The microwave oven is an essential in the kitchen. Needed for reheating and defrosting primarily, these useful appliances can do so much more for your family including neat tricks like popping popcorn or softening butter.
Today we’ll be examining the microwaves of Toshiba, a widely known and well regarded Japenese electronics brand that creates a full range of microwave ovens.
We’ve spent hours researching and reviewing to put together this review article, looking at factors like reliability, ease of use, safety and features.
Let’s dive into it, then!
Toshiba Microwave Oven Review 2020
Toshiba offer a superb range of microwaves that all give excellent value for money.
The company’s stellar reputation for reliability and longevity of its microwave ovens is a major plus point.
An impressive range of features and modern functions are packed in for the money.
What We Liked
- Good range of sizes and powers in its microwaves.
- Fantastic reputation for reliability and longevity of its microwaves.
- Excellent all round microwave suitable for most types of buyers.
What We Didn’t Like
- Not as many features as the top of the line modern microwaves.
The Basics
Toshiba offers a good range of microwaves at the mid range of the microwave spectrum. That means with the smaller microwaves you’re getting a simple, stripped down microwave and on the higher end loads of modern features like “Invertertech” and sensor reheating.
The models offered all pack a decent punch when it comes to wattage. Its smallest microwave offers a 900W power output and that goes right up to 1250W. Until recent times, home microwaves hovered around the 700-800W mark so all the Toshiba microwaves are well powered.
What does that mean for you? Basically, faster cooking and reheating times which means less time waiting around for your food which is a nice time saver in the kitchen and at home.
Three of their best selling models are:
Toshiba EM925A5A-SS – 900W / 0.9 cu. ft with 10.6″ turntable
Toshiba EM131A5C-BS – 1100W / 1.2 cu.ft with 12.4″ turntable.
Toshiba EM245A5C-BS – 1250W / 1.6 cu. ft with 13.6″ turntable
In fact, I’ll mention here that Toshiba is such an impressive brand that it won “Best Budget” in my larger article comparing the different brands of microwave.
Features
The first thing to point out with Toshiba is, like many companies that make microwaves, is that they offer a range of options which have different sizes, wattages, and features. So if you go for the top of the end you will be getting things you don’t get at the budget option.
That said, there are a lot of quality of life features available in all their microwaves. Things like a mute button for beeping, a quick start “+30 seconds” button, and the ability to use the clock as a timer for other cooking uses are all neat little additions.
You are also getting a number of presets for easy reheating like “popcorn” or “beverage” functions, too.
If you’re considering the higher end microwaves then you’ll be looking at some neat modern features like Inverter Technology which delivers a steady stream of power on low power modes rather than having the magnetron switch on and off repeatedly to approximate low power.
You will also get Sensor Reheating which is when your microwave uses a humidity sensor to detect when your food is perfectly cooked, saving you the hassle and guesswork of trying to figure out how long to put your meal in the microwave for.
Ease Of Use
Toshiba’s microwaves have a sleek black modern aesthetic that is repeated across their microwave range. Unlike a lot of brands, it can actually be quite hard to tell apart the different sized models at first glance, usually the number of buttons on the keypad gives the game away.
The user interface for Toshibas is good, using a keypad input with buttons that for the most part, explain each function easily and simply.
It must be said that some functions are hidden, for example, to turn the buzzer/beeping off you need to hold down the “8” button for 3-5 seconds.
It is labeled on there but it’s not super clear how to do it unless you’ve read the manual (or me telling you right now!) Also the general style of the keypad looks a little dated compared to some of the companies snazzy offerings.
Reliability
When it comes to reliability Toshiba hits it out of the park with all their microwaves. They have a wonderful reputation for long lasting microwaves that cause few issues and this is reflected in thousands of excellent review scores on Amazon and elsewhere with reports of breakdowns or faulty parts being reassuringly rare.
On top of that, Toshiba offers a 1-year warranty on their microwaves along with a 5-year warranty on the magnetron itself for your peace of mind.
Overall
Taking it all into account, we’re happy to say that Toshiba’s microwaves come fully recommended. A wide range of options with plenty of modern features and record on reliability that is nothing to sniff at, you can’t really go wrong with this brand.
You can check them out here along with information on purchasing. I’ve linked to the most popular model but you can have a little browse to see what else is on offer in terms of size, price, and features.
