Amazon Basics Microwave, Small, 0.7 Cu. Ft, 700W, Works with Alexa

UPDATED REVIEW: Well ... Almost 3 years later and the handle broke off half way. Going to try and superglue it. But other than that it is still functioning with no other problems. ORIGINAL REVIEW: Purchased this February 2019. So from a longevity standpoint I can definitely write in a review that is is a well made microwave that has "lived" almost 1.5 years already. Yes ... it is small, but if you read the description and utilize the given measurements before you purchase this microwave, you will know it is small before it ever hits your doorstep. We were pretty anti microwave for so long, but decided to purchase this small one for reheating coffee, melting butter, etc. We have a 1200 sq foot house with a tiny kitchen and our sits on a some extra shelfs and is perfect in size. Have never found any problem in heating. Easy to use, really have never had a complaint with it in all the time we have owned it. Does it work with Alexa? Now that I cannot tell you. We use Apple HomeKit. Plus, I figure, unless Alexa can pick up my coffee, stick it in the microwave and automatically heat it, and then bring it to me, I am just not wanting to jump on board digitally to all that. Overall, no regrets on our purchase.

I'm nearly 80 and recently moved into senior housing, downsizing to a 500 sf apartment. Had to get rid of a lot of big items including my giant microwave, and was despairing of ever having another until Amazon came up with this little cutie. It's tucked into the corner by the stove and small enough that there's still 10" of counterspace. Having read many of the reviews, I was worried that I'd have trouble getting it to connect with the Dot, and it failed to connect the first two tries, but I took the advice of one reviewer who said to unplug and replug the Dot and the microwave, and when I tried that, it connected within two minutes. Very easy, and I'm no techie geek! It's small, but perfectly adequate for heating anything that will fit on a 10" Corelle dinner plate. The turntable is rather thin glass but so far, so good. It does stay in place perfectly well, and I have to wonder about some of the negative reviews. I'll hold onto the shipping materials until I've had it longer, but so far, it seems perfect. As anyone with bifocals knows, it can be really hard to read small print at countertop level, so I'm very happy to have voice command. It works without a hitch. I highly recommend giving this dandy unit a try!

Update: So the day after I wrote this review and had chatted with the customer service rep I received a call and an email from Amazon’s technical support team. Through a series of calls and emails they asked for more information as to when the microwave started making the noise and that type of thing which I gladly provided the information. I didn’t ask about a replacement. I figured I’d provide the info and see what happens. Much to my surprise after they reviewed the photos I sent and the very detailed explanation of what the issue was, I received a call saying they want to send me a new microwave or credit my account the original purchase price if I didn’t want a replacement. As I stated in my original review I do like the microwave as the size is perfect for my kitchen. I also like that all my Alexa devices are linked and easily accessible through the Alexa App. I just wanted to update my review to reflect the over and beyond level of support and service I received from the TECHNICAL TEAM! So I bought this microwave thinking it’s the perfect size for my kitchen and I already own three Echo Dots and the Echo Show 5 so it would pair nicely. Well the first one I got worked great for quite some time but then the door latch wouldn’t lock into place. I contacted Amazon customer service and they sent me a new one(yes I sent the defective one back). It’s now 2 months into the second one and about a week ago it started making a humming noise when I use it. Mind you it’s just myself and my 13 year old daughter so it’s not excessively used. When the noise started it wasn’t doing it every time I used it, was give and take. But now every time I use it, it makes the humming noise. I contacted customer service today and was told that since the FIRST one I purchased was over a year ago it’s out of warranty. I tried explaining that this one I just got 2 months ago as a replacement for the broken door one. I was told that doesn’t matter because they go by the original date of purchase. I further explained the noise is quite alarming as I don’t know if the thing is going to spark or short out because it is a microwave after all. I said I would gladly send the defective one back and all I wanted was a replacement NOT a refund. The rep told me to “dispose” of the defective one and purchase a new one. I asked for my chat to be escalated to the next level of their customer service care team but was told my “concerns” would be forwarded to the product care team. When I asked again to continue the chat but with another team member I was then ignored and sent a link to purchase the microwave. I am so disappointed in not only the microwave but the level of service I received. This is AN AMAZON PRODUCT after all!!

