REASONS TO BUY
Soft-close door
Can mute sounds
REASONS TO AVOID
Expensive
So-so performance
Breville the Compact Wave Review
This pricey product failed to pair a top-notch performance with its premium price tag
Credit: Breville
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Our Verdict
The Breville The Compact Wave is a sleek and stylish kitchen appliance that would complement the modern aesthetic in most kitchens. It's very easy to use and does well with frozen foods but we weren't too impressed with how this product scored across the board in our best microwave testing results. It struggled with defrosting and delivered overall lackluster results in our heating metrics. All in all, we generally would recommend a plethora of other products over this one for most people.
Editor's Note: This product review was added to our review lineup and first published on March 17, 2022.
Compare to Similar Products
 This Product Breville the Compact Wave | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awards |  Best Overall Microwave |  Best Microwave for Heating Frozen Food |  Best Value Microwave | Best Microwave on a Tight Budget | |
| Price | $250 List $249.95 at Amazon | $219 List $219.10 at Amazon | $120 List $115.53 at Amazon | $125 List $99.95 at Amazon | $82 List $80.35 at Amazon |
Overall Score  |
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| Star Rating | |||||
| Bottom Line | While it looks great, we found it hard to rectify the so-so performance with the top-tier price tag | A crowd-pleaser with robust performance in every aspect - you can't go wrong with this excellent appliance | A full-size microwave that is a solid performer across the board with outstanding frozen food heating capability | A middle of the road product for a reasonable price, scoring similarly to many others that were priced much higher | Ideal for those on a budget or with limited space, but this model falls short in terms of premium build quality and high-level performance across our evaluated metrics |
| Rating Categories | Breville the Compac... | GE JES1109RRSS | Magic Chef MC110MB | Panasonic NN-SB458S | Comfee EM720CPL-PMB |
| Heating (40%) | |||||
| Frozen Foods (30%) | |||||
| Defrosting (20%) | |||||
| Ease of Use (10%) | |||||
| Specs | Breville the Compac... | GE JES1109RRSS | Magic Chef MC110MB | Panasonic NN-SB458S | Comfee EM720CPL-PMB |
| Measured 45 Sec Heating Temp Rise | 95 F | 71 F | 106 F | 89 F | 67 F |
| Measured Weight of Defrosted Meat | 8.9 oz | 15 oz | 12.5 oz | 8.8 oz | 11.8 oz |
| Average Temperature Difference | 8 F | 9 F | 7 F | 29 F | 13 F |
| Measured Unpopped Kernels | 18 | 37 | 23 | 8 | 192 |
| Wattage | 900 watts | 1050 watts | 1000 watts | 900 watts | 700 watts |
| Measured Turntable Diameter | 10.6" | 12.4" | 12.4" | 10.6" | 10" |
| Measured External Dimensions (WxHxD) | 19.1" x 11.5" x 16.4" | 20.6" x 11.9" x 16.6" | 20.6" x 11.8" x 14.7" | 19.1" x 11.5" x 14.8" | 17.1" x 10.1" x 12.4" |
| Measured Internal Dimentions (WxHxD) | 12" x 7.9" x 12" | 13.0" x 8.4" x 12.4" | 13.1" x 8.2" x 12.5" | 13.9" x 8.1" x 12.4" | 10.8" x 6.8" x 10.1" |
| Size | 0.9 cu. ft | 1.0 cu. ft | 1.1 cu. ft | 0.9 cu. ft | 0.7 cu. ft |
| Child lock | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Show full specification detailsHide full specification details
Our Analysis and Test Results
The dial interface and sleek and stylish look of this product are sure to catch some looks in your kitchen but your pocketbook might take quite a hit compared to other models.
Performance Comparison
This luxury product has a top-tier price tag but not a top-tier score.
Credit: Laura Casner
Heating
For the first round of testing for these kitchen appliances, we rated and scored how each one did at heating up different types of food. This accounts for 40% of the overall score for each product, with the Breville exhibiting a mediocre performance.
Heat Map Test
Responsible for the bulk of the score of the heating metric at 35%, our heat map test is the most important. This consisted of a layer of marshmallow fluff spread out on a piece of parchment paper, then heated in each microwave to highlight any hot or cold spots.
There was some noticeable variation in the heat map test.
