Small Microwave Guide: 7 Picks for Tiny Kitchens

By Sarah Bright

By Sarah Bright

Here's the first thing nobody tells you about small microwaves: "small" describes the inside, not the outside. Nearly every 0.7-cubic-foot microwave on the market — regardless of brand — sits in a box about 17 inches wide, 13 inches deep, and 10 inches tall, because they're all built around the same magnetron and cavity platform. What actually changes between models is wattage, controls, and the features that matter in shared spaces: mute buttons, child locks, and ECO modes.

This guide compares seven small microwaves worth your counter space, from true 0.7 cu ft dorm units to a 1.2 cu ft model for people who want small-ish but still cook real meals. Every specification comes from manufacturer documentation or a named source; anything we couldn't verify is flagged rather than filled in.

The Short Answer

Buy the COMFEE' EM720CPL-PMB if you want the best all-around small microwave. It's a 0.7 cu ft, 700W unit with the three features that matter most in tight or shared spaces — a mute function, an ECO mode, and a child lock — in the standard compact footprint (17.3 × 13.0 × 10.2 in).

Buy the Toshiba EM131A5C-BS if you cook more than you reheat. At 1.2 cu ft and 1000W with a smart humidity sensor, it's the only pick here that handles full-size dinner plates and genuinely cooks food rather than just warming it. It's bigger and heavier (34.6 lb), so measure your counter first.

The rule of thumb: 0.7 cu ft / 700W for dorms, offices, and light reheating; 0.9 cu ft / 900W for the best balance of size and speed; 1.2 cu ft / 1000W when the microwave is a real cooking appliance.

Small Microwave Comparison Table

Detailed Reviews

Buying Guide: How to Choose a Small Microwave

1. Start with capacity, not the word "small"

Microwave sizes fall into three honest tiers:

• Compact (0.5–0.9 cu ft): dorm rooms, offices, single users, reheating single servings. A 0.7 fits roughly a 9–10 inch plate.
• Mid-size (1.0–1.6 cu ft): individuals, couples, small families. A 1.1–1.2 fits standard dinner plates and most frozen meals.
• Full-size (1.6–2.0+ cu ft): families, casserole dishes, batch cooking.

The mistake is shopping by "small" as a vibe. Shop by what you heat: if your largest dinner plate doesn't fit on the turntable, the microwave fails at its one job. Measure your plate, then check the turntable diameter — 10 inches on the 0.7 models, 12.4 inches on the Toshiba 1.2.

2. Wattage decides how long you wait

Wattage is cooking power, and the tiers are simple: 700W (compact), 900W (mid), 1000W+ (serious). A 1000W microwave heats roughly 40% faster than a 700W one on the same task — the difference between two minutes and three for a frozen meal, repeated daily. If the microwave is your primary cooking appliance, 900W is the floor worth paying for. If it's a reheating station, 700W is fine and draws less power.

3. Measure the footprint, not just the cavity

Here's the industry's open secret: the exterior cabinet has to house the magnetron, transformer, and electronics, so every 0.7 cu ft model is roughly 17 × 13 × 10 inches regardless of brand. "Small" never meant "tiny box." Before buying, measure your counter and add the clearance the manual requires around the unit for ventilation — cramming a microwave into an exact-fit cubby is a fire-safety issue, not a space hack. Also check door swing: pull-handle doors need clearance in front, push-button doors (BLACK+DECKER) need less.

4. The shared-space features that actually matter

• Mute function: silences beeps. Non-negotiable for dorms, night-shift households, and open-plan apartments. (COMFEE', Toshiba models, Chefman.)
• Child safety lock: prevents accidental starts. Worth having with kids or curious roommates; the two-step versions are harder to trigger accidentally.
• ECO mode: cuts standby power draw. Nice for always-plugged-in units; irrelevant if you unplug between uses.
• Sensor cooking: the humidity sensor on the Toshiba 1.2 adjusts time/power automatically. Genuinely useful for reheating; less predictable with greasy or very dry foods.
• Turntable vs. flatbed: all picks here use turntables. Removable glass turntables are easier to clean; flatbed models (not covered here) give more usable space but cost more.

5. Controls and durability

Digital touchpads with presets beat dial controls for repeatability — the same "reheat" press every day beats guessing at a dial. Look for a +30-second button (you'll use it constantly), defrost by weight and time, and an interior light bright enough to see through the door. Stainless interiors wipe cleaner than painted ones; stainless exteriors show fingerprints, black hides them.

Small Microwave Types: Countertop, Dorm, and What to Skip

Nearly every small microwave is a countertop model — it sits on the counter and plugs into a standard 120V outlet. That's the entire category covered in this guide.