So far this has been a fun little Microwave Oven to have. The family is learning the Alexa to Microwave voice commands. One of the most important commands to use it "Alexa STOP Microwave". You cannot say Alexa "turn off", "off", "quit" or "cancel" microwave. I wouldn't waste my time pushing the Alexa button on the microwave if your trying to turn it off as the cancel/stop button is to the left of that button and your just wasting your breath. My wife originally did not want a "Smart Home" and now she is growing into the convenience of the system. My favorite is the light controls and audio quality with the Echo Plus. We have a Echo Dot in the kitchen to play music, set the timers and to control the microwave but honestly the Echo devices anywhere can do most of that and they are very sound sensitive. The microwave has a very efficient foot space and seems to be designed well. So far as I know it is only available in the color black and it is the only size available within the Amazon Basics label. This microwave was very affordable. We got it for $41.00 shipped and the packaging was OUTSTANDING! They even put a plastic three sided corner part to keep the weakest part of the box from splitting during shipping. The box is so good that we can use it like a file storage box. Its a heavy cardboard with side handles. The microwave's power seems to be just fine and with the help of Alexa the cooking times are accurate for each item. For example, you can say "Alexa microwave a potato" and she asks "how many?" and I say "one" and she replies "microwaving one potato for six minutes and fifteen seconds". Easy Peezy..... The instruction manual is well explained and even better it comes with a small cheat sheet of commands and the other side has the setup instructions. You can watch a video on how simple the setup is and a basic demonstration on how the unit works. There is a child lockout function simply by depressing the "pause/stop" button once and the "0" button twice. The "wifi" indicator on the timer display will turn off and to reset that just repeat the process and it is back on. The power indicator is five little rectangle LEDS at the top of the clock area. You can say "Alexa Microwave Power 5 (or level 5) and she will ask "For how long" and I say "one minute" and she replies "ok, Microwave Power 5 for 1 minute". Easy and it works great! The Alexa button on front means you can just push it and without mentioning her name just tell it what your cooking. The microwave does not have any fancy build in scale or volume measuring so its very "basic" ... pun intended. Now to get one in a .9 cu ft model / brushed nickel and I am very happy! If this helped you please give me a tumbs up and have a great day!

This microwave is actually smaller than I thought it would be but it’s fine because it fits a normal size dinner plate and seems pretty standard as far as microwaves go. The last microwave I had I replaced because the numbers were blue and for some reason, I have a hard time seeing blue lights. Thus, I couldn’t really see the time too well on that microwave. However, this one has green numbers so I can see it perfectly. There aren’t really any preprogrammed buttons on this except for popcorn but everything is written just inside the door to tell you what to say to Alexa. You literally just tell Alexa things like “defrost half a pound of hamburger” or “cook two potatoes” and she starts the microwave. Best thing is, this microwave is CRAZY QUIET. I’m so used to loud microwaves that the quietness of this one constantly surprises me. I find if I’m in another room, I will occasionally have to lean over and check to make sure it’s still on... and it usually is. It does beep when it’s done but I don’t always pay attention when microwaving. I often leave the room to go watch something on tv. If I were to say there’s a downside, it would only be that the wattage is probably slightly lower than the average microwave. I’m not really sure but I think it may take about 10% longer to cook things than an 1100 watt microwave, but every time I think that, I see that the time Alexa inputs is really close to what my last microwave did. I would absolutely recommend and buy this microwave again... and no one gave me anything for this computer. But you should also know I’m kind of an Alexa whore... I can’t get enough of her and she’s in every room in my house now. If you don’t want to spend a lot, the price is worth it for this and you can control it with a $15 echo flex if you don’t want to put a show or dot in your kitchen.

