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The Best Smart Ovens

“Smart” countertop ovens use advanced technology to take over cooking for you—or guide you step by step—while promising to replace a half dozen other appliances. Sounds like a tall order, and each oven takes a different approach. So are any worth buying? 

Editor&aposs Note:Update, January 2024

Our favorite smart oven, the June Smart Oven (3rd Generation), has been discontinued. In its place, we recommend the Tovala Smart Oven.

Top Pick

  • Performance
  • Accuracy
  • Ease of Use
  • Cleanup and Durability

WinnerTovala Smart Oven

This updated Tovala Smart Oven is just as well designed and easy to operate as the original version we tested and named our Best Buy. The difference is that this model adds air frying to its capabilities while subtracting steam cooking. (Another updated model, the Tovala Smart Oven Pro, adds the air frying and keeps steam cooking.) It produced evenly browned toast and biscuits; crisp air-fried frozen and homemade french fries; and golden, juicy Air-Fryer Chicken Parmesan. This compact oven is a bit small for family cooking: At 10 by 8½ inches, its baking sheet’s cooking surface barely fits a whole spatchcocked chicken, and we could cook only a half rack of barbecued ribs. As before, this oven can scan barcodes to load cooking instructions for many food products from Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and other brands. The company bills itself as a meal-kit service with an oven, but kits are completely optional (starting at $11.99, each kit serves one). If you agree to buy a certain number of kits, the oven price is radically reduced. The kits we tried were surprisingly fresh and flavorful and easy to prep. Menus varied weekly, and kits arrived promptly; you can customize their frequency. This oven is a solid choice for small households—and for people who don’t like to cook. One cleaning quibble: A small gap between the glass window and steel door on the inside trapped some panko crumbs as we removed chicken; otherwise everything was easy to clean. Note: If you own the earlier model, you can simply order the new air-frying basket and use the “convection bake” setting to air-fry.

Model Number:

Exterior: 18.25 x 11.75 x 12 in

Interior: 13.25 x 10.5 x 8.75 in

Functions and Features: Toast, Bake, Air-Fry, Broil, Reheat, Scan to Cook

Accessories: Wire shelf, enameled rimmed baking sheet, measuring cup (to add water to steam chamber)

Price at Time of Testing: $249.00

  • Performance
  • Accuracy
  • Ease of Use
  • Cleanup and Durability

This updated Tovala Smart Oven is just as well designed and easy to operate as the original version we tested and named our Best Buy. The difference is that this model adds air frying to its capabilities while subtracting steam cooking. (Another updated model, the Tovala Smart Oven Pro, adds the air frying and keeps steam cooking.) It produced evenly browned toast and biscuits; crisp air-fried frozen and homemade french fries; and golden, juicy Air-Fryer Chicken Parmesan. This compact oven is a bit small for family cooking: At 10 by 8½ inches, its baking sheet’s cooking surface barely fits a whole spatchcocked chicken, and we could cook only a half rack of barbecued ribs. As before, this oven can scan barcodes to load cooking instructions for many food products from Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and other brands. The company bills itself as a meal-kit service with an oven, but kits are completely optional (starting at $11.99, each kit serves one). If you agree to buy a certain number of kits, the oven price is radically reduced. The kits we tried were surprisingly fresh and flavorful and easy to prep. Menus varied weekly, and kits arrived promptly; you can customize their frequency. This oven is a solid choice for small households—and for people who don’t like to cook. One cleaning quibble: A small gap between the glass window and steel door on the inside trapped some panko crumbs as we removed chicken; otherwise everything was easy to clean. Note: If you own the earlier model, you can simply order the new air-frying basket and use the “convection bake” setting to air-fry.

Model Number:

Exterior: 18.25 x 11.75 x 12 in

Interior: 13.25 x 10.5 x 8.75 in

Functions and Features: Toast, Bake, Air-Fry, Broil, Reheat, Scan to Cook

Accessories: Wire shelf, enameled rimmed baking sheet, measuring cup (to add water to steam chamber)

Price at Time of Testing: $249.00

What You Need to Know

Smart ovens promise to make cooking easier and more foolproof. We tested several, and while we liked features of each, we found two smart ovens that stood out. Both were easy to use and worked like highly enhanced countertop toaster ovens, with a variety of clever abilities that we found hard to give up when testing was done. 

We highly recommend the June Smart Oven (3rd Generation). We tested and liked the “previous generation” model—and this new model improves on an already great oven. Using artificial intelligence, it can recognize both fresh foods and many brand-name packaged foods, initiate cooking programs, and guide you through its library of recipes. Its display and controls could not be simpler, whether you’re relying on its smart functions or using it like a regular oven. It can toast, broil, bake, roast, air-fry, dehydrate, and slow-cook, and it also offers accessories for grilling and baking pizza. Every recipe we prepared came out perfectly. 

We also recommend the Tovala Smart Oven, which can automatically switch between baking and broiling as it cooks and will notify you when your food is done. It can air fry too. (Though it no longer uses steam to cook, another new model, the Tovala Smart Oven Pro, keeps steam and adds air frying.)

