Breville Combi Wave BMO870 3-in-1

Real-World Cooking Performance

Top Ten Reviews tester Paul Rankin praised the Breville convection and grill modes specifically — chicken legs cooked with 'crispy exterior skin with fully cooked interior,' salmon filets nailed at nine minutes, brownie edges achieving 'perfect crispness across multiple pans.' This is the rare convection microwave where the convection mode is the primary star, not a marketing afterthought. The Kitchn writer used the unit for years and would buy it again — 'I've used the Breville Combi Wave 3-in-1 for years' — which reads as a stronger long-term endorsement than the average two-week review can capture.

The 1200W microwave is the highest in this guide and noticeably faster on standard reheats than 900W units like the Sharp SMC1585BS. A dinner bowl of tomato soup at full power hits piping-hot in roughly two minutes, after which most users dial back to 60-70% on subsequent reheats. The Speed Combi preset blends microwave and convection to cook from-frozen meals 30-40% faster than convection alone.

Build Quality and Design

Build quality is where the Breville earns its price. The soft-close door is the only one in this guide — competitors all use spring-loaded latches that pop the door open with audible force — and during heavy use the difference adds up. The brushed stainless chassis feels heavier and more solid in the hand than the painted-metal sides on the Panasonic NN-CD87KS or the Sharp SMC1585BS, and the dual knobs on the control panel 'feel great in your hand' per Top Ten Reviews — these are physical detents with weighted action, not the rotary encoders on cheaper units.

The 20.5-by-20.1-inch footprint is more compact than the Sharp's 27.5-inch width and the Panasonic's 22-inch width. The 13.5-inch turntable accepts most dinner plates but will not swallow a 9-by-13 baking pan — that capacity ceiling is real and is the price of the premium small-footprint design. Included accessories cover a Combi Crisp Pan for air-fry work and a wire trivet for elevated convection cooking.

What Reviewers Loved

The recurring praise across The Kitchn, Top Ten Reviews, and the Best Buy 4.5-star aggregate from 769 reviewers is the build feel and the convection performance. The unit 'feels incredibly premium,' the convection mode produces results that match a dedicated countertop convection oven, and the Speed Combi mode cuts cook time on familiar dishes without sacrificing the browning a convection-only mode delivers.

Owners also praise the digital readout — Top Ten Reviews describes it as 'fairly large for the machine's size and very easy to read' — and the preset programming. The 19 smart presets are tuned for specific dishes rather than generic time profiles, and the Fast Combi preset is particularly useful for from-frozen meals where the microwave thaws while convection cooks the exterior.

Where It Falls Short

The air-fry mode is the documented weakness. Top Ten Reviews tester Paul Rankin reported that the air-fry function 'consistently over-shrank my food' on frozen chicken breasts, rendering them inedible — a notable miss for a unit marketed on its three-in-one capability. If air fry is your primary use, the Panasonic NN-CD87KS or LG MHEC1737F deliver better dedicated air-fry performance.

Cavity capacity is the second limit. At 1.1 cu ft, the Breville is the smallest unit in this guide, and it will not accept a 9-by-13 baking pan. Owners cooking for one or two find this irrelevant; households cooking for four or more occasionally hit the wall. The convection fan also produces a 'whooshing' sound at roughly 56 dB — quieter than a dishwasher but louder than a magnetron-only microwave. Some Best Buy owners report unit failure or rising noise after two years.

Who It's Best For

Apartment dwellers, small-kitchen owners, and renters who value premium materials and a compact footprint over raw cavity volume. The 20.5-by-20.1-inch footprint fits comfortably on a 24-inch-deep counter without dominating, the soft-close door means the unit operates quietly in shared living spaces, and the 1200W microwave handles reheats faster than competitors. If you cook for one or two and bake or roast in small batches, the BMO870 is the premium-feel pick.

Skip it if air fry is your primary use, if you regularly cook in a 9-by-13 baking pan, or if budget is the priority — at $499.95 the Breville is mid-range price but lacks the cavity volume and broiler mode the similarly-priced Panasonic NN-CD87KS offers.

How It Compares to Alternatives

Against the Panasonic NN-CD87KS at the same $499 price, the Breville offers premium build, soft-close door, and 1200W vs 1000W microwave power — but the Panasonic adds the FlashXpress broiler, dedicated air-fry that owners actually like, and a 0.1 cu ft larger cavity. Against the Toshiba EC042A5C-BS, the Breville costs $200 more for premium materials and adds the air-fry mode the Toshiba lacks. Against the Sharp SMC1585BS, the Breville is 0.4 cu ft smaller in cavity but more apartment-friendly in footprint.

Value at This Price

At $499.95 from Breville direct, the BMO870 is mid-tier pricing with premium materials and a one-year warranty that is shorter than the Panasonic's three-year. Buyers paying for the soft-close door, the heavier chassis, and the 1200W microwave are paying for the touch points they will use daily — and the cross-publisher 4.5-star aggregate suggests most owners feel the price is justified. The two-year failure reports are not common enough to read as systemic but are common enough to be worth noting before purchase.

Long-Term Durability

The Kitchn writer's multi-year ownership review is the strongest long-term data point in the Breville record — 'I've used the Breville Combi Wave 3-in-1 for years' implies sustained reliability past the warranty window. Owner reviews on Best Buy after the unit's first three model-years show a small but real subset of buyers reporting either total failure or rising fan noise at the two-year mark, which is more failure signal than the same period shows for the Panasonic NN-CD87KS or Sharp SMC1585BS.

Breville's customer service is well-regarded in owner reports — replacement parts ship quickly and the chat-support response time is faster than appliance-industry norms. The convection fan motor and the inverter board are the components most likely to develop noise or failure over years, and both are user-serviceable to the extent that authorized service centers can replace them without sending the unit back to Breville. The one-year warranty is the minimum coverage period in this guide, which is the unit's biggest long-term coverage weakness.

The brushed stainless exterior wears better than painted finishes, and the soft-close door mechanism uses a damper rather than a spring tensioner — the damper does eventually weaken after several years of heavy use, but the door continues closing reliably. Breville's published service network is concentrated in major metro areas, which can mean longer ship-back times for repairs in rural locations. Owners who use the unit primarily for microwave reheating and occasionally for convection or air fry report the longest service lives; heavy daily convection use accelerates fan-bearing wear in the predictable pattern shared across all convection microwaves at this price point.

The Combi Crisp Pan and trivet ship with the unit and are dishwasher-safe — both wear surfaces typical kitchen use and the pan develops a seasoning patina over months of air-fry work. Replacement Crisp Pans are available through Breville parts ordering at roughly $30, which is reasonable for a unit-specific accessory. Owners cleaning the cavity should use the Breville-recommended damp-cloth-and-mild-detergent routine rather than abrasive cleaners — several owner reports of premature cavity-finish degradation trace back to using stainless cleaners on the interior.