Looking for a new microwave oven for your home? Every kitchen needs one of these appliances for cooking, reheating, defrosting. These days, modern microwaves come with tons of extra features that’ll make your culinary life that much easier like timers, dedicated popcorn, soften butter of melt chocolate functions. There’s also one big feature that we’re going to discuss in this article.
Today we’re looking at the Samsung brand and their line of microwave ovens. This article will analyze the unique features of Samsung microwaves including their trademark convection element along with other buying factors such as reliability, ease of use and size and power options to help you make the best consumer decision.
So, let’s get into the good stuff.
Samsung Microwave Oven Reviews 2020
Convection heating element allows for browning and crisping that is not possible in normal microwave ovens.
Beautiful scratch resistant aesthetic with Easyclean surface.
Lots of presets to make your life easier.
What We Liked
- Grill element works brilliantly in combination with the microwave function.
- Large list of helpful and varied features.
- Gorgeous design while also being simple to understand and use.
What We Didn’t Like
- Relatively narrow range of microwaves.
- Moderate reliability issues.
Grill Element
Samsung’s trademark feature you find on all of its microwaves is a grill element that allows you to crisp, brown and melt just like a traditional broiler. So you basically get two appliances in one.
You have three options to use this. A normal microwave option and a standalone grill option, as you would expect. The third option is where things get really interesting though, and that’s the combination microwave and grill mode.
With this mode, you can reheat things like you would in a microwave but with the grill at the same time.
So let’s say you’re reheating pizza. Put the combination grill mode on and you’ll get a delicious browning of the bread and melting of the cheese without messing around with a normal oven.
Of course, this works even better for those who either don’t own or don’t have enough space for a normal broiler or grill.
Other features
The Samsung microwaves are filled with useful “quality of life” features. Here’s a list. Bear in mind that different models of microwave have different features, but broadly, the following is what to expect.
- Ten different power levels to give you full control of low power modes.
- Array of preset options to automatically cook foods like popcorn, potato, pizza, veggies and more. (check photo)
- Scratch-resistant and easy to clean exterior.
- Sound on/off button to eliminate noisy beeps when your food has finished cooking.
- Eco mode that reduces electricity usage when in standby.
- Dedicated “soften/melt” function to easily soften butter or melt chocolate.
- Kitchen timer you can use for timing other foods that you are cooking.
- High quality ceramic plate turntable that is suitable for grilling.
- “+30 seconds” button for quickly and easily setting an amount of time.
Size and power options
The Samsung line of microwaves that are sold in this country is disappointingly narrow, with only two main options offered at major retailers.
The models offered by Samsung are:
Samsung MG14H3020CM microwave with grill – 950W with 1.4 cu. ft.
Samsung MG11H2020CT microwave with grill – 1000W with 1.1 cu. ft.
The models that are sold occupy the mid-range for microwave size with both 1.1 and 1.4 cubic feet being about average for a microwave oven. Fine for most consumers but not best if you’re hard pushed for space or just love microwaving large amounts at a time.
On a happier note, the power offered in its microwaves is impressively high. The traditional range for wattage in home microwaves is 700-900W so anything above that will offer rapid cooking and reheating times.
Ease of use
The Samsung microwaves are beautiful to look at, offering a stainless steel colored shiny exterior that is scratch resistant and “easy to clean”. The interior is nice too, offering a high quality ceramic plate rather than the usual glass plate for a turntable.
The input for Samsung is a keypad with all options clearly marked. You have an LED display that shows the time, a countdown to when microwaving is finished and also the option of using the display as a kitchen timer for other cooking needs.
Overall, this makes using the microwave a cinch thanks to its clear layout and user-focused design.
Reliability
The Samsung microwaves are well regarded in reliability issues, scoring highly and receiving relatively few issues of breakdowns or other faulty part related issues. This is all backed up with a full 1-year warranty on all parts.
The poor reviews that do exist suggest that breakdowns can happen out of the blue. This is of course outweighed by the many good reviews. As always, it pays to do your own research and make sure you’re happy with the risk.
Overall
The Samsung line of microwaves have well earned their excellent reputation in the microwaves arena. The trademark grilling element is super useful in the kitchen for a variety of reasons especially in the unique microwave/grill combination mode.
This is backed up by tons of extra quality of life features and a microwave that is as easy to use as it is beautiful. Like the sound of it? You can check it out on Amazon here.
Any downsides? Well, if you don’t plan to use the grilling element at all then you are paying a premium for that.
You might prefer to go for a microwave down the budget route or simply for another top-range microwave that can offer different features for the extra you are paying.
Also, both those links give you options for small and large microwaves which Samsung doesn’t have any of.
