While some people enjoy the process of cooking, others dread getting home and having to start making dinner. Whatever camp you’re in, however, there’s no denying that your kitchen could benefit from some added convenience. The Breville Smart Oven Air and Pro represent two intelligent options that have the ability to provide a more efficient and effective bake. When comparing the two models, the Breville Smart Oven Air comes out slightly ahead due to the superior Air Frying and Dehydrating features. But is it really worth the extra cost?
Technology has come a long way in the last few years, and these Breville smart ovens take advantage of some cutting edge tech to provide a more consistent bake while offering a myriad of other useful features that elevate them above a traditional oven. From slow cooking to air frying, there’s just so much more you can do with these models that make them more than worth the additional cost.
Below we compare the Breville Smart Oven Air vs. Pro to help you get a sense of which oven is right for your home. Read on for a comprehensive breakdown, or jump directly to the sections you’re most interested in using the navigation bar below.
Breville Smart Oven Air vs. Pro — Things in Common
- Smart Element IQ – The primary objective of a toaster oven is to heat your food. That seems obvious, but the fact of the matter is that the heating elements of these ovens aren’t always created equal. The Breville Smart Oven Air and Pro uses Smart Element IQ technology to transfer heat intelligently across quartz elements. The heated quartz provides precise and stable heat that is equally distributed, and a super speedy 1800W preheat makes it easy to get your food in the oven in just a few minutes.
While there may be equivalent technologies in other brands, only Breville ovens have Smart Element IQ technology. It’s a really effective heating method that ensures an even cook that produces incredibly impressive results.
- Convection Powered – Convection technology on both the Air and Pro can shave a significant amount of time off of the cooking process. By using a fan to raise hotter air and sink colder, your toaster oven will be able to quickly heat up a plate of food and get your meal on the table in record speed.
- Slow Cooking – One pretty unique feature of the Breville models is a slow cooking feature. While some days you’d like to get your meal out of the oven and on the table as soon as possible, there are other times where you’d like a slow and low cook to give food time to tenderize and develop complex flavor. Both ovens can cook food for up to 10 hours on low heat, at which point it will switch automatically to keeping the food warm. It’s a great option to get dinner started in the morning for a warm, delicious meal when you get home from work.
- LCD Display – The LCD Display makes the Breville ovens feel a little more premium, and they have just as much function as form. The screen allows you to easily access the smart functionality and choose between different cooking methods. At the end of the cooking cycle, the integrated oven light will automatically turn on, or can be switched on manually with the touch of the button. Rather than fussing with information on the dials themselves, you can enjoy a clear readout of the oven’s settings and easily ensure you’ve selected the right options for a perfect cook.
- Construction Materials – Last but not least, the Smart Oven Air and Pro are built out of brushed stainless steel. This material is incredibly durable, and also looks modern and sleek — perfectly complementing any kitchen decor and standing up to life’s dents and dings.
- Difference #1: Capacity – One notable difference between the Smart Oven Air and Pro is their size and capacity.
If you’re looking for a substitute for a traditional oven, you’ll get much closer with the Air model due to its significantly higher capacity. It’s a 9-slice toaster with room for up to a 13” Pizza, 9 x 13” baking pan, a 12-cup muffin tray, or even a 14 pound turkey! You shouldn’t have trouble fitting pretty much anything in this oven, and it should be more than enough for the needs of day-to-day cooking for the average-sized family.
The Pro is a bit smaller, with a 6-slice toaster, room for a 13” pizza, a whole chicken, or a 9 cup muffin tray.
Long story short, the Air is larger and can hold more food. You can even cook a thanksgiving feast with just your new Breville smart oven.
- Difference #2: Settings – The Air also has a few more preset functions that add some extra capabilities to the smart oven.
Both models have an impressive 10 different modes, which should more than cover most everyone’s needs. Regardless of your choice in model, you’ll have access to toast, bagel, bake, roast, warm, broil, cookies, reheat, pizza, and slow cook features.
