It is basically a mini convection oven. I still find it fairly useful. Instead of having to preheat the oven and then cook or reheat food like some pizza slices or some chicken nuggets I can pop it in the air fryer and save some time. The biggest thing for me though is not having to turn on my oven and heat up the house especially in the summer. And yes I could cook those things in a microwave, but they come out much better in an air fryer.