Nothing revives leftover french fries or crisps up a handful of dino nuggets quite like an air fryer. These pod-like appliances use a form of convection baking — in which powerful fans circulate hot air — to quickly heat and crisp food.We’ve tested dozens of air fryers since 2017, and our favorite is the Ninja Air Fryer Pro, which heats quickly and crisps mightily, producing the most fried-like results of all the air fryers we’ve tested.Air fryers are handy, but they have downsides — many are bulky eyesores with poor temperature fidelity, questionable longevity, and limited versatility. If you’re willing to give up a bit of speed and the relative ease of a basket, we recommend air fryer and convection toaster ovens over pod-shaped air fryers. Such models cook more evenly, are better equipped for a wider range of cooking tasks, and typically are better constructed and liable to last longer, with fewer plastic and nonstick components (both of which come with some health and environmental concerns).If size and cost are an issue, even a small, non-convection toaster oven can crisp foods similarly to an air fryer and is likely to have more durable construction.But if you’re looking for a relatively compact kitchen appliance to bridge the gap between a microwave and a conventional oven, and your heart is set on it, a pod-shaped air fryer can do the trick.