We tested the Instant Omni to see if it’s good enough to replace your full-size oven

Like it sounds, the 7-in-1 Instant Omni Air Fryer Toaster Oven can be used as either an air fryer or an oven, reducing the number of appliances you need on your counter. The manufacturer stresses the size aspect of this model, stating its extra-large 18-liter capacity is suitable for family dinners. 

The BestReviews Testing Lab put this combo oven to the test and found that, as long as you’re cooking foods at the same temperature, it can easily make a meal for a household of four. The air-fry basket is large enough to fit a half dozen hot dogs along with a pound of fries. We also cooked vegetables, proteins and more, using its range of functions, including bake, roast and broil, to determine how versatile this combo truly is. 

What is the Instant Omni Oven?

Product specifications

Type: Oven air fryer | Capacity: 18 liters | Dimensions: 16.5” L x 16.2” W x 13.9” H | Weight: 25.9 lb | Material: Stainless steel | Control Type: Push button and dial | Number of Functions: 7 | Temperature Range: 170 to 450 degrees

The Instant Omni Air Fryer Toaster Oven is a large countertop appliance that can serve as an air fryer or a convection toaster oven. It comes with an air-fry basket, a cooking pan, an oven rack and a crumb tray. The six different cooking functions can air-fry, bake, roast, broil, warm and toast. It’s large enough to cook four hamburgers or a 10-inch pizza — but there are only 12 inches from wall to wall, so a 12-inch pizza is a really tight fit. This model operates like a toaster oven, so it has a pull-down door in the front and a light (that remains on for 60 seconds) to monitor cooking. While cleaning it is easy, it’s recommended that you do so after each use, and there are several parts to clean, so it can take about five minutes to accomplish the task.

Pros

• Large cooking space: This air fryer is exceptionally large. It has enough room to cook a half dozen hot dogs and a pound of french fries at one time.
• Even cooking/crisping: We were impressed by the Omni's performance. Whether we cooked Brussels sprouts or chicken wings, everything came out uniformly cooked and crisp. 
• Window and light: The front door is a window, and there is a built-in interior light. This let us monitor all foods when we were cooking without needing to open the door and let hot air out.
• Intuitive controls: With just four controls, we found this air fryer to be intuitive and easy to use. There was barely any learning curve.
• Versatile: While the Omni only cooks with dry air, it could bake, broil, air-fry, toast and more. We liked having the option of cooking on a rack, basket or pan.
• Informative display: Once we pressed start, the display alternated between cooking time and temperature in crisp, easy-to-read numbers.

Cons

• Sometimes loud: The fan moves through cycles as the oven heats up. At the highest point, the whirl could be a little distracting when we were having a conversation, but it was tolerable.
• Takes time to clean: Although most of its parts were easy to clean, we found it could take about five minutes to clean the oven after use. We also had to give the front window extra attention to keep the grease from building up. And we noticed the grease could cling to the cooking pan, making it harder to clean than the other parts.
• Long preheat time: This model took roughly 4 minutes and 30 seconds to preheat.
• Shallow cooking pan: The shallow cooking was our biggest concern. Even if it wasn't full, we had to be careful taking it out of the oven. If we moved too quickly, the grease could splash over the edge and spill.
• Longer cooking times: A larger cooking chamber meant we could fit more food. But it also meant the cooking times were typically two to four minutes longer than the recipes called for.

Who is it for?

This combo appliance is best for a family of four. It’s large and versatile enough to cook everything from pizza or baked potatoes to a meal of six hot dogs and a pound of french fries. It would also be suitable for a family that loves snacking, as it could make corn dogs, macaroni bites, pizza bites and more.

How we tested

To make sure we were consistent, we tested every air fryer using the same criteria. This way, we could have a baseline to measure each product's performance. For example, we cooked bacon on the air-fry setting at 350 degrees for nine minutes (or until it was done). This gave us a solid metric to compare cooking ability. Beyond that, we explored each air fryer's unique features to learn what made it stand out from the other models.

French fries

We cooked 2 pounds of french fries in the Omni at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. The french fries were cooked, but to get them to a desirable level of crispiness, it required an additional four minutes. While this was longer than average, we could cook a full 2 pounds, which was more than twice as much as most other models.

Chicken wings

After preparing the chicken with olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt and pepper, we cooked four wings at 400 degrees for 18 minutes. This was the perfect amount of time. The wings cooked to a golden, uniform crispness, making them very satisfying.

Hot dogs in a roll

We had the same minor problem with the hot dogs as we did the french fries. It took two additional minutes to fully cook the hot dogs. In this instance, we didn't cook any extra hot dogs. It just took longer to accomplish the task. Other models cooked six hot dogs in six minutes. This one took eight. Again, the hot dogs were perfectly cooked, so there is a reward for a little patience.

Brussels sprouts

The Omni offered the best results for cooking Brussels sprouts. We cooked two cups of prepared and seasoned Brussels sprouts at 375 degrees for 12 minutes and had uniformly cooked results with a consistent, robust flavor. The vegetables weren't super crisp, but they tasted great.

Bacon

While the standard was nine minutes at 350 degrees for six strips of bacon, the Omni needed 13 minutes to complete the task. The bacon was fully done, evenly cooked and had a savory, meaty flavor. 

Reheat

Since this model doesn't feature a Reheat function, we just used the air-fry setting at 400 degrees. It worked fine. We completed the task in about three minutes, which was on par for the Reheat features on other models.

