Unreliable Air Fryer Brands To Avoid When Buying New Appliances For Your Kitchen

If you don't have an air fryer yet, you're officially in the minority. President of Nestle U.S.'s pizza and snacking division, Adam Graves, told CNBC that the company estimates that almost 60% of Americans own an air fryer — and some households might have more than one. If you're ready to join the air fryer frenzy or want a second (or third) one, you might be looking for a good deal on these appliances. While keeping an eye on prices, you'll also want to look out for any manufacturer brands that have a poor reputation, just like you'd watch for unreliable kitchen appliance brands you should avoid for microwaves or dishwashers.

To help you avoid making a major mistake when purchasing an air fryer, we looked into some of the most unreliable brands by analyzing customer reviews of these products from major retailers. We found four air fryer brands to avoid: Cosori, Hamilton Beach, PowerXL, and Insignia. Some of these brands have problems with overheating, which makes it more important than ever to follow safety tips to prevent the air fryer from potentially catching fire. You also could suffer skin burns because of the extremely high temperatures these appliances reach. Some brands are considered unreliable based on poor performance. 

The air fryer brand Cosori has quite a few products that feature excellent customer reviews. For example, the COSORI 9-in-1 Air Fryer has an impressive 4.8-star average rating on Amazon. However, when the company had to recall around 2 million air fryers in North America a couple of years ago, its reliability as a brand took a major hit. A faulty wiring connection in the appliances had overheating issues, creating a fire and burn hazard.

Cosori offered a voluntary recall of the affected air fryers, but it still represents a major problem for the trustworthiness of the brand. Many of the negative reviews on Amazon relate to the unreliability of obtaining replacement models. One Amazon reviewer explained that the recall process is impossible, revealing that despite multiple attempts, they were unable to secure a refund or exchange. Others still point to Cosori models making funny noises and producing smoke, so we're not sure if all the overheating problems have been fixed. 

If you're not worried about the potential fire risk, Cosori air fryers generally have favorable reviews. However, despite its popularity, this isn't one we would recommend. And, for safety against fire, you should always keep your air fryer unplugged when it's not in use, no matter which brand you have purchased.

Although the idea of having a toaster oven and air fryer combination unit sounds like a good idea, reviewers of the Hamilton Beach brand say its combo models struggle to master either function. Although Hamilton Beach offers a few standalone air fryers, the majority of this brand's products serve as air fryer and toaster oven combinations. However, the Hamilton Beach combination models don't seem to perform anywhere near as well as standalone toaster ovens. 

Reviewers at retailer websites give the Hamilton Beach brand quite a few negative ratings for unreliable performance. One Amazon reviewer describes her Hamilton Beach purchase as "an utter disappointment..." while a Reddit review notes that these air fryer models are cheaper but tend to break very fast.

Considering reviewers claim the Hamilton Beach air fryers break regularly, we can't recommend this brand. If you want the features of a toaster oven and an air fryer, we believe your money is better spent on standalone toaster ovens and air fryers, but with a brand other than Hamilton Beach.

Another air fryer brand that suffered a loss of reputation through a major recall is Empower Brands, which makes PowerXL models of air fryers. In late 2023, Empower Brands released a recall for multiple PowerXL air fryer models, which affected about 319,000 units. The malfunctioning PowerXL air fryers could suffer broken plastic inside the food baskets when you try to remove them, potentially leading to burns.

You can purchase the PowerXL air fryers from Empower Brands at multiple large retailers, such as Target, Walmart, and Kohls. Customer reviewers at those websites list several reliability problems with Empower Brands models. Beyond the burn hazard mentioned in the recall, multiple reviewers state that their PowerXL air fryers did not last very long, including some who had the unit break down on the first usage. One reviewer who experienced this issue said via the PowerXL website, "The darn thing stopped working and won't power on. ... I do not recommend this at all," while another customer mentioned, via Kohl's, that the keypad on the PowerXL unit was defective, resulting in burns.

Since the recall for the Empower Brands air fryers is a recent one, and because multiple customers describe problems with PowerXL air fryers that don't relate to the recall, we can't recommend this brand. 

Perhaps the most unreliable brand of air fryer we found based on online reviews is Insignia. This brand has experienced multiple recalls, including one in 2022 for issues with overheating that could lead to fires. This recall affected about 635,000 units in the United States and about 137,000 units in Canada. Another recall occurred in 2024, reporting that the unit could overheat and burn people who touch the handles or doors or create a fire risk. The 2024 recall also mentions that the glass on the door could shatter, which could lead to lacerations. This recall affected 187,400 air fryers in the United States and almost 100,000 in Canada. 

In total, those two recalls affected more than 1 million air fryers from Insignia, significantly harming the Insignia brand's reputation and reliability. Reviewers agree, via BestBuy, about the safety issues. One customer dislikes the Insignia air fryer for multiple reasons but focuses on the most dangerous aspect, stating, "My two-year-old son got shocked by this inferior hunk of junk." Another Best Buy reviewer explained that this is a highly unreliable air fryer, noting, "The front glass shattered after 5 weeks of use. This is a dangerous product." Because the Insignia air fryer brand is not only unreliable but also potentially dangerous, we can't recommend it at all, no matter what kind of a bargain you may find.