Panasonic and Kmart Anko most reliable microwave brands: CHOICE research

A microwave is a kitchen workhorse that can cost less than $100 or as much as $1000.

And like most modern appliances, they are increasingly complex, with lots of different functions and settings. But while many of these added features can be useful and help make your microwave more versatile, most of us just want something that we can rely on. 

While our testing lets us assess how appliances perform in our labs, it’s also useful to find out how different brands of microwaves perform in the real world, which is why we recently surveyed more than 2000 Australians to ask about their experiences.

Measuring reliability

We wanted to understand how satisfied consumers were with their microwave purchase and also how reliable the product was. 

We looked at a variety of well-known microwave brands, including Kmart Anko, Panasonic, LG and more, and gave each brand a score based on how satisfied customers were with that brand’s microwave and how reliable it was over time. 

We also gave each brand a separate reliability score that indicates how likely that brand’s microwaves are to develop faults over time.

Simply speaking, the higher the score, the fewer people reported having problems in the previous 12 months.

The most reliable microwave brands

Our survey found that the most reliable microwaves came from Panasonic and Kmart Anko. These brands achieved reliability scores of more than 90%.

Sharp and Samsung were not far behind with scores of 90% and 89%, respectively. LG scored 85%, and Breville 84%. 

More than four in five (81%) respondents who owned a Panasonic microwave have never had any problems since purchase. The brand was frequently praised for its overall reliability and even cooking, and many reported that their appliance had “lasted many years” without any issues. 

Kmart Anko microwaves also earned high scores for reliability, and 79% told us they had never had any problems with their appliance. These appliances were praised for their simple ease of use, and owners noted how satisfied they were given the price point.  

Both LG and Breville got the lowest reliability scores, and the incidence of problems is higher than average. Of those microwaves that had a problem, around a third had a major problem, and the majority of these (79%) occurred within five years of purchase.  

Only a small percentage of respondents had contacted the manufacturer for service or support. Most who had sought help told us there was no cost, and about half had their issue resolved within a month.

However, a higher than average proportion of LG owners had contacted the company for support and service of their microwave, and many reported a negative experience. 

Complaints included:

• difficulty in getting LG to acknowledge the problem
• lengthy repair processes that did not fully fix the issue
• being told there was no way to resolve the problem and that the only option was to purchase a new microwave.

Very few told us that the problem was satisfactorily resolved.

Standard vs convection

Most people we surveyed owned a standard microwave, but 12% owned a convection model. Convection microwaves, also sometimes called combination ovens, combine the functions of a microwave but also let you brown and crisp food like a standard oven. 

Convection microwave owners were more likely than standard owners to report problems with low power, slow cooking, or the microwave stopping mid-cycle. They were also more likely to report that their microwave turned off unexpectedly.

Given these results, it’s perhaps no surprise that owners of standard microwaves had higher scores for satisfaction than those with convection microwaves but there wasn’t much in it: 87% versus 85%.

Common microwave problems

Only one in four microwave owners reported problems with their purchase, which means 75% never have any issues. This makes microwaves one of the most reliable appliances in our surveys. 

Of those who did report issues, the most common problems were related to the light (3%), rust (3%), the LCD display (2%), and uneven heating or cooking or not heating or cooking at all (2%). Similar numbers complained of paint wearing off, noisiness, or that their microwave simply stopped working.

Common complaints from those with LG microwaves, which earned some of the lowest reliability scores, included dissatisfaction with not being able to access some controls unless the door is open, the 10-second timer increments, and the fact that the whole microwave moves when opening the door. The tune the microwave plays at the end of cooking (and the fact that it continues until attended to) also earned complaints.

Don’t buy based on brand alone

It’s important to note that while this survey provides useful, real-world feedback that adds to the data we capture in our lab testing, it doesn’t replace the need to consider models individually rather than buying based only on brand. 

Variation between models from the same brand means some Panasonic microwaves earn a recommendation from our experts, while others don’t.

Likewise, while LG ranked lower for reliability than some of the other brands, we find many of their microwaves perform very well in our testing, so they shouldn’t be ruled out. 

About our survey

There were a total of 2384 respondents to our survey, which was carried out between 27 August and 29 September 2025. The survey included questions on microwaves, coffee machines and dryers, and respondents could qualify for all or only some sections of the survey.

---

Margaret Rafferty

Margaret Rafferty joined CHOICE in 2018 as a Content editor and since then has filled the roles of Commissioning editor, Managing editor and now Editorial consultant. Margaret has written on a wide variety of topics and enjoys making complex subjects easy to understand. With over 20 years of media experience, Margaret brings a strong storytelling background to CHOICE. She works closely with people across the organisation to help tell stories that make a positive difference to people and is passionate about uncovering bad practices and helping Australians to avoid falling victim to shonky products and services. Find Margaret on LinkedIn.

Margaret Rafferty joined CHOICE in 2018 as a Content editor and since then has filled the roles of Commissioning editor, Managing editor and now Editorial consultant. Margaret has written on a wide variety of topics and enjoys making complex subjects easy to understand. With over 20 years of media experience, Margaret brings a strong storytelling background to CHOICE. She works closely with people across the organisation to help tell stories that make a positive difference to people and is passionate about uncovering bad practices and helping Australians to avoid falling victim to shonky products and services. Find Margaret on LinkedIn.