Panasonic FlashXpress Digital vs Hamilton Beach 31127D Countertop Toaster Oven Side-by-Side Comparison
Panasonic FlashXpress Digital vs Hamilton Beach 31127D Countertop. The first contender was dragged down by its own design flaws and lost.
Specifications
Design
The Panasonic NB-G110P has a high build quality which justifies its price. However, it has no noticeable additional design features compared to other less expensive small toaster ovens—including the Mueller MT-175—besides an interior light and an auto-pull rack.
The design of the Hamilton Beach 31127D is basic with a simple stainless steel exterior. The oven has a similar capacity as other medium-sized toaster ovens, with greater length and width but less height. Its roll-top door is a unique feature that we found useful.
Usability Comparison
For what it’s worth, the Panasonic NB-G110P had respectable scores in terms of user control and cleanability. However, it lacks premium features of ease of use which can commonly be seen in units of this price range.
Although the Hamilton Beach 31127D doesn’t invest much in convenience, it also doesn't pose any problems. You may not be able to select an exact time and temperature with the analog control knobs, but realistically, you don’t lose much precision.
Performance Test
The Panasonic NB-G110P has very powerful heating elements so it could reduce the cooking time. However, the oven had a shortcoming that kept it from being a top contender: uneven heat distribution. Nonetheless, it was able to bake pizzas and roast a whole chicken well.
The Hamilton Beach 31127D did a good job at making toast but struggled with french fries. We suspect its 1400 W power draw isn’t sufficient for its capacity, so it couldn’t quite maintain high temperatures. Of course, the lack of a convection system didn’t help either. A more preferable but still affordable choice could be the Toshiba AC25CEW-BS.
Overall Scores
Pros & Cons
- Energy-efficient quartz and ceramic heating elements
- High-contrast digital display
- Internal lighting available
- Sturdy construction
- Easy-to-clean stainless steel exterior
- Cool-touch door handle
- Convenient slide-out crumb tray
- Easy-to-clean stainless steel exterior
- Roll-top door
- Cool-touch door handle
- Simple control knobs
- Stay-on feature
- Spacious interior
- No safety mechanism for the door
- Having only one tray level
- Not particularly budget-friendly
- No convection fan
- No internal lighting
- No safety mechanism for the door
Conclusion
Although both are countertop toaster ovens, the Panasonic FlashXpress (NB-G110P) is a small digital unit while the Hamilton Beach 31127D is a medium-sized analog unit. Digital units tend to have higher scores than analog but in this case, the first contender was dragged down by its own design flaws.
The Panasonic has an auto-pull rack which is quite unique. However, we didn’t find it any particularly more convenient than the Hamilton’s standard rack. Moreover, its rack limited the available space of an already-small cooking chamber.
Meanwhile, the Hamilton has a roll-top door that moves out of the way to bring food in and out of the oven more easily. Its analog control dials, however, made it difficult for us to precisely adjust the timer and temperature more precisely.
Too bad for the Panasonic, its timer and temperature adjustment is quite limited—only in increments of 0.5 minutes and 35°F respectively. The oven does have internal lighting which is rare in small units but that’s not enough to justify its higher price.
The two toaster ovens actually tied in terms of average performance. The Panasonic could reach and maintain quite a higher temperature despite its lower power draw, which is the main reason we chose it as our best energy-saving pick for the small category.
As a result, it scored slightly better than the Hamilton in all most all of the tests, including baking pizza, roasting whole chicken, and baking fries. However, its limited toast settings caused it to score too much lower than the Hamilton in toasting bread—our most prominent test.
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.
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.
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.