Our Top Picks: Highly Recommended. June Smart Oven (3rd Generation). Display and controls could not be simpler. App mirrors display for easy remote operation. Oven instantly recognizes many foods and gets ready to cook them. Food temperature probe provides feedback to oven, which adjusts cooking, so food is perfectly cooked. Can do regular oven functions plus slow-cook, air fry, dehydrate, grill and more. Our Best Buy. Tovala Smart Oven. Automatically switches between baking, broiling and steaming as it cooks. Simple controls. Compact size. App offers recipes and tips. Option for Scan-to-Cook meal kits, available by subscription.

Over the past few years, smart countertop ovens have been arriving with a splash. This appliance category still has only a handful of players and remains a bit amorphous, since each company promises that its oven can accomplish a range of cooking tasks with very different technologies. All smart ovens claim to produce expertly cooked food with hands-off convenience, so you can kick your old toaster oven to the curb—and maybe your standard oven, your microwave, and a few other appliances, too.

The June Oven's built-in food temperature probe inserted in a rack of ribs (left), ensures they will be perfectly cooked (right), whether you follow the oven's programmed recipe or set your own desired temperature.

What Makes These Ovens “Smart”?

Typically, smart ovens have apps that let you control cooking, peruse a library of built-in recipes, and purchase accessories; some also allow you to order meal kits. The ovens use sophisticated software in a variety of ways, whether to identify foods you put in them or run cooking programs that incorporate traditional and innovative cooking technologies, alone or in combination, to optimize results.

We struggled with the spidery typeface and confusing layout of the Anova Precision Oven’s app (far left). June’s app (second from left) provides easy-to-follow videos and photos of each stage of its recipes and the equipment you need, guiding cooks step by step. The June app also relays images from its internal oven camera (center), so we could check on the progress of grilled chicken breasts. Brava’s app shows recipes with photos and instructions for how to lay out food on its trays for cooking (second from right). Tovala’s app (far right) guided us step by step through a recipe for Whole Roasted Cauliflower with Lemon Tahini Sauce.

While you can operate them exactly like a standard oven, smart ovens offer many more functions. They also guide you step by step as you prepare recipes: They monitor and adjust cooking time and temperature (some via built-in temperature probes), offer helpful videos and tips, transmit images or graphs of your cooking progress on their apps or oven displays, and scan packaged retail foods or the company’s own meal kits for one-step preparation. Some offer access to a community of users who share recipes and tips. All the ovens periodically update software and add features, just like your phone or laptop does. Most also link to Siri, Alexa, or Google Assistant, so you can operate them by voice.

Time-lapse videos are fun, but the oven's built-in camera also lets you check on food from a distance.

During testing, not every oven lived up to its promises. Some of the programming didn’t quite work. For instance, even after we’d entered the exact weight of our whole chicken in ounces, as requested, one oven roasted it until the exterior leg and wing meat was as hard as plastic. Another took 8 minutes (and went through three separate cooking stages) to toast a slice of bread and still failed. It also took 3 hours to roast a small (4-pound) chicken. A third suddenly and unpredictably burned toast after previously completing a successful toasting session. To earn its place in our kitchen, we expected each smart oven to cook competently in every mode—and hopefully with less effort or time than conventional appliances.

1. We followed the June Oven's recipe program for whole roasted chicken with vegetables, using the temperature probe to track doneness. 
2. We placed a single whole egg on the shelf in the June and it recognized and hardboiled it right in the shell.
3. We used the air-fry program on the Panasonic oven to make crispy brussels sprouts.
4. Because you can't peek at the extremely bright and powerful light that cooks food in the Brava oven, its display includes live video of the interior.

What to Look For

  • Simple, Intuitive Controls: Whether you’re using an app or the display on the oven, the controls should be easy to operate and clearly tell you what’s happening in the oven.
  • Food-Temperature Probe: Ovens with attached food-temperature probes make checking and worrying about doneness a thing of the past. Our favorite models adjusted heat accordingly, shut off when food was done, and let us know when the food was ready.
  • Convection Capability: In small ovens, it’s common to find hot spots, but our favorite smart ovens overcame this with convection capability—using fans to circulate heat—combined with well-controlled, responsive heating elements that gave us remarkably uniform, predictably excellent cooking results.
  • Compact Profile: Your countertop oven shouldn’t dominate the kitchen and eat up all the counter space.

Toast from three ovens: at left, the Anova took multiple steps and 8 minutes to produce wan, pale toast. In center, the Panasonic oven's toast was a little uneven, but acceptable. At right, June made perfect golden toast, every time.

  • Makes Good Toast: It seems simple, but since this oven will replace your toaster or toaster oven, it had better be able to make crisp, evenly golden toast without any fuss.
  • Easy to Clean: We preferred models that were easy to maintain, featuring an interior and accessories that easily washed clean of splatters, a removable crumb tray, and an exterior finish that resisted smearing and stayed neat.
  • Sturdy Pans and Accessories: We preferred pans with polytetrafluoroethylene-free nonstick or enamel coating that cleaned up quickly and pans and racks with sturdy construction that didn’t warp or bend under heavy food.

