Compact Microwaves for Small Kitchens

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The compact microwave category is narrower than it looks, because almost everything sold as compact is 0.7 cubic feet running at around 700 watts, and the differences are in details rather than performance. Understand what 700 watts means before you buy: it reheats a plate of food, softens butter, and cooks a jacket potato slowly, but packaged food instructions are typically written for 800 to 1000 watt ovens, so you will be adding roughly a third more time to most of them. The specification worth checking that manufacturers rarely highlight is turntable diameter, since a 0.7 cubic foot cavity does not guarantee that a standard 10 or 11 inch dinner plate will rotate without catching the door or the walls. Measure your own plates and compare. Look at how the door opens too, as a hinge on the left is awkward if the microwave sits in a right-hand corner, and a push-button release needs less clearance than a handle. On controls, a digital display with power levels is more useful than a long list of auto menus you will never learn; the features that genuinely earn their place are a defrost by weight, a quick 30 second start, and a mute option, which matters when the kitchen is close to where people sleep. Finally, respect the ventilation clearances in the manual, because a compact microwave squeezed tight into an alcove will run hot and fail early.