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Ninja Foodi vs Tower Air fryer vs Tefal Actifry: which one should you buy?
See how Ninja, Tower and Tefal stack up against each other to make the tastiest
low-oil foods with minimal fuss – and find out which brand makes the best chips
Since the first air fryer was released in 2010, many new brands have entered market, but Ninja, Tefal and Tower are some of the most popular.
Every year, we test these major air fryer brands, as well as products from brands such as Philips, DeLonghi, Morphy Richards and Russell Hobbs.
We rigorously test each fryer, looking for the ones that are easy to use and which make tasty air-fried food.
Head to our shortlist of the best air fryers to see which ones came top in our tests.
Ninja vs Tower vs Tefal – features compared
Tefal was the first brand to launch a low-fat fryer– the ActiFry – around 10 years ago, closely followed by Philips with its Airfryer. More recently, Ninja and Tower both tried to get a slice of the pie, too.
Ninja Foodi
- Ninja sells the Ninja AF100UK at just under £100 as its basic offering, but have since released the Ninja Foodi Dual Zone (£199) and Ninja Foodi MAX (£199).
- Premium Ninja air fryers come with extra bells and whistles. The Foodi Dual Zone has two chambers that can cook independently of one another, and the Foodi MAX functions like a grill, with a probe that monitors food temperature for optimal timings.
- Ninja air fryers don't have viewing windows. If you're a keen watcher, you'll be pausing it often to check on your food.
Ninja products come with a 12-month warranty, which is less than Tower and Tefal air fryers.
Our Ninja Foodi air fryer reviews will let you know how they performed in our test lab.
Tefal ActiFry
- Tefal ActiFry models cost from around £80 to just under £280. The Easy Fry range is cheaper than the ActiFry range.
- A higher price gets you a larger cooking capacity – up to 1.7kg with the Tefal ActiFry Genius XL – and advanced features, such as the extra cooking layer of the Tefal ActiFry Genius XL 2in1.
- Easy Fry models are opaque, but ActiFry models have a viewing window at the top so you can see your food browning.
- Tefal offers a two-year guarantee on new air fryer purchases.
Read our Tefal air fryer reviews to see which of these models we made Best Buys.
Tower Air fryers
- Prices for Tower air fryers start at around £60 for the Tower T17021 Air Fryer and go up to £100 for models such as Tower T17039 Vortx 5-in-1 11L Digital Air Fryer Oven-in-1 SmartLid Multi-Cooker.
- Some Tower models such as Tower T17061 BLK have a more traditional design, however models such as Tower T17076 Express Pro Combo 10 in 1 come with a multi-tier cooking system (which allows you to cook up to three different foods at once), a digital display and plenty of other features.
- Tower offers a three-year warranty, which is superior to Ninja and Tefal.
See our Tower air fryer reviews to find out how they fared in our tough lab tests.
Looking for a branded air fryer at a great price? We round up the best air fryer deals every month.
Which brand is best?
In the table below, we've brought together all our expert knowledge to give you the verdict on which brand is best, including:
- How well each brand's air fryers performed on average in our tough tests
- What each brand's highest and lowest-scoring air fryers earned in our test lab
- How much each brand's highest-capacity air fryer is capable of cooking in kilograms
- Our overall verdict
Air fryer brands rated
Only logged-in Which? members can see our verdicts in the table below. If you’re not yet a member, join Which? to get instant access.
| Brand | Average test score | Score range | Average star rating for cooking chips | Average star rating for cooking chicken | Average star rating for ease of use | Best air fryer brand: Overview of our verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 75% | 67%-84% | Our top pick This brand has the highest average test score, thanks to the sheer performance and convenience of its products. Like competitor brands, its range varies from mediocre to great, but a good product from this brand will deliver quality in spades. | ||||
| 72% | 56%-84% | This brand has one of the best air fryers we've tested, but quality between models varies a lot and it's also released some of the worst air fryers on test. For this brand, it's best to research specific products that are exceptional rather than just trust the brand name. | ||||
| 56% | 53%-60% | No air fryers currently on the market from this brand are Best Buys. Although some of its models offer a lot of versatility, it's the lowest-performing brand of the three. |
Table notes: Data collected from models online in October 2022.
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Want an appliance that does more than just air fry? See our guide to the best multi cookers.
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