With the Air, you have the addition of Proof, Air Fry, and Dehydrating settings.
“Proofing” is a more technical term for the final rise of a dough, and your Smart Oven Air has the ability to create the optimal settings for the best possible rise. The Dehydrate option is also especially unique, as it allows you to create healthy snacks like dried fruit, beef jerky, dried tomatoes and more — all without any additional equipment.
The Air Frying feature we feel is the biggest benefit that the Air offers over the Pro in terms of settings. Using high heat and super convection, your oven will be able to create delicious and crispy food that is shockingly similar to traditional fried food but without all the fat. There are dedicated air fryers that many buy for that crisp crunch without the extra calories, but you’ll have it baked right into your toaster oven!
Simply put, both ovens offer a significant number of settings for customizing the cooking to suit your needs. The Smart Oven Air does have some useful additional features, however, that may be worth the extra splurge.
- Difference #3: Technology – Since the Breville smart ovens use Element IQ technology, you’ll enjoy a efficient and powerful heat across the entirety of the oven, leading to a consistent cook every time. However, the Air takes things one step further by adding in Breville sensing and PID temperature control technology. Essentially, this technology can actually change the way the elements heat based on the type of setting you choose.
For example, if you choose the broil function, your Air will concentrate the heat on the top elements in order to melt and brown the food for the best possible results. Toast, on the other hand, activates both elements evenly for crisp toast that is well-cooked on both sides.
Each element is controlled separately from the others, which allows the oven to produce a higher temperature on the top or the bottom depending on the needs of the current bake. If you’re not happy with the default settings, you also have the option to change them as you please to tweak things to perfection for your specific meal. This isn’t recommended for the average home cook, but for the power user with a great sense of the heat distribution needs, it’s an excellent tool to have on hand.
The Air has 6 elements that can be controlled independently of one another, while the Pro has 5 that provide a heat level that is even yet static across the entire oven. It’s clear that Air is a little bit more flexible which can certainly translate to a better cook.
- Difference #4: Fan Speed – The main reason that the Smart Oven Air is able to offer Air Frying is due to its adjustable fan speed. On the convection fan, there are options for super and regular speeds. Super convection moves a significant volume of air to ensure a fast and even distribution that is perfect for air frying, dehydration, and roasting. Regular is there as the default option for more standard baking.
The Pro has a convection fan as well, but it only has the regular speed — lacking the option to spin as quickly as the Air and locking it out of useful modes like Dehydration or Air Frying.
- Difference #5: Dimensions – Since the Air has a greater capacity, it only makes sense that it has bigger dimensions.
At 17.2” x 21.4” x 12.8”, it’s not significantly bigger than the Pro’s 15 ¾ “ x 18 ½ “ x 11”, but it definitely takes up a bit more counter space.
The last thing you want is to buy a smart oven only to have it end up being too big for your home, so make sure you measure twice before making the buy to ensure your Air or Pro will fit comfortably in your kitchen.
- Difference #6: Warranty – The last major difference when comparing the Breville Smart Oven Air vs. Smart Oven Pro is that the Air is backed by a 2 year limited warranty while the Pro is only backed with 1 year.
These ovens are relatively expensive, and it’s always nice to know that your purchase is backed up should anything malfunction — especially considering that the Air is a good amount more expensive.
Both ovens are built with quality in mind, but if you’re worried about components failing you might be better off with the Smart Oven Air.
