Rs 10000 buys a very good microwave, as long as you buy the right type. Most ovens at this price are solo models that reheat, defrost and cook simple dishes but can’t bake or brown. Spend a little more and a grill model will crisp paneer tikka and toast. A proper convection oven, the kind that bakes a cake, no longer fits under Rs 10,000, whatever older lists suggest.
So our advice is simple. Decide what you’ll actually cook, pick the size for your household, and then pay for the longest magnetron warranty you can get. Below are the five ovens we’d buy today, and what to do if you really want to bake.
What actually matters when buying
Type comes first. A solo microwave only uses microwaves: it reheats rice and dal, defrosts, boils milk and steams vegetables. It cannot bake, and it won’t brown anything. A grill model adds a heater at the top of the cavity, so it can brown tikka, toast bread and crisp papad, but it still can’t bake a cake. A convection model adds a heater and a fan, so it works as a small oven too. Convection ovens worth buying start at about Rs 12,500.
Size by household, and look at the turntable. A 20 L oven suits one or two people. For a family of four, or if you heat a full dinner plate or a large casserole, go for 24 or 25 L. The turntable is the practical limit: a 255 mm tray takes a 10-inch plate, while a 288 mm tray takes an 11-inch one. Output matters less than size here: our picks run from 700 W to 900 W, and the higher figure heats large portions faster.
Read the warranty for the magnetron. The magnetron is the part that generates the microwaves, so it is where a long warranty counts. At this price, IFB covers the magnetron and cavity for three years, while Panasonic’s solo ovens and LG’s ovens get one year in total. That gap matters more than a few extra auto-cook menus.
Check service before brand. Owner comments mention slow repairs and missing parts across several brands, IFB included. Before you order, find out which brand has a working service centre near you, register the product if the brand asks, and keep the invoice. A long warranty is only useful if someone will come and honour it.
Quick answer
- Our pick: IFB 24PM2S, around Rs 8,400. A 24 L solo with 900 W output, 10 power levels and three years of cover on the magnetron and cavity. The catch: owners report it is loud.
- For one or two people: Panasonic NN-ST26JMFDG, around Rs 7,100. The most-reviewed oven in this guide, simple to use and well liked for reheating. Keep in mind: 20 L is tight for four.
- Biggest for the money: Panasonic NN-ST310QBFG, around Rs 8,000. A 25 L solo with an 11-inch turntable. The trade-off: one year of warranty, and Panasonic doesn’t publish its output.
- Best grill: IFB 20PG4S, around Rs 10,000. Two grill heaters, two racks and IFB’s three years on the magnetron. The downside: it uses the whole budget, and stock is low.
- A cheaper grill: LG MH2044DB, around Rs 8,500. A 20 L oven with a quartz grill for tikka and toast, for about Rs 1,500 less. Watch for: Amazon stock comes and goes.
In this guide
- IFB 24PM2S
- Panasonic NN-ST26JMFDG
- Panasonic NN-ST310QBFG
- IFB 20PG4S
- LG MH2044DB
- What the extra money buys
- If you want to bake: convection
- What owners report
- Check the model code before you pay
- Other models we considered
- FAQ
- Which one should you buy?
| Model | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| IFB 24PM2S | Rs 8,400 | Most homes: 24 L solo |
| Panasonic NN-ST26JMFDG | Rs 7,100 | One or two people |
| Panasonic NN-ST310QBFG | Rs 8,000 | Big plates, 25 L solo |
| IFB 20PG4S | Rs 10,000 | Grill with 3-year cover |
| LG MH2044DB | Rs 8,500 | Grilling for less |
IFB 24PM2S: Our pick
This is the solo we’d buy for most homes, because for a few hundred rupees more than its rivals it gives you more power, finer control and a much longer warranty. The 24 L cavity fits family-size bowls, and 900 W is the highest published output among our picks, so reheating is quick. Ten power levels give you finer control when you melt butter or defrost meat than the five on most ovens here.
The warranty is the real reason it wins. IFB covers the oven for a year and the magnetron and cavity for three, and promises spare parts for six years.
It’s well liked, at 4.4 out of 5 from more than 3,200 ratings on Amazon, though 7% are one-star and some owners report units failing within a few months. The complaint that keeps coming up in reviews is noise: owners describe it as loud while it runs. If your kitchen opens into the living room, that may matter. Some owners also say IFB’s after-sales service is slow, so check your nearest service centre.
At 48 cm wide and 38 cm deep, it needs a little more counter than a 20 L oven. And remember it is a solo: it won’t bake or grill.
Panasonic NN-ST26JMFDG: For one or two people
If you live alone or as a couple and mostly reheat, this is the safe, cheaper choice. It is the most-reviewed oven in this guide by a distance, at 4.3 out of 5 from more than 7,600 ratings, and owners mainly praise how easily it reheats and defrosts and how simple it is for anyone in the house to use.
