Welcome back to Air Fryer Bro and another one of our roundup reviews. We have done the best air fryer under $100, the best for a large family and even the best air fryers with a stainless steel basket! Today, we are going super cheap….literally! We are looking at the best air fryers under $50. Yes, it is possible to get an air fryer for $50, read on to find out which choices are best….
What to Consider with a $50 Air Fryer?
Before we start, I want to forewarn you as to what you might be getting yourself into when purchasing a $50 air fryer.
Branding
Firstly, don’t expect any kind of well-known household brand. Big air fryer names such as Ninja and Philips are way out of this price bracket, even when on sale. You will most likely end up with a generic Chinese brand, that has a weird name that you have never seen in your life. This is the nature of buying a super cheap air fryer.
Actually, the whole thing that got me started in air fryers was a generic Chinese brand air fryer my wife and I accidentally stumbled across when buying a bed (of all things). So, in a way, I have a lot to be thankful for. Having said that, my generic Chinese branded air fryer did break after around half a year, so it wasn’t the best advert for them 🙂
Longevity
For long time readers on this blog, you will know that unfortunately many air fryers suffer from quality issues, such as the dreaded peeling non-stick coating problem. This can happen on air fryers that are several hundred dollars in retail value, so you can probably expect that a $50 air fryer won’t be the longest lasting appliance you have ever owned :).
Plastic Smells
These days, I see a lot of people that are very sensitive to the ‘toxic plastic smells’ of new air fryers. I even have an article on here that explains why these smells exist in air fryers and how to get rid of them.
If you are someone that is sensitive to these things, please don’t buy a $50 air fryer. These are often the most likely to have such smells, as they are the cheapest (probably made in China) air fryers full stop.
Size
The type of air fryer that you can buy with a $50 budget is going to be pretty small. If you require a larger air fryer, then you will have to increase your budget. Read our article on air fryer sizes to get a better idea what the ideal size would be for your needs.
User Reviews
When you are buying air fryers at such a low price point, make sure that whatever model you decide on is well reviewed on whatever website you want to buy it on. It can be tempting to see a well priced and good looking air fryer at a cheap price, but if it isn’t backed up by a decent amount of positive user reviews, I would avoid at all costs.
Shorter Run Time
For some reason, most of the air fryers at this price point only have a 30 minute run time. I suppose they think you are unlikely to cook big items (like whole chickens) that require longer runtimes. However, even the bigger 4.5 quart model below still has only a 30 minute timer. This could be annoying if you do want to slow cook anything or try to dehydrate in your air fryer. Assume all air fryers below have a 30 minute timer unless I specifically state otherwise 🙂
Are There Any Alternatives?
The air fryers I will feature here are those that have a normal retail value of $50. However, you will be able to find many special deals (especially around Christmas and Black Friday) that would possibly get you air fryers from the $100 range. I cannot include these deals in an article like this, as they are changing all the time. But, before you commit to an air fryer on this list, make sure to do your research to see if any other deals are around.
Before we get on with the recommendations, I would like to say that I have used Amazon to source all air fryers in this article, as it is simply the best retailer anyone from all across America can use. If you want to check out the latest information and pricing on an air fryer in this article, simply click the product image to be taken straight over to Amazon.
Best Air Fryers Under $50
Linsion/ Apex Cool 4.5 Quart Air Fryer
If you need an air fryer that is a decent size, this is pretty much the only option that you have.This particular air fryer comes in at a massive 4.5 quarts, a rare site when you are only paying $50.
This is a prime example of what to expect at this price range, though. This very same air fryer is listed under two brand names, Linsion and Apexcool, although there is no branding on the unit itself. This is the very definition of generic! Also, this air fryer comes with a Chinglish user manual, so if you are new to air fryers and aren’t confident how to use them, you might want to steer clear of this particular one.
Also, the design is pretty bog standard air fryer, not exactly inspiring. But if you want to be inspired by your air fryer you need to pay more 🙂
The other thing to say is that the postage and packing cost for this product varies quite a lot, so be sure to check how much they are asking you to pay for this at the time you try to order it.
All in all, this is a decent air fryer considering the budget we are within!
Below are some user reviews piped straight over from Amazon. It is vitally important that you look for a good amount of user reviews when choosing any air fryer.