Unique features

To make sure we understood how features that were unique to a particular air fryer worked, we tested them independently to learn what they did and how well they performed. For example, with this Omni, we tried the Toast feature, the Convection option and tested the oven light. 

Price and where to buy

The Instant Omni Air Fryer Toaster Oven is available for $199.99 on the Instant website. It is also available for $199.95 on Amazon.

Features

The Omni Air Fryer Toaster Oven has a few important features that make the appliance easy to use. The three features that we wanted to highlight because they made the most impact on day-to-day usage were the EvenCrisp Technology, straightforward operation and the oven light. 

EvenCrisp Technology

Instant advertises the Omni's ability to crisp with less oil as EvenCrisp Technology. Honestly, that's the purpose of all air fryers, so touting that is redundant. However, what we found when using this air fryer/toaster oven is that it has a remarkable ability to cook all foods evenly. Whether we were using the air-fry feature to cook chicken wings or an oven full of french fries, the air circulation was superior and the food came out evenly cooked.

Straightforward operation

While there are over a dozen features we could access on the control panel, Instant put some thought into how to access these features with the least amount of controls. There were only three buttons and one knob that gave us the ability to dial up whatever we wanted to do with ease. Twisting and pressing the control dial let us quickly select any cooking feature we wanted. The three buttons were designated for actions we needed to access instantly and frequently: Start, Cancel and Light.

Oven light

The clear front panel and the oven light were two of our favorite features. On most air fryers, we could not check to see how the food was cooking without pulling out the basket. This method let precious heat escape. On Instant's Omni, however, we simply needed to press the oven light button. This turned on a bright interior light so we could see how our food was progressing. It was simple and convenient to use, and it helped us learn that we needed to increase the cooking time for most recipes to obtain a suitable crisp.

Design

Like many other models we tested, the Omni Air Fryer Toaster Oven was black with silver highlights, which gave it a modern feel. The fundamental design difference was that, instead of a drawer containing a basket, this model had a front door that pulled down to open like an oven. 

Included accessories

To facilitate cooking versatility, the Omni came with an air-fry basket and a cooking pan. We used the cooking pan to bake cookies. However, it also was what held the air-fry basket in place inside the cooking chamber and caught any grease that fell through the basket. A wire oven rack was also included, which was great for toast and even worked on a small pizza. And while technically not an accessory, the bottom of the oven had a removable crumb tray for ease of cleaning.  

7-in-1 functions

This oven has six smart programs: Air Fry, Bake, Roast, Broil, Warm and Toast (with three settings: light, medium and dark). Each of these programs cooked as we expected — they were the same settings we had used on traditional toaster ovens. The seventh function, Convection, was a fan that we could turn on or off to better distribute the heat (hot air) throughout the cooking chamber for more even cooking. 

Intuitive control dial

To change function, temperature, cooking time and other parameters, we rotated the control dial. When we wanted to lock in a selection, we pushed the dial in. The impressive part of this design was the dial knew what program we were in to make things easier. For instance, when we rotated the dial and selected the Toast program, the display didn't let us select a temperature or a time. Instead, it jumped to the light, medium and dark settings. While the first few times were confusing, ultimately, this made navigating through the parameters of each feature very easy.

Ease of cleaning

According to the manufacturer, the Omni Air Fryer Toaster Oven must be cleaned after each use. Since we had to remove the accessories from the cooking chamber for cleaning, it was essential to first unplug the oven and wait until it cooled to room temperature. Depending on what we cooked, there were up to four parts to clean: the oven rack, the cooking pan, the air-fryer basket and the crumb tray. While it was best to clean the air-fryer basket with a bristle brush, we could clean the other parts with a nonabrasive sponge and mild dish detergent. Although we cleaned by hand, all of these parts were dishwasher-safe.

We cleaned the interior with a damp cloth and mild dish soap. It was important to be thorough because any lingering grease could cause a problem with heating or visibility. For stubborn residue, the manufacturer recommended using commercial oven cleaner. We also wiped the exterior down with a damp cloth, then dried it.

While the cleaning was not difficult, it was time-consuming to clean every part. Also, when we cooked greasy food, such as bacon or chicken, the shallow cooking tray filled with grease, making it hard to remove without spilling.

How does it compare to the Instant Vortex Plus?

The Instant Omni Air Fryer Toaster Oven is a combination oven that functions as an air fryer as well as a convection toaster oven. This gives it a distinct advantage over models that only come with a basket for air-fry cooking, like the Instant Vortex Plus. Besides cooking versatility, the Omni is a larger unit. We could squeeze six small slices of bread in the Omni, but only four slices fit in the Vortex Plus. 

However, the benefits don't all belong to the Omni. Since the cooking chamber is smaller in the Vortex Plus, the preheat time is roughly two minutes less. Also, while the Omni has a Warm function and Toast function that are not available on the Vortex Plus, the Vortex Plus has a Reheat function and a Dehydrate function that are not available on the Omni. 

Instant Omni 18-Liter Air Fryer Oven review: Should you get one?

There are two features that distinguish the Instant Omni Air Fryer Toaster Oven from the typical air fryer. First, it has a larger capacity for food than other models. Second, it can also function as a toaster oven that is large enough to make a small pizza (10 inches in diameter). We found this made the Omni great for a family of four or any family that would benefit from cooking more food at one time. 

However, it wouldn't be ideal in a smaller kitchen because it takes up 17 inches of counter space, plus it needs an additional 10 inches (five on each side) for venting the heat. For people who primarily want an air fryer to cook small portions of comfort food, there are more efficient models, such as the Instant Mini Vortex.