You get 800 W, five power levels, 51 auto menus and a Vapor Clean steam programme that loosens splatter. At 44 cm wide and 34 cm deep, it fits a small counter.
The compromises are size and cover. The 255 mm turntable takes a 10-inch plate, and 20 L feels small for a family of four. Panasonic gives one year of warranty with no extra magnetron cover. For about Rs 1,250 more, the IFB 24PM2S adds space, power and three years on the magnetron.
Panasonic NN-ST26JMFDG on Amazon India
Panasonic NN-ST310QBFG: The biggest for the money
This 25 L solo has a 288 mm turntable, 33 mm wider than the smaller Panasonic’s, so an 11-inch dinner plate or a wide casserole turns freely. If you regularly heat food for four on full plates, that is the space you’ll notice every day. It also has 85 auto menus and the same Vapor Clean programme as the smaller Panasonic.
Two things hold it back from the top spot. Panasonic doesn’t publish its microwave output, so you can’t compare its speed on paper. And the warranty is one year, with no extra magnetron cover. It scores 4.2 from about 1,000 ratings, with a higher one-star share (10%) than our other picks. Several owners also point out that the control panel isn’t backlit, which makes it hard to read in a dim kitchen.
It costs about Rs 400 less than the IFB 24PM2S. For most buyers, that small saving isn’t worth giving up IFB’s three-year magnetron cover. Buy this one if the 11-inch turntable is what you need.
Panasonic NN-ST310QBFG on Amazon India
IFB 20PG4S: The best grill
If you want your microwave to brown food as well as heat it, this is the grill we’d buy under Rs 10,000. It has two glass-tube grill heaters at the top of the cavity for paneer tikka, toast and papad, high and low racks, 800 W of microwave power and a keep-warm mode. IFB covers the magnetron and cavity for three years, the same cover that makes IFB our solo pick.
At around Rs 10,000 it uses the whole budget. It’s rated 4.3 from about 740 ratings, though some owners report units that stopped within weeks. It’s also 39 cm deep, so measure the counter.
LG MH2044DB: A cheaper grill
If Rs 10,000 is a stretch, the MH2044DB grills for about Rs 1,500 less. A 980 W quartz heater at the top handles tikka, toast and papad, and combination modes run the grill and microwave together so food cooks through and browns at the same time. A high rack is in the box, and there are 52 auto menus plus a steam-clean programme.
It is a 20 L oven with 700 W of microwave power, so it’s slower and smaller than the IFB solo. Owners rate it 4.3 from about 1,000 ratings, but a few describe it as noisy, and one owner’s main board failed a month after the one-year warranty ended. LG covers it for one year, with no extra magnetron cover.
Amazon stock comes and goes. If the listing shows no offer, check the other sellers on it or an LG dealer near you.
What the extra money buys
Our five picks sit between about Rs 7,100 and Rs 10,000. The gaps are small, so it’s worth knowing what each step up gets you.
- Panasonic 20 L to IFB 24PM2S: about Rs 1,250. That buys 4 L more space, 100 W more output, twice as many power levels, and three years of cover on the magnetron and cavity instead of one. It’s the best Rs 1,250 in this guide.
- Panasonic 25 L to IFB 24PM2S: about Rs 400. You give up 1 L and the 11-inch turntable, and get a published 900 W output, ten power levels and three years of magnetron cover instead of one.
- Solo to grill: about Rs 1,250 at LG and Rs 1,600 at IFB. At LG, the 20 L, 700 W MH2044DB grill costs that much more than the 20 L, 700 W MS2043BP solo. At IFB, the 20PG4S costs Rs 1,600 more than the 24PM2S, and you also drop from 24 L to 20 L.
- Solo to convection: about Rs 4,100. That’s the gap between our pick and the cheapest convection oven we’d buy, the LG MC2146BV.
Running cost is not a reason to choose. Ten minutes a day at full power on the IFB 24PM2S, which draws 1,400 W, uses at most about 0.23 units. At Rs 8 per unit, that’s roughly Rs 1.90 a day and under Rs 60 a month, and less on lower power levels.
If you want to bake: convection
On a 10k budget, we’d skip convection for now. The only branded convection ovens with a live Amazon buy box under Rs 10,000 are a Midea 24 L model that Midea India doesn’t list on its own site, with only 17 ratings, and an old Kenstar 20 L listing from a single shop seller. Kenstar no longer lists microwaves at all. We wouldn’t buy either.
If baking is the reason you want a new oven, stretch the budget:
- LG MC2146BV, around Rs 12,500. A 21 L convection oven with convection from 40 to 230 C and a stainless-steel cavity. It’s rated 4.4 from about 670 ratings, with only 5% one-star. LG gives one year of warranty.