What you won't find here, deliberately:

• Over-the-range microwaves are a different product (they mount above the stove and include a vent fan). If that's what you need, you're shopping a different category with different dimensions.
• Microwave drawers and built-ins cost multiples of a countertop unit and require installation.
• "Mini" microwaves under 0.5 cu ft exist but are too small for even a standard plate — a novelty, not a tool.

Head-to-Head: The Comparisons That Actually Matter

COMFEE' EM720CPL-PMB vs. BLACK+DECKER EM720CB7

Same platform, same footprint, same 0.7/700W specs — this is a features-and-looks decision. The COMFEE' has the mute function and ECO mode; the BLACK+DECKER has the stainless finish and push-button door. Need silence? COMFEE'. Want stainless? BLACK+DECKER. There's no wrong answer, only a preference.

Toshiba EM131A5C-BS vs. Farberware 1.1

Both are "small but serious" — 1000W with real capacity. The Toshiba is the documented choice: verified dimensions, smart sensor, 12 auto menus, mute, ECO mode. The Farberware is the capacity-per-dollar play at 1.1 cu ft. If you value a fully verified spec sheet, Toshiba; if the Farberware's listing checks out on features, it's the value alternative.

0.7 cu ft vs. 0.9 cu ft: is the step up worth it?

Usually, yes — if you have the counter space. The jump from 0.7/700W to 0.9/900W buys you a larger turntable, faster heating, and a cavity that handles real bowls instead of just mugs and small plates. The 0.7 models win only when space is truly fixed (a dorm desk, an office shelf). When in doubt, buy the 0.9.

8 Mistakes to Avoid When Buying a Small Microwave

1. Confusing capacity with footprint. A 0.7 cu ft microwave is still a 17-inch-wide box. Measure the counter, not your hopes.
2. Buying 700W to do a 1000W job. If you cook frozen meals daily, the slower heating gets old fast. Match wattage to workload.
3. Skipping the mute check. In a dorm or thin-walled apartment, a microwave that can't silence its beeps is a roommate-relations hazard.
4. Ignoring door clearance. Pull-handle doors swing wide; measure the arc, not just the box.
5. Blocking the vents. Microwaves need airflow around the cabinet. An exact-fit enclosure is a fire risk — follow the manual's clearance specs.
6. Trusting "small" marketing photos. Product photos are shot to look compact. The spec table's W×D×H is the truth; the photo is the aspiration.
7. Forgetting the turntable. A 0.7 cu ft cavity with a 10-inch turntable won't take your 11-inch dinner plate. Check both numbers.
8. Paying for features you won't use. Sensor menus and memory functions are great — if you'll use them. For pure reheating, the simplest reliable 0.7 is the smart buy.

SERP Danger Rebuttal: Bad Advice You'll Find Searching This Keyword

Trap 1: Fake precision scores. Several ranking pages for "small microwave" assign decimal scores ("4.8/5," "8.8/10") with no testing methodology, no named tester, and no date. A score without a method is decoration. We don't score products we haven't tested — we compare their documented specifications and tell you which specs we verified.

Trap 2: The wrong market. At least one top result for this keyword is a buying guide for the Indian market (rupees, 20-liter models, convection types). If a "best small microwave" page quotes prices in ₹ or talks about grill/convection modes as standard, you're reading advice for a different country's market. US countertop microwaves are a different product set.

Trap 3: "Small" over-the-range models. One prominent result answers "small microwave" with over-the-range units — a different installation category with ventilation requirements and 30-inch widths. If you need a countertop unit, OTR roundups will waste your time and mislead your measurements.

Trap 4: Capacity inflation. Some listings advertise interior volume that independent measurement doesn't support (one deal post notes ~1.06 cu ft of usable space in a "1.2 cu ft" model). Treat advertised capacity as approximate and check the turntable diameter — that's the number that decides what fits.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Verdict

The small-microwave market is refreshingly honest once you know the trick: most 0.7 cu ft models are the same box with different badges and features, so you shop the features, not the brand. The COMFEE' EM720CPL-PMB is the best default because its feature set — mute, ECO mode, child lock — is exactly what small-space living demands.

Step up to the Toshiba EM131A5C-BS when the microwave cooks rather than reheats: 1000W, a real sensor, and room for dinner plates. Take the middle path with the Toshiba ML-EM09PA(BS) at 0.9/900W, pick the BLACK+DECKER EM720CB7 for stainless looks, the Chefman for the deepest feature list, the Galanz retro for style, or the Farberware 1.1 when you need the most capacity that still counts as small.

Measure your counter, match wattage to your workload, and check the turntable against your plates. Do those three things and you'll buy the right small microwave the first time.

Related Guides

• a related MoleMarket guide — mini microwaves: how small can you go?
• a related MoleMarket guide — Breville microwaves: the premium countertop option
• a related MoleMarket guide — microwave buying advice: wattage, sensors and safety explained