With Tovala, you can use its app to order meal kits that cook in minutes when you scan a QR code on the recipe card. It was easy to choose and order meals, which were fresh and tasted good, and cost about $12 per meal. Two of the meals we tried included salmon (center), and roasted chicken breast over salad greens (right).

Nice to Have

  • Large, Clear Window: We were surprised by how much we appreciated being able to check on food without opening the door. 
  • Meal Kit Option: We’re not huge fans of meal kits, but it’s a nice perk when you don’t feel like cooking.

The Brava oven can cook different foods in up to three distinct temperature zones on its cooking tray. Here, we prepared butternut squash and green beans. The downside? Food has to be cut and laid out carefully to cook properly in this oven, following the diagram on its display (at the top of the photo).

What to Avoid

  • Confusing Controls: Anyone should be able to walk up to the device and get it going.
  • Excessively Complicated Preparation: One model demanded that you prep and lay out food in a very particular way or else it would not work. Another required gallons of distilled water. It also had confusing multistep programs for even the simplest foods; these took much longer than conventional cooking and produced mediocre results.
  • Scary Technology: It was alarming to read that one oven could cause eye damage if you opened it while it was cooking. We don’t want to have to police guests and children while making dinner.

Other Considerations

  • Steam Options: Two ovens in our lineup can add steam, usually in combination with conventional baking and roasting. Steam adds moisture and transmits heat to food faster than the dry hot air of regular ovens. In theory, this preserves the moisture in foods, speeds up cooking, and helps batters and doughs rise taller; since their exteriors remain soft and moist much longer, they won’t set into a firm outer crust that limits height. It’s helpful to revive leftovers, too. In practice, we didn’t necessarily notice a big improvement in foods’ flavor or texture when steam was involved, with the exception of a tall, moist chocolate cake and slightly taller biscuits.

  • Test the performance, ease of use, cleanup, and durability of each oven while preparing a range of foods using both the manufacturer’s recipes and our own
  • Make whole roast chicken, biscuits, barbecued ribs, and toast using the same recipe or method for oven-to-oven comparison 
  • Test the accuracy of the temperature settings 
  • Test the extra capabilities of each oven by preparing additional recipes, including meal kits, if any
03:42

America's Test KitchenSmart OvensWatch Now

Everything We Tested

Good 3 Stars out of 3.
Fair 2 Stars out of 3.
Poor 1 Star out of 3.

Recommended

  • Performance
  • Accuracy
  • Ease of Use
  • Cleanup and Durability

WinnerTovala Smart Oven

This updated Tovala Smart Oven is just as well designed and easy to operate as the original version we tested and named our Best Buy. The difference is that this model adds air frying to its capabilities while subtracting steam cooking. (Another updated model, the Tovala Smart Oven Pro, adds the air frying and keeps steam cooking.) It produced evenly browned toast and biscuits; crisp air-fried frozen and homemade french fries; and golden, juicy Air-Fryer Chicken Parmesan. This compact oven is a bit small for family cooking: At 10 by 8½ inches, its baking sheet’s cooking surface barely fits a whole spatchcocked chicken, and we could cook only a half rack of barbecued ribs. As before, this oven can scan barcodes to load cooking instructions for many food products from Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and other brands. The company bills itself as a meal-kit service with an oven, but kits are completely optional (starting at $11.99, each kit serves one). If you agree to buy a certain number of kits, the oven price is radically reduced. The kits we tried were surprisingly fresh and flavorful and easy to prep. Menus varied weekly, and kits arrived promptly; you can customize their frequency. This oven is a solid choice for small households—and for people who don’t like to cook. One cleaning quibble: A small gap between the glass window and steel door on the inside trapped some panko crumbs as we removed chicken; otherwise everything was easy to clean. Note: If you own the earlier model, you can simply order the new air-frying basket and use the “convection bake” setting to air-fry.

Model Number:

Exterior: 18.25 x 11.75 x 12 in

Interior: 13.25 x 10.5 x 8.75 in

Functions and Features: Toast, Bake, Air-Fry, Broil, Reheat, Scan to Cook

Accessories: Wire shelf, enameled rimmed baking sheet, measuring cup (to add water to steam chamber)

Price at Time of Testing: $249.00

  • Performance
  • Accuracy
  • Ease of Use
  • Cleanup and Durability

This updated Tovala Smart Oven is just as well designed and easy to operate as the original version we tested and named our Best Buy. The difference is that this model adds air frying to its capabilities while subtracting steam cooking. (Another updated model, the Tovala Smart Oven Pro, adds the air frying and keeps steam cooking.) It produced evenly browned toast and biscuits; crisp air-fried frozen and homemade french fries; and golden, juicy Air-Fryer Chicken Parmesan. This compact oven is a bit small for family cooking: At 10 by 8½ inches, its baking sheet’s cooking surface barely fits a whole spatchcocked chicken, and we could cook only a half rack of barbecued ribs. As before, this oven can scan barcodes to load cooking instructions for many food products from Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and other brands. The company bills itself as a meal-kit service with an oven, but kits are completely optional (starting at $11.99, each kit serves one). If you agree to buy a certain number of kits, the oven price is radically reduced. The kits we tried were surprisingly fresh and flavorful and easy to prep. Menus varied weekly, and kits arrived promptly; you can customize their frequency. This oven is a solid choice for small households—and for people who don’t like to cook. One cleaning quibble: A small gap between the glass window and steel door on the inside trapped some panko crumbs as we removed chicken; otherwise everything was easy to clean. Note: If you own the earlier model, you can simply order the new air-frying basket and use the “convection bake” setting to air-fry.

