The best Ninja air fryers for every type of cook, tested (2025)

Score: 95/100

This was a real hit with our experts, hardly dropping a point in our tests. Cakes were evenly baked and ready in 15 minutes (just how we like them!) and it achieved a perfect score for its golden, crispy chicken kievs, which were ready to serve in 25 minutes. Our chips were the right balance of crispy and fluffy too.

It's chunky, so not ideal for small kitchens, but it's great for families because of its dual drawers that can be synced so your meat and sides are ready at the same time.

Key specs

Score: 91/100

This is our best value Ninja air fryer at just under £80 with the 21% saving. It also delivered delicious chicken Kyivs and chips (although we recommend not packing the machine too full and cooking in batches for the best results).

It's lightweight and the compact design makes it a great buy for one to two people. You will need oven gloves to lift the basket out as there's no handle, but it comes with lots of recipes and food charts to inspire you, making it ideal for beginners as well.

Key specs

Score: 91/100

This not only air fries, but also performed strongly as a slow cooker, retaining 99% of the moisture in our dishes. So, whether you want fast or slow cooked meals, this will deliver.

It was a consistent high scorer with clear instructions and impressive energy efficiency. It will also feed a crowd (of six), thanks to its 7.5L capacity. This does, however, make it bulky and the cooking pot is heavy to lift out.

But with an accompanying recipe book and nine cooking functions, this is a great multitasking machine.

Key specs

Score: 90/100

Like the multi-cooker above, but don't need that much space? This mini version can also pressure cook, slow cook, air fry, bake, roast, sauté, sear and steam, and has capacity for four people.

It was a high scorer across all our tests, air frying delicious chicken and chips. It was also came top for efficiency when using the air fryer mode – making chips cost just pennies of electricity.

Plus, the design is nice and compact, making storage easier. This is a solid all-rounder.

Key specs

Score: 90/100

This innovative Ninja combines a generous 9.5L capacity (like our top-rated model) with a slimmer double-stacked design to save on counter space, making it a good choice for families with busy kitchens. And proving it can feed a crowd, our testers were able to cook a deliciously juicy roast chicken in each drawer in under an hour using the Match and Sync function. Perfect for Sunday lunch for all the family.

For added versatility, you can also divide the drawers up to create four cooking sections and use the Double Stack feature to cook all four components of your meal at the same time. However, we found this was a little hit and miss, leaving us with unevenly cooked fish and chips.

We had no issues with our frozen chips though, which emerged deliciously crispy, and our cupcakes were a success. The pre-set functions worked well, too.

Key specs

Score: 88/100

Another model that's more multi-cooker than air fryer, the Ninja Speedi has 10 different cooking modes. In fact, we're not sure there's anything it can't do, except lay the table and serve the dinner.

This model's USP is its 'Speedi Meals' function, which means you can cook every part of your dish at once using your preferred method – grains, meat, veg – and it will all be ready in super quick time.

It performed consistently well across all our cooking tests and the controls are intuitive, making this another great pick for families who want quick, easy and nutritious mid-week meals.

Key specs

Score: 84/100

This is an investment but it does have 15 different cooking modes, making it the ultimate do-it-all machine. It is an excellent air fryer, turning out perfectly cooked chicken wings and roast potatoes. It also delivered “melt-in-the-mouth” beef brisket with its slow cooker mode.

Thanks to the 'combi-steam' tech, you can prepare multiple items at once and the integrated smart meat probe cooks your protein just the way you like it.

It's a big machine, so tricky to move around, but a good option for serious chefs.

Key specs

Score: 83/100

What makes this model unique is that it's a health grill, hot plate and an air fryer, all in one, so if you're looking to give your oven a few nights off, this is a great pick. You can air fry, bake, roast, reheat, dehydrate, grill and sear.

In our tests, it only dropped one mark for cooking chicken (we managed to cook a whole one to mouthwatering near-perfection, although we had to spatchcock it to fit it in).

It is a bulky machine so you'll need decent counter and storage space, but it's easy to use and comes with lots of handy cooking charts to help you prepare different foods.

Key specs

What capacity of air fryer is best for me?

As a quick guide, 3L should be sufficient for solo chefs or couples, while 4.5L should feed three to four diners. For larger families, look around 6L+.

The verdict on Ninja air fryers

For family cooking, we don't think you can go wrong with our top-rated Ninja air fryer. The Ninja Foodi Dual Zone Air Fryer MAX only dropped five marks in our tests overall and is a firm favourite with GH shoppers (6,000 readers can't be wrong, after all).

If you're cooking for one or two, opt for the more compact, 3.8L Ninja air fryer, which is an affordable £79 right now.

And for an even more versatile machine, we suggest the Ninja Foodie Mini Multi-Cooker. There's little it doesn't do and it won't take over your countertop.

Why trust the Good Housekeeping Institute?

After testing over 60 air fryers, there's not much we don't know about this handy kitchen gadget, so we're adept at sorting the kitchen saviours from the potential disasters. Blossom Boothroyd, our head of homes testing, has developed rigorous protocols that analyse every element of these mini cookers, just as you would use them in your own kitchen.

Alison Lynch, who heads up the GHI content team, has been a lifestyle editor for over 15 years and has tried and written about hundreds of products in that time. She works hard to analyse the testers' feedback and turn it into really useful reviews to help our readers make the best purchase for their budget and lifestyle. As a former air fryer sceptic, she also asks all the questions all the most cynical shoppers will have about the new kitchen wonder gadget.