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    5 Best Wall Oven-Microwave Combos of 2025, Tested and Reviewed

    These built-in models from Bosch, Frigidaire, and Whirlpool earn solid marks in Consumer Reports’ tests but cost more than two freestanding appliances

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    Samsung NQ70M7770DG wall oven-microwave combo with carrots and broccoli cooking
    Wall oven-microwave combos, like this one from Samsung, offer an upscale look for a premium price.
    Photo: Samsung

    The combo wall ovens in our ratings place a microwave oven atop a wall oven in a sleek, single package that frees up valuable countertop space.

    Sounds simple, right?

    In this article Arrow link
    More on Wall Ovens, Microwaves & Ranges

    Well, not so fast.

    “Wall ovens and microwaves are fairly different appliances,” says Kenneth Sutton, who oversees their testing for CR. Wall ovens rely on evenly circulating hot air to bake, roast, and broil evenly, he explains. Microwave ovens, on the other hand, generate waves to bounce around their interior cavity, causing water molecules in food to vibrate, producing heat in the process.

    And yet, Sutton says, manufacturers do manage to successfully integrate these two appliances with very different technologies and often in a way that allows both to work well. “But that didn’t always happen in the models we tested,” he says.

    Read on for our selection of the five best wall oven-microwave combos from our tests. To find out how the rest of the models we evaluated did, see our comprehensive wall oven ratings, where you can filter for price, brand, size, and other features that are important to you.

    Best Wall Oven-Microwave Combos

    The best wall oven-microwave combos are great at baking and broiling—plus they offer plenty of space. Here are the five models that top our charts.

    How CR Tests Wall Oven-Microwave Combos

    Our test engineers use a combination of scientific measurements and real-world baking to assess wall ovens. First, we bake cakes and cookies on multiple racks and look for even browning. Next, we use specialized high-heat thermometers, called thermocouples, mounted to a broiler pan and look for broilers that heat evenly while still getting the heating element hot enough to sear food.

    We measure the usable space of every oven to assess oven capacity, because some manufacturers count space that you can’t actually use, below the lowest rack position. Last, we bake a mixture of foods, including tapioca, egg, and pie filling, onto the walls of every oven, then run the self-clean cycle to gauge how well it works. 

    For microwaves, we assess how fast and how evenly the ovens heat. The speed score in our microwave ratings is based on how fast a microwave heats 1 liter of room-temperature water. For heating evenness, we heat a bowl of cold mashed potatoes for 10 minutes, then take temperature readings in 20 spots.

    How CR Picks the Best Wall Oven-Microwave Combos

    The performance of wall oven-microwave combos varies considerably, with the best model scoring almost 50 points higher than the worst on our 100-point overall scale. Our top picks have the following in common.

    • They’re good at baking. Every model we recommend earns a satisfactory score or better in this test. That’s arguably the most important function of a combo wall oven. 
    • They’re strong broilers. The top combo wall ovens broil evenly and get hot enough to sear food at high temperatures. 
    • There’s plenty of usable space. The best wall oven-microwave combos featured here have generously sized primary ovens for baking or roasting on multiple racks at once. 
    • They’re easy to clean. The models we’ve selected here have effective self-cleaning cycles that don’t require excessive scrubbing to get the job done.
    • They defrost evenly. The microwave component of each of these top models can evenly defrost frozen foods.

    Is a Wall Oven-Microwave Combo Worth It?

    It offers a streamlined look that preserves precious counter space, making it a reasonable choice if you’re short on space and your budget is flexible.

    Combo units start at over $2,000 and can top $6,000. That’s significantly more than you’d pay for an entry-level wall oven and a freestanding microwave. If you’re really looking for a cost-effective kitchen, a range paired with a freestanding microwave is the most budget-friendly option. The ranges in our ratings start around $900, and you can snag many microwaves for under $150, with even the top models priced under $500.

    Nevertheless, a combo appliance may make sense if your kitchen already has a separate cooktop and wall oven, and you’re looking to replace the latter while also adding a built-in microwave into the mix. But if you bake frequently—and often tackle ambitious multicourse menus with different items that cook at different temperatures—it may be more helpful to opt for a double wall oven and buy a less expensive separate microwave instead.

    Already have a range in your kitchen? You can certainly install a separate wall oven-microwave combo, too, but it makes sense only if you’re an avid cook who’ll often use both ovens at the same time. Otherwise, this option is a waste of space and money.

    We also don’t recommend wall oven-microwave combos if you depend on the microwave for a lot of your meals. Our freestanding microwave ratings include options that offer far better performance (such as more even heating) than those you’ll typically find built into a wall oven-microwave combo—and they all cost much, much less.


    Paul Hope

    Paul Hope is a Home & DIY Editor at Consumer Reports and a trained chef. He covers ranges, cooktops, and wall ovens, as well as grills, drills, outdoor power tools, decking, and wood stains. Before joining CR in 2016, he tested kitchen products at Good Housekeeping and covered tools and remodeling for This Old House magazine. You’ll typically find him in his old fixer-upper, engrossed in a DIY project or trying out a new recipe.

    Allen St. John

    Allen St. John has been a senior product editor at CR since 2016, focusing on digital privacy, audio devices, printers, and home products. He was a senior editor at Condé Nast and a contributing editor at publications including Road & Track and The Village Voice. A New York Times bestselling author, he's also written for The New York Times Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and Rolling Stone. He lives in Montclair, N.J., with his wife, their two children, and their dog, Rugby.