Model Number:

Exterior: 18.25 x 11.75 x 12 in

Interior: 13.25 x 10.5 x 8.75 in

Functions and Features: Toast, Bake, Air-Fry, Broil, Reheat, Scan to Cook

Accessories: Wire shelf, enameled rimmed baking sheet, measuring cup (to add water to steam chamber)

Price at Time of Testing: $249.00

  • Performance
  • Accuracy
  • Ease of Use
  • Cleanup and Durability

Breville Joule Oven Air Fryer Pro

Breville has always called its countertop toaster ovens “Smart Ovens” because they use “Element IQ,” where PID temperature control adjusts the quartz heating elements to cook more precisely and evenly. This is Breville’s first actual Wi-Fi-connected smart oven, which includes an app to control the oven remotely plus guided recipes and a few preset cooking programs that Breville dubs “Autopilot.” This model is not as high-tech as our winning smart oven from June, which can identify food you put in it and uses its built-in food-temperature probe to automatically adjust cooking in real time to reach each food’s precise doneness. Since the Breville lacks a probe, you get none of that hands-off convenience. Its built-in recipes simply run a programmed temperature for a set amount of time. To get good results, you have to match the weight and thickness of food in the recipes and check doneness with your own thermometer. Because the temperature and cooking time in the app’s recipe program can’t be adjusted, they may not be enough to finish your food, or they might be too much. Breville compensates with the “A Bit More” button, which lets you add a small amount of cooking time, but in our test, the app first undercooked salmon, and then when we used the button, it slightly overcooked it. That said, this is a very good countertop oven overall: It produced roast chicken with beautifully caramelized root vegetables; tender, juicy barbecued ribs; and tall buttermilk biscuits. Due to its relatively tall interior chamber, it toasted a bit unevenly; we had to keep tweaking settings to get somewhat better results. We tested the oven’s air-fryer functions, making crisp kale chips and nicely roasted broccoli, and used a guided recipe to mix bread dough, proof it in the oven, and then—using Autopilot—watched it switch functions automatically to bake an excellent loaf.

Model Number: BOV950BSS1BUS1

Exterior: 21.5 x 17.3 x 12.8 in

Interior: 16 x 12.2 x 7.3 in

Functions and Features: Toast, Bagel, Bake, Convection Bake, Air Fry, Broil, Roast, Pizza, Cookies, Proof, Reheat, Slow Cook, Keep Warm, Dehydrate, Autopilot (programmed cooking stages within recipes), app with guided recipes and cooking-progress monitoring, voice control via Alexa or Google Assistant

Accessories: Nonstick pizza pan, 2 wire racks, broiling rack, enamel roasting pan, air-fry/dehydrate basket

Price at Time of Testing: $499.95

  • Performance
  • Accuracy
  • Ease of Use
  • Cleanup and Durability

Breville has always called its countertop toaster ovens “Smart Ovens” because they use “Element IQ,” where PID temperature control adjusts the quartz heating elements to cook more precisely and evenly. This is Breville’s first actual Wi-Fi-connected smart oven, which includes an app to control the oven remotely plus guided recipes and a few preset cooking programs that Breville dubs “Autopilot.” This model is not as high-tech as our winning smart oven from June, which can identify food you put in it and uses its built-in food-temperature probe to automatically adjust cooking in real time to reach each food’s precise doneness. Since the Breville lacks a probe, you get none of that hands-off convenience. Its built-in recipes simply run a programmed temperature for a set amount of time. To get good results, you have to match the weight and thickness of food in the recipes and check doneness with your own thermometer. Because the temperature and cooking time in the app’s recipe program can’t be adjusted, they may not be enough to finish your food, or they might be too much. Breville compensates with the “A Bit More” button, which lets you add a small amount of cooking time, but in our test, the app first undercooked salmon, and then when we used the button, it slightly overcooked it. That said, this is a very good countertop oven overall: It produced roast chicken with beautifully caramelized root vegetables; tender, juicy barbecued ribs; and tall buttermilk biscuits. Due to its relatively tall interior chamber, it toasted a bit unevenly; we had to keep tweaking settings to get somewhat better results. We tested the oven’s air-fryer functions, making crisp kale chips and nicely roasted broccoli, and used a guided recipe to mix bread dough, proof it in the oven, and then—using Autopilot—watched it switch functions automatically to bake an excellent loaf.

