The Best Microwave Brands Compared According To 227,000 Reviewers

Are you searching for the best microwave brand but don’t know where to start looking?

You’re in good company! In fact, thousands of potential appliance buyers worldwide are constantly overwhelmed by the many options on the market.

It’s estimated that the global microwave oven market will generate around $1.89B and grow annually at a steady rate of 5.49 between 2023 and 2028. Economy-wise, the growth is great; however, it also means there’s a lot of information out there, which can be overwhelming.

But you can relax now. You came to the right place for answers.

We’ve studied a huge public database of appliance reviews and data – including over 227,000 reviews on microwaves alone! I’ve also provided opinions from our appliance repair experts on which microwave brands they recommend you choose.

Are you ready to dive into the microwave market? Let’s go!

The Highest Rated Microwave Brands From 227,000 Customer Ratings

Below I’ve crunched the numbers to get the average customer rating to find out the best microwave brands.

Here are the best microwave brands according to nearly a quarter of a million people:

Leading the race is KitchenAid, with an admirable rating of 4.57, while on the bottom end, we have JennAir, with 3.75.

You might be surprised by learning that the cheapest model of the highest-rated brand starts at around $630, whereas the most affordable model of the lowest-rated one goes for around $949. So, from a general standpoint, you’d be paying JennAir over $300 extra for a product that’s not great.

Personalization also plays a key role in how people perceive a product on the market.

I have a lot more charts and data coming up later in this article – but I know that not everyone loves tons of charts. 

Instead, I want to share the thoughts of one of our resident appliance repair experts on what they think of the most popular brands after repairing thousands of them.

Appliance Repair Expert On The Best Microwave Brands

We asked James Blackford, one of our trusted appliance experts who has over 16 years of experience in the field. He gave us useful insights for this microwave brand comparison:

Overall Microwave Brand Thoughts

According to James, there’s very little difference between the internal parts of a microwave, as most of them are non-branded.

“Samsung is a good choice of microwave, as their line offers everything from low-end basic microwaves to high-end convection ones with loads of features. Samsung also makes a low-profile series which is great, as it’s half the height of a standard microwave, which can be useful when you don’t have a lot of space. Their designs look nice and aren’t overly complicated and are a statement in the kitchen“, he explained.

He also said that Whirlpool is another favorite of his, as he likes the company and the variety they offer in their products.

Is There a Brand That’s Better Than the Rest?

According to James, not really.

“As far as a scale, I would rate all brands the from a technician’s perspective. The lifespan and performance of all are generally the same, unlike with Dishwasher Brands. If you took 100 master technicians, disguised the brand name, and asked them to test out and look inside the units to judge quality, there would be no winner or loser“, he explained.

In his experience, the thing to look out for and the biggest challenge is finding the right replacement when your microwave fails or breaks down.

Also, different brands have mounting holes in different places, so making them fit in your kitchen can be tricky.

To save yourself some trouble, you should try replacing your faulty microwave with another of the same brand, so you won’t have to drill any additional holes when mounting it onto your kitchen cabinets or over the range.

Are More Expensive Microwaves Better?

This is a question I always love to check with data. Does a higher price tag mean you’ll be a happier customer?

Here’s the most popular microwave brands by their average product price:

As you can see, the worst-rated brand from the previous chart is also that with the most expensive average product price. Bad ratings on expensive microwaves can be due to several reasons, including customer perception of the value-benefit correlation of the product, as well as familiarity with a brand.

The Brands With The Most Microwave Models

Variety can be a good thing, but it can also play against microwave brands and affect their position in the market. Especially when trying to compete with quality and uniqueness.

As you can see in the chart above, LG and Whirlpool are the leaders in the microwave model number analysis, as they both offer a whopping 46 microwave models to their potential customers. In contrast, brands like JennAir or Galanz are restricted to 14.

That’s over 3 times fewer models!

From what I’ve seen, more expensive microwave brands are more interested in selling to people that fit into their products, not the other way around.

While Premium brands scratch the itch of wanting something unique and high-quality, the ratings chart in the previous section proves that offering more models at lower prices is almost always better.

So, What’s the Best Microwave Brand?

While the information and data above are meant to provide a clearer perspective into what each microwave brand does best and what people think about them, at the end of the day, every person’s needs are different.

What other people might find attractive, useful, and like an overall great deal might appear lacking to you, or it might not offer the things you want for your daily habits. However, we can make general conclusions based on the graphs above and our expert’s input.

• Most microwaves are the same internally.
• It can be difficult even for experts to tell different brands apart.
• The biggest challenge when replacing a microwave is ensuring the mounting holes fit into your kitchen without drilling any additional holes.
• KitchenAid is the best-rated microwave brand in this comparison.
• On average, JennAir is one of the most expensive microwave brands on the market.
• GE, Whirlpool & Samsung are the leading microwave brands in terms of the number of models they offer.

Thank you very much for sticking with me all the way to the end. Hopefully, the information you found here answered your most burning questions and provided some clarity.

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Best of luck to you!

— Craig.