When I first started testing the best air fryers for BI reviews 7 years ago, I thought they were a gimmick. However, after extensive testing, I've been convinced: air fryers do a better job of browning food and cook quicker than toaster ovens. And no air fryer exemplifies this more than the Instant Vortex Plus.
From the same makers of the Instant Pot, the Instant Vortex Plus is packed full of useful features: a basket window that lets you monitor your food, an air filter that blocks out odors, a dehydration mode, and more. Best of all, it cooked food the fastest in our tests, producing delicious results in minutes. Here's our full Instant Pot Vortex Plus review.
The Instant Vortex Plus features a window into the basket to monitor cooking progress. Even with a preheat setting, it cooks food the fastest, too.
What we like
What we don't like
Design and setup
I like to see if I can use air fryers without referencing the instructions, and I got the Instant Vortex Plus up and running without the manual. You just choose the function you want: air fry, roast, bake, reheat, broil, or dehydrate. Then, adjust the time and temperature using the temp/time button and dial, and press start.
Once started, the air fryer enters preheat mode for 3 to 4 minutes, at which point it beeps at you to add food. I found preheating unnecessary — I put the food in and started cooking right away, subtracting 3 minutes from my cooking time since the timer doesn't count down until after the unit preheats.
My favorite feature of the Instant Vortex Plus is the window in the basket. Unlike most pod-style air fryers, you don't have to open the basket and let heat escape to check if your food is done. On the Instant Vortex Plus, you can just press the light button and look through the window. It combines the visibility of a toaster oven with the efficiency of a pod air fryer.
Cooking with the Vortex Plus
I tossed a pound of frozen french fries at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. The average cook time in my best air fryer tests was 12.5 minutes, but the Instant Vortex Plus only needed 8 minutes to produce golden and crispy fries. The fries were evenly cooked and tasted great, not too dry and not too limp.
Overall, the air fryers I tested didn't do a good job of making fresh-cut fries. Most units took at least 20 minutes and produced a mix of burnt and underdone fries. The Instant Vortex Plus baked the fries in 14 minutes at 375 degrees, and while some fries were crispier than others, it was among the best at cooking evenly. The texture was also better in the Vortex Plus: not too dry or soggy.
The third performance test I put all air fryers through is cooking a one-pound batch of fresh broccoli. In 8 minutes, the Instant Vortex Plus produced tender broccoli with lightly browned florets that tasted great. None of the air fryers I tested cooked faster. However, the air fryer struggled to cook the broccoli evenly, performing in the middle of the pack during testing. It could have been more even, but my family still gobbled the batch up.
Cleaning
While the basket and crisper plate are dishwasher-safe, I preferred to wash the basket by hand. The basket takes up a lot of real estate in the washer — the nonstick coating releases debris with ease, so it was easy to clean with a sponge. Plus, you can use silicone air fryer liners to almost eliminate the need to wash it altogether.
The crisper plate's airflow slots trapped debris and needed a firmer scrub. Fortunately, a wash cycle in the dishwasher got the job done, and it only takes up the space of a dinner plate.
Air filter
One of the main reasons I like air fryers is they do a great job of reheating leftovers, even better than a microwave. The Instant Vortex Plus has a reheat mode that cooks food at 280 degrees for 10 minutes. I'd put in a slice or two of leftover pizza, and well before the 10 minutes were up, the pizza was ready and just as tasty as when I purchased it.
The Instant Vortex Plus features a replaceable air filter designed to remove odors. To test this, I ran the air fryer until it burned bacon-topped deviled eggs placed in a silicone liner. The filter didn't completely remove the odors, but I could smell it much less than when I cook items in other air fryers.
Who should buy the Instant Vortex Plus?
A price tag of $160 is a little steep, but this is the best air fryer. It fries food quickly, has multiple cooking settings, and features an effective odor filter.
What are your alternatives?
While the Instant Vortex Plus is one of our top air fryer recommendations thanks to its blistering cooking speeds and convenient peek-a-boo cooking window, its $160 price tag might be a bit steep for casual cooks. If you are looking for something more budget-friendly or a cooker with a different capacity, here is how the Vortex Plus stacks up against two of its closest competitors.
| Our pick | Price | Aesthetics and interface | Best for |
| Instant Vortex Plus air fryer | $160 | Sleek exterior with an odor-erasing filter and a ClearCook viewing window. | Home cooks who want the fastest cooking times and premium features without paying extra for premium features. |
| Beautiful by Drew Barrymore touchscreen air fryer | $69 | A highly-aesthetic, soft-matte finish with a sleek, illuminated touch-activated display. | Home cooks on a budget, who want an attractive, capable countertop appliance without paying extra for premium features. |
| Ninja Crispi Pro glass air fryer | $300 | A compact pod that snaps onto transparent glass cooking containers, with an easy-to-read digital display. | Health-conscious cooks who want to avoid nonstick plastics and value the ability to see the entire cooking process. |
The stylish budget rival: If you want great performance without the premium price tag, the Beautiful 6-quart Touchscreen air fryer is an excellent alternative. Coming in at roughly half the price of the Instant Vortex, it holds the title of best budget air fryer. While it doesn't have a viewing window, odor filter, or dehydration mode, it handles basic air frying with ease and adds a pop of modern, Smeg-inspired style to your countertop.
The non-toxic glass alternative: If you are cautious about traditional nonstick coatings or simply want an unparalleled view of your meal as it browns, the Ninja Crispi Pro is a brilliant departure from the standard slide-out drawer. We named it the best glass air fryer because it eliminates plastic from the cooking process entirely. Instead of a basket, the Crispi uses a heating pod that snaps directly onto temperature-safe glass containers, meaning you can monitor the entire cooking process with perfect clarity — then serve or store the leftovers in the same vessel.
Is Instant Pot a good brand?
Originally famous for revolutionizing the multi-cooker market with the cult favorite Instant Pot, the brand has successfully translated its expertise into air fryers, toaster ovens, and coffee makers. We've rigorously tested countertop appliances from the Instant Pot lineup for years, and you'll find their products in several of our buying guides. We've found that the company excels most at creating highly functional, multi-purpose appliances that simplify meal prep.
While their flagship multi-cookers are incredibly popular, they aren't without their flaws. In our head-to-head testing against competitors like Ninja, models like the Instant Pot Duo Crisp were slower to build pressure and air-fry. However, these drawbacks are largely isolated to the brand's multi-cookers. When it comes to dedicated air fryers like the Instant Vortex Plus, the brand absolutely shines. The Vortex solves actual paint points for home cooks with features like a viewing window and replaceable odor filters, all while delivering fast cooking speeds.
The bottom line
Based on my testing, the Instant Vortex Plus Air Fryer is the best to cook food evenly and quickly. The window in the basket takes the guesswork out of knowing when your food is ready, and cleanup is a snap. If you can afford the hefty price tag, this is the air fryer to get.
Pros: Keeps food moist and heats evenly, cooks quickly, the basket features a window for easy food viewing, the crisper plate and basket are dishwasher safe, intuitive controls, air filter helps contain odors
Cons: Takes up a lot of space in the dishwasher, unnecessary preheat cycle
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