Treats such as fries and chicken wings are delicious, but as they’re usually deep-fried in gallons of oil, they’re unsuitable for those looking to keep their calorie consumption down.
This is where an air fryer can help. It uses hot air to crisp and evenly brown foods to create much healthier versions of your favorite fried foods. Instant, the brand behind the Instant Pot multi-cooker, is now one of the biggest names in the air fryer market, and its Instant Vortex Plus model previously topped our list of the best air fryers .
Now the brand has unveiled a new and improved version, the Instant Vortex Plus 6-in-1 Air Fryer with ClearCook and OdourEase , which builds on the air fryer with the inclusion of a window in the frying basket, a light in the cooking cavity and a filter to remove smells - and has superseded the standard Vortex Plus at the top of our listings.
Unsurprisingly, with more features, it’s more expensive than its predecessor too. With both air fryers still available, will spending $30 / £30 more on the list price of this handy kitchen gadget really make a difference when it comes to creating crisp crunchy fries?
We pitted the two Instant Vortex Plus air fryers head-to-head by cooking up both homemade and frozen fries, along with chicken wings to find out, to help you choose the right appliance for your kitchen.
Best Instant Vortex Plus and Instant Vortex Plus 6-in1 air fryer deals
Read on to discover how these two air fryers compare – or, if you’ve already decided which of the two you wish to buy, check out the best prices for each right now:
Price
Before we get down to the nitty-gritty on just how these air fryers differ when it comes to features and performance, let’s start with price.
Instant’s air fryers are some of the more expensive designs on the market right now, as the average air fryer will set you back between $60 / £50 / AU$100 and $100 / £100 / AU$250 . The Instant Vortex Plus is the cheaper of two, and will set you back $119.95 / £119.99 / AU$269 , while the Instant Vortex Plus 6-in-1 Air Fryer is slightly pricer at £149.99 / $149.99 , and isn’t currently available in Australia.
The Instant Vortex Plus 6-in-1 Air Fryer is also available in a two basket version, known as the Instant Vortex Plus Dual Drawer Air Fryer , which has two separate cooking cavities so you can cook two different foods at once and is priced at $179.99 / £199.99 .
Design
The two air fryers have strikingly different designs. The Instant Vortex Plus looks similar to its sibling, the Instant Vortex, with a square design that combines black plastic with chrome accents, including a stylish metal top.
There are touch controls on the front of the air fryer, at the top that let you select the desired cooking mode, while a dial lets you adjust the cooking duration and temperature, in increments of three degrees. Below this sits the frying basket with a crisper plate to hold to the food during cooking.
The Instant Vortex Plus 6-in-1 Air Fryer with ClearCook and OdourEase, however, has a slightly more compact design, and is 3 inches narrower than its predecessor, but almost an inch taller.
It has an angled front, where you can find the touch controls to select the cooking mode, and a dial that lets you tweak the cooking duration and temperature, this time in one-degree increments.
It has far fewer chrome accents than the Instant Vortex Plus, instead opting for a glossy back finish on the majority of the air fryer.
Below this is the frying basket, although, unlike the Vortex Plus, this model has a plastic window in the front that, when coupled with the light in the cooking cavity, lets you keep an eye on your food while it's browning. Inside the frying basket is a crisper plate, and both components are dishwasher-safe, unlike on the Vortex Plus where only the crisper plate can be cleaned in a dishwasher.
Both air fryers have a 6-quart / 5.7 liter capacity and offer a cooking temperature range from 95 F / 35 C to 400 F / 205. The pair can cook for up to 72 hours on the lowest temperature settings, although when used at maximum temperature, both offer a cooking duration of up to 60 minutes.
Features on test
When it comes to crisping and browning foods, both air fryers excelled when it came to preparing fries and chicken wings. Both turned out crisp, crunchy homemade fries that had soft, fluffy potato inside, and succulent chicken wings that combined juicy meat with a crisp skin.
The pair can also both roast, bake, grill, reheat, and dehydrate, as well as air fry. In fact, the air fryers were identical when it came to cooking, it’s the additional features that really sets the pair apart.
We found the ClearCook window, along with the light in the cooking cavity of the Instant Vortex Plus 6-in-1 air fryer, extremely useful for keeping an eye on food during cooking.
It was easy to see how things were progressing, compared to with the Instant Vortex Plus, which required us to open the frying basket, subsequently reducing the temperature of the cooking chamber, and affecting how evenly the air fryer browned and crisped foods.
The OdourErase technology, which uses built-in air filters to reduce cooking smells wafting through your home, also excelled at reducing cooking smells when using the air fryer. The Instant Vortex Plus 6-in-1 Air Fryer was also slightly quieter in use than the Vortex Plus, measuring just 51.7db on our decibel meter, compared to 64db.
