COMFEE CFO-BB101 vs Instant Omni Plus 18L Toaster Oven Side-by-Side Comparison
COMFEE CFO-BB101 vs Instant Omni Plus 18L Toaster Oven. A detailed comparison between two countertop toaster ovens of two vastly different price points.
Specifications
Design
While being compact, the Comfee CFO-BB101 has a good capacity compared to the similar-sized Hamilton Beach 31401. Moreover, it still has all the standard exterior features, plus a neat detachable crumb tray. However, it’s very lacking in terms of the interior even though it uses quartz heating elements. Its overall construction also leaves a lot to be desired.
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 Comfee CFO-BB101 doesn’t have anything strong going for it in terms of usability. The simple control has some drawbacks and doesn’t provide much convenience. However, a detachable crumb tray makes it easier to clean the oven, especially if the oven is of this size.
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 Comfee CFO-BB101 has only two heating elements, and this often resulted in uneven coloring on our test dishes. Our speculation was that the low power output hinders the oven’s performance in test dishes that require a high temperature (> 400°F), including pizza and fries. One solution could be to decrease the amount of food compared to what we used for our test amount.
In addition, it was hard to input an exact temperature and time due to the limited settings on the control knob, especially for making toast. A small unit that doesn’t have temperature and control problems is the Breville BOV450XL.
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
- Extra-small size
- Energy-saving
- Quartz heating elements have safeguards
- Cool-touch door handle
- Stay-on feature
- Detachable 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
- No convection fan
- No internal lighting
- No safety mechanism for the door
- Touchscreen digital displays need more contrast
- The master-control knob can be confusing
Conclusion
The limitations of a small toaster oven are made all the more apparent when comparing the COMFEE CFO-BB101 to the Instant Omni Plus 18L. The Instant has one of the best performance scores among all the toaster ovens we’ve tested thanks to its consistently great cooking results.
On the other hand, the Comfee just can’t compete using the same amount of food. This was most likely due to its small capacity, power rating of 1000 W, two quartz heating elements, and the absence of a convection system. In comparison, the Instant has 1800 Watts of power, four quartz heating elements and one swirl nichrome heating element, and a convection system.
The Comfee doesn’t offer much in terms of design or usability beside its detachable crumb tray. Its exterior shell also doesn’t have as good heat insulation as the Instant. The touchscreen of the Instant has many convenient features, albeit not perfect, including smart programs, cooking presets, toggles, and audio cues.
The clear winner here is the Instant Omni Plus 18L with its overall efficiency at a good price. Despite the one-side outcome, the Comfee CFO-BB101 is still a decent choice for saving energy, space, and budget.
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.