Model Number: BOV950BSS1BUS1

Exterior: 21.5 x 17.3 x 12.8 in

Interior: 16 x 12.2 x 7.3 in

Functions and Features: Toast, Bagel, Bake, Convection Bake, Air Fry, Broil, Roast, Pizza, Cookies, Proof, Reheat, Slow Cook, Keep Warm, Dehydrate, Autopilot (programmed cooking stages within recipes), app with guided recipes and cooking-progress monitoring, voice control via Alexa or Google Assistant

Accessories: Nonstick pizza pan, 2 wire racks, broiling rack, enamel roasting pan, air-fry/dehydrate basket

Price at Time of Testing: $499.95

Recommended with reservations

  • Performance
  • Accuracy
  • Ease of Use
  • Cleanup and Durability

Panasonic HomeCHEF 4-in-1 Countertop Multi-Oven

Oversize (though we appreciated its roomy interior), this “4-in-1” model combines a 1,000-watt microwave, broiler, air fryer, and countertop oven and speeds up cooking or defrosting by automatically using these technologies alone and in combination. It functioned fairly well, defrosting frozen meat without cooking the edges and air-frying brussels sprouts and eggplant, but a preset program overcooked our whole roast chicken, despite having us enter its exact weight in ounces. (Meat on the outside of the legs and wings was as hard and golden as shellac.) It took nearly 11 minutes to preheat to 400 degrees, just 1 minute faster than our full-size oven. Baking biscuits was interesting; the pan spun on the revolving tray. While we enjoyed watching them bake, they emerged slightly unevenly cooked.

Model Number: NN-CD87KS

Exterior: 21.5 x 16 x 13.25 in

Interior: 15 x 15.5 x 9.25 in

Functions and Features: Bake, Broil, Convection Bake, Air-Fry, Inverter Microwave, and FlashXpress Broil, Turbo Defrost, Sensor Reheat, Keep Warm; works with the Drop Recipes app for guided cooking

Accessories: Glass microwave tray, round nonstick baking sheet, air-fry basket, tripod cooking stand, optional trim package to install oven in wall

Price at Time of Testing: $529.99

  • Performance
  • Accuracy
  • Ease of Use
  • Cleanup and Durability

Oversize (though we appreciated its roomy interior), this “4-in-1” model combines a 1,000-watt microwave, broiler, air fryer, and countertop oven and speeds up cooking or defrosting by automatically using these technologies alone and in combination. It functioned fairly well, defrosting frozen meat without cooking the edges and air-frying brussels sprouts and eggplant, but a preset program overcooked our whole roast chicken, despite having us enter its exact weight in ounces. (Meat on the outside of the legs and wings was as hard and golden as shellac.) It took nearly 11 minutes to preheat to 400 degrees, just 1 minute faster than our full-size oven. Baking biscuits was interesting; the pan spun on the revolving tray. While we enjoyed watching them bake, they emerged slightly unevenly cooked.

Model Number: NN-CD87KS

Exterior: 21.5 x 16 x 13.25 in

Interior: 15 x 15.5 x 9.25 in

Functions and Features: Bake, Broil, Convection Bake, Air-Fry, Inverter Microwave, and FlashXpress Broil, Turbo Defrost, Sensor Reheat, Keep Warm; works with the Drop Recipes app for guided cooking

Accessories: Glass microwave tray, round nonstick baking sheet, air-fry basket, tripod cooking stand, optional trim package to install oven in wall

Price at Time of Testing: $529.99

  • Performance
  • Accuracy
  • Ease of Use
  • Cleanup and Durability

Brava

Brava has lots of rules about using this small, high-tech oven that cooks with light: Many foods must be cut into small pieces and placed in specific, narrow zones on proprietary metal or glass trays. The food can’t be piled up or too skimpy; it must be spread into a full, even, single layer. On the awesome side, you can use it to cook one food or cook two or three very different foods divided into different zones simultaneously; for instance, we roasted a butterflied chicken and vegetables to perfection at the same time. This oven’s door has no window; instead, a small video screen on the oven (and app) are the only ways to monitor cooking. You’d better not peek in the door: Looking at the powerful lights during cooking can damage your eyes. Toast sometimes came out well and other times was overcooked, and it was hard to figure out why.Available for purchase at: www.brava.com

Model Number: n/a

Exterior: 16.4 x 17.32 x 11.3 in

Interior: 13 x 12.5 x 6.4 in

Functions and Features: Toast, Bake, Sear, Reheat, Slow Cook, Air-Fry, Dehydrate, Keep Warm and Custom Cook; uses a combination of visible and infrared light to cook food; lets you monitor cooking via video on display and app; Brava Plus membership (additional recipes, guided cooking, chef support, customized settings, member discounts on accessories)

Accessories: Glass and metal cooking trays, food-temperature probe

Price at Time of Testing: $1,095.00 (Starter Set)

