Black+Decker CTO6335S vs Instant Omni Plus 18L Toaster Oven Side-by-Side Comparison
Black+Decker CTO6335S vs Instant Omni Plus 18L Toaster Oven. Buttons or touchscreen — which digital countertop convection toaster oven will win this duel?
Specifications
Design
The Black+Decker CTO6335S has a sturdy construction. Standouts for us were the baking pan plus broiling rack combo and the quartz heating elements.
The design of the Instant Omni Plus 18L 140-4002-01 Air Fryer Toaster Oven shows attention to detail and makes use of modern technology, which resembles the larger Ninja DT201 a lot. While not perfect, its strong points are more than enough to make up for the minor drawbacks.
Stood out to us were the combination of one nichrome and four quartz heating elements as well as the oven’s powerful convection settings. However, the spacing between the four rack levels made it difficult to place a baking pan to catch drippings while roasting a whole chicken with the rotisserie kit.
Usability Comparison
The Black+Decker CTO6335S has an easy-to-use control panel. However, it doesn’t have any features that encompass convenience. Even the automatic preheat feature isn’t very useful. In addition, its door and buttons are a bit dodgy.
The Instant Omni Plus 18L 140-4002-01 Air Fryer Toaster Oven is the opposite of a simplistic analog unit like the Cuisinart TOA-60. It maximizes its ease of use but that leads to some weak points in and of itself; the same goes for its user control.
The oven’s touchscreen LCD is very easy to operate with all of its separate cooking functions and feature toggles despite having only one master-control knob and a subpar color contrast. Due to insufficient space, however, the cooking chamber can get quite tricky to clean in case of big greasy messes.
Performance Test
The Black+Decker CTO6335S performed quite well in most of our test dishes except for the baked french fries. We speculated that 1500 W wasn’t able to heat the elements fast enough to keep up with the oven’s large capacity.
The performance of the Instant Omni Plus 18L 140-4002-01 Air Fryer Toaster Oven is consistently great. In particular, it’s excellent at baking/ air frying fries and roasting a whole chicken. This is thanks to its great design, strong convection system as well as useful accessories—including an air fryer basket and rotisserie kit.
Overall Scores
Pros & Cons
- Large capacity
- Highly affordable
- Easy-to-clean stainless steel exterior
- High-contrast digital display
- Sturdy exterior
- Cool-touch door handle
- Convenient slide-out crumb tray
- Informative and eye-catching package
- Smart Programs and cooking status bar
- Electrical safety feature for the door
- Convenient slide-out crumb tray
- Safeguards for all heating elements
- Complimentary app with detailed instructions and numerous recipes
- Helpful toggles
- Easy-to-clean stainless steel exterior
- Convection fan isn’t all-applicable
- No internal lighting
- Buttons not reliably responsive
- Touchscreen digital displays need more contrast
- The master-control knob can be confusing
Conclusion
It’s our duty to announce that it wasn’t fair to pit the Black+Decker CTO6335S against the Instant Omni Plus 18L. In addition to being one of our best toaster ovens, the Instant showed excellent performance in our tests of roasting a whole chicken and baking french fries. The Black+Decker put up a good fight in the bread toasting department but lost it all in the rest.
The Black+Decker uses 1500 Watts of power to run four nichrome heating elements. It is built for a larger capacity as well. Meanwhile, the Instant has a higher power rating of 1800 W, one more nichrome heating element than its competitor, and a stronger convection system which justifies its alter ego as an air fryer.
Although not perfect, the Instant’s status bar and automatic reminders offer greater convenience than the Black+Decker. The smart programs also run across a wider temperature range than the Black+Decker. To top it off, the Instant’s touchscreen is more responsive than the Black+Decker’s buttons, though the screen’s contrast levels could use some improvement.
The Instant has four tray levels to better utilize its cooking space compared to the Black+Decker’s two. Moreover, the Instant comes with a rotisserie kit and air fryer basket to accommodate more cooking methods. The Black+Decker doesn’t have an interior light like the Instant even though its interior is black.
Despite the one-sided outcome, both ovens have their place in the kitchen for both novice and experienced cooks. The Black+Decker CTO6335S is a decent large-sized option if you’re on a budget while the Instant Omni Plus 18L is a pricier, high-performance unit that focuses on convenience.
Behind the Comparison
Alan Nguyen is a writer and product reviewer at HealthyKitchen101. His major in English language teaching taught him to present concise information. In addition to his cooking hobby, he values the practical aspects of household appliances.
Tuyet Pham is an award-winning Saigonese chef passionate about delicious and healthful foods. At HealthyKitchen101, she develops recipes and collaborates with our Research, Testing, and Review lab to evaluate the performance of cooking appliances. Her assessments add a strong authoritative voice to our product scoring process.
Lap is Head of the Research, Testing, and Review Team (RTR Team) at HealthyKitchen101.com, where he directs and supervises the testing of kitchen gadgets and appliances.
