Amazon Basics Microwave 0.7 Review

This is one of the smallest microwaves that we have tested, making it a great option for cramped kitchens. However, it only has a 10" turntable, limiting what will fit inside, but we think it's a great bargain option if you're okay with that.

Performance Comparison

Heating

Our first metric looked at how quickly and evenly the Amazon Basics 0.7 heated food, using a variety of food, a heat map, and a controlled volume of water. It scored decently well in many of these tests.

Heat Map Test

The test that carried the biggest weighting within the Heating metric was our heat map test, for 35% of the Heating score. For this test, we spread a layer of marshmallow creme on a disc of parchment paper and then heated it for two minutes on the high setting.

This microwave had an average showing in our heat map test, with the inner and center parts of the marshmallow fluff getting fully cooked and blackened. The outer ring was only lightly browned with large sections of completely uncooked fluff.

Heating Speed Test

For 20% of the Heating score, we performed a speed test by heating a beaker of room temperature water on high for 45 seconds and noting the temperature increase.

The Amazon Basics 0.7 also showed middle-of-the-road results here, raising the water temperature from around 60°F to nearly 130°F, for a total increase of 70.1°F.

Leftover Heating

We reheated a plate of leftovers in each unit, with our test foods consisting of pre-cooked sausage, mashed potatoes, and green beans.

This award-winning appliance fared very well with the plate of leftovers, heating the green beans, sausage, and potatoes all to the proper serving temperature. The sausage came out about 35°F warmer than the potatoes and the green beans, but we found the entire plate to be more than good enough for serving.

Soup Heating

This model also had solid showing with warming up the soup to the correct serving temperature when heated following the instructions.

Pizza Heating

Unfortunately, the performance of this appliance dropped a bit during our pizza reheating test.

Both slices we microwaved were just barely warmed, with the centers a little cooler than the outside.

Frozen Foods

The relative performance of the Amazon Basics 0.7 improved going into our next metric, scoring quite above average. We used Hot Pockets, frozen burritos, and an individual serving of mini-lasagna as our test items, heating them up following the manufacturers' instructions and then using a set of thermometers to measure the temperature in various zones to see how evenly the microwave heated each item.

The Amazon Basics 0.7 did a fantastic job with both the frozen burrito and the Hot Pocket but faltered a bit with the miniature lasagna. The Hot Pocket's average temperature variation was only about 3°F between the left, right, and center regions. The burrito heated up slightly more unevenly but not by much, only showing a discrepancy of around 7°F.

The lasagna showed a considerable temperature discrepancy across the different areas, with an average temperature difference of 21°F. When following the directions, this microwave failed to heat the lasagna to a suitable serving temperature and showed some very extreme temperature differences, with the largest being 44°F.

Defrosting

After all of the packaged frozen foods, we rated and ranked how the Amazon Basics 0.7 did at defrosting a one lb. square of frozen ground turkey. Our findings showed that this microwave performed above average with the defrosting task.

We appreciate that this product notifies you to flip the meat halfway through cooking, but only a bit more than half of the meat was completely defrosted — about 9.5 ounces. The remainder was still quite frozen, to the point that it needed to go back in the microwave for longer before we could break it up enough to go to the stovetop.

Ease of Use

Our fourth and final metric evaluated how convenient and easy to use the Amazon Basics 0.7 and all the other microwaves are. We awarded points based on the preset functions, quick features, the interior light, and how resistant to movement each product is on smooth countertops.

This model has a +30 seconds button, but you must press it twice to get the microwave to actually start. It has decent lighting and doesn't slide around on the counter at all, but you'll need to have Echo/Alexa set up properly to use many of the quick functions.

However, we found the preset functions to work very well. The popcorn preset was spot on, leaving behind very few unpopped kernels and no burnt ones.

Should You Buy the Amazon Basics 0.7?

This microwave held its own against the top-ranked microwaves, making it a great bargain option for anyone on a budget. It's also one of the smallest models we tested, so it's a great option for those with less countertop real estate. Lastly, if you love smart features and have Alexa throughout your home, this product is another Alexa-enabled gadget to add to your arsenal.

What Other Microwaves Should You Consider?

As mentioned, for those with small kitchens, the Amazon Basics 0.7 is a great option. The other model we tested that is in the same general size range as this one is the Kenmore 70919. It has similar outer dimensions but an extra 0.2 square feet of interior space, and it scores higher across most metrics.

Another affordable model that didn't manage to run away with any awards but still scored admirably across most tests was the Toshiba EM925A5A — though we wouldn't recommend that model if you do a lot of meat defrosting. For anyone that knows they will be using their microwave to defrost frequently, the higher-end Toshiba model, the EM131A5C was one of our top overall scorers and excelled in the defrosting metric.