Best Small Microwaves in 2026: 0.7 and 0.9 Cubic Foot Compact Picks for Dorms and Apartments Ranked by Owners

The COMFEE 0.7 is the budget compact microwave, and 25,000 owners have reviewed it, more than any other on this page. For the money you get 700 watts with 11 power levels, six auto-cook presets, defrost by weight or time, express buttons, and two features budget boxes usually skip: a mute button that silences every beep with a three-second press and an eco mode that halves standby power by turning off the display. It is small enough to live on a shelf or in a cabinet opening. The compromises are the ones a 0.7 cubic foot, 700 watt box always has: reheating a big bowl takes longer than in a 900 watt oven, a large dinner plate brushes the walls, and the 4.4-star rating reflects a few reports of latch and keypad wear after a couple of years. For a dorm, an office or a first apartment it is the sensible cheap buy.

The Galanz Retro is the compact microwave people buy because it looks good, and 16,000 owners rating it 4.6 stars say it also works well. Its rounded body, chrome-look pull handle and surf green, red, cream and other finishes make it the one microwave here that a styled kitchen or a dorm room can show off, and the pull handle is a real advantage over the push buttons that stiffen on cheap boxes. Inside it is a straightforward 0.7 cubic foot, 700 watt oven with six power levels, defrost by time or weight, an LED display with clock and timer, an interior light and a child lock. The limits are six power levels rather than ten, 700 watt speed, and three end-of-cycle beeps that cannot be muted, the most common complaint. If looks matter as much as reheating, it is the pick.

The Chefman 0.9 is the Toshiba’s closest rival and in one respect it is better: multi-stage cooking lets you program a defrost phase followed by a cook phase and press start once, which is a feature usually found on bigger ovens. The rest matches the class leader well, with 900 watts and 10 power levels, six presets, a memory function for your most-used setting, a mute option and an eco mode that darkens the display, all behind a stainless steel front with a child lock. Owners rate it 4.5 stars across 3,200 reviews, the same score as the Toshiba from a smaller sample. The stainless finish collects fingerprints, the presets are the standard six, and the brand has less microwave history. Choose it over the Toshiba if two-stage cooking appeals or if it is cheaper on the day.

The GE 0.9 is the compact microwave for people who want an appliance brand rather than a small-appliance brand: it is a plain, well-made 900 watt, 0.9 cubic foot oven with a stainless steel and black glass front that looks like something from a built-in kitchen. Controls are a simple electronic keypad with one-touch Instant On buttons, auto or manual defrost, a kitchen timer, a child lock and a cooking-complete alarm, and the 39 inch cord reaches an outlet most compacts cannot. Owners rate it 4.4 stars across 1,500 reviews. What you give up for the badge is features: there is no mute, no eco mode and a shorter preset list than the Toshiba or Chefman, and it costs more. Buy it for the look and the brand, with GE parts and service behind it.

The COMFEE Retro is for anyone who liked the Galanz but could not live with its beeps: it has the same 0.7 cubic foot, 700 watt format in cream, green and other retro colors, and it adds a sound on/off button, an eco mode and a position-memory turntable that stops with the mug handle facing you. Nine auto menus is the longest preset list on this page, and there is a child lock and express cooking. Owners rate it 4.4 stars across 1,200 reviews, a smaller sample than the Galanz, and the retro trim is plastic rather than the metal look it suggests. It also costs more than the plain black COMFEE for essentially the same oven inside. If you want retro looks and quiet, it is the one; if you want the cheapest COMFEE, buy the plain one.

The ML-EM09PA is the newer Toshiba 0.9 and a good alternative if the EM925A5A is out of stock or pricier on the day. It keeps the 900 watt output and the 10.6 inch turntable that fits a 10 inch plate, adds an eleventh power level, has six auto menus, defrost by weight or time, one-touch cooking from one to six minutes, a mute function, LED lighting and a stainless front, and the whole box is a touch more compact at 18.7 inches wide. Owners rate it 4.5 stars across 1,100 reviews. The two-step child lock trips up some new owners who think the keypad is dead, there is no eco mode on the spec sheet, and it does not yet have the long track record of its sibling. Functionally it is the same excellent compact microwave.

The Black+Decker 0.9 rounds out the page as a solid, familiar-brand compact: 900 watts, 10 power levels, six auto menus including a dinner plate setting, a memory function that stores the cycle you use most, a kitchen timer and a two-step child lock, all behind a clear digital panel. Its turntable takes a 10 inch pizza like the other 0.9 ovens. Owners rate it 4.5 stars, but with about 700 reviews it has the least history on this page, and the spec sheet lists no mute button, which the Toshiba and Chefman have. At list price it also costs more than the Toshiba. It is a fine microwave that does nothing wrong; it just does not do anything the top two do not do for less. Buy it if the brand or a sale tips it.