Ninja Air Fryer Pro 4.7l AF140UK review: A space-saving air fryer that will fit into your kitchen

If one of the best small air fryers is on your shopping list, Ninja’s Air Fryer Pro 4.7l AF140UK is well worth a look. While not as dinky as some, it’s a shorter version of the Ninja Air Fryer Max Pro 6.2l AF180UK, combining some of its most useful features with a reduced height.

This means that you’ll still be able to cook most of what a larger model will – air fry homemade chips, roast a whole chicken and crisp up food from the freezer fast – while saving on storage space. Its design and functionality might have been slightly trimmed in comparison to its bigger sibling, you’ll still find a dehydrate preset – great for drying fruit and herbs, and making jerky – and reheat, an essential for busy lifestyles.

Many of its advantages are the same as the AF180UK. You’ll find Ninja’s easy to use controls, a dishwasher-safe drawer and removable crisper plate for fuss-free maintenance, excellent cooking and plenty of guidance and recipes for getting the most out of it – something many air fryer manufacturers overlook.

Ninja Air Fryer Pro 4.7l AF140UK review: What do you get for the money?

Given that the best small air fryers vary in size and capacity, Ninja’s Air Fryer Pro AF140UK offers more cooking space inside than most – a decent 4.7l compared to the 4l of Zwilling’s air fryer, or the even smaller Tower T17023 2.2l air fryer. This allows you to cook a whole 1kg chicken, up to four burgers, 700g of frozen chips (or 500g of fresh) or eight sausages.

As you might expect, it’s slightly cheaper than the 6.2l AF180UK – but not by much. There are other clear differences between the two though: while the bigger model has six presets, Ninja’s Air Fryer Pro AF140UK has just four, the bake and Max Crisp functions being omitted in favour of a capsule collection of air fry, roast, reheat and dehydrate.

The top temperature on the Pro AF140UK is 210°C, compared to the speedy 240°C offered by the 6.2l AF180UK; that’s still plenty of heat for most foods, but treats from the freezer can take a little longer to crisp up. Its crisper plate also isn’t as versatile in terms of position – you won’t be able to mount it higher up like the one in the 6.2l AF180UK – but the plus of that is that it’s marginally bigger at 21.5 x 21.5cm (WD).

In terms of other dimensions, the most significant difference is the Pro AF140UK’s height (reduced by 4cm), which allows it to scoot below kitchen wall units with ease: 28.5 x 36 x 26.5cm (WDH). It’s lighter too: a weight of 4.8kg makes it that bit easier to stash in a cupboard when not in use.

The Pro AF140UK comes with a lower wattage of 1,750W compared to the 6.2l AF180UK (2,000W), despite this, its power usage of 0.617 kWh of electricity at 200°C for an hour wasn’t much less (0.624 kWh). At a rate of £0.25 per unit, this would cost around £0.15.

Ninja Air Fryer Pro 4.7l AF140UK review: What’s it like to use?

One aspect I always appreciate when reviewing an air fryer is cooking guidance and the Pro AF140UK has plenty, all tailored to its capacity. As well as some recipes to get you started, there’s an easy-to-follow cooking chart advising on times, temperatures and amounts for different food. The Pro AF140UK’s buttons are all named, too, which adds to the ease of use.

Like the 6.2l AF180UK there’s no manual setting: it’s a case of choosing a preset and altering it to suit by toggling time and temperature. How much you can do this depends on the setting: for example, dehydrate runs at 40-90°C for up to 12 hours and you can roast for up to four hours. For the longer cooking durations, you can hold the time buttons down and they will skip up or down by 30 minutes at a time.

Most importantly, the Pro AF140UK is as well designed as the larger model. Its drawer and crisper tray are non-stick coated so they’re simple to clean by hand, and they’re dishwasher-safe, which is useful if you’re time-poor. There’s a good clear display that’s visible several steps away and Ninja’s distinctive beep to let you know when food is cooked, so you don’t have to be nearby. It would be useful if it had a shake reminder too but that’s a minor niggle.

Ninja Air Fryer Pro 4.7l AF140UK review: How well does it cook?

For anyone who’s owned an average-sized air fryer, the slightly more limited capacity of the Ninja Air Fryer Pro 4.7l AF140UK could take some adjustment. It’s unlikely to be enough to cater for a family for example. However, I was still surprised at what I was able to fit into the drawer.

I started by crisping up frozen food: I was able to fit in five hash browns with plenty of room to move around, though you could squeeze in a couple more jigsaw-style. The recommended time and temperature was 180°C for 20 minutes, so I chose the roast setting with the temperature reduced from the default of 190°C and the time, from 15 minutes to twenty. I shook the basket halfway through. Once finished, the hash browns were crispier on the top than the bottom, so could have benefited from being turned rather than shaken.

Next, I made homemade chips using around 500g of peeled, soaked and dried potato tossed in a small amount of oil. As per the advice, these were cooked on the air fry setting (200°C) extended to 24 minutes and shaken throughout cooking. The finished chips were very crisp at the ends, browned and consistent overall, with no pale pieces and a good amount of crunch. The potato inside was fluffy and perfectly cooked.

The Ninja Air Fryer Pro 4.7l AF140UK has enough capacity in the drawer for a whole chicken, but the maximum stated weight is 1kg. I struggled to find a small enough bird, which is definitely evidence of a flaw in the design. However, I was able to buy a 1.3kg chicken, which, when slightly flattened, managed to just fit. Settings for a 1kg chicken were 30 minutes at 190°C, the default roast temperature, but as my bird was heavier, I added five minutes. The chicken was turned halfway through cooking and emerged with crisp, golden skin. Its meat was moist but a little pink in the middle and needed extra time to be thoroughly cooked.

Ninja Air Fryer Pro 4.7l AF140UK review: Should you buy it?

There are a lot of good reasons to choose the Ninja Air Fryer Pro 4.7l AF140UK as your air fryer: it’s more affordable than the similar 6.2l AF180UK, cooks almost as well, has a good selection of functions if most of what you’ll be doing is air frying and roasting, and is low maintenance. Plus, it’s no space hog.

In addition to this, the amount of guidance and simple controls make it a perfect choice for those new to air frying, or those who may not use it on a daily basis. And while its size would be limiting for families, it’s perfectly suited to those in solo households or couples.

However, its score reflects the fact that it’s not an all-rounder of an air fryer: fitting a whole chicken in relies on buying one that’s small enough; the functions could be limiting; and there’s not a lot of space in the drawer to shake larger amounts of food. For that, one of the best air fryers, such as the Instant Vortex Plus Dual Drawer, might be a better buy.