Philips 4000 Series Stacked Dual Basket Airfryer Review

Air fryers have earned a permanent place in most kitchens, and the worktop has been the main casualty — particularly with dual-basket models, which sprawl sideways. The manufacturers' answer has been to stack the two baskets instead of setting them side by side, and this Philips is one of the results.

The footprint is still notable. The unit measures roughly 46.9 cm deep, 39.9 cm tall and 23.3 cm wide, and weighs 9.0 kg. Stacking buys back bench width rather than eliminating bulk, so in a small kitchen it remains an appliance you find a home for rather than one you tuck away.

Philips uses glossy plastics with its familiar styling, and the machine comes in three finishes: plain black, black and gold, and black and silver. The unit sold in the UK is the plain black version.

The touch interface sits on the front, which puts it naturally in your eyeline but also means it collects fingerprints, especially mid-cook. Worth knowing before you position it: the hot-air exhaust is on the left-hand side. In warm weather that heats the room noticeably, and it means keeping the whole left side of the worktop clear.

The plastics around the baskets invite some scepticism. Older Philips air fryers have had durability complaints on exactly this point, and the surrounds do not feel especially substantial. The 1 m power cable is also on the short side for some layouts.

Each basket has a removable grille that washes by hand or in the dishwasher, and a window so you can watch progress without pulling the drawer out.

The two baskets are the same size, at 5 litres each for 10 litres in total. That capacity is the main practical limit: 5 litres will not stretch to a pinsa or to baking for several people. It is a common constraint across the category rather than a specific failing here, and it will be ample for most everyday cooking — but it is the reason an air fryer cannot straightforwardly replace an oven.

The good news is the coating. Both baskets use a ceramic non-stick finish in place of the PFAS coatings found on earlier generations. Ceramic is a sound material that does not release harmful compounds at high temperature, and it wipes clean easily with a sponge and washing-up liquid.

The point of a stacked twin-basket design is that you can cook in the two drawers separately or in sync, finishing both at the same moment. The machine reaches 200 °C, and there are presets for frozen chips, meat, fish, vegetables, chicken drumsticks and reheating.

Other conveniences include duplicating a time and temperature from one basket to the other, a shake reminder partway through, and a light for looking inside the drawers.

It takes a few attempts to find your feet, as air-fryer cooking always does. Meat is the trickiest thing to get right — a minute of inattention is the difference between properly cooked and unpleasantly chewy. Fish, by contrast, comes out excellent, with pearly fillets. Vegetables do well too, though results vary with how thickly you have cut them; roast courgettes, aubergines and onions together and the aubergine will lag behind the rest.

One thing to expect: preheating is built into the cooking programme rather than run separately, so having to add a little time is normal rather than a fault.

Batter needs care. For tempura or anything similar, make sure the coating is properly bound or it will simply drop through into the bottom of the basket. Lining the grille with baking paper is a reliable way round it.

It is also worth dispelling a common assumption: an air fryer is not the ideal tool for fresh chips. It is at its best with frozen potato products — chips, croquettes, potato puffs. Fresh chips will come out only vaguely crisp, and only if you add a tablespoon of oil.

The RapidAir system cooks fairly evenly, and the open grilles let excess oil drain away during cooking. Inside each compartment there is a heating element above the basket and a fan at the bottom that circulates the heat.

The clearest annoyance is the racket. Measured at 1 m, the machine reached up to 61 dB, which is a lot for an appliance of this kind and becomes wearing in a closed kitchen.

Maintenance is otherwise straightforward. The grilles in the bottom of the baskets lift out and wash by hand or in the machine, and the baskets themselves need little more than a sponge and a dry. The body benefits from a regular wipe, since dust and fingerprints build up quickly on the gloss.

The air fryer comes with the HomeID companion app, which holds the manual and an FAQ and doubles as a recipe book — including standard recipes for trying out each cooking mode. Its real appeal is the community side, where other Philips air fryer owners share their own recipes and results.

The limitation is that the app is entirely optional, because this is not a connected model with Wi-Fi. You cannot start the machine from your phone, which is understandable on safety grounds, but nor can you watch the remaining time live or receive the shake prompt on your handset.

On Amazon UK this is the 4000 Series Stacked Dual Basket Airfryer, model NA460/09, listed at £159.81 against an RRP of £269.99, with stock running low at the time of checking.

Two further points count in its favour on ownership: the machine carries a two-year guarantee, and Philips commits to spare parts availability for eleven years. Prioritising repairability over replacement is one of the company's stated positions, and on an appliance of this kind it matters.

For comparison, the Cosori Turbo Tower Pro Smart takes a different approach, running a little quieter and heating from beneath the basket, though it has an English-only interface, no window for checking on your food and a higher starting price.

Simple to get to grips with, evenly cooking, and genuinely useful for the way the two baskets can be synchronised to finish together. Against that, it is noisy at 61 dB, the plastics look less robust than they should, the side exhaust dictates where you can put it, and 5 litres per drawer is not generous. As a stacked twin-basket air fryer that reclaims worktop width, though, it does the job it was designed for.