Elgento E24003

Looking for a red microwave to fit in my kitchen was easier than I thought. I had expected to have to scour stores to find one but there are quite a few around once you start looking. My kitchen accessories are mostly red and I wanted a microwave that was a little different looking. After a short amount of looking I came across the Elgento microwave in Argos. I hadn’t ever heard of the brand before but was instantly drawn to it as it was in a promotion which took the RRP of £99.99 down to something like £54 at the time. I snapped it up and was quite surprised when I picked it up how light the box was.

The 17 litre capacity is below standard I would say and has the usual glass turntable tray. I have found that bizarrely I can’t seem to fit a jug in it, which I would occasionally heat with soup for my youngest daughter (she doesn’t like it too hot!), but I have had to find a smaller tub that is now my microwave tub! Also, a normal dinner plate won’t fit in the microwave. I didn’t ever reheat on a dinner plate, but if my husband was running a few minutes late from work and I had served dinner, I would still plate his tea up but pop it in the microwave to try and contain the heat. I frustratingly can’t do this now, and instead cover with foil and pop in the oven. Not a big issue, it’s just something I’ve always done, and frustrating that I can’t anymore simply because it won’t fit a plate!

The glass front on the door is black when not in use but when the microwave is on you are able to see how your food is getting on inside. I once had a microwave that you couldn’t see into and it drove me mad! We regularly make popcorn at home and I like to be able to see when it is ready without having to open the door every 20 seconds to check!

Looks wise, it’s perfect, but you are definitely paying a premium because of this. If I had paid the full RRP of the microwave I would have been very disappointed. It basically does its job, but there aren’t any particular extras.

I mentioned at the beginning that it is very light. This isn’t a positive in my opinion. It is actually quite frustrating as when you pull the handle to open the door, you pull the whole microwave as it is just so light. It is compact though so if space is an issue in a kitchen then this would be something to consider.

I don’t really use a microwave all that often. I would say the biggest use is to make popcorn (!), occasionally reheating something, but I don’t ever cook anything in it. I would say because of this, it suits my needs perfectly but for anyone using a microwave regularly or more than once or twice a week, then this model just won’t cut it.

I did say the functions were basic but they do include the defrost function, an end of cooking indication bleep and a mechanical timer (which only goes up to 30 minutes, and strangely doesn’t have a 1 minute timer?!). There are 6 power levels, so you are able to heat it at a setting which suits you and whatever you want to heat/cook. It doesn’t have a digital display for the timer which is another function that I didn’t realise I liked so much.

The 700 watts is also a bit wimpy, and for regular usage will just conk out if overworked. I can’t believe I missed all these points when buying, and simply went on how it looked. Bad choice!

Unfortunately this could have been a snazzy little microwave. It looks the part but fails on pretty much every hurdle along the way. Yes it is adequate, but when you have so many alternatives available that do so much more for a similar price are a far superior in quality, I can’t recommend this product.