The CHEF iQ MiniOven is a countertop toaster oven with 11 basic cooking functions, including Air Fry, Bake, Roast, Broil, Dehydrate, Proof, Reheat, Slow Cook, Toast, and Keep Warm. Its touchscreen and CHEF iQ app also give you access to hundreds of food-specific presets and additional cooking programs. It also has a 13-inch pizza capacity, three rack positions, and compatibility with the separately sold iQ Sense thermometer.
Our Verdict
The CHEF iQ MiniOven is very good for mixed use. It performs well for both baking and air frying, with even heat throughout the chamber and mostly crispy results when air frying. Its roomy cooking chamber can fit a 13-inch pizza and also gives you three rack positions, while leftovers reheat evenly without drying out too much. Toasting is decent, though it's relatively slow, and results are also less even when you fill the toaster oven to maximum capacity.
Maintains fairly even temperatures throughout the chamber.
Spacious cooking chamber.
Offers three rack positions.
Wide range of basic cooking functions.
Toasts slowly.
Requires a CHEF iQ account during initial setup.
Preheating isn't the fastest.
The CHEF iQ MiniOven is good for reheating leftovers. It preheats in a reasonable amount of time and also maintains fairly even temperatures throughout the chamber, helping your food warm through without developing too many hot or cold spots. Its spacious cooking chamber also gives you enough room for larger portions or multiple servings at once.
Maintains fairly even temperatures throughout the chamber.
Temperature can fluctuate above and below the selected setting.
Preheating isn't the fastest.
The CHEF iQ MiniOven is very good for baking. Heat stays fairly even throughout the cooking chamber, so your baked goods should come out consistent from one side to the other. That said, the temperature can drift above and below your chosen setting and occasionally overshoot it.
Maintains fairly even temperatures throughout the chamber.
Offers three rack positions.
Temperature can fluctuate above and below the selected setting.
The CHEF iQ MiniOven is very good for air frying. Most fries come out crispy, with relatively few pieces left undercooked or overdone, and it also crisps food fairly quickly, so you won't be left waiting around for your fries, wings, vegetables, or whatever else you're air frying.
Fries batches of small foods uniformly.
Relatively few air-fried pieces are left undercooked.
Some pieces can still come out undercooked.
The CHEF iQ MiniOven is decent for toasting. It does a very good job with four slices, producing fairly even browning across the batch, but results are less consistent when you fill it to maximum capacity. It's also quite slow to toast, so it may not be the right fit if a quick breakfast matters to you.
Toast comes out pretty evenly browned.
Toasts slowly.
Toast is less even at maximum capacity.
The CHEF iQ MiniOven has a very good cooking capacity. Its chamber can fit up to a 13-inch pizza and also offers three rack positions, giving you lots of flexibility for different foods and cookware. There's also enough usable height for taller dishes, so it can handle larger portions and more substantial meals without much trouble, like whole roast chickens or deep casserole dishes.
Spacious cooking chamber.
Offers three rack positions.
Good usable height for taller foods and dishes.
Performance Usages
Changelog
- Updated Sep 03, 2026: Review published.
- Updated Aug 26, 2026: Our testers have started testing this product.
- Updated Jul 23, 2026: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
- Updated Jul 21, 2026: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.
Check Price
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The CHEF iQ MiniOven is only available in 'Black.' You can see the label for our unit.
If you discover another variant, let us know in the comments, and we'll update our review.
Popular Toaster Oven Comparisons
The CHEF iQ MiniOven is a premium smart toaster oven focused on app-connected cooking, with a relatively compact design. The CHEF iQ is much smaller and considerably better at air frying than the Anova Precision Oven 2.0, another premium smart oven, and it preheats much faster, too. Though the Anova does have an even larger cooking chamber and adds features the CHEF iQ lacks, like steam cooking and a built-in temperature probe, making it better suited to users specifically interested in combi cooking. The CHEF iQ also offers more rack positions, a larger pizza capacity, and much more extensive smart functionality than the Ninja French Door Premier FO101, a more budget-friendly and simpler French door model. However, the Ninja maintains more stable temperatures, toasts more evenly, and cooks more quickly in several uses. The CHEF iQ takes up less counter space and does a better job of air frying than the Breville the Joule Oven Air Fryer Pro (Toaster Oven), another premium option with smart features, though the Breville has a larger cooking chamber and maintains more stable temperatures.
For more to consider, see our recommendations for the best toaster ovens, the best small toaster ovens, and the best toaster oven/air fryers.
The Typhur Sync Oven is better overall than the CHEF iQ MiniOven, though both are premium smart toaster ovens with different strengths. The CHEF iQ is the stronger air fryer, producing a more consistently crisp batch, and it also gives you a much larger selection of food-specific presets directly on its touchscreen. The Typhur is the stronger oven for baking and reheating, because of its more stable temperatures, and it preheats a little faster. It also has slightly more cooking capacity and comes with a built-in wireless temperature probe that can track your food's internal temperature and stop cooking once it reaches your selected doneness.
