3 cheap air fryers to upgrade your kitchen without breaking the bank

An air fryer is the must-have kitchen gadget of 2022 but you can pick up a very good one for less

Woman working with airfryer and man using laptop
(Image credit: Twinsterphoto/Getty)
Duncan Bell
By
published
in Features

Everyone wants a new air fryer, it seems. They were the most popular items of Black Friday – or at least they would have been had they not all sold out. A lot of people must currently be seeking an air fryer without even really knowing what one is. They just know it's the must-have kitchen tech of the year, and have heard good things about them. Friends and family of mine have been asking me if I know where to get one, and if I recommend them and they never ask me about phones, laptops and so on.

The good news is, although the very best air fryers do tend to be at the more expensive end of the spectrum – although not usually much over £300 – there are some very good cheap air fryers out there. These will let you dip a toe into air frying without breaking the bank. I should warn you that if you get into air frying, you'll probably want to upgrade to a pricier one at some point down the line but these are all excellent entry level devices…

Sony HT-SF150 soundbar

(Image credit: Sony)

Tower Vortx Vizion 7L Digital Air Fryer

(Image credit: Tower)

1. Tower Vortx Vizion 7L Digital Air Fryer

Anyone in search for a cheap air fryer should make a beeline for Tower, the UK's top-selling  brand. Not only do they offer excellent value but they actually keep units consistently in stock, which is more than can be said for many rivals.

This one cooks consistently well and has a decent 7-litre capacity. It's easy to clean, has a narrow viewing window so you can keep an eye on the progress of your chips, and cooks food '30% faster with 99% less oil'. Some of the claims around air fryers are a bit ridiculous, but there's no denying that this Tower air fryer, like all of its range that we've tried, creates delicious results very quickly, at lower cost than using a full-size oven or most hobs.

If you want to go even cheaper, Tower also has a 4.3-litre model for just £75. That is quite small, mind.

COSORI Air Fryer with 100 Recipes Cookbook,1700W Max XL 5.5 L Digital Touchscreen


(Image credit: COSORI)

2. COSORI 1700W 5.5-litre Air Fryer

COSORI has come from absolutely nowhere – okay, probably China – to become a massive player in the air fryer market, thanks to selling through Amazon. Users seem extremely happy with the performance of their flagship model, which is compact and easy to use. Simple presets mean cooking with it is a breeze, and a 100-recipe cookbook means you can venture well beyond air fryer staples such as fries and chicken legs. 

Opt for the white version of this machine, and you also get a £10 discount off the already low price. 

3. Tefal EasyFry XXL 2-in-1 air fryer

Tefal EasyFry XXL 2-in-1 air fryer

(Image credit: Tefal)

We're big fans of Tefal's air fryers, and this one is on offer at Amazon today. Thanks to a removable divider, this can function as a single zone air fryer or a dual zone one. Total capacity is a reasonable 6.5 litres. If you use it as a dual zone, you can use intelligent sync to make sure each zone finishes cooking at the same time, so you don't have to wait for your chips to finish while your chicken goes cold. 

Another USP of this well-made device is a unique 'Sizzling Grill Plate'. Made of aluminium, this acts as a griddle, giving sear lines and everything, giving you two great cooking options for preparing meat, fish and veg in a barbecue style.

Duncan Bell
Duncan Bell

Duncan is the former lifestyle editor of T3 and has been writing about tech for almost 15 years. He has covered everything from smartphones to headphones, TV to AC and air fryers to the movies of James Bond and obscure anime. His current brief is everything to do with the home and kitchen, which is good because he is an excellent cook, if he says so himself. He also covers cycling and ebikes – like over-using italics, this is another passion of his. In his long and varied lifestyle-tech career he is one of the few people to have been a fitness editor despite being unfit and a cars editor for not one but two websites, despite being unable to drive. He also has about 400 vacuum cleaners, and is possibly the UK's leading expert on cordless vacuum cleaners, despite being decidedly messy. A cricket fan for over 30 years, he also recently become T3's cricket editor, writing about how to stream obscure T20 tournaments, and turning out some typically no-nonsense opinions on the world's top teams and players.

Before T3, Duncan was a music and film reviewer, worked for a magazine about gambling that employed a surprisingly large number of convicted criminals, and then a magazine called Bizarre that was essentially like a cross between Reddit and DeviantArt, before the invention of the internet. There was also a lengthy period where he essentially wrote all of T3 magazine every month for about 3 years. 

A broadcaster, raconteur and public speaker, Duncan used to be on telly loads, but an unfortunate incident put a stop to that, so he now largely contents himself with telling people, "I used to be on the TV, you know."

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