I've never owned an air fryer before. Heck, I've never seen one in action (except on Youtube) -- but I always heard that air fryers are Noisy, Slow and Cheap.
Let me address those points individually:
IS IT NOISY? NO.
This unit is definitely not noisy and doesn't sound like a 737 on take-off. This unit hums quietly (so I now it's on). Obviously, it's louder when it's air roasting or frying than it is when it's toasting or dehydrating, but that's what's supposed to happen - right?
IS IT SLOW? NO.
A lot of people complained that their air fryers take forever to preheat. This one preheats so fast, I didn't realize it was even happening in the beginning. Seriously, this bad boy preheats within about a minute -- which is record-breaking, considering my in-wall oven takes 15 minutes to reach 425º! I've been testing all sorts of things in it (I've dehydrated apples, air roasted a pizza, air fried Buffalo Chicken, sweet potatoes and french toast) and find that things either cook faster than expected, or right on the money. Time takes time -- but this unit doesn't take more than it should!
CHEAP? (Quality) CHEAP? (Price)
There are cheaper units out there, but based on reviews, you get what you pay for. In this case, I got a unit that behaves and feels like a more expensive unit. It seems well made and performs exactly as it should. Since I already own a Ninjaa blender/food processor, I know what quality feels like, and this Air Fryer Oven is no exception
BOTTOM LINE:
I repeat that I'm no expert in the air fryer arena, but my initial experiences have been positive and actually FUN. I love the fact that this folds up and out of the way because it gives me back valuable countertop real estate that my old toaster oven was hogging. If you want to roast a whole chicken, this isn't for you. If you want to bake a 12" deep dish pizza, this air fryer is perfect!
Ultimately, only you know much countertop (vertical and horizontal) space you have -- I have enough vertical space for this to fold up and away, and I have just enough horizontal space for it to fold down and out -- so if you only have a small footprint, this may not work for you -- better get the tape measurer to be sure. If you're replacing a toaster oven, this rocks -- and then some.
What else? Cleaning seems to be a breeze -- which makes me happy, because our old toaster oven was NASTY. This has a crumb tray that actually catches crumbs -- but doesn't require an engineering degree to remove. The pan and fryer basket have cleaned up really well, and I'm sure the wire rack will be just as easy.
I really like this Ninja Air Fryer and believe it to be a quiet, quick, quality unit -- especially for the money. I hope you do, too!