If you’re looking for a reliable air fryer for less than £100, now might be a good time to grab the AF160 single drawer air fryer from Ninja. It may be small, but it’s surprisingly versatile. In this article, I’ll show you exactly what you can fit in its 5.2L capacity drawer and why this model, one of Ninja’s first air fryers, might still be a great purchase for a family in 2026.
Table of Contents
Clear Instructions Built for First-Time Use
Because the Ninja Air Fryer MAX AF160 was one of Ninja’s first air fryers, the instructions are really clear, written for customers who hadn’t necessarily used this kind of technology before. Each of the six functions is explained in detail in the instruction book, telling you exactly what you should use them for.
It also has a couple of pages of nicely laid out, simple tips and tricks for air fryer use, which you don’t see repeated in the instruction books for newer models. There are also 20 recipes at the back of the booklet, ranging from blueberry tarts to Italian pork loin, to help you get started.
Being a single drawer air fryer, the controls are pretty simple too. You don’t have to worry about multiple cooking zones and synchronised finishes. Instead, you just turn the power on, select one of the six functions, alter the time and temperature if needed, and press start.
Six Cooking Functions Explained
The six functions on the Ninja Air Fryer MAX AF160 are the same functions you’ll find duplicated across the range of Ninja air fryers. Max Crisp is a fixed temperature function intended for adding extra crispiness at the end of cooking.
Air Fry delivers healthy deep frying without oil. Roast and Bake are similar to what you would get in a regular oven. Reheat is a cool oven setting for reviving leftovers, and Dehydrate is a long, slow, cool cook for removing moisture from food to create snacks.
![Ninja Air Fryer Max [AF160UK] 5.2 litres, Grey and Black](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41tDcQaduCL._AC_.jpg "Ninja Air Fryer MAX AF160 Review")
Size and Build
Size-wise, the footprint of the Ninja Air Fryer MAX AF160 is compact. You’ll need a space approximately 32cm deep and 25cm wide to accommodate it, and it stands 37cm high. The drawer is approximately 12.5cm deep with the crisper plate in and just short of 15cm when it’s removed, and it’s about 21cm across. Both the drawer and crisper plate are ceramic coated, nonstick, and dishwasher safe.
How Much Food Can You Actually Fit Inside?
Like many air fryers, there are some claims in the product information for the AF160 that suggest it can fit quite impressive volumes of food inside it. If you’re considering this model, you probably want to know how realistic those promises actually are and whether they’re just marketing hype. The results from testing were mixed.
The Whole Chicken Test
Ninja says a 2kg chicken will fit in the drawer. Honestly, this didn’t seem hopeful at first. A 1.9kg chicken was tested and, as you’d expect from the packaging, it really didn’t look like it would fit. However, once prepared, the chicken not only fitted in but because the drawer is deep on this model, it also had a really good amount of clearance at the top of the drawer.
There were no concerns about the chicken coming into contact with the heating element. The cooking instructions on the chicken advised 1 hour 45 minutes in a conventional oven, but it cooked in the AF160 in just 50 minutes, which is a great time saver, and even though it was wedged in quite tightly, it had a good finish all over.
The Fries Claim
The fries promise is where things get a little misleading. Ninja states the AF160 will fit 1.4kg of fries in the basket. A 1.4kg bag of McCain’s fries was bought, which even had an air fryer instruction on the back with a little image that looks just like the AF160.
The whole contents of the bag will just about physically fit in the drawer, but you obviously can’t cook fries like that. Ninja themselves even state in the instructions that you shouldn’t overcrowd the drawer and should shake frequently, so 1.4kg of fries is never going to work in practice. That is a little misleading.
Most people won’t be buying this air fryer to cook for the whole street. The AF160 is best suited to a couple or a family with a couple of kids, in which case you’ll probably want to cook around 500g of fries at a time. If you follow the instructions to preheat for 3 minutes and shake regularly, you do get great results. So yes, it’s a great air fryer for cooking for a family, but just don’t get carried away with the wild quantities quoted in the marketing material.
Preheating
Preheating is where the AF160 differs from the newer Dual Zone air fryers, which Ninja says you don’t need to preheat. With the AF160, literally the first thing on the first page of the instruction book is a note advising you to preheat for 3 minutes for best results. You do this simply by setting the time for 3 minutes longer than you want to cook for, then adding the food once those 3 minutes have passed.