- Panasonic NN-CT353BFDG. A 23 L convection oven with five years on the magnetron. It has no Amazon buy box right now, so watch for it to come back.
If you also want air frying, read our guide to the best microwaves with air fryer and convection. It explains when a solo microwave plus a separate basket air fryer is the smarter buy.
What owners report
The most useful patterns from Amazon reviews and YouTube comments are things a spec sheet won’t tell you.
- Some buyers expect a solo to bake. Owners of the Panasonic 25 L and the IFB 24PM2S left reviews surprised that their oven only heats, and a Panasonic 20 L owner asked whether theirs could bake a cake. If you want to bake, even occasionally, a solo is the wrong type.
- Service complaints come up across brands. Owners report slow repairs or hard-to-find parts for IFB, Panasonic, Samsung and Midea, and long-time Samsung owners mention replacing control boards and touch panels.
- One-star shares vary. Our picks sit between 7% and 10%. The cheapest Midea solo is at 17%.
Check the model code before you pay
- Sharp R625KNK carries “Bake+Grill” in its Amazon title, but it is a grill model with no convection, so it cannot bake.
- LG MS2043BP and MS2043DB are the same 20 L solo. The BP has a floral door print and the DB is the plain black version, so buy whichever is cheaper on the day.
- Panasonic NN-ST26JMFDG has 51 auto menus, not the 365 shown on a badge in some product images.
- Midea’s 20 L solo sells on Amazon in “Digital” and knob versions. The MMO20CXA, the only 20 L solo on Midea India’s site, has knobs, so check which one you’re ordering.
Other models we considered
LG MS2043BP, around Rs 7,200. A 20 L LG solo for about the same price as the Panasonic NN-ST26JMFDG, but with 700 W instead of 800 W, and the same one-year warranty. Some owners mention noise and early failures. Buy it only if LG has the best service centre near you.
Sharp R625KNK, around Rs 7,600. On paper, it’s the cheapest 25 L grill here: 900 W, a 1,000 W grill, a ceramic-coated cavity and three years on the magnetron. But its 170 ratings are shared with a 20 L model, and 11% of them are one-star.
Midea 20 L solo, around Rs 4,600. The cheapest oven worth mentioning, with two years on the product and 10 years on the magnetron. But its ratings are weak and owners complain about after-sales service, so the long warranty has to be weighed against that.
Godrej, Samsung and Haier. Godrej’s GMX 20 SA2 BLM had no featured Amazon offer. It has one year of cover plus three years on the magnetron; sellers advertise Godrej’s five-year comprehensive offer, which needs registration on Godrej’s website within 15 days of purchase. Samsung’s 23 L grill and 21 L convection ovens were out of stock on Samsung’s site and had no Amazon buy box. The Haier 20 L solo was sold only by a single shop seller.
FAQ
Solo, grill or convection: which should I buy under Rs 10,000? Solo if you mainly reheat and defrost, which is most homes. Grill if you want to brown tikka, toast or papad. Convection only if you’ll bake, and expect to pay about Rs 12,500 for one worth buying.
Can I bake a cake in a solo microwave? Not a proper one. A solo has no heater, so nothing browns or rises the way it does in an oven. Mug cakes made with microwave recipes are the exception.
What size microwave do I need for a family of four? 24 to 25 L. A 20 L oven works, but a typical 20 L turntable, like the Panasonic’s 255 mm one, takes only a 10-inch plate.
Which brand gives the longest magnetron warranty under Rs 10,000? Midea, with 10 years on the magnetron of its 20 L solo, though its ratings and service complaints keep it off our list. Among our picks, IFB gives three years on the magnetron and cavity, and Sharp gives three on its grill model.
How much electricity does a microwave use? Very little in practice. At 1,050 to 1,400 W, ten minutes a day at full power costs about Rs 1.40 to Rs 1.90 a day at Rs 8 per unit.
Is Samsung’s 10-year warranty for the whole oven? No. Samsung’s 10-year term covers only the ceramic enamel cavity, the inside box. The rest of the oven has a 12-month warranty.
Which one should you buy?
Buy the IFB 24PM2S. At around Rs 8,400 it gives you a family-size 24 L cavity, the most published power here and three years of cover on the part that matters. Just be ready for the noise.
If you’re one or two people, save about Rs 1,250 with the Panasonic NN-ST26JMFDG. Choose the Panasonic NN-ST310QBFG only if you need the wider turntable. If you want to grill, get the IFB 20PG4S for its three years of magnetron cover, or the LG MH2044DB to save about Rs 1,500.
And if you want to bake, don’t force it under Rs 10,000. Save up for the LG MC2146BV at around Rs 12,500.
Last updated: October 2026
