Hamilton Beach 31401 vs Ninja Foodi XL Pro Toaster Oven Side-by-Side Comparison
Hamilton Beach 31401 vs Ninja Foodi XL Pro Toaster Oven. A comparison between a basic, small toaster oven and an intricate, large digital convection unit.
Specifications
Design
With a basic design, the Hamilton Beach 31401 doesn’t have any exterior feature that stands out. It makes up a little for this with its interior having quartz heating elements with safeguards.
The Ninja DT201 shows a high build quality in all of its design features from the exterior and interior to the included accessories. What stood out to us the most was the powerful convection system and the number of heating elements. We couldn’t confirm the accuracy of the Ninja’s claim that it had ‘up to ten times the convection power’ of a traditional full-size convection oven, though.
Usability Comparison
While the Hamilton Beach 31401 doesn’t offer much in terms of usability, it also doesn’t cause any inconvenience. Although the analog control knobs can make it difficult to pinpoint an exact time and temperature, it wasn’t a big problem.
The straightforward control panel on the Ninja DT201 allowed for easy adjusting and readjusting of the cooking settings. Moreover, the informative display combined with distinguished buttons removed all of the guesswork when it came to operating the oven.
The oven’s practical cooking functions shined all the more in combination with the 2-level even cooking feature. The oven’s interior could be improved with a coating for easier cleaning, though.
Performance Test
Our test results showed that the Hamilton Beach 31401 did a good job of making toast. However, it didn’t perform well in dishes that require a long cooking time and/or a high temperature, including pizza, whole roasted chicken, and baked french fries.
Our resulting test dishes were also mostly lacking in color, except for the toast. This was possibly due to the oven’s low power output in addition to having only two heating elements, unlike the Breville BOV450XL. One solution could be to decrease the amount of food compared to our test amount.
The Ninja DT201 performed differently on each of our tests but even at its worst, it still gave good results. We were most impressed with the oven’s ability to quickly reach and maintain its temperature despite the large cooking chamber. This could be attributed to the oven’s high power output, powerful convection system, and a total of 5 heating elements.
With these factors, you don’t even need to turn food during cooking, especially if you incorporate the air fryer basket. Interestingly, this was one of the few units where we felt increasing the food amounts would lead to even better results.
Overall Scores
Pros & Cons
- Lightweight and small size
- Easy-to-clean stainless steel exterior
- Cool-touch door handle
- Simple control knobs
- Stay-on feature
- Quartz heating elements have safeguards
- Energy-saving
- Straightforward and informative control panel
- Tailored cooking functions
- Family-sized capacity
- Tray-level suggestions
- Sturdy construction
- Well-designed accessories
- Easy-to-clean stainless steel exterior
- Cool-touch door handle
- No convection fan
- No internal lighting
- No safety mechanism for the door
- No safety mechanism for the door
- Faulty interior light upon received
Conclusion
Between the Hamilton Beach 31401 4 Slice Toaster Oven and the Ninja Foodi XL Pro DT201 Air Fryer Toaster Oven, it’s a no-brainer that the latter is the winner.
As an analog small unit, the Hamilton is pretty basic in its features. Thus naturally, its design and usability scores aren’t high. The Ninja, on the other hand, is our best large pick with an intricate control panel encompassing a good digital display, toggle switches, and other convenient features.
With a low power output, the 31401 is quite good at toasting bread all things considered but that’s it. Meanwhile, the Foodie XL Pro has some of our best performance scores thanks to its high power output, convection system, and accessories.
To be fair, in household use, the Hamilton’s results in baking pizza, chicken, and fries can be improved by reducing the food amount to half of what’s in our tests. It can also reduce energy consumption by having a low power output.
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.