The CHEF iQ MiniOven and Breville the Joule Oven Air Fryer Pro (Toaster Oven) are similarly capable overall, but each has a few clear advantages. The CHEF iQ air fries more evenly, preheats and toasts faster, and takes up much less counter space. Its large touchscreen also lets you access its food-specific presets directly on the oven instead of relying as heavily on the app. The Breville gives you more room inside and holds a steadier temperature, so it's better for baking and larger batches. It's also easier to clean, since the CHEF iQ's upper heating elements are a bit awkward to navigate around.
The CHEF iQ MiniOven is a better toaster oven than the NuWave Bravo XL Pro, though it’s also much pricier. The Chef iQ offers better performance for a range of uses. Unlike the NuWave, it maintains a stable temperature while cooking, making it a good choice for baking and reheating leftovers. The Chef iQ also toasts more evenly and a little faster. It comes out ahead for air frying, too, leaving more of each batch crispy and taking less time. It’s also larger and easier to clean.
The CHEF iQ MiniOven is better overall than the Anova Precision Oven 2.0 for most people. It's much better for everyday toaster oven tasks like air frying and toasting, and it also reheats leftovers more effectively. It preheats much faster and takes up considerably less counter space, despite still having a roomy chamber and three rack positions. The Anova is the more specialized appliance; its larger cooking chamber gives you more room for larger dishes, and its better temperature stability makes it better for baking. It also has features the CHEF iQ lacks, including steam cooking and a built-in temperature probe, which make it better suited to things like combi cooking and sous vide.
Test Results
The CHEF iQ MiniOven has a medium-sized footprint. It isn't especially wide, but it's fairly deep and tall, too, so it still takes up a decent amount of counter space and needs plenty of overhead clearance.
The cooking chamber is quite spacious. It can fit up to a 13-inch pizza and has three rack positions, too, giving you good flexibility for different foods and cookware. The chamber also has a decent amount of height, so it's better suited to taller dishes and larger portions than more compact toaster ovens.
- User guides
- Ceramic-coated baking tray 13.4 x 9.7" (34 x 24.7 cm)
- Ceramic-coated MiniRounds tray 13.3 x 10.5" (33.9 x 26.7 cm)
- Wire rack 14 x 11.8" (35.5 x 29.9 cm)
- Air fryer/dehydrator rack 14 x 11.8" (35.5 x 29.9 cm)
- Mini glide rack 14 x 11.8" (35.5 x 29.9 cm)
It has excellent cooking versatility. There are 11 basic cooking functions, including dedicated settings for air frying, baking, roasting, broiling, dehydrating, proofing, reheating, slow cooking, toasting, and keeping food warm. Depending on the function, you can also adjust the fan speed, and its wide temperature range lets you use it for everything from proofing dough at low temperatures to high-heat baking and broiling.
| Function | Temperature Range | Preheat | Default Fan Speed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air Fry | 300 °F–450 °F | No | High (fixed) |
| Bake | 200 °F–500 °F | Yes | Low |
| Roast | 200 °F–500 °F | Yes | Medium |
| Broil | Low (400 °F) or High (500 °F) | No | Off |
| Air Broil | Low (400 °F) or High (500 °F) | No | High |
| Dehydrate | 95 °F–165 °F | No | Low |
| Proof | 70 °F–130 °F | No | Off |
| Reheat | 200 °F–400 °F | No | Low |
| Slow Cook | 200 °F (Low) or 300 °F (High) | No | Low |
| Toast | 500 °F | No | Off |
| Keep Warm | 110 °F–200 °F | No | Low |
Its main selling point is its smart functionality. The touchscreen gives you access to hundreds of food-specific presets, too, with the manufacturer claiming to add more each month. You can see how the preset system and app work in our app tour video. You do need to create and link a CHEF iQ account during the initial setup before you can use the toaster oven, though. It doesn't have a built-in temperature probe, either, but it's compatible with the separately sold iQ Sense thermometer.
It's easy to clean. The enamel-coated baking tray wipes down without too much effort, and the lower heating elements are spaced far enough apart that you can reach underneath them once the crumb tray is removed. The four upper heating elements are more difficult to clean around, though, because of the tighter spacing. The exterior display is also easy enough to wipe down, but its glossy surface smudges easily. You can see the process in our cleaning video.
It toasts decently evenly at maximum capacity. Most of each slice gets reasonably consistent browning, so the batch looks fairly uniform overall. There's still some variation from slice to slice, though, and the two sides of the bread don't brown equally, with one face tending to come out noticeably lighter than the other.
It toasts four slices very evenly, with more consistent browning across the batch than when you fill the toaster oven to maximum capacity. There's still some variation between the two sides of each slice, though, but it's less pronounced than with a full load.
Air frying performance is very good. Most fries come out crispy, with relatively few pieces left undercooked or overdone, and it also crisps food fairly quickly, so you're not stuck waiting around for your food.
Preheat speed is decent, so you won't be waiting around too long before you can start cooking.
You'll get good temperature stability with this toaster oven. Temperatures stay very even throughout the cooking chamber, so your food should cook consistently from one side to the other, without one part finishing before the rest. Keep in mind, though, that the toaster oven does fluctuate around the selected temperature and can overshoot it during cooking, so you may not get quite as precise or predictable results as you'd expect.