watts, it is worth being honest about how you actually cook.

A solo microwave reheats, defrosts, melts and steams. That is all most people ever ask of a microwave, and it is why the solo is the right buy for the majority of kitchens. It is cheaper, simpler and easier to clean than the alternatives, and the best solos, such as the Samsung MS23K3513, do the everyday jobs beautifully. If your microwave's role is to reheat last night's dinner, defrost a chicken breast and warm a mug of milk, a solo is not a compromise. It is the correct tool.

A grill microwave adds a heating element that browns and crisps. That unlocks the jobs a solo simply cannot do: melting and browning cheese on a jacket potato, crisping the top of a gratin or lasagne, grilling bacon. A combination microwave goes further again, adding a convection oven so it can bake and roast like a small oven. The Panasonic NN-DF386 is our pick here, and for a flat, an annexe or a caravan it can genuinely stand in for a full oven. But each step up costs more, takes more space and adds a little cleaning, so only pay for the extra ability if you will use it. We lay the trade-offs out in full in our guide to solo versus grill versus combination.

Capacity: getting the litres right

Once you have settled on a type, the next number that matters is capacity, measured in litres. It is easy to over-think or under-think this, so here is the plain version. A 17 to 20 litre cavity suits one or two people and tight worktops; it fits a standard dinner plate, though a very large platter can be a squeeze. A 23 litre cavity is the comfortable everyday size for most households, with room to spare for big bowls and tall containers. A 25 litre and above model suits families, batch reheating and anyone who regularly warms large dishes.

There is one trap worth flagging. The litre rating describes the cavity, not the body, and a roomy interior can come in a surprisingly large external case, while a clever design can fit a usable cavity into a compact shell. So always check the external dimensions against your worktop and the gap under any wall cabinet, not just the headline litres. The compact Panasonic NN-E27 is the standout example of a usable 20-litre cavity in a small body, which is exactly why it is our pick for a small kitchen. If space is your main constraint, our guide to the best microwave for a small kitchen walks through the measurements that matter.

Wattage: how many watts you actually need

Wattage measures cooking power, and it is widely misunderstood. More is not automatically better. 800 watts is the everyday sweet spot: quick enough to reheat a plate or defrost meat at a sensible pace, and the level most ready-meal instructions assume, so packet timings just work. A 700 W model still does the job but more slowly, and you may need to add time. 900 W and above speeds things up, which is handy if you are impatient, but it is not the upgrade most people imagine.

Far more important than the headline figure is how the power is delivered. A conventional microwave creates a lower power setting by switching full power on and off in bursts, which is why basic models so often leave food hot at the edges and cold in the middle. An inverter, as fitted to the Panasonic NN-DF386, delivers steady, genuinely lower power instead, so leftovers heat through evenly and delicate jobs like softening butter or melting chocolate are gentler. If even reheating matters to you, the inverter is worth more than an extra hundred watts. We explain the whole thing plainly in our guide to microwave wattage.

The features that earn their keep, and the ones that don't

Once type, size and power are settled, the rest is detail, and it pays to know which details are worth caring about. A wipe-clean ceramic enamel interior, as on the Samsung, is a genuine everyday upgrade: it cleans in seconds and resists the staining and scratching that painted cavities suffer over the years. Auto-cook and defrost programmes set time and power for common foods, which takes the guesswork out for anyone who would rather not think about it. A turntable remains the most reliable way to heat food evenly, and a clear, legible display and a door that opens smoothly make a machine pleasant to live with.

Other features sound appealing but rarely change the decision. Express minute buttons and clock displays are nice to have rather than deciding factors. Smart or app-connected microwaves exist, but a microwave is an appliance you stand in front of, so the connectivity adds cost without solving a real problem. And while brand buys you build quality, support and resale confidence, worth paying for if you value longevity, it is never a substitute for choosing the right type and size in the first place.

How we chose these six

We deliberately picked models that cover the full range of real kitchens rather than six near-identical solos. There is a compact specialist for small spaces, two roomy everyday solos at different price points, a beautifully made premium solo, a grill model for anyone who wants to brown and crisp, and a combination flagship that doubles as a small oven. Every model here is from a brand that is genuinely available and supported in the UK, and each earns its spot for a specific buyer, with no padding. If you start by deciding your type and your space, you will find your microwave on this list. Our full buying guide covers everything else: sizing, programmes, cleaning and the features worth paying for.