I’ve been on a long quest to eat healthier without completely overhauling my routine. As someone who enjoys fried food but doesn’t enjoy the guilt (or oil splatters and the kitchen mess that follows), air fryers felt like a logical middle ground. I’ve actually been using air fryers since the time they first entered the Indian market. The one I had been using all this time was an old, cost-effective Pigeon model, which was basic, clunky, and didn’t always deliver consistent results, but it stayed in my kitchen longer than it probably should have. Over the past couple of years, air fryers have gone from being niche gadgets to everyday appliances in Indian homes, driven by changing food habits and a growing preference for low-oil cooking.
PHILIPS Air Fryer NA120/00
4,450
What Is Good?
- Solid build with a matte finish
- Even cooking
- Easy to clean
- Low learning curve
What Is Bad?
- No transparent window to monitor food
- Timer dial has only 10-minute interval markings, making 2–3 or 15-minute settings tricky
Recently, I felt the need to upgrade. Between back-to-back work calls and erratic mealtimes, I needed a quicker, cleaner way to fix snacks and reheat leftovers without resorting to the microwave. That’s when I decided to go with one of the popular brands in the category – the Philips NA120/00 Air Fryer.
Philips has always been a trusted name when it comes to kitchen gadgets, and this model seemed to strike a balance between old-school simplicity and modern reliability. I wasn’t expecting bells and whistles, just solid everyday performance. After a few weeks of testing, here’s how it fits into my kitchen routine—and where it could have been a little more thoughtful.
What You Get in the Box
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Air fryer unit
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Cooking pan
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Food separator
That’s it. No extra utensils, no baking rack, not even a recipe guide.
Design and Usability
Like most air fryers in this segment, the Philips NA120/00 comes in a matte black finish. It’s not particularly eye-catching, but the matte texture has its advantages. It’s easy to wipe down and doesn’t attract smudges the way glossy surfaces do. The controls are entirely manual, with two mechanical knobs, one to set the temperature and the other to set the time. They feel solid, but based on my experience with older models like my previous Pigeon air fryer, these knobs can become stiff over time. I’m hoping Philips has improved on that front.
The cooking basket slides into place with a bit of force. While it becomes intuitive after a few uses, first-time users might need to fumble around a bit to get it to lock in securely. The biggest drawback for me, however, is the absence of a transparent window.
Many newer models in this price range include a viewing panel, and once you’ve used one, it’s hard to go back. Without a window, the only way to check on your food is to repeatedly pull the tray out. This leads to unnecessary heat loss and disrupts the cooking process. More importantly, it leaves too much room for error. I followed the recommended 17-minute cooking time for frozen fries, only to find half of them burnt. Since I couldn’t see what was happening inside, I had no idea they were already overcooking until it was too late. A viewing window would have helped me catch that in time.
There are no presets on this air fryer. Philips has printed a few icons on the top that show the recommended temperature and time for common foods like fries, muffins, and chicken, but you still have to manually set everything. There’s also no digital display or saved memory for your frequently used settings. What complicates things further is the lack of any visual cue while the fryer is running. There’s a soft ding when the timer ends, but if you’re not nearby, it’s easy to miss. And since the timer keeps ticking even if the machine is off, you can’t really rely on it to tell you whether your food is still cooking or already done.
How It Ranks in Terms of Performance
The NA120/00 runs on a 1500W heating element, which is fairly standard for this segment. On paper, it matches up to larger models from brands like Faber and Glen, and in actual use, the performance held up well. The heating is strong, and the results were mostly even across different types of food. That said, there are a few quirks that took some trial and error to work around.
Here’s what I tried and how each item turned out:
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Chicken Nuggets / Smiles
These were the easiest wins. I tossed in a frozen batch and in a little over 10 minutes, they came out golden brown, evenly crisped, and piping hot. It was consistent every time, with no raw spots or soggy patches.
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Frozen Fries
This one needed a bit of learning. The McCain pack recommended 17 minutes at 200°C, but following that blindly was a mistake. The first batch came out with almost the entire batch burnt to the ground. Since there’s no window, I couldn’t monitor them mid-cycle and only realised the problem once the timer dinged. The next batch, I set for 11 minutes instead, and the result was near perfect. Each piece was crisp, golden fries without any blackened bits. We had tried using the same quantity in a similarly priced Inalsa air Fryer, and even after 17 minutes at 200°C, they were not as evenly cooked as the ones in Philips.
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ITC Pizza Pockets
These cooked beautifully. They had an even brown finish, didn’t crack open or ooze, and were ready to eat in about 8 minutes. When we tried the same thing in the Inalsa fryer mentioned earlier, the outside stayed pale and looked undercooked, even though the filling was warm.
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Reheating Samosas
This has become my favourite use case. In just 2 minutes at around 180°C, the samosas went from cold and lifeless to hot, crisp, and slightly glossy, which I assume was thanks to the oil inside being reheated. It’s something microwaves completely fail at. They tend to turn samosas soggy and limp, but the air fryer revived the texture and made it feel freshly fried.
Capacity and Timer Usability
While the performance itself is strong, the overall size does limit how much you can cook at once. During testing at the office, we tried reheating six samosas for a group. The fryer could hold five comfortably, but squeezing in the sixth felt like a stretch. Overstuffing not only risks uneven cooking but may also affect the long-term durability of the appliance.
Another practical drawback is the timer dial. It only has markings at 10-minute intervals—0, 10, 20, and so on—which makes it tough to set precise timings for anything under 10 minutes. For something like a 2-minute reheat or a 15-minute cook, it becomes guesswork. There’s no ticking feedback either, so unless you’re standing right next to it and carefully watching the dial, it’s easy to miss the exact point. For an appliance designed for quick, fuss-free use, this kind of imprecision could have been avoided with clearer markings or a digital display.
Cleaning & Maintenance
Cleaning is simple. The cooking basket and pan can be rinsed or scrubbed easily, though I’d recommend checking Philips’ manual for exact part names and dishwasher safety. The matte finish helps here too, as it made sure that there were no greasy streaks or stubborn stains.
Should you buy this Air Fryer?
After using this for close to four days, I feel that this air fryer is worth the investment. However, for a family of four, I should have opted for a larger capacity, and if only they had one with a display window. What works in its favor is that it gets the job done and does it well. Philips could still improve usability since a visible light indicator and better time markings would make a noticeable difference. That said, the cooking quality here is among the best I have experienced. It’s quick, efficient, and clearly a step up from budget models like Pigeon or Inalsa that often struggle with consistency. The NA120/00 also reflects how Philips continues to focus on practical, reliable designs instead of chasing flashy features. With air fryers now becoming an essential part of modern Indian kitchens, this one strikes the right balance between performance, ease of use, and everyday dependability.
If you need more information regarding how to pick an air fryer, you can find the link to the same here.
