Philips Avent Fast Bottle Warmer review

The Philips Avent Fast Bottle Warmer gets our vote as the best bottle warmer overall. We asked mum Nansi Hitchman to test it with her baby Jesse, 12 months.

The Philips Avent Fast Bottle Warmer is neat and compact and does a brilliant job of quickly heating milk or baby food to the optimum temperature. It even keeps it warm for up to 60 minutes.

This bottle warmer is quick and easy to use,  warms your baby's bottle in minutes - and even checks the temperature for you. It has a smart temperature control, so you can gently warm milk and baby food and get it just right. That means no overheating bottles and then waiting for them to cool down.

Design

Dimensions: 160.4 x 139.9 x 148.55  mm | Batteries required: No

This is a well-designed bottle warmer. Our first impression is that the needs of parents have been taken into account in the design process. Our favourite feature is the smart temperature control, which means you can adjust the heating pattern in order to warm your baby's feed or milk to the perfect temperature. Simply set the milk volume, press the start button, and then let the bottle warmer do the rest for you.

This bottle warmer has a particularly nifty design feature that impressed us. It's designed to fit Philips Avent bottles, but it's actually compatible with most brands of baby food jars and baby bottles. Again, anything that makes life easier for mums and dads is a winner in our book. Not having to stick to certain bottles or brands of baby food is a real plus.

This is a compact, practical bottle warmer that won't take up lots of kitchen space. Our tester found it easy to set up and use, so you'll like it if you're a fan of straightforward kitchen gadgets without loads of fiddly extra features. "I was able to set this up and start using it within seconds of unpacking it, and it's very easy to use," says Nansi. "Instead of filling a fiddly bottle, which has to be fitted to the warmer, you pour the water directly into the warmer itself. I like this design feature very much."

Comfort and features

Not only does this bottle warmer detect the milk's initial temperature and warm it to the ideal temperature, it also keeps it at that temperature for up to 60 minutes. If you've ever started warming your baby's bottle, only to realise that your little one has rolled over and gone back to sleep for a little longer, you'll appreciate just how practical this feature is. It also means you've got lots of flexibility around mealtimes. For example, you don't need to fret if you warm up the food but your little one decides they're not yet hungry. Anything that helps reduce stress at mealtimes, which this does, is a bonus.

Nansi found this bottle warmer took about three minutes to heat her baby's bottles. "The machine has an easy-to-use dial to select how many ounces you want to warm, and the 'on' button lights up to indicate when the bottle is ready," she says. "The warmer maintains the heat for up to 60 minutes without overheating it, too."

You don't need to consign this bottle warmer to the back of a cupboard when your baby starts moving on to solid foods, either. It's also brilliant for defrosting and warming your little one's meals once they start weaning off milk and on to solid food, as you can use it to warm baby food containers too.  This also means you can stock the freezer with extra milk and baby food, safe in the knowledge that you can quickly defrost and reheat as needed.

As there's only one piece to this bit of kit, it's super easy to clean. And since mealtimes with little ones can get messy – and no-one wants to spend longer than necessary in the kitchen – we think the easy clean nature of this product is especially brilliant.

Value for money

What impressed our tester most about the Philips Avent Fast Bottle Warmer was the smart temperature control feature. "It can detect the starting temperature of the milk in order to reach the best temperature every time," says Nansi, mum to one-year-old Jesse. "I can warm 5oz of milk in three minutes, and it even has a defrost option. The easy-to-use status display shows you clearly when your milk is ready, and the bottle warmer keeps the temperature constant for up to 60mins and prevents overheating."

It's difficult to overstate how handy the smart temperature control feature is. There's no denying it; feeding time can be stressful with a baby. Little ones aren't usually good at waiting when they're hungry, and soothing a fractious baby whilst fiddling with a complicated bottle warmer is no fun. In contrast, using the Philips Avent Fast Bottle Warmer is stress-free.  It does exactly what you need it to, promptly and efficiently. It's also easy to clean when you're finished. Factor in that it's also compactly designed. This means it doesn't take up lots of space on your kitchen counter. It's clear to see why we think this is the best bottle warmer money can buy.

Looking for a reasonably-priced bottle warmer that looks good in the kitchen and does a great job? Good news – you've found it. "It does everything I would expect or want it to for the price," adds Nansi. "The compact design works well in any kitchen. It looks good, and it's small enough that you can easily pack it away when it's not in use. Or you could leave it on the counter without it taking up too much room."

This gets our vote as the best bottle warmer overall but you might also like to read our Tommee Tippee All-in-One Advanced Baby Bottle and Pouch Warmer review – it’s the best premium bottle warmer, according to our parent reviews. And don’t forget to check out the rest of our baby product reviews.

• Best bottle warmers