  • Performance
  • Accuracy
  • Ease of Use
  • Cleanup and Durability

Brava has lots of rules about using this small, high-tech oven that cooks with light: Many foods must be cut into small pieces and placed in specific, narrow zones on proprietary metal or glass trays. The food can’t be piled up or too skimpy; it must be spread into a full, even, single layer. On the awesome side, you can use it to cook one food or cook two or three very different foods divided into different zones simultaneously; for instance, we roasted a butterflied chicken and vegetables to perfection at the same time. This oven’s door has no window; instead, a small video screen on the oven (and app) are the only ways to monitor cooking. You’d better not peek in the door: Looking at the powerful lights during cooking can damage your eyes. Toast sometimes came out well and other times was overcooked, and it was hard to figure out why.Available for purchase at: www.brava.com

Model Number: n/a

Exterior: 16.4 x 17.32 x 11.3 in

Interior: 13 x 12.5 x 6.4 in

Functions and Features: Toast, Bake, Sear, Reheat, Slow Cook, Air-Fry, Dehydrate, Keep Warm and Custom Cook; uses a combination of visible and infrared light to cook food; lets you monitor cooking via video on display and app; Brava Plus membership (additional recipes, guided cooking, chef support, customized settings, member discounts on accessories)

Accessories: Glass and metal cooking trays, food-temperature probe

Price at Time of Testing: $1,095.00 (Starter Set)

  • Performance
  • Ease Of Use
  • Accuracy
  • Cleanup And Durability

Suvie Kitchen Robot 3.0

This smart-kitchen robot is designed to offer busy professionals with families one thing hands-off cooking. You load the food and set the time you want to eat (up to 36 hours later). It keeps the food safely cool until the oven switches to cook. Its dual oven cavities are each fitted with a steel loaf-shaped pan and can be set to different cooking programs. Water circulates behind the walls to cool or cook, while heating elements above each compartment broil, bake, or roast. It can also cook foods sous vide (hence the name “Suvie”) if you vacuum seal food and fill pans to make a water bath. Does it work? If you subscribe to Suvie’s frozen meal kits, yes. We tried several kits, including lasagna and broccoli, short ribs with mashed potatoes, and chicken and grain bowls. Each kit contains 1–4 portions and costs start at $9.99 per portion. Setup was easy, but the food tasted like typical frozen entrées. Since we loved the cool-to-cook concept but didn’t love the frozen meals, we tried cooking fresh food, with very mixed results. Suvie failed to keep fresh food safely cold before cooking. There’s no built-in temperature probe, so it simply follows programs, resulting in slightly overcooked boneless chicken breasts and salmon. Barbecued ribs came out well, but a whole chicken had to be split into two compartments and never browned well. Biscuits baked too slowly, so they were squat and butter-logged. We struggled to see the water tank’s fill level, and Suvie depends on the right level to work. The separate starch-cooking robot, “Starchie,” was a flop; big and awkward, it ruined two attempts at rice. Pasta cooked acceptably, but the robot fits only a half pound (and no long shapes such as spaghetti). The bottom line If the convenience of the cool-to-cook frozen meal kits fits your lifestyle, budget, and taste, the Suvie kitchen robot could be worthwhile. Otherwise, there are better choices.

Model Number: 3.0

Exterior: 14 x 18.5 x 13 in

Interior: Two chambers, each 7 x 13 x 3 in

Functions And Features: Roast, Bake, Broil, Sous Vide, Slow Cook, Cool Until Cooking. Optional meal kit delivery.

Accessories: Two steel cooking pans, roasting rack. Starchie starch-cooking robot, sold separately.

Price at Time of Testing: $399.00 for robot and four meal kits; $799.00 for robot and starch cooker

  • Performance
  • Ease Of Use
  • Accuracy
  • Cleanup And Durability

This smart-kitchen robot is designed to offer busy professionals with families one thing hands-off cooking. You load the food and set the time you want to eat (up to 36 hours later). It keeps the food safely cool until the oven switches to cook. Its dual oven cavities are each fitted with a steel loaf-shaped pan and can be set to different cooking programs. Water circulates behind the walls to cool or cook, while heating elements above each compartment broil, bake, or roast. It can also cook foods sous vide (hence the name “Suvie”) if you vacuum seal food and fill pans to make a water bath. Does it work? If you subscribe to Suvie’s frozen meal kits, yes. We tried several kits, including lasagna and broccoli, short ribs with mashed potatoes, and chicken and grain bowls. Each kit contains 1–4 portions and costs start at $9.99 per portion. Setup was easy, but the food tasted like typical frozen entrées. Since we loved the cool-to-cook concept but didn’t love the frozen meals, we tried cooking fresh food, with very mixed results. Suvie failed to keep fresh food safely cold before cooking. There’s no built-in temperature probe, so it simply follows programs, resulting in slightly overcooked boneless chicken breasts and salmon. Barbecued ribs came out well, but a whole chicken had to be split into two compartments and never browned well. Biscuits baked too slowly, so they were squat and butter-logged. We struggled to see the water tank’s fill level, and Suvie depends on the right level to work. The separate starch-cooking robot, “Starchie,” was a flop; big and awkward, it ruined two attempts at rice. Pasta cooked acceptably, but the robot fits only a half pound (and no long shapes such as spaghetti). The bottom line If the convenience of the cool-to-cook frozen meal kits fits your lifestyle, budget, and taste, the Suvie kitchen robot could be worthwhile. Otherwise, there are better choices.

