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Ask anyone what the true heart of the home is, and it’s typically going to be the kitchen. It's the place where you brew your coffee in the morning and cook your meals in the evening. And it often serves as the social hub for your family and friends.
But a great kitchen is only as good as the appliances that populate it. They should be reliable, easy to use, attractive, and hopefully not too difficult to clean and maintain. Some of us prefer smart, internet-connected appliances, while others are just fine with tried-and-true technology.
But which appliance brands do actual shoppers and daily users trust? We wanted to cut through the showroom noise and online spec sheets to get real opinions. So we turn to you, our smart and faithful readers. After all, you're the ultimate experts because you use these products each and every day, often for years on end.
Check out our first-ever appliances Readers' Choice survey below to find out what our audience considers the best brands for refrigerators, ovens, air fryers, microwaves, and dishwashers.
The Top Refrigerator Brands for 2025
Pretty much everybody has a refrigerator (or two) in their home, so it's no surprise that 94.8% of our survey respondents rated their fridges.
The brand taking home our Readers’ Choice award for refrigerators is LG. It tops the list for overall satisfaction and likelihood to recommend, the two criteria we consider first when choosing Readers’ Choice winners. It has the top scores in the majority of metrics, with particularly high ratings for temperature controls and ease of cleaning.
(Note: Click the arrows in our interactive charts to view various elements of our survey results.)
“I'd absolutely recommend LG to a friend looking for a new fridge, especially if they care about both form and function,” says one reader. “The smart features are a nice bonus, especially for energy tracking and remote diagnostics, but I mostly appreciate how intuitive the everyday use is. It's reliable, stylish, and fits beautifully into my curated space. If you're someone who blends practicality with aesthetic flow, LG's got your back.”
“Everything considered," says another respondent, "I don't think one can get any better than LG in regards to appliances."
LG’s win isn’t a shutout. Kenmore is best in the cost and ease of use subcategories. Even before the demise of Sears, the chain Kenmore was once synonymous with, the Kenmore name was applied to products that were actually manufactured by other companies. That practice continues today, with Kenmore products made by Frigidaire, GE, LG, Samsung, and Whirlpool.
Among respondents who rated their fridges, only 17.9% report owning a smart refrigerator. (Click the arrow below the chart above to see the smart fridge results.) The competition in this domain comes down to LG and Samsung, the brand in last place in the overall refrigerator results. When it comes to smart fridges, Samsung earns top ratings for its mobile app and smart features. Still, LG scores significantly higher in the all-important satisfaction subcategory. LG is thus also the winner in the smart fridge category.
The Top Oven Brands for 2025
Of course, an oven or stove is the centerpiece of any kitchen. And if preparing meals is important to you, you should seriously consider buying from our winner in this category: LG.
LG comes out on top in terms of satisfaction and recommendation among PCMag readers. The brand's ovens also boast excellent ratings for reliability, cooking performance, temperature control, and heating speed.
Frigidaire, however, outperforms LG ovens in terms of ease of use, cooktop durability, and ease of cleaning. Kenmore, meanwhile, wins for cost.
“I absolutely love my LG Induction Range, and would recommend it to anyone and everyone,” says one LG oven user. Another refers to their LG stove as “very dependable.”
The Top Air Fryer Brands for 2025
The least-used kitchen appliance among our survey respondents is the air fryer, though almost half (48.4%) own one. Not bad for a product category that only took off about 15 years ago. And the top brand when it comes to these table-top convection ovens is Ninja.
Ninja—a part of SharkNinja, which also sells Shark vacuums—has the top ratings for satisfaction, cost, and build quality. It ties with second-place Instant Pot Brands for reliability and likelihood to recommend. However, Instant has the top score in a few other subcategories, specifically temperature accuracy and cooking speed.
Readers are enthusiastic about Ninja air fryers for several reasons. One is cleanliness. “Every part of the fryer that needs cleaning can be put in the dishwasher,” says one respondent.
Versatility is another. “Love my Ninja Air fryer. It made my cooktop and oven on my stove almost unusable except for huge meals,” notes another reader. A third says, “The air fryer has, for the most part, replaced our outdoor gas grill. It's fast, easy to clean up, and a healthy alternative to deep frying.”
The popular Cuisinart brand, well-known for its food processors, scores lowest in almost every category for its air fryers.
For more, read our sister site CNET's recent cover story Air Fryer Nation: How a Popular Appliance Is Changing the Way We Cook (and Eat).
The Top Microwave Brands for 2025
Whirlpool has over a century of experience manufacturing kitchen appliances in the US, and it now owns several major brands, including Amana (the creator of the first countertop microwave in 1967), Jenn-Air, and Maytag. But it’s the Whirlpool name itself that wins for the top microwave brand in our survey.
It’s a close one, as Whirlpool and Panasonic tie for overall satisfaction. However, Whirlpool edges out Panasonic with a higher likelihood to recommend score, as well as the top score for heating uniformity.
“I'd definitely recommend Whirlpool to a friend looking for a dependable, easy-to-use microwave,” says a reader. “Ours has been a quiet workhorse in the kitchen: reliable, intuitive, and surprisingly sleek. Whirlpool is a solid choice.”
Second-place Panasonic also gets high scores for cost and reliability. It ties with Whirlpool for ease of cleaning, and with both Whirlpool and GE for controls. Kenmore has the top score for ease of use, just slightly ahead of Whirlpool and GE.
The Top Dishwasher Brands for 2025
Germany-based Bosch has the highest ratings for satisfaction, recommendation, noise levels, and cleaning effectiveness, and easily wins the dishwasher category in our survey results. It ties with other brands in terms of the quality of its controls and reliability.
“Absolutely the best dishwasher I have ever owned: super-quiet, gets everything totally clean, drying cycle dries everything, and, bonus, dishes do not clank against one another,” says a respondent who owns a Bosch unit. They were among many that singled out the Bosch for its low noise level; another points out that they “don't hear it run—I have to touch it to feel the vibration to see if it's on.”
“The Bosch is a dream come true,” says another. “The rack space is amazing. I can put nearly double the load in that I could put into my previous dishwasher.”
LG, meanwhile, puts in a great showing, coming in second place for its dishwashers. It ties with Bosch for reliability and has the highest score with readers for rack design. KitchenAid has the high score for ease of use, and ties with Bosch and Kenmore for the high score on controls, but KitchenAid only comes in third overall. (Fun fact: The company that originally invented dishwashers in the 1920s—Cochran's Crescent Washing Machine Company—later became part of KitchenAid.)
For our look at the top high-tech cooking gear we've tested, read The Best Smart Kitchen Appliances.
The PCMag Readers’ Choice survey for kitchen appliances was in the field from Aug. 22 to Nov. 9, 2025. For more information on how we conduct surveys, read our methodology.