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Philips Essential Airfryer HD9252/91 review 2022
This nifty air fryer is great for small kitchens and couples looking to cook simple food at the tap of a preset button. Its basket won’t stretch to big portions, and you might find yourself cramming food on top of each other instead of sliding them in smoothly.
- Compact and quiet
- Expensive, given its small capacity
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- £129 at Currys
Details
| Price | £129 |
|---|---|
| Capacity (litres) | 4.1 |
| Functions | 5 |
| Functions include | Air fry, Grill, Roast, Bake, Reheat, Keep warm |
| Cooking zones | 1 |
| Timer | Digital |
| Dishwasher-safe parts | |
| Transparency | |
| Rotating basket | |
| Convenience | ★★★★★ |
| Capacity and size | ★★★★★ |
| Stated functions | ★★★★★ |
| Overall Finder score | ★★★★★ |
What can you cook in a Philips Essential Airfryer HD9252/91?
A small capacity basket means you’re cooking for 1 or 2 people. You can fit about 300g of chips in the basket, or 4 chicken drumsticks or a quarter of a quiche. At a squeeze, you could bake 6 cupcakes. The free NutriU app is a great addition: you can select the air fryer you have from a list and a book of recipes will pop up.
Good luck stuffing a chicken into this machine. We tried a small 1.5kg bird, but it would not comply.
This isn’t a good option for curries and stews, due to its size and lack of relevant functions. There are hardly any wet dishes in the NutriU app as a result.
How big is the Philips Essential Airfryer HD9252/91?
This air fryer is one of the niftiest out there and will fit into most kitchens without the need for a major reorganisation. It’s ideal for small kitchens, standing only 36cm tall and 26cm wide, making it one of the smallest air fryers we’ve reviewed. Only the Ninja AF100UK with a slightly smaller capacity is more petite. At 29.5cm in depth, you won’t have to worry about the air fryer falling off the counter or fitting in the cupboard, either.
Unsurprisingly, it has a small basket inside, at 18cm wide x 20cm long, with only a 9cm depth. In comparison, the Power XL and Breville Halo models are cheaper, but have a bigger, square basket.
You’ll have no problem carrying this model around. At 4.5kg, it’s one of the lightest we’ve reviewed, again coming second to the Ninja AF100.
Is the Philips Essential Airfryer HD9252/91 convenient to use?
Sliding the basket out is simple as is cleaning it, either in a dishwasher or by hand.
But this is a no-frills air fryer, and certain frills would make it more convenient. The presets include the usual options of chips, chicken and cakes, which are simple to select from the display. But you’ll have to work out its functions (baking, roasting and grilling) by yourself as, unlike Ninja models, this Philips relies on you to set the time and temperature for these functions and there are no specific buttons for them.
With basket air fryers like this Philips, manufacturers recommend that you shake your food halfway through to get those chips evenly cooked. When we cooked oven chips in one, we needed to shake the basket even though we were cooking a small portion spread out.
Some air fryers, like the Instant Vortex, have a handy reminder to flip food halfway through. This one is all on you.
A transparent window and automatic rotation are rare features on small air fryers like this one, but they would have been a great bonus.
Philips Essential Airfryer HD9252/91 customer reviews
In general the Philips scored well on Amazon, many praising how well it cooks small portions and how easy it is to clean.
The criticisms target its small size, how expensive it is and the fact there’s no proper manual for basic use. There was an instruction guide with the one we tested, however, and one online.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Great for small kitchens
- Good for simple food
- Can adjust time while cooking
- Tailored recipe app
Cons
- Expensive
- Small capacity
- Can't put foil or baking paper inside
- Must shake food for even cook
Our verdict: Is Philips Essential Airfryer HD9252/91 any good?
Its sleek black design and amber display make this compact Philips air fryer a good fit for most kitchens. It’s also easy to clean and its presets are simple to figure out.
But, it’s got an expensive price tag. Given you can fit only a few ingredients in at a time, this one is really only for a small household actively looking for a small machine. There are cheaper air fryers we’ve reviewed with more capacity and functions, but if you’re after a really petite model, it would be worth considering this one alongside the Ninja AF100.
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Finder air fryers scores
★★★★★ — Excellent
★★★★★ — Good
★★★★★ — Average
★★★★★ — Subpar
★★★★★ — Poor
We rate air fryers based on the aspects that matter to you. We explain what goes into our scores in our guide to ratings.
Review by
Reemul Balla
reemul.balla@finder.comReemul is a writer at Finder, specialising in product reviews and news. He's a qualified journalist having worked at local papers in the UK covering breaking news, food and restaurant reviews. He has an MA in Film from UCL and a BA in History and French from Durham University.
Expert review
This Philips is a beautiful little air fryer with an amber display that’s easy to use, with its preset icons. If you’re looking to cook up chips, wings and mozzarella sticks, this air fryer will do the job quickly.
Unfortunately, its basket can’t handle a big meal. And even with small amounts, we had to shake it quite a bit to give all our chips a uniform golden colour. And there were still a few undercooked ones.
The 5 functions (fry, bake, grill, roast and reheat) don’t work in the same way as on other air fryers, where you can press a button to grill or bake. With this model, you’ll have to work out times and temperatures for yourself. The presets are helpful, but you won’t be hosting any banquets with this air fryer any time soon.
