The aerial fryer was primitively seen arsenic a blameworthy pleasure. A countertop instrumentality for those wanting crisper French fries and a cleaner conscience. It was ne'er regarded arsenic indispensable infrastructure. However, erstwhile LPG proviso became unreliable, perceptions changed.
The Philips OneChef arrives astatine this moment, a ₹19,995 appliance launched successful Mumbai past week that offers 33 cooking functions successful a azygous pot. Air fry, disturbance fry, steam, boil, curry, bake, roast. One device, 1 plug, 1 happening to clean. It is simply a compelling transportation anytime. In a twelvemonth erstwhile LPG shortages person made households reconsider their dependence connected state burners, it arrives with a caller consciousness of urgency.
But the OneChef does not get connected its own. It lands successful a vibrant marketplace filled with steam aerial fryer ovens, electrical multicookers, glass-bowl aerial fryers, and full-fledged room robots, each addressing a somewhat antithetic facet of the aforesaid room challenge. For consumers investing ₹12,000 to ₹50,000 successful a countertop appliance, the existent question is not whether to take electric, but which electrical mentation champion suits their unsocial cooking style.

A pistillate is utilizing an aerial fryer to hole grilled chickenhearted successful her kitchen, focusing connected a healthier cooking method with minimal oil. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
What the OneChef does, and what it softly does not
The OneChef is, astatine its core, an evolved aerial fryer successful a pot-shaped body. Powered by Philips’ AmbiHeat exertion (which, successful plain terms, means vigor circulating from each sides simultaneously alternatively than from a azygous constituent below, speechmaking and adjusting somesthesia arsenic it goes), it uses intelligent somesthesia sensors and 360-degree heating to accommodate crossed cooking modes. The six-litre capableness feeds a household of 4 to six. It ships with a cooking pot, a solid lid, an air-frying rack, an idli plate, and a steaming basket. The idli sheet is simply a astute section touch; Chef Ranveer Brar, who curated the motorboat event, reportedly spent a year-and-a-half moving with Versuni connected calibrating it for Indian recipes.
The spec expanse reveals immoderate constraints worthy sitting with. For starters the OneChef draws 2,280 watts, which means it needs a dedicated 15A socket. Running it disconnected a bladed hold portion is inadvisable. The cord is 1.8 meters long, decent but not generous if your lone 15A outlet sits down the fridge. The timer caps astatine 60 minutes, which rules retired thing that requires a long, dilatory cook: nary overnight nihari, nary six-hour pulled pork, nary dal makhani simmering to depth. The portion weighs 6.2 kilograms. This is not thing you propulsion retired of a furniture and enactment away. It lives connected the counter, occupying a astir 36 x 39-centimetre footprint (think of a ample unit cooker that has decided it lives connected your antagonistic now).

Meat stewed with potatoes, carrots, tomatoes and spices successful modern multi cooker connected room table. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
On that note, astir critically, the OneChef does not unit cook. There is nary slow-cooker mode, nary yogurt function, and nary sous-vide feature. There is nary Wi-Fi connectivity, contempt mentions of the Philips HomeID app successful immoderate retail listings. For a household wherever regular routines impact pressure-cooked dal and rice, this does not regenerate what you already have; it simply sits alongside.
The existent competitory landscape
In aerial fry mode, the OneChef performs good with 360-degree heating providing adjacent results, suitable for reheating, crisping, oregon vegetables. However, it lags down steam aerial fryer ovens similar Nutricook Steami X and Nester Full Stack, which person larger cavities, multi-rack capacity, and tin tally steam and aerial fry together. The OneChef uses 1 rack astatine a time, requiring sequential cooking, which is little businesslike for a afloat meal. Its show is capable but constricted compared to similar-priced competitors that tin grip larger oregon much analyzable tasks successful a azygous vessel.
It’s tempting to comparison the OneChef with different multicookers, but that tin beryllium misleading since these products code antithetic issues. Additionally, the Indian marketplace has softly divided into 4 unsocial categories.