Dash DCAF150GBBK02 Compact Air Fryer Oven
If you are looking for something from a household brand, this is about as close as you will get for this budget range. Dash are not generally a household name, but have built up a decent reputation in the air fryer world all the same. The downside here is that you only get an air fryer that is around 2 quart is size.
What I personally like about Dash is that they are well known for retro style designs with their products, and this model is no different. For the full retro effect, you will have to buy this air fryer in the aqua colorway though 🙂
There is nothing revolutionary here, just a pretty bog standard air fryer that does what it says on the tin 🙂 But you can’t expect much more frankly. If it has decent design and performs well, for $50 you can’t say fairer than that! The fact that they have only used rotary dials (without a digital display in sight) is actually a good thing. It means there is less that can go wrong! A rotary dial is a lot easier to fix than a digital panel, too.
Once again, below I will provide a selection of user reviews of this product piped straight across from Amazon, so you can get an up-to-date feel of what actual users think of this air fryer.
Elite Gourmet EAF-0201 Personal Air Fryer
Elite Gourmet, like Dash above, are not well known to most consumers of household products, but they are building a decent following in the air fryer world. These air fryers are often seen pushed on various TV shopping channels, so if you watch those a lot you may have heard of Elite or their sister branding Maxi-matic.
As with most air fryers at this price point, it is pretty small weighing it at 2.1 quarts in size. As with the Dash above, this air fryer has a retro vibe to it in certain colors. It also follows the simple rotary dial approach, meaning you are less likely to have technical issues down the road.
Not much else to say really, just another solid compact air fryer at a great price.
Again, here are some user reviews below from Amazon, for your information.
BELLA 1.6 Quart Air Convection Fryer
This air fryer is the smallest one, coming it at only 1.6 quarts cooking capacity. So be aware that you can only use this for small batch air frying. I do like the simplistic and almost cute design of this air fryer though, it definitely has a certain charm to it 🙂 This is also helped by the catchy paint design options on offer.
However, the main reason I like this air fryer is the fact that it comes with a timer that goes up to 60 minutes! Hallelujah! And as with most of the others I have recommended, it comes with rotary dials only. This is the apex of simple and functional air fryer design, with a little bit of striking color thrown in.
Here are the latest Amazon user reviews for this air fryer.
Chefman 2 Quart Air Fryer
If you are looking for the ultimate in cheap air fryers, this Chefman is the best model you could go for. At the time of writing it is the cheapest air fryer in this round up.
As you may expect, it is pretty small (like most of the good air fryers at this price point) weighing in with a pretty typical 2 quart cooking capacity.
Also, like a lot of the others, it has a rotary dial only control panel, which is good to see. When I buy an appliance as cheap as this, I think simplicity is better!
For an air fryer so cheap, it is a solid unit that the air fryer community seems to rate highly. The only major downside for me is the rather ‘plasticky’ look to the design. However, when you are pretty much buying the cheapest air fryer ever, I don’t think you can have design high on your list.
Read the latest Amazon user reviews below and be amazed at how well reviewed a cheap air fryer can get!!
Honorable Mentions….
As you may have noticed, it is pretty tough to buy a decent sized air fryer at the $50 price point. Out of my top five above, only one of them is over 3 quarts.
This is why I want to give you one extra honorable mention below. I call it this, as it is actually slightly above the $50 price point, but if you are desperate for a decent sized air fryer, you may be willing to spend a little bit more to have additional options.
Ensue Portable Electric Air Fryer
Even though you are slightly stretching your $50 budget, you can still only get an air fryer of this size if you are willing to go with a Chinese generic brand. Ensue is a brand you have never heard of and will probably never see again on any other kitchen appliances! But this goes with the territory, if you want to experience this unit’s 3.7 quart size.
Other than it’s size, there isn’t much more to say about this air fryer, it’s a pretty standard affair. Although I am slightly worried by the fact they give you a ‘how to’ guide for fixing the ‘E1 error’ right on their Amazon product page. And it’s not a simple fix, it involves unscrewing your air fryer.
Anyway, this air fryer gets stellar user reviews pretty much across the board, so I am willing to take the handful of negatives on the chin.
There you have it, our full guide to buying a decent air fryer for around the $50 budget. Would I recommend you buy in this price range? If you really have no other choice and take on the caveats detailed above, then why not? You will still get access to the awesome world of air frying for a small price tag. Just don’t expect the earth.
