Philips 3000 Series Double Basket Airfryer Review: Style and Substance

In one look

Expert rating

Benefits

• 8 presets
• Dishwasher safe parts
• Two drawers
• Excellent for homemade chips

The inconvenients

• Limited cooking space
• Large work surface space
• Can be difficult to adjust

Our Verdict

While other air fryers offer similar cooking flexibility and family-sized capacity, the Philips 3000 Series Double Basket Air Fryer brings more to the table. This includes a sleek exterior, impeccable cooking performance, and sturdy build quality. However, ease of use for everyone has been overlooked, meaning it’s best for those familiar with air fryers rather than novices.

Although Philips may be late to the party with its first dual-basket air fryer, the 3000 series, it was worth the wait. In addition to two differently sized drawers (six and three quarts), both featuring the brand’s Rapid Air technology for evenly cooked food, plenty of attention has been paid to the exterior, with touchscreen controls and an elegant gray finish enhanced with a silver or gold drawer. handles, which means there is no need to hide it.

This, along with eight presets, copy and sync functions, and even a shake reminder, will definitely make it doubly appealing to air fryer fans.

Design and build

• Two drawers: 3L and 6L
• 42x31x38cm
• Matte gray body with metallic details

If what’s putting you off buying a larger air fryer is that most of the larger ones are unattractive black bits, Philips has come to your rescue. The 3000 Series Double Basket Airfryer is still large in size at around 42cm wide, 31cm high and 38cm deep, but it has been designed with aesthetics in mind. Instead of black, you’ll find matte gray with metallic details, topped with a glossy touchscreen, which only turns on/off when not in use.

Rachel Ogden / Foundry

Rachel Ogden / Foundry

Rachel Ogden / Foundry

Inside, the design is practical: the base of each drawer features swirls that help heat penetrate food rather than just circulating around it. There are two drawers: a smaller three liter with a crisper drawer and a six liter which has a crisper drawer with sides: the downside is that this limits capacity. The drawers and inserts are dishwasher safe.

Rachel Ogden / Foundry

Rachel Ogden / Foundry

Rachel Ogden / Foundry

The air fryer has eight presets. Many are specific rather than general, such as frozen potatoes, fresh fries, whole fish and meat chops, although there is also a handy reheat setting. Plus, you can sync the drawers to finish cooking at the same time, copy so both drawers have the same setting, and add a shake reminder, so it alerts you mid-cook to flip or shake Food. This is a default for some settings.

The temperature range is wide: although it doesn’t exceed 200°C, it goes down to 40°C so you can dehydrate and make yogurt.

Performance and Features

• Companion app
• Confusing settings on device
• Drawers not as spacious as one might hope

For all the capabilities of this air fryer, what lets it down are the instructions for getting the most out of it. There is no printed copy in the box and the downloadable version is not ideal. For example, there is no explanation for defining its “copy” function. We had to try different designs before we figured it out: drawer 1 – copy – setting, drawer 2 – copy.

Presumably the goal is to push you towards its companion app, which means having a device in the kitchen – something not everyone will want to do. The other confusing aspect of “copying” is that foods cook faster in the smaller drawer, so their time is always less and is not actually copied.

While setting a drawer’s time and temperature is fairly simple, we found that beyond that, you’ll need the manual until you become familiar with the device.

This is partly because some buttons are represented by icons and are small. We had trouble telling them apart at a glance, and in broad daylight the entire screen can be dark. Other functions are misnamed: for example, to sync the two drawers, the icon is called “Time” – easily confused with the time buttons for changing the duration.

Its smaller drawer is compact and better suited for snacks and sides. This was evident when cooking the hash browns: we could only fit four in one apartment. However, we appreciated that there was a dedicated preset for frozen potatoes, which ran for 25 minutes at 200°C. Once the time was up, the hash browns were beautifully brown and crispy while remaining soft inside.

Rachel Ogden / Foundry

Rachel Ogden / Foundry

Rachel Ogden / Foundry

The other drawer, although significantly larger, can be adjusted well depending on what you are cooking. There’s less surface space than some simple six-quart air fryers: we were only able to squeeze in four overlapping chicken thighs.

There is, however, more headroom: its makers say it can accommodate a 1.5kg chicken. We used the chicken drumstick setting to cook the thighs, increasing the time from 25 minutes to 28 minutes since they had thicker parts. They come out with golden, crispy skin, cooked evenly to the bone and tender.

Then we made fresh chips from peeled, chipped, soaked and dried potato pieces mixed with oil. The fresh fries preset came in handy: it lasted longer than some, 32 minutes, and a lower temperature of 180°C instead of the usual 200°C.

Rachel Ogden / Foundry

Rachel Ogden / Foundry

Rachel Ogden / Foundry

However, it worked wonderfully: the chips were some of the crispiest we’ve been able to produce in an air fryer, and while there were a few pale bits hiding under the pile, the results were generally consistent. Shake alert was a default for this preset, however, we would have liked the noise to be louder – it could easily be missed if you were in another room.

Pricing and availability

The Philips 3000 Series Double Basket Air Fryer is available in the UK for £179.99. You can buy it from John Lewis and Currys in the gray and metallic colors of the review model we tested. Amazon also sells an all-black model for the same price. It is not yet available in the United States.

Its price in the UK is the same as the latest Ninja Foodi Max Dual-Drawer, which has a very similar feature set, including a sync function, and the same capacity, although split between two equally sized drawers . For ease of use, we think the Ninja has the Philips’ pace, but in terms of style, the Philips definitely wins. But there are two-basket models that are cheaper than either, such as Sharp’s double-drawer model, available for around £125.

For more recommendations, take a look at our roundup of the best air fryers of all types and brands, the best Ninja air fryers, and, for more capacity, the best air fryer ovens.

Should you buy the Philips 3000 Series Double Basket Air Fryer?

Philips has a reputation for creating reliable, durable, and efficient air fryers, and the 3000 Series Double Basket Air Fryer is no exception. We were pleased with its cooking performance for a variety of foods and that the drawers and inserts could then be put in the dishwasher. However, it’s not the easiest to use: by not providing proper instructions or clarity for certain features, it’s less suitable for those new to air frying, as well as those new to air frying. prefer not to take their cell phones into the kitchen.

Lack of guidance aside, if you’re making do with a smaller or poorly functioning model, this two-drawer dynamo is sure to shake up your air frying routine.