If cooking blogs, social media feeds, and our own experience are anything to go by, air frying has become the latest addictive habit in the kitchen. All that is thanks to appliances like the Cosori Pro II Smart Air Fryer that promise fast and crispy results on everything from veggies to cookies. But buying the best air fryer can be a daunting task – there are so many of them out there, and all of them promise the best results in the kitchen.
Having reviewed some of the best air fryers in the market, we know how to judge this kind of performance. Today, we take a look at the Cosori Pro II Smart Air Fryer to craft a comprehensive review of functionality and gauge whether this countertop air fryer is worth the investment.
Overall, we like it for the Smart VeSync app with recipes and easy cleaning; but we just wish the app could use more recipes and it costs a little more than competing air fryers in the market.
The Cosori Pro II is a great buy if you’re already familiar with air frying, or looking for something that does it all with little manual input since it uses an app to cook food at a precise time and temperature for a perfect meal every time.
About the Cosori Pro II Smart Air Fryer
This isn’t the first line of air fryers to come from Cosori. We reviewed the first edition of the Cosori Pro II back in 2021 and had some positive feelings. Now, the machine has been upgraded to include a smart app and works with both Alexa and Google Assistant.
It features a traditional basket with a handle, an attractive cooking tray, and a sleek touch-screen interface. From there, you can select functions beyond air frying like Reheat, Defrost, Toast, and Bake.
But what sets this apart from similar machines on the market is the VeSync app that allows you to scan and get settings for store-bought foods, and you can view the nutritional facts of the foods before cooking. It even comes with online guided recipes and you can save your presets for later use, among other convenient settings.
What we like
Even, crispy results
The air fryer performs as well as the previous Cosori air fryer as far as its basic tasks but it comes with one huge difference – the app. The app includes recipes for things like chicken satay stuffed French toast, blackened catfish, and a lot more. For all basic recipes, like grilled cheese and potato wedges, the recipes produce great results.
But that’s not the only way to use the app. When you want to cook something, let’s say burgers, you just type “burgers” into the search and it will return results for various burger recipes. You can use the settings for your chosen recipe to cook, maybe a beef burger, and you can tuck some onions next to the burgers. When the time is up, you can top up the burgers with cheese and let it melt with just residual heat. Everything works perfectly.
Brussel sprouts come out nicely browned with crispy edges, frozen fries have that unique decadent crunch and melty interior, and bacon gets browned and crunchy without getting burned. Its fried chicken and waffles are especially impressive, and you can’t believe those chicken thighs haven’t been deep-fried when you finally bring them to the dinner table.
It’s easy to achieve tasty results with this air fryer, as long as food is adequately spread out without being overcrowded in the basket. But overall, the Cosori Pro II Smart Air Fryer works effortlessly at roasting, crisping, and heating food.
The Interface is easy to use
It’s easy to get intimidated by appliances that have a touch screen instead of traditional buttons; they tend to make navigation a little complicated. But you’ll find the opposite with this kitchen appliance. The touch screen is sleek, intuitive, and easy to use. You don’t even have to read the manual to learn how to navigate between cooking mode, time, and temperature settings.
First-time setup is a breeze, too – Connect and Go. To use the app, the air fryer needs the VeSync app installed, and as soon as the app opens with the air fryer plugged in, the apps instantly recognize the fryer. It also offers options to sync with Google Home or Alexa, and all that takes under two minutes from setup to ready.
Before first use, it’s recommended that the fryer be run empty through a preheat cycle and a steak cooking cycle. This helps familiarize the user with the fryer and also burns off manufacturing residue.
The accompanying app offers lots of recipes
Although the manual doesn’t offer much in terms of sample recipes or cooking recommendations, the VeSync app does. It houses countless recipes – from the basics like crispy broccoli to more unique dishes like tomato fritters.
Well, the air fryer has the usual preset buttons, including steak, poultry, fish shrimp, bacon, frozen foods, French fries, vegetables, toast, and bake. But more secrets are hidden behind the app.
When I reviewed the Ninja DZ201, I had an issue with the lack of a turn reminder, for foods that need to be flipped in order to cook perfectly. With the Cosori Pro II Smart Air Fryer, that problem has been sorted out well; at the halfway point in cooking, “shake” appears on the screen and the fryer beeps for foods that should be rearranged or flipped. The shake feature can be turned on or off with a button, on the beeping can simply be ignored if the recipe doesn’t require shaking.
Once the cooking is done, the keep-warm setting can be enabled to keep the food at a safe serving temperature for 1 to 60 minutes.
While the app can set up a recipe with temperature and time, you will still need to push the start button to turn the heat on. However, asking Alexa to preheat the fryer will turn it on to the specified temperature, and it can be turned off remotely just as easily.
- 4-IN-1 FUNCTIONALITY: Air fry, bake, roast and reheat.
- EvenCrisp TECHNOLOGY: Advanced technology that drives air flow top down for a perfect...
- ONE-TOUCH SMART PROGRAMS: Customizable programs for one-touch wings, roasted veggies,...
What we don’t like
It costs just a little more
Coming in at around $150, this air fryer is slightly more expensive than average, and it also costs much more than the same-sized Cosori Air Fryer without smart controls. Of course, the app opens a world of useful recipes and presets, and the ability to search for similar foods, but that doesn’t justify the extra bucks. Maybe yes, maybe not.
While this is more expensive than many air fryers, there are lots of air fryers in this price range, so it’s not the only expensive appliance around. Plus, it offers a unique smart app and feature set that you don’t find in other air fryers.
How about the competition?
The closest competitor to the Cosori Pro II Smart Air Fryer is likely the Instant Vortex 5.7-Quart Air Fryer. It’s less expensive than the Cosori, its controls are much simpler with no presets at all. It’s a great choice for anyone looking for simplicity and who tends to find presets not useful.
The Cosori, on the other hand, makes cooking enjoyable. Everything it offers, from the ability to preheat the fryer via voice assistant to the VeSync app to the open-basket warning, this air fryer makes cooking a lot easier. And while it cost more than the Instant Vortex model, the additional features are worth it. The Cosori is a clear winner here.
Bottom Line
The Cosori Pro II Smart Air Fryer is an excellent kitchen appliance that easily stands out in the crowded market of air fryers. It makes cooking easy, sports a sleek design, and will look beautiful on your kitchen countertop. Again, it does a good job of browning and crisping food regardless of what you decide to prepare and hey. And that’s the reason you’re in the market for an air fryer.
If you like technology, you’ll appreciate the VeSync app and the ability to monitor this appliance and search for recipes from your smartphone and give it orders with a digital assistant.
Last update on 2024-06-30 at 14:46 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Our Pick