Philips OneChef | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Pressure-first multicookers similar the Instant Pot Duo (around ₹11,990 for the six-litre), Nutricook Smart Pot 2 (₹9,999), and the Geek Robocook Zeta (approximately ₹7,500) are built for accelerated one-pot Indian cooking. They unit cook, dilatory cook, marque yogurt, and sauté. The Geek Robocook adjacent features 13 Indian presets for dal, channa, biryani, and sambar. However, nary of them tin aerial fry.
Steam aerial fryer ovens are the closest competitors successful the aforesaid terms scope arsenic the OneChef. The Nutricook Steami X (₹19,999) offers 10-in-1 features with a 24-litre stainless alloy interior, existent steam technology, and multi-rack cooking astatine 2,200 watts. The Nester Full Stack (around ₹18,999) includes SteamLock exertion and 4 cooking layers successful a 16-litre oven-style design. The Usha iChef Steam Oven (about ₹25,990) comes with 39 preset menus and 11 functions, including dedicated steam, fryer, and combo modes. All 3 tin cook a pizza, roast a chicken, and steam vegetables successful ample quantities. The OneChef cannot bash immoderate of those, but it tin marque a curry from scratch successful its pot, which nary of these oven-based devices tin do.
Glass aerial fryers are the newest entrant, and possibly the astir absorbing for health-conscious consumers. The EDT Luma (₹11,999) is India’s archetypal afloat transparent borosilicate solid aerial fryer: 7-in-1 functionality, dual bowls (2.5L and 4.5L), 1,500 watts, and a 16A Indian plug. It carries zero coatings of immoderate kind. Kilig offers a akin glass-basket approach. These are simpler devices with less functions, but they airs a question nary of the others is consenting to face head-on.
The coating question cipher is asking loudly enough
Every countertop appliance that contacts nutrient has a cooking surface, and the worldly of that aboveground is becoming 1 of the astir important user choices successful this category. Globally, discussions astir PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, sometimes called “forever chemicals”) and PTFE (the compound utilized successful Teflon-style non-stick coatings) are speeding up. The Ninja Crispi, 1 of the astir talked-about aerial fryers worldwide, has wholly abandoned non-stick coatings successful favour of borosilicate solid containers.

Coating going bad | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The Philips OneChef’s merchandise listing offers minimal accusation astir the worldly of its interior pot. We asked Philips directly, and they confirmed the interior cookware has a non-stick coating. In 2026, that prime demands a defense, yet nary has been provided. The planetary modular for this category, the Instant Pot, transitioned to stainless alloy cooking pots years ago. Priced astatine ₹19,995, the OneChef is connected the aforesaid level arsenic appliances that see worldly transparency a basal expectation. The ambiguity from Philips is not accidental; it is simply a soundlessness that, erstwhile noticed, is hard to construe generously.
What to really fund for
No all-in-one cooker is afloat equipped the infinitesimal you unbox it. The OneChef comes with the basics, but to afloat utilise its baking and roasting features, you’ll request further accessories similar silicone baking molds, silicone-tipped tongs that won’t scratch the pot, and perchance stackable steaming racks for layered cooking.
Also, see the electrical setup. If your room has 5A sockets, you mightiness request an electrician to instal a 15A outlet adjacent the counter, particularly for devices implicit 2,000 watts. A high-wattage hold cord rated for 15A is considerably much costly than the ₹200 portion disposable astatine the section hardware store, and utilizing an incorrect 1 tin airs a information hazard.
So who is this for?
The Philips OneChef makes the astir consciousness for a household that presently switches betwixt a kadhai, a steamer, and an aerial fryer for a azygous dinner, and wants to consolidate that workflow into 1 vessel. Its pot-based plan offers a existent vantage successful bedewed Indian cooking: curries, stir-fries, dal-style preparations, steamed idlis. It is the lone instrumentality successful this terms scope that tin brownish onions, marque a gravy, and aerial fry papads successful the aforesaid vas without moving betwixt appliances.
It does not marque consciousness for idiosyncratic whose superior cooking method is pressure-cooked dal and rice. It does not regenerate an oven oregon OTG for those who cook regularly. And for health-conscious consumers pursuing the planetary displacement distant from non-stick coatings, the deficiency of worldly disclosure is simply a spread that competitors astatine the aforesaid terms constituent person already addressed.
Here is the honorable information astir this full class successful 2026: nary azygous countertop instrumentality has afloat covered the divers spectrum of Indian cooking. The champion prime genuinely depends connected honestly evaluating which 60-70% of your regular cooking you would similar to negociate with 1 appliance. Keep successful mind, the remaining 30% volition apt inactive telephone for the bully aged state stove, unit cooker, oregon tawa.
After all, your room antagonistic tin lone clasp truthful galore promises.

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