Solo vs grill vs combination microwave: which do you need?

Solo microwaves: the right choice for most people

A solo microwave does one thing: it cooks with microwave energy. That means reheating leftovers, defrosting meat and bread, melting butter and chocolate, steaming vegetables and warming drinks. It does not brown, crisp or bake. That sounds limited until you stop to think about how you actually use a microwave, because for the great majority of households, those are the only jobs a microwave is ever asked to do.

Because a solo is simpler, it is also cheaper, easier to clean and usually more compact than the alternatives. There is no grill element to splatter or scrub, and the best solos, such as the Samsung MS23K3513, do the everyday jobs beautifully and last for years. If your microwave's role is to reheat dinner and defrost a chicken breast, a solo is not a budget compromise. It is the correct tool, and buying anything more means paying for ability you will not use.

Grill microwaves: when you want to brown and crisp

A grill microwave adds a heating element, usually a quartz grill, above the cavity. That unlocks the jobs a solo cannot do: melting and browning cheese on a jacket potato, crisping the top of a gratin or lasagne, grilling bacon or sausages. Many grill models also offer a combination mode that runs the microwave and grill together, so food cooks through quickly while the top goes golden, faster than a conventional oven would manage.

The trade-offs are real but modest. A grill model tends to be a little larger and costs more than an equivalent solo, and because it browns food it produces the same splatter and grease as a conventional grill, so the cavity needs cleaning more often. The Sharp YC-MG81 is our pick here. Choose a grill if browning genuinely matters to you; if you only ever reheat, the grill is cost and cleaning you will not benefit from.

Combination microwaves: a microwave that bakes too

A combination microwave goes a step further again, adding a convection oven to the microwave and grill. Convection circulates hot air, which means the machine can bake and roast with real heat rather than microwaves, so it behaves like a compact oven. Combination modes blend microwave speed with oven browning, so a dish cooks through and crisps in less time than a conventional oven would take.

This is the most capable and most expensive type, and also the largest. The Panasonic NN-DF386 is our best overall pick, and for a flat, an annexe or a caravan it can genuinely stand in for a full oven, baking smaller dishes and roasting where no solo or grill could. It will not match a full-size oven for a large roast or a batch of baking, so think of it as a capable second oven rather than a replacement. Buy one only if you will actually use the baking, otherwise you are paying for a function that will sit idle.

Which type should you choose?

The decision comes down to one honest question: beyond reheating and defrosting, what do you want the microwave to do? If the answer is nothing, buy a solo and enjoy the lower price, easier cleaning and smaller footprint. If the answer is browning and crisping, buy a grill. If the answer is baking and roasting too, buy a combination. The mistake people make is buying up the range for the reassurance of having the functions, then never switching them on, which means a larger, pricier, harder-to-clean machine for no benefit. Match the type to how you really cook, not to how you imagine you might.