Model Number: 3.0

Exterior: 14 x 18.5 x 13 in

Interior: Two chambers, each 7 x 13 x 3 in

Functions And Features: Roast, Bake, Broil, Sous Vide, Slow Cook, Cool Until Cooking. Optional meal kit delivery.

Accessories: Two steel cooking pans, roasting rack. Starchie starch-cooking robot, sold separately.

Price at Time of Testing: $399.00 for robot and four meal kits; $799.00 for robot and starch cooker

Not Recommended

  • Performance
  • Accuracy
  • Ease of Use
  • Cleanup and Durability

Anova Precision Oven

This oven adds steam to traditional radiant and convection heating. You can also dial in a precise percentage of steam. Typical Anova recipes use a long, slow steam followed by a quick broil to brown the surface, similar to sous vide cooking where the food cooks in a water bath and finishes with a sear in a skillet. A large water tank on one side of the oven is designed to hold distilled water to provide steam. The bad news? We just didn’t love this oven: Everything took longer to cook, often with subpar results. Ribs were still too chewy after 8-plus hours; a small 4-pound chicken took more than 3 hours and still needed extra broiling to bring it up to temperature. Even simple toast was a flop: After an 8-minute preset program, slices emerged still white. Rustic bread baked in this oven was tall but strangely puffy, with a fluffy Wonder Bread–like crumb. We ultimately cooked more than a dozen recipes, both from the app and our own. Nothing was inedible, but we saw stellar results only with chocolate cake, which rose tall and had a tender, moist interior, and pizza (which likely had as much to do with the baking stone we used as it had with the oven). We tested a second copy of the oven, with similar results. Aside from its mediocre performance, it’s not easy to use: The oven itself is very large and heavy and spews steam. Controls, both on the oven and app, are oversimplified, esoteric, and hard to read. We often couldn’t adjust the timer without shutting down the oven and starting over. It was confusing to cook in. Even programmed recipes were overcomplicated. It often lost its Wi-Fi connection from one day to the next, so we would have to reboot and reconnect if we wanted to use the app to monitor progress from afar. Its single beep to indicate food was ready was inadequate (and the oven kept cooking). The oven leaked steam despite its drip tray, and condensation bleached our wood counter.  Note: We retested a newer version of this oven as a steam oven, rather than as a smart oven, and recommended it. 

Model Number:

Exterior: 22.5 x 19.5 x 14.25 in

Interior: 16.5 x 12.5 x 10 in

Functions and Features: Steam and convection settings, programmable cooking, sous vide mode, app (compatible with iOS and Android)

Accessories: Rimmed baking sheet, 2 wire oven racks, removable food-temperature probe

Price at Time of Testing: $599.99

  • Performance
  • Accuracy
  • Ease of Use
  • Cleanup and Durability

This oven adds steam to traditional radiant and convection heating. You can also dial in a precise percentage of steam. Typical Anova recipes use a long, slow steam followed by a quick broil to brown the surface, similar to sous vide cooking where the food cooks in a water bath and finishes with a sear in a skillet. A large water tank on one side of the oven is designed to hold distilled water to provide steam. The bad news? We just didn’t love this oven: Everything took longer to cook, often with subpar results. Ribs were still too chewy after 8-plus hours; a small 4-pound chicken took more than 3 hours and still needed extra broiling to bring it up to temperature. Even simple toast was a flop: After an 8-minute preset program, slices emerged still white. Rustic bread baked in this oven was tall but strangely puffy, with a fluffy Wonder Bread–like crumb. We ultimately cooked more than a dozen recipes, both from the app and our own. Nothing was inedible, but we saw stellar results only with chocolate cake, which rose tall and had a tender, moist interior, and pizza (which likely had as much to do with the baking stone we used as it had with the oven). We tested a second copy of the oven, with similar results. Aside from its mediocre performance, it’s not easy to use: The oven itself is very large and heavy and spews steam. Controls, both on the oven and app, are oversimplified, esoteric, and hard to read. We often couldn’t adjust the timer without shutting down the oven and starting over. It was confusing to cook in. Even programmed recipes were overcomplicated. It often lost its Wi-Fi connection from one day to the next, so we would have to reboot and reconnect if we wanted to use the app to monitor progress from afar. Its single beep to indicate food was ready was inadequate (and the oven kept cooking). The oven leaked steam despite its drip tray, and condensation bleached our wood counter.  Note: We retested a newer version of this oven as a steam oven, rather than as a smart oven, and recommended it. 

