Ninja Foodi XL Pro vs Hamilton Beach Easy Reach 4 Slices Toaster Oven Side-by-Side Comparison
Ninja Foodi XL Pro vs Hamilton Beach Easy Reach 4 Slices Toaster Oven. A comparison between a large digital model and a basic roll-top door toaster oven.
Specifications
Design
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.
It’s understandable that an oven designed to be this simple would not have additional features. However, the Hamilton Beach 31344DA has some shortcomings in terms of capacity and cleaning.
Usability Comparison
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.
The Hamilton Beach 31344DA is intended to be simple and therefore doesn’t offer much when it comes to user control, ease of use, and cleanability. However, cleaning was quite an issue due to the design limitations.
Performance Test
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.
The Hamilton Beach 31344DA delivered an adequate cooking performance for a small toaster oven—not as high as the Breville BOV450XL. It was able to do the job of roasting a whole chicken, even though the cooking chamber didn’t have enough space. However, our Baked French Fries test exposed the oven’s weakness of low power output.
Overall Scores
Pros & Cons
- 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
- Lightweight and small size
- Durable alloy steel casing
- Cool-touch door handle
- Simple control knobs
- Stay-on feature
- Quartz heating elements with safeguards
- Energy-saving
- No safety mechanism for the door
- Faulty interior light upon received
- No convection fan
- No internal lighting
- No safety mechanism for the door
Conclusion
The battle between the Ninja Foodi XL Pro Air Fryer Toaster Oven (DT201) and the Hamilton Beach 4 Slices Easy Reach Toaster Oven (31344DA) is one between David and Goliath. Only in this situation, the outcome is the opposite of what happened in the tale.
The Ninja, as our best large pick, simply outclasses the Hamilton in every aspects. The 31344DA has a neat roll-top door which can save some space for maneuvering but it’s still just a basic, analog model with not much else. On the other hand, the DT201 has an intricate control panel encompassing a good digital display, toggle switches, and other convenient features.
Performance-wise, the Hamilton lacks the high power output, convection system, and large cooking chamber to help with the results like the Ninja. Looking at the score, the unit actually managed to keep up with the Ninja in our pizza test. However, the score wasn’t actually high and we thought the Ninja’s score was affected by the tested food.
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.