Credit: Matt Spencer
This test revealed a hot spot in the center of the microwave, as well as a ring along the outer edge that was noticeably warmer.
Heating Speed Test
Next, we scored how quickly each product could heat up, using a measured volume of water in a beaker as our control. We heated up each beaker for 45 seconds and then compared the temperature increase to determine scores. This is responsible for one-fifth of the overall score in the heating metric.
The Breville The Compact Wave did much much better in this test, able to elicit a temperature increase of more than 95°F.
This microwave can heat up food very quickly.
Credit: Laura Casner
Leftover Heating
Next up, we looked at the leftover heating capabilities of each product, which accounts for 15% of the total score for the Heating metric. We used the Breville to reheat a plate of mashed potatoes, green beans, and sausages, then based scores on the consistency of temperature and if the food was heated enough to serve.
The stark contrast in temperature is easily visible.
Credit: Matt Spencer
The Breville delivered a moderate performance in this regard, with only 10°F to 20°F of variation within different areas of each type of food. The sausages were warmer than the rest and were the only thing out of the three that we would consider ready to serve, with the vegetables both requiring a bit more time in the microwave.
Soup Heating
Responsible for 15% of the total heating score, our soup subtest was fairly simple in execution. We heated up a bowl of premade soup following the manufacturer's instructions and then compared performance based on the level of heating achieved.
We did find the soup warm enough to serve.
Credit: Matt Spencer
The Breville again did decently well, heating the soup on the warmer side compared to other models. We measured the temperature at 163°F — more than hot enough to serve.
Pizza Heating
We wrapped up our heating metric by heating up some slices of pizza and comparing how each appliance did. We used a non-contact infrared temperature gun to compare performance in this last test, accounting for the residual 15% of the heating score for each microwave.
Unfortunately, we weren't impressed by the pizza performance of the Breville.
Credit: Matt Spencer
The Breville finished out the heating metric with a subpar showing. The cheese wasn't melted sufficiently to our taste and there were some noticeable cool spots close to the crust.
Frozen Foods
Our frozen foods metric consisted of heating up a Hot Pocket, frozen burrito, and a personal-size lasagna based on the manufacturer's instructions and then assessing the evenness of heating using a series of digital thermometers. This accounts for 30% of the overall score for each appliance. The Breville did a bit better overall, earning a score just above average.
It did very well with the Hot Pocket, heating it evenly — though the outside wasn't as crisp as some of the others. There was only an average difference of about 6°F between different zones as well. There was about the same temperature difference in the personal-sized lasagna but we found the bottom to be just a bit underdone and chewy in our taste test. However, the Breville did fail to heat the burrito sufficiently, hurting its score. The center was below the recommended serving temperature by around 11°F .
We found the Breville to be slightly above-average when it came to premade frozen foods.
Credit: Laura Casner
Defrosting
Our next metric — responsible for 20% of the overall score — dealt with the defrosting abilities of each microwave. We used a pound of frozen ground as our test subject, running the defrost function on each microwave and assessing scores based on the amount of meat defrosted.
This microwave defrosted just over half of the frozen meat.
Credit: Matt Spencer
The Breville doesn't alert you when to flip the ground meat with only a little over half of the meat successfully defrosted. We found it to be wildly uneven, with only half of the meat heated. Overall, we would definitely want to put it back in the microwave before using it.
Ease of Use
The remaining 10% of the total score is dedicated to how easy to use each of these kitchen appliances are, including how effective the preset functions are. The Breville did quite well, earning a score just above-average.
We like that this microwave has ample interior light and a convenient to use “+30 seconds” button, along with a dial to set additional times. It can't function as a standalone timer but we liked that you can mute the microwave. The soft close prevents you from shutting the door too hard and the microwave doesn't easily slide around on the counter. The popcorn function also worked well, with the majority of the kernels popped without being burned.
We were impressed with the popcorn preset of this product.
Credit: Matt Spencer
Should You Buy the Breville The Compact Wave?
Overall, we find this microwave to be fairly lackluster in overall performance. This, coupled with its premium price tag, make us reluctant to recommend this for most people.
What Other Microwaves Should You Consider?
The GE JES1109RRSS or the Toshiba EM131A5C are both some of the most top-rated microwaves that we have tested to date, and both typically retail for less than the Breville.
—
Matt Spencer & David WIse
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