Sage Combi Wave™ 3 in 1 review

The Sage Combi Wave is easy to use, stylish, and has lots of exciting functions, including microwave, air fryer, convection oven and grill all in one. Our senior food editor Jessica Ransom tested it for our indepth review.

While some people can't live without a microwave because of how easy it is to cook or reheat certain foods, others, including Jessica, often decide it isn't worth the space it requires. However, a microwave that also performs as an oven, air fryer and grill is certainly worth considering.

The Sage Combi Wave looks sophisticated and the number of functions it can perform is impressive too. If you've ever wished for a little more oven space, this appliance is a real saviour. It's ideal for those evenings where you want to bake a cake but also need to cook dinner. With the Combi Wave, you could bake your sponge cake without worrying about contamination of flavours or delaying dinner.

If you're interested in the air fryer trend but don't want to commit to a standalone appliance because of space or you are worried you might not use it enough, the Combi Wave is a great solution. During testing, we used the microwave and oven functions most but it was useful to have the air fry option and with more time and experimentation we are sure it would become a great kitchen tool.

Design

Capacity - 32L Width - 51.9cm Height - 31.6cm Depth - 51.3cm

Accessories - Combi Crisp™ Pan Trivet

If you've avoided purchasing a microwave because they are often eyesores, you could be won over by this stylish, high-performance alternative. The modern brushed steel emphasises the sense this is a high-tech and high-quality appliance.

The display screen is bright, easy to read and we liked that you can mute the sounds. Inside the door, there are shortcut buttons with colourful illustrations.

These conflict with the sophisticated exterior but are not on display all the time and are very useful. We especially liked the ‘soften butter’ button which is excellent when baking.

It is easy to clean and incredibly quiet, which is a huge perk for those who have an open-plan kitchen, dining and living rooms. The soft-close door is brilliant and further accentuates the luxury aesthetic.

However, while it’s more space-efficient than having several appliances, it is big and requires a good chunk of counter space.

Ease of use

You can start using the Combi Wave as a microwave as soon as it’s plugged into the wall because it’s very user-friendly. You can adjust the power in 10 percent increments which gives you greater control when cooking, reheating or defrosting. This feature ensures the food isn’t overheated and the quality isn’t compromised.

The oven and air fryer both preheat in just three minutes and we found we used our main oven less because the Combi Wave was so convenient.

The only negatives we found were that the Crisp pan provided is quite small and isn’t big enough to cook chips for more than four servings. Our standard baking trays were too big so you’d potentially need to invest in new cookware tailored to the Combi Wave to optimise the internal space.

If you don’t set a long enough timer or you accidentally hit cancel, the Combi Wave resets back to the preheating mode, even if it was already at temperature for the oven or air fryer function, which can be frustrating.

Functions

• Smart Cook
• Smart Defrost
• Smart Reheat
• Fast Combi
• Cook From Frozen
• Air Fry
• Oven
• Microwave
• Grill
• A Bit More™
• Child Lock
• +30 Instant Start
• Turntable Off
• Shortcuts Panel

The air fryer function could become a kitchen staple but it requires a little research and experimentation in finding the right recipes. We made homemade chips and were impressed with how crisp they were despite using minimal oil.

Smart Cook selects the correct time, temperature and power for popular foods including rice, bacon, popcorn and nuggets. One flaw of the preset modes is the minimum and maximum weight requirements, which can be quite restrictive.

The Fast Combi takes a little getting used to but we followed the instructions for a baked potato and were very impressed with the results. The inside was light and fluffy and the outside was far crispier and tastier than a regular microwaved jacket potato.