Also Read: Ninja Double Stack Air Fryer Review
What Else Can You Cook in the Ninja Air Fryer MAX AF160?
If you’re going to be air frying regularly, a 250g bag of garlic and herb prawns sits in the drawer with lots of space around them and delivers good results when cooking. For individual cuts of meat for the family, such as chicken kievs, it’s worth investing in one of the two racks that Ninja sells to fit this air fryer, or the triple stack rack available from third-party sellers on Amazon.
Racks aren’t always recommended because they can be an inefficient use of space, but given this model’s very deep drawer relative to its surface area, they are worth buying. It’s also worth purchasing them now before this model is discontinued.
Those racks also come in useful for dehydrating. When testing this function, balancing a rack from a twin drawer model inside the AF160 still achieved good results, and orange slices were beautifully dried through in about 9 hours.
For baking and puddings, four individual pudding basins fit inside, slightly overlapping but without affecting results. A 6-inch square cake tin also fits in for baking. Another advantage of the deeper drawer is that food blows around less on high fan speeds compared to dual basket models. Grated cheese melted onto fries on the Max Crisp setting stayed completely in place without moving.
Power Consumption
In a 10-minute test, the Ninja Air Fryer MAX AF160 does use more power than some other similar capacity drawers on dual drawer models. However, if you’re buying this as your first air fryer, that shouldn’t be a dealbreaker, because it’s still going to use considerably less energy than a conventional oven.
How Quiet Is the Ninja AF160?
The AF160 is pretty quiet when running on the lowest fan speed. Using the Dehydrate function, it’s actually easy to forget it’s running at all, registering in the low 50s on the decibel meter. Even on its most powerful setting, Max Crisp, it still only gets a reading in the low 60 decibels, which is very respectable for an air fryer.
Warranty and Customer Support
Another great reason to choose the Ninja Air Fryer MAX AF160 as your first air fryer is Ninja’s excellent customer support. If you register within 28 days of purchase, you’ll receive a 2-year warranty. And if you’re thinking of gifting this to an older relative, they can actually talk to someone on the phone at customer services if they have a problem, which is rarely an option with home appliances these days.
- Beginner-friendly instructions with 20 recipes included, ideal for first-time air fryer users.
- Deep drawer design fits a whole chicken up to 2kg with good clearance from the heating element.
- Quiet operation, especially on lower fan speeds, with low 50s dB on Dehydrate mode.
- Backed by Ninja’s 2-year warranty and real phone-based customer support.
Specification Table
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Model | Ninja Air Fryer MAX AF160 |
| Capacity | 5.2L |
| Drawer Depth (with crisper plate) | Approx. 12.5cm |
| Drawer Depth (without crisper plate) | Just under 15cm |
| Drawer Width | Approx. 21cm |
| Unit Dimensions | 32cm (D) x 25cm (W) x 37cm (H) |
| Cooking Functions | Max Crisp, Air Fry, Roast, Bake, Reheat, Dehydrate |
| Coating | Ceramic Nonstick |
| Dishwasher Safe | Yes (Drawer and Crisper Plate) |
| Noise Level (Dehydrate/Low) | Low 50s dB |
| Noise Level (Max Crisp/High) | Low 60s dB |
| Preheat Required | Yes, 3 minutes recommended |
| Warranty | 2 Years (with registration within 28 days) |
| Max Whole Chicken Size | Up to 2kg |
| Compatible Accessories | Ninja Racks x2, Third-Party Triple Stack Rack |
| Price Range | Under $180 |
| Best Suited For | Couples and Small Families |
Final Verdict
The Ninja Air Fryer MAX AF160 isn’t the newest model on the market and it’s clearly being phased out, but that’s actually part of what makes it a smart buy right now. You can pick it up at a discounted price from a trusted manufacturer, with clear beginner-friendly instructions, solid cooking performance, a deep and versatile drawer, quiet operation, and a strong 2-year warranty behind it. It’s perfectly suited to couples and small families who want consistent, energy-efficient cooking without the complexity of multi-zone models.
Read More: Top 10 Tips for Air Fryer Owners
