What features do consumers look for first when buying a microwave oven?

Consumers consider price, ease of use and appearance when selecting a microwave oven. Most consumers look to spend less than $300 on a new microwave, as of 2015, and prefer ovens with a stainless steel finish.

Most consumers are willing to spend at least $100 on a new microwave. Most consumers also found presets for cooking specific dishes and sensor cooking modes difficult to use and rarely worth the trouble, so these features rarely guide most buying decisions. One important feature that many microwave oven shoppers overlook is a quality door latch, which can lead to blown fuses if it slips open while the microwave oven is in operation.