Breville Smart Oven Air vs. Pro — Differences
Breville Smart Oven Air vs. Pro — Comparison Chart
| Breville Smart Oven Air | Breville Smart Oven Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| Smart Element IQ | Yes | Yes |
| Quartz Elements | 6 | 5 |
| Convection Powered | Yes | Yes |
| Fan Speed | Regular and Super | Regular |
| Slow Cooking | Yes | Yes |
| LCD Display | Yes | Yes |
| Capacity | 9-Slice Toaster, 13″ Pizza, 12-cup muffin tray, 14-lb turkey |
6-Slice Toaster, 13″ Pizza, 9 cup muffin tray, Roast a whole chicken |
| Toast Setting | Yes | Yes |
| Bagel Setting | Yes | Yes |
| Broil Setting | Yes | Yes |
| Bake Setting | Yes | Yes |
| Roast Setting | Yes | Yes |
| Warm Setting | Yes | Yes |
| Pizza Setting | Yes | Yes |
| Proof Setting | Yes | No |
| Phase Cook Setting | Yes | No |
| Air Fry Setting | Yes | No |
| Reheat Setting | Yes | Yes |
| Cookies Setting | Yes | Yes |
| Slow Cook Setting | Yes | Yes |
| Dehydrate Setting | Yes | No |
| Dimensions | 17.2″ x 21.4″ x 12.8″ | 15¾” x 18½” x 11″ |
| Construction | Brushed Stainless Steel | Brushed Stainless Steel |
| Warranty | 2 Year Limited Product Warranty | 1 Year Limited Product Warranty |
Breville Smart Oven Air vs. Pro — Accessories
There’s not much else you need besides the ovens themselves in order to enjoy the perfect cook, but there are some accessories you might be interested in that allow you to take better advantage of some of their different modes.
With either model, you might want to look into a 12” x 12” Enamel Broiling Pan, or perhaps an 11-Inch Non-Stick Pizza Pan to give your food something solid to sit on while it’s cooking.
For the Air, we recommend purchasing an Air Fry Rack and a Breville Broil Rack to ensure you can take full advantage of these two different modes. While they aren’t strictly necessary, you’ll see a better quality cook overall if you include them in the baking process.
Breville Smart Oven Air vs. Pro — Our Thoughts
When evaluating the benefits and drawbacks of the Breville Smart Oven Pro vs. Air, it’s difficult to declare a clear winner. There’s no denying that the Air is the superior oven in terms of features and the quality of cook, but the fact remains that both models are strikingly similar where it counts.
Ultimately, we recommend the Smart Oven Air if you’re looking for a larger capacity as well as access to modes like Air Frying and Dehydrating. If you’re going to be cooking smaller amounts of food and don’t plan to take advantage of the extra cooking features, you’ll likely be better off saving your money and buying the less expensive Smart Oven Pro.
Last update on 2024-04-26 at 16:15 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Spot on with this write-up, I truly think this website needs much more consideration. Ill probably be again to read much more, thanks for that info.
If your dishwasher goes out, you have got to wash plates by hand. Microwave foods could be meant by it for the remainder of the week, if your range fails. Combining both an oven and a stovetop in one appliance makes collections quite versatile when it comes to cooking.
In the article, you mentioned that the “Air ” has a multiple fan speed. Also, you mentioned that the “Pro” has a regular fan. In the comparison table shown at the end of the article, it is showing the opposite. Which one is the correct one???!!
whoops, our bad! Thank you for pointing it out, Sam!
The “Air” has adjustable fan speed whereas the “Pro” comes with regular fan speed.
There are a few errors here. In your paragraph on Difference #2, you mentioned “warm” twice, but there was no mention of the pizza function, which is present on both.
Your chart is also incorrect. It indicates that there is no broil function in the pro and that both have proof settings. Both ovens have broil functions, and only the Air has the proof function.
There is also another setting on the Air that is not present on the Pro- the Phase Cook setting.
Also- could you explain the use of the “frozen” button on both?
Hi Steve!
Thanks for your feedback, we’ve fixed the discrepancies. 🙂
The “frozen” button extends the cooking time. You can only use the Frozen Foods button in pizza, toast, bagel, and cookie modes. It usually adds somewhere from 29 seconds to 8 minutes to normal cooking time — it depends on the mode and setting that you choose.
Can you please tel me how much time deos air model can tale to bale a froten lasagna? And Aldo how much time deos it tale to fry 5 shrimps in the air fry mide?
Do these ovens take the place of a microwave oven. I assume it would in the instance of reheating something, and so forth?