Cooking Appliances review
Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro Review: It Replaces the Oven
One lab ranked it first of eleven and gave its interface a perfect ten. It also measured the temperature running five degrees hot, which matters more for baking than for anything else it does.
By Paulo GerchonPublished 2 min read
Illustration, not a photo — we don’t have a licensed image of this product yet.
Breville
Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro
Good · researched from 5 sources
The countertop oven that genuinely replaces a wall oven for most weeknight cooking, and the interface is the reason people keep using it rather than reverting. Buy the smaller model if your counter is tight, because this one is enormous.
- Buy if
- Households cooking for four or more who want to skip heating a full oven · Anyone who wants air frying without a second single-purpose appliance · Cooks who value straightforward controls over app connectivity
- Skip if
- Small kitchens, given the footprint · Anyone buying primarily as a toaster · Bakers who need the set temperature to be the actual temperature
We don’t list prices, because Amazon’s change hourly.
The interface is why people keep using it
TechGearLab gave ease of use a flat 10 out of 10. That is not a score labs hand out, and on an appliance with thirteen functions it is the finding that matters most.
Three dials. Presets for each cooking mode. A rack that ejects itself when you open the door. No app, no menus, nothing to learn.
The reason this matters is that countertop ovens fail by being ignored. A machine that can do thirteen things and makes you think about which one becomes the machine you use for toast. This one apparently does not, which is why Home Cook Basics says it replaced their conventional oven outright.
It runs about five degrees hot
TechGearLab set it to 350F and measured an average of 355F, calling that 98.6 percent accuracy. Home Cook Basics found deviation never worse than 10F and usually inside a 3F window.
Both agree on the direction. It reads low and cooks slightly hot.
For roasting, air frying and reheating that is irrelevant. For baking it is the difference between a cake and a slightly dry cake, and the fix is to set it five degrees below what a recipe asks for once you have confirmed the offset yourself.
Where the speed comes from
Home Cook Basics describes six quartz elements under Element IQ control, which directs heat above or below the food depending on what mode you have chosen, and a two-speed convection fan that cuts cooking time by up to 30 percent on its faster setting.
That is the practical advantage over a wall oven. It reaches 350F in 5.4 minutes per TechGearLab and around 450F in seven per Home Cook Basics, against fifteen or more for a full oven that then has to heat a much larger cavity.
Best Reviews found the Pro air-frying frozen chips a minute faster than the standard model, which they attribute to the multi-speed fan the cheaper version lacks.
The two things it is not good at
Toast. TechGearLab scored it 6.8, their weakest category, and noted it takes noticeably longer than a pop-up toaster despite browning evenly. Buying this to make toast is like buying a car to sit in the drive.
And fitting on a counter. Best Reviews measures 21.5 by 17.1 by 12.7 inches at 38.9 pounds. That is a permanent installation, not something you put away, and Home Cook Basics warns the top gets hot enough that you cannot stack anything on it either.
What you get in the box
Home Cook Basics lists a mesh basket rack, a 9x13 broil rack, a 13-inch pizza pan, a quarter-size roasting tray and an extra rack. That is unusually complete, and it matters because air frying in an oven this size depends on having a rack that lets air move underneath the food.
How it scored
The overall 8.0 is the weighted average of these five criteria — we never adjust it by hand.
Cooking performance
TechGearLab scored baking and roasting 8.3 and ranked it first of eleven. Home Cook Basics reports the two-speed fan cutting cooking time by up to 30 percent.
Value
All three sources raise the price, and TechGearLab lists it as the first drawback alongside the counter space it demands.
Build quality
Brushed stainless with six quartz elements per Home Cook Basics, who also warn the top of the oven gets hot to the touch.
Ease of use
TechGearLab scored the interface a perfect 10, singling out three simple dials, per-function presets and a magnetic auto-eject rack.
Temperature accuracy
TechGearLab measured 355F against a 350F setting, a 98.6 percent accuracy rate. Home Cook Basics found deviation never worse than 10F and usually within 3F.
Pros and cons
What we liked
- TechGearLab ranked it first of eleven toaster ovens with an overall 82
- A perfect 10 for ease of use, which almost nothing earns
- Home Cook Basics found it holding within about 3F of the set temperature
- 13 functions across a range Best Reviews puts at 80 to 480F
- Fits a 13-inch pizza, and Home Cook Basics roasted a 14-pound turkey in it
What we didn’t
- TechGearLab scored toasting only 6.8, its weakest category
- It runs about 5F hot, which matters for baking more than roasting
- Preheating to 350F took 5.4 minutes at TechGearLab
- At 21.5 by 17.1 inches it eats a serious amount of counter
- Home Cook Basics reports the top of the oven getting hot to the touch
Specifications
| Capacity | 1 cu ft; fits a 13-inch pizza and 9 slices of toast |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 21.5 x 17.1 x 12.7 in per Best Reviews |
| Weight | 38.9 lb per Best Reviews |
| Functions | 13, including air fry, dehydrate, proof and slow cook |
| Temperature range | 80 to 480F per Best Reviews |
| Heating | Element IQ with 6 quartz elements per Home Cook Basics |
| Convection | Two-speed fan, up to 30 percent faster per Home Cook Basics |
| Measured accuracy | 355F average against a 350F setting per TechGearLab |
| Preheat | 5.4 minutes to 350F per TechGearLab; about 7 minutes to 450F per Home Cook Basics |
How we researched this
We have not had this unit on the bench. This review synthesises the manufacturer’s published specifications, independent measurements and owner reports listed below. Every figure on this page comes from one of those sources rather than our own measurement.
5
sources reviewed
TechGearLab supplies the measured temperature accuracy, the preheat time, the category scores and the ranking against ten other toaster ovens. Home Cook Basics contributed extended kitchen use, the heating element count, the fan behaviour and the hot-top warning. Best Reviews supplies the dimensions, weight, temperature range and the direct comparison against the non-Pro model. We also read a long-term review of the Breville Smart Oven Pro and excluded it: that is the BOV845 without air frying, and its findings would not transfer to this machine.
What we read
Common questions
Does the Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro actually replace an oven?
How accurate is the temperature?
Is it a good toaster?
How much counter space does it need?
What does the Pro add over the standard Air Fryer model?
The bottom line on the Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro
The countertop oven that genuinely replaces a wall oven for most weeknight cooking, and the interface is the reason people keep using it rather than reverting. Buy the smaller model if your counter is tight, because this one is enormous.
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