Verdict
When it comes to choosing the best air fryer, both the Instant Vortex Plus and the Instant Vortex Plus 6-in-1 with ClearCook and OdourEase can turn out crisp crunchy fries and chicken wings, and are speedier than using traditional cooking methods.
If you can stretch to the additional $30 / £30 the Instant Vortex Plus 6-in-1 Air Fryer with ClearCook and OdourEase is well worth the extra investment. Not only does it let you keep an eye on your food easily without expecting the evenness of browning and crisping because of temperature fluctuations in the cooking chamber, it also reduces smells emitted and is quieter in use too.
However, for those on a tighter budget, the Instant Vortex Plus is still one of the best air fryers on the market right now.
Realme GT 2 global launch date confirmed for MWC 2022
If you’ve been waiting for the Realme GT 2 or its sibling the Realme GT 2 Pro then your wait is almost over, as the company has confirmed that these phones will get their global announcement at MWC 2022 on February 28.
This news was delivered during the announcement of the Realme 9 Pro range, so February is a busy month for Realme, with its latest mid-range smartphone series having just been announced and the high-end Realme GT 2 range just weeks away.
That said, you don’t have to wait until MWC 2022 to learn all about the Realme GT 2 range, as the company actually announced the phones in China back in January.
So the fact that a global launch is happening confirms that these phones will soon be more widely available, but the main new details we’re expecting to learn include exactly when and where you’ll be able to buy the Realme GT 2 and its sibling, and how much they’ll cost.
For reference, the original Realme GT cost €449 (around $550 / £390 / AU$710), so despite these being high-end phones they’re likely to significantly undercut the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S22 range and the iPhone 13 range. They also probably won’t be as widely available though.
Analysis: what we know about the Realme GT 2
So while we’re waiting on price and availability details, we already know almost all the specs of the Realme GT 2 range.
The standard model has a 6.62-inch 1080 x 2400 AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, a Snapdragon 888 chipset, up to 12GB of RAM, up to 256GB of storage, a triple-lens rear camera headlined by a 50MP sensor, and a 5,000mAh battery with 65W charging.
The Realme GT 2 Pro has a 6.7-inch 1440 x 3216 AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, a top-end Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, up to 12GB of RAM, up to 512GB of storage, a 5,000mAh battery with 65W charging, and a triple-lens camera with a 50MP main sensor, a 50MP ultra-wide one, and a 3MP microscope camera that can magnify objects by up to 40x.
PC builders rejoice – NZXT H1 has returned
NZXT has announced that its iconic H1 PC case is being relaunched as the H1 V2, offering a built-in power supply, AIO CPU cooler and riser cable within a compact design that can free up precious space on your desk or floor.
The H1 V2 will go on sale on Feb 21 for $399.99 / €399.99 / AU$599.99 (roughly £340) on the NZXT website and is available in either white or black to match other products within the monochromatic NZXT family.
While this feels pricey for a PC case, it's certainly not unheard of as specialized cases can cost a pretty penny, and it's worth noting that you're also getting a 750W Gold rated SFX power supply, Gen 4 PCIe Riser cable and an AIO CPU cooler included for that price.
It's also worth considering that this will take most of the frustrations out of building into an unusually-shaped case, negating the need to carefully look up dimensions for a CPU cooler, as well as the lack of market variety currently available for small-form-factor power supplies. Better yet, this new version of the H1 is slightly larger to offer improved airflow and allows the installation of most of the best graphics cards on the market despite that compact size.
The H1 V2 still retains most of the stylings that made it so desirable when it first launched back in 2017, with a compact 'tower' style build that many have compared to the Xbox Series X console . That version had to be recalled due to issues with the PCIe riser cable, but its absence was sorely felt by those who appreciated its unique design and compact size.
To put your mind at ease, NZXT addressed this within the official launch press release, stating: "We have reworked the original riser design from the H1 and learned a great deal from the original case and listened to community feedback. The H1 features a custom-designed PCB and we worked closely with a new vendor, using a more rigorous QA process to make sure each H1 upholds high quality and safety standards."
Opinion: full tower cases are old news
If you've been present in the PC gaming or building scene for a while, then you're likely familiar with hulking full-sized ATX cases . These used to be more prevalent back in the early 2010's as people prioritized space for expansion and airflow, as well as just being the favored style of the time.
Fast forward to the last few years though, and you'll notice that PC cases are getting smaller and more modular, allowing enthusiasts to create compact builds without having to sacrifice thermals or performance. Motherboards and power supplies are getting smaller to accommodate modern demands too, leaving full-tower PC cases looking a little dated.
They still have their place of course – it's easier to build custom water-cooling loops into a larger case, but even mid-sized towers are capable of that kind of modding. As Covid has pushed more of us into working from home, space is becoming a precious commodity.
I'm willing to bet that more brands are going to start releasing small-form-factor cases to appeal to this new market that wants to cram the full power of a PC into a discreet build, especially one that can accommodate a full-sized GeForce RTX 3090 and suitable power supply to run it.