Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro vs Ninja FO101: Room or Speed?

This is the clearest win for the Breville. The Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro gives each setting its own dial: one for the function, one for temperature and one for time, above a backlit LCD with large type. TechGearLab scored its ease of use a perfect 10 of 10, noting there is no need to press small buttons repeatedly, that presets such as Bake and Pizza jump to a sensible temperature, that the oven remembers your last adjustments and that it chimes when it reaches temperature. America's Test Kitchen called the controls intuitive and praised the clearly labeled knobs.

The Ninja French Door Premier puts an LCD above six buttons and a single dial. Homes & Gardens describes the routine: press power, press Mode, turn the dial to the function, then press Temp and Time to set each one, and press the large button to start. Its reviewer found it simple enough that teenagers in the house worked it out quickly. Tom's Guide's tester was less smooth at first: the Start button sits in the middle of the dial, and she kept pressing it by accident while switching between modes, temperatures and cook times. She also said the oven was otherwise easy to use and the quick-start guide answered her questions.

The practical difference is that the Breville lets you change temperature or time with one turn at any moment, while the Ninja routes everything through one dial and a button press for each setting. Both are digital and both show the setting on screen; neither is hard to learn, but the Breville is the one testers singled out for its controls.

The Breville is a much larger oven. Breville rates the 1-cubic-foot cavity for nine slices of toast, a 13-inch pizza, a 14-pound turkey and most 9 x 13 inch pans, and it has 13 functions, including proof, slow cook and dehydrate. It runs from 80 to 480°F, per Breville.

The Ninja is built around air frying rather than oven space. Its included basket holds 5 quarts, which Ninja says fits up to 5 pounds of fries, and it ships with a sheet pan, a broil rack and a wire rack. Its toast and bagel settings cover one to six slices, according to Tom's Guide, and its 10 functions include whole roast, pizza and dehydrate. Ninja rates its fan-driven heat at up to 450°F. It has no proof or slow cook setting.

If you regularly cook for more than four, roast whole birds or bake in a 9 x 13 inch pan, the Breville is the one that takes over from the wall oven. Our countertop oven guide names it best overall for that reason.

The Ninja is far quicker to get going. Ninja claims a preheat of about 90 seconds, and Tom's Guide's tester saw it preheat within that time before baking four homemade pizzas in a row in under 30 minutes. TechGearLab timed the Breville at 5.4 minutes to 350°F, the slowest of the 11 ovens it tested. The two figures come from different tests, but the gap is large enough to notice every night.

Both air fry well, by different measures. The Ninja's basket is the bigger of the two, and Tom's Guide found its cubed sweet potatoes crisp outside and fluffy inside, with a sheet pan of sausages and peppers done in 20 minutes on air roast. The timer pauses whenever the doors open, so checking food does not cut the cook short. It has no reminder to shake or turn food.

For the Breville, America's Test Kitchen found its fries and chicken Parmesan on par with its favorite basket air fryer. Tom's Guide was cooler, calling its results crisp but a step below dedicated air fryers, with less crisp wings. The Breville does offer adjustable fan speed and a rotate reminder in some modes, per Tom's Guide.

For baking, the Breville has the stronger evidence. In TechGearLab's 30-minute test at a 350°F setting it averaged 355°F, a 5.2°F error, and it was TechGearLab's top-scoring oven overall.

We found no published temperature-accuracy measurement for the Ninja to put beside the Breville's. If you bake cakes or bread in the Ninja, an inexpensive oven thermometer settles the question.

Toast is a weaker spot for both. TechGearLab scored the Breville 6.8 out of 10 for toasting and timed medium toast at 4.8 minutes; America's Test Kitchen called its toast excellent, while Tom's Guide found a full nine-slice load uneven. The Ninja has toast and bagel settings with seven shades, but on shade four Tom's Guide's bagel slices came out over-browned and chewy. Start lighter on either until you learn it.

The Ninja takes less counter and is easier to move. Ninja lists it at 16.53 by 15.79 inches and 13.48 inches tall, at 22.77 pounds. Breville lists the Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro at 21.4 inches wide, 17.3 deep and 12.7 tall, at 38.9 pounds, so it needs a permanent spot. The Ninja's French doors swing out to the sides instead of dropping down over the counter; the Breville has a conventional drop-down door with a magnetic rack that slides out partway as it opens, per TechGearLab.

Both get hot. Tom's Guide measured 252°F on top of the Breville's glass during cooking. For the Ninja it measured noise instead, with a maximum of 64 decibels; for comparison, it measured Ninja's older Double Oven at 65.8 dBA, the loudest toaster oven or air fryer it had tested.

Cleanup favors neither cleanly. America's Test Kitchen found the Breville's large cavity and uncoated basket a chore after roast chicken or melted cheese, and Tom's Guide notes its accessories are not dishwasher safe. Ninja's product page calls its accessories dishwasher safe, but Tom's Guide says the manual advises hand washing them. Ninja says its cooking surface is made without PFAS; TechGearLab reports PFAS in the coating of the Breville's included pizza pan.

The warranty goes to the Breville: two years, plus five on glass defects, against one year for the Ninja.

Buy the Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro if you want one oven that bakes, roasts, toasts and air fries, if accuracy matters because you bake, or if you simply want the easiest controls of the two: three labeled dials that each do one job. It has more room, more functions, the better lab record and the longer warranty. You pay for it in counter space, a preheat of over five minutes, a hot exterior and a higher price.

Buy the Ninja French Door Premier if air-fried fries, vegetables, chicken and pizza are most of what you cook, if you want to start cooking about 90 seconds after switching on, or if a 21-inch-wide oven will not fit. It is narrower, lighter and has the bigger air fry basket. Expect a short learning curve on the button-and-dial controls, a one-year warranty and less independent lab data.

If you mostly make toast, neither is the best choice; the countertop oven guide has compact picks that toast better, and if you only want crisp food, a basket model from our air fryer list takes less room again.

Which countertop oven has better controls, Breville or Ninja?

The Breville. It has separate dials for function, temperature and time above a backlit LCD, and TechGearLab gave it 10 of 10 for ease of use. The Ninja uses six buttons and one dial, and Tom's Guide's tester kept hitting the Start button in the middle of the dial when switching settings.

Is the Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro worth it over the Ninja French Door Premier?

If you bake and roast often, yes: it holds nine slices, a 13-inch pizza or a 14-pound turkey, averaged about 5°F off at 350°F in TechGearLab's test and has a two-year warranty. If you mostly air fry and want speed and a smaller oven, the Ninja is the better fit and costs less.

Which is better for air frying, Breville or Ninja?

The Ninja is built for it, with a 5-quart basket that Ninja says holds up to 5 pounds of fries and a preheat of about 90 seconds. The Breville air fries well too; America's Test Kitchen found its fries on par with its favorite basket air fryer, but it takes 5.4 minutes to preheat to 350°F.

Which one takes up less counter space?

The Ninja, at 16.53 by 15.79 inches and 22.77 pounds, against 21.4 by 17.3 inches and 38.9 pounds for the Breville. Its French doors also swing out to the sides instead of dropping down over the counter.

Can the Ninja French Door Premier replace a toaster?

It can make toast, with settings for one to six slices and seven shades, but Tom's Guide found its bagel setting over-browned on a middle shade. The Breville has more room at nine slices but scored only 6.8 of 10 for toasting at TechGearLab, so if toast is your main use, neither is the strongest choice.