**Images from replacement** I wanted to love this. I really did. And I'll admit at first, I was in love with it. Then I realised there were little things I didn't like that turned into big problems. I'll first start with what I love about it. It's small and a perfect fit for my kitchen that has very little counter space. It is Alexa enabled so I can easily figure out how much time something needs or reheat something while I'm working at my desk or being lazy on the couch. I have problems with my vision at night so this is a huge help then. Or just when I have goop all over my hands. If you have kids this will be an amazing feature. Alexa sometimes comes back with she doesn't understand but most of the time it works and I guess they keep adding new commands. So that's a plus. It heats up relatively well. It's not magical but it works. Yup. That's really about it. Now to what I don't like. This tiny little devil is hot! And I don't mean that in a good way. I mean that in an "it's going to burn your house down", way. It literally gets hot! Not the inside but the outside. I cooked some rice in it, so it boiled water for ten minutes and when I went to get it out the top of the microwave was burning hot. The outside of a microwave should not get hot. That is a definite fire hazard. I tried popcorn twice the first time was magical and it cooked it to perfection. The second time it burnt the bag and I fear if I hadn't smelt it would have started a fire. Also, it has condensation GALORE! Not from the rice, obviously there would be condensation from that. I mean from cooking anything. Any time you cook anything in there entire inside gets covered in condensation. A ridiculous amount of condensation. No use in trying to wipe it out either there's so much. I tried just leaving the door open for a bit, but the bulb stays on and gets really hot. So I turn off the strip it's plugged into and leave the door open to try and air it out. It apparently didn't work because as I was packing the first one up to send it back it started leaking water all over me. I thought I dried it all out, but nope. It held onto water somewhere. That can't be good for the electrical parts. Customer service was great and they sent me a replacement but guess what? I have the same problem with the replacement. I don't know if it's because I ordered from the warehouse or if it's just a problem with the microwaves but this is a problem that Amazon needs to fix. This is dangerous. Condensation going in who knows where and the outside of this thing is hot as heck after 5 one minute intervals with thirty-second breaks in between. Not good Amazon. The use of Alexa is great but it's not worth the hassle or the risk. Once they fix these issues I'll be more than willing to give them another shot.

I like the compact size and voice control but the power and heating in general leaves a lot to be desired. I hadn't used a microwave in 7ish years before I purchased this, just because I already had an echo and it was at a discount at the time. I didn't really know what to expect, but I started finding that everything would take an additional 2-3 minutes beyond the recommended time to heat properly. I started noticing that sections would be colder than other sections. This doesn't lend very well to a great microwaving experience! I now realize this is a 700w microwave as opposed to a normal 1000w plus microwave, but I'm not sure why we're lacking the necessary watts for the average foodstuff? Wifi hookup was a bit tricky mostly because my kitchen has a bad connection and the app is a little hard to use. I managed to get it working but every now and then, when comcast decides to kill my wifi for maintenance or whatever, the microwave does not automatically reset. Instead Alexa unhelpfully informs me it can't do that! Until of course I unplug and replug the whole thing. Compared to google products, which reset like they were never disconnected, this can be a bit frustrating. Actual use is pretty good. The voice control works great, and saves me countless seconds of trying to type on buttons which are not very sensitive. I don't personally care much about the popcorn feature, but it would have been made a LOT more useful all around if the microwave had included a weight plate inside to measure the ounces itself. This may be a problem of magnetics, but if it were solved that would have brought this microwave to a whole new level. As it is, the vaunted weight cooking features are kind of useless for how much work you have to do when you could say, just read the popcorn bag. Overall, it cooks if not so great and I did get it for a cheap price. As an avid amazon customer, I'd love for them to redesign this beast to have some of the features I mentioned and just work better as a microwave in general whether in terms of wattage or fixing a design flaw. The fact that they got wifi working at all on a microwave had to have caused some trade offs. If you're in the market for a new microwave you're probably better off with a slightly more powerful one. I'd wait until the next generation of this, unless it's already abandonware.

Although the Alexa integration seemed a little gimmicky at first, I quickly changed my mind after realizing how simple it was to use. Traditional microwaves have a million features, but honestly, do you even know how to use half of them? Gone are the days of pushing a button and looking at cryptic abbreviated text on the numerical LED screen, wondering what input it is expecting. The 0.7 cuft cooking volume is on the smaller side for microwaves, but its perfectly appropriate for a dinner plate or cup of coffee, and doesn't use a ton of counter space. And for those wary of Alexa turning the microwave on for 90 hours instead of playing music, I have found it has quite a few safeguards. First, it will only turn on for reasonable amounts of times (my attempt to microwave tea for 10 or 100 hours did not work). Second, it is aware of how long ago the door was opened. If it has been too long, it will let you know this and not start. This will prevent the microwave from turning on inadvertently with nothing in it. One of the novel features is the ability for the microwave to keep track of your popcorn supply and automatically reorders once you get low. The popcorn consists of large value packs, priced between twenty and thirty dollars. Not bad for 36 packs of popcorn....in case you happened to eat a lot of it. I was a little disappointed that when I asked the microwave for "Tea. Earl Grey. Hot," she did not know how to do this. I am hoping this is just a minor oversight by their software engineers and will be patiently waiting for this update.