Model Number:

Exterior: 22.5 x 19.5 x 14.25 in

Interior: 16.5 x 12.5 x 10 in

Functions and Features: Steam and convection settings, programmable cooking, sous vide mode, app (compatible with iOS and Android)

Accessories: Rimmed baking sheet, 2 wire oven racks, removable food-temperature probe

Price at Time of Testing: $599.99

Everything Else

  • Performance
  • Accuracy
  • Ease of Use
  • Cleanup and Durability

DiscontinuedJune Smart Oven (3rd Generation)

We highly recommended the previous version of the June oven, and this newest model, the 3rd Generation, follows suit with hardware and software tweaks. We loved that we could either operate it entirely as a traditional countertop oven or let its food-recognition wizardry, attached probe thermometer, and preprogrammed settings take over and simplify cooking, all while keeping us informed of progress with its internal camera and notifications from its rock-solid, user-friendly app. We tested the Premium package, which includes the oven and the extra accessories noted above. Everything it produced, from juicy, crispy-skinned whole roast chicken and vegetables to air-fried cod and potatoes; gorgeous, crusty pizza; toasted bagels; crispy bacon; baked tofu; broiled asparagus; grilled chicken breast; and tender barbecued ribs—and even an egg simply placed on the oven rack to hard-cook in the shell—came out beautifully cooked. The functions weren’t all fancy: We threw in a slice of leftover pizza, and it recognized it and reheated it to perfection. Our favorite feature: All this happened with very little effort on our part. Cleanup was easy, too. We didn’t want to put this oven away when testing was done.Available for purchase at: www.juneoven.com

Model Number: JCH03

Exterior: 19.75 x 18.5 x 12.75 in

Interior: 16 x 12 x 8 in

Functions and Features: Toast; Bake; Convection Bake; Roast; Broil; Air-Fry; Grill; Pizza; Proof; Keep Warm; Dehydrate; Reheat; Slow Cook; Food ID; cook programs for packaged foods; customizable heating elements; app that includes oven controls, notifications, recipes, and guided cooking; live video monitoring; data and temperature charts of current and recent cooking projects

Accessories: Baseline model ($599.00) includes food-temperature probe, wire rack, and baking sheet; Premium package adds 3 air-fry baskets, enameled cast-iron grill/griddle, baking peel, 1 extra baking sheet, 2 roasting racks, and "pro" metal food-temperature probe

Price at Time of Testing: $999.99 (Premium package)

  • Performance
  • Accuracy
  • Ease of Use
  • Cleanup and Durability

We highly recommended the previous version of the June oven, and this newest model, the 3rd Generation, follows suit with hardware and software tweaks. We loved that we could either operate it entirely as a traditional countertop oven or let its food-recognition wizardry, attached probe thermometer, and preprogrammed settings take over and simplify cooking, all while keeping us informed of progress with its internal camera and notifications from its rock-solid, user-friendly app. We tested the Premium package, which includes the oven and the extra accessories noted above. Everything it produced, from juicy, crispy-skinned whole roast chicken and vegetables to air-fried cod and potatoes; gorgeous, crusty pizza; toasted bagels; crispy bacon; baked tofu; broiled asparagus; grilled chicken breast; and tender barbecued ribs—and even an egg simply placed on the oven rack to hard-cook in the shell—came out beautifully cooked. The functions weren’t all fancy: We threw in a slice of leftover pizza, and it recognized it and reheated it to perfection. Our favorite feature: All this happened with very little effort on our part. Cleanup was easy, too. We didn’t want to put this oven away when testing was done.Available for purchase at: www.juneoven.com

Model Number: JCH03

Exterior: 19.75 x 18.5 x 12.75 in

Interior: 16 x 12 x 8 in

Functions and Features: Toast; Bake; Convection Bake; Roast; Broil; Air-Fry; Grill; Pizza; Proof; Keep Warm; Dehydrate; Reheat; Slow Cook; Food ID; cook programs for packaged foods; customizable heating elements; app that includes oven controls, notifications, recipes, and guided cooking; live video monitoring; data and temperature charts of current and recent cooking projects

Accessories: Baseline model ($599.00) includes food-temperature probe, wire rack, and baking sheet; Premium package adds 3 air-fry baskets, enameled cast-iron grill/griddle, baking peel, 1 extra baking sheet, 2 roasting racks, and "pro" metal food-temperature probe

Price at Time of Testing: $999.99 (Premium package)

*All products reviewed by America’s Test Kitchen are independently chosen, researched, and reviewed by our editors. We buy products for testing at retail locations and do not accept unsolicited samples for testing. We list suggested sources for recommended products as a convenience to our readers but do not endorse specific retailers. When you choose to purchase our editorial recommendations from the links we provide, we may earn an affiliate commission. Prices are subject to change.

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The Expert

Author: Lisa McManus

byLisa McManus

Executive Editor, ATK Reviews

Lisa is an executive editor for ATK Reviews, cohost of Gear Heads on YouTube, and gadget expert on TV's America's Test Kitchen.

Lisa McManus is an executive editor for ATK Reviews, cohost of Gear Heads on YouTube, host of Cook's Illustrated's Equipment Review videos, and a cast member—the gadget expert—on TV's America's Test Kitchen. A passionate home cook, sometime waitress, and longtime journalist, she graduated from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and worked at magazines and newspapers in New York and California before returning like a homing pigeon to New England. In 2006 she got her dream job at ATK reviewing kitchen equipment and ingredients and has been pretty thrilled about it ever since. Her favorite thing is to go somewhere new and find something good to eat.

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