The Best Smart Ovens of 2023 – CNET
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Smart ovens for your countertop are a thing now, and there are several good options. From remote cooking to food recognition, there’s a whole new world of cooking out there.
The world is getting closer and closer to turning everything in your house into a “smart” gadget. From our doorbells and lights to our TVs and sound systems, everything seems to feature at least some kind of “smart” technology. One gadget you might not have expected to be smart, however, is an oven. That’s right, a smart oven can be your very own sous chef in the kitchen, with things like a smart display, recipe walkthroughs and more providing much-needed assistance. There are even Bluetooth thermometers to monitor cooking temps and appliances like Samsung’s Family Hub smart refrigerator.
But just when we thought smart kitchen stuff had peaked, smart countertop ovens hit their stride, and they’re much more exciting than a conventional oven. These microwave-size cookers perform dozens of tasks, including cooking, baking, roasting, dehydrating and even proofing dough.
Some work with voice assistants; others recognize food with AI cameras or scan packages of frozen food or frozen pizza from your local grocery store. Here are the standout smart ovens we’ve tested.
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The $299 Tovala Smart Oven is built around Tovala’s chef-curated meal kits. Those meal kits are pricey at $12 per serving, but you can purchase the oven without the meals and still get plenty of use out of it.
That’s because the Tovala Smart Oven can scan 750 different grocery items from your local store and use steam, bake, broil and toast functions to cook your dish during the cooking process. There’s no voice assistant compatibility, but there is a Tovala app where you can control the oven, see recipes and more.
Amazon’s Smart Oven also scans foods, but only a handful and most coming from the Whole Foods inventory. If you’re interested in the Tovala countertop toaster oven, I’d recommend giving the meal kits a try, because they are easy to make, delicious and interesting. The oven is often on sale or other promotion for less than the $299 MSRP, so if price is a hindrance, check the Tovala website for deals.
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Tyler Lizenby/CNET
The June Oven in its second generation is the best oven we’ve tested when it comes to recognizing food. There are plenty of cooking mode options including settings for convection bake, slow cooking, toaster, broiling and more. The oven also offers onscreen recommendations for how to cook different foods and several handy accessories. Use it for air frying and dehydrating, or use it as a convection oven for baking and convection cooking, or as a toaster oven for toasting.
The June Oven works with Alexa for voice commands, and the June app lets you control the oven from anywhere and view live video of your food as it cooks. A smart cooking function tracks the core temperature for the perfect cooking time.
You can buy the oven in a Standard package that includes a food thermometer, roasting rack, baking pan, wire shelf and crumb tray for $499 or in a Gourmet package for $699 that adds baking pans, air-fry baskets, a recipe subscription and extended warranty. (Note: This item is currently out of stock, but availability on Amazon tends to fluctuate.)
A third generation of the June oven is available for pre-order. With improved hardware and software, this model offers a handful of updates from the 2nd-gen model. Pricing starts at $599.
Smart Oven Comparison Chart
| Amazon Smart Oven | June Oven | Tovala Smart Oven | |
| Cost | $250 | $499 | $299 |
| Dimensions (W x H x D) | 21.8 inches x 13 inches x 21.4 inches | 19.6 inches x 12.75 inches X 19 inches | 18.5 inches x 11.75 inches x 12.32 inches |
| Voice assistant compatibility | Alexa | Alexa | None |
| Cooking modes | Microwave, convection bake, auto roast, keep warm, air fry | Convection bake, toast, air fry, dehydrat, slow cook, broil, keep warm | Steam, toast, broil, bake |
| Included accessories | Tall and short grill racks, temperature probe, air fry pan | Thermometer, roasting rack, baking pan, wire shelf, crumb tray | Oven mitt, baking pan, wire oven rack, measuring cup |
We’ve only just begun
This category is only a few years old, and we’ve seen plenty of growth. We tested a limited-release smart oven from Whirlpool’s WLabs. The Suvie kitchen robot launched on Kickstarter and uses water to refrigerate and cook your entire meal. Then, there’s Anova, which released a smart oven in 2021.
These ovens might be the best out there right now, but they certainly won’t be the last. More and more companies are expressing interest in this category, so we’ll continue to test out new models as they appear.
Originally published earlier and updated periodically as we review new products.
