Tower 5 litre AirX AI digital air fryer: a smart air fryer that works best for smaller households

Price at time of writing: £77 | Buy now from Amazon, Tower or AO 

My verdict

In short: A quiet, sleek and affordable AI air fryer that’s best suited to singles or couples. The smart cooking is interesting, but for busy family meals you’ll probably end up using manual mode.

Full verdict: The Tower AirX AI 5L is a modern smart air fryer that punches above its weight on design and noise levels. It’s impressively quiet, easy to live with day to day and good value for money if you’re curious about AI cooking without paying premium-brand prices.

The Tower AirX AI 5L arrives well packaged, with no complicated setup required

The AI feature is genuinely novel at this level, but in real family cooking, especially when mixing foods, it didn’t always inspire confidence. Add in the slightly underpowered touchscreen and the 5L capacity, and it’s not quite right for a family of four.

That said, for smaller households who mostly cook one thing at a time, it makes a lot of sense. If you like the idea of a compact, modern air fryer with a techy edge, this is a solid entry point. Families would be better off looking at the 8L version.

How I tested 

My husband and I used the Tower AirX AI 5L air fryer daily for 30 days as our main air fryer, replacing our Ninja dual air fryer. It was used for family dinners, after-school teas and quick freezer meals, including chips, wedges, nuggets and mixed foods.

What’s in the box and how easy is setup?

In the box you get the air fryer unit itself, a removable non-stick basket with grill plate and a short instruction booklet. No extra accessories, racks or inserts to get your head around, which I actually appreciated.

Setup is simple: it’s a case of washing the basket and grill plate, giving the inside a quick wipe and plugging it in. There’s no app to download, no pairing process and no account setup, which feels slightly ironic for a smart air fryer but very welcome if you just want to get on with cooking tea.

The controls light up as soon as it’s powered on and you can start cooking straight away. We were up and running within minutes, with no real learning curve beyond familiarising ourselves with the touchscreen and presets.

In the box you get the air fryer unit, basket and grill plate, plus a simple instruction booklet

Cooking with the Tower AirX AI: how easy is it to use?

As a family who rely heavily on their air fryer each day, our first impressions of the Tower AirX AI air fryer were positive. It’s a really good-looking air fryer - sleek, modern and much less bulky than our Ninja dual air fryer, which makes a difference if your kitchen is already doing a lot of heavy lifting or you’re short on space. 

The touchscreen interface keeps things looking clean, with no physical buttons sticking out. That said, I didn’t love using it - though, my husband got on with it better. The screen works fine, but it didn’t instill confidence in me when it steamed up as the drawer opened each time. It clears quickly, but it’s not ideal when you’re trying to make quick adjustments.

There are six one-touch presets: fries, wings, prawn, steak, cupcake and fish, plus a manual mode if you want to set your own time and temperature. There’s also a shake button, which is useful and nicely visible. Presses don’t always feel decisive, though, and I often found myself tapping twice just to be sure. It reminded me a little too much of ordering food at a self-service screen when you’re hungry and short on patience. 

The touchscreen lights up as soon as the air fryer is powered on

How does the AI cooking actually work?

The big selling point here is the AI function, which is what makes this an AI air fryer rather than just another digital model with presets. Tower says an intelligent sensor analyses the volume and temperature of the food and automatically adjusts cooking time to remove guesswork. In theory, that’s great, but in practice it was less convincing for us. 

Our first test was the fries setting for the kids’ tea. Except, in real life, it wasn’t just fries. It was wedges and chicken nuggets together. That seemed to confuse it, and the fryer took a long time to settle on a cooking time and I didn’t feel confident waiting it out. In the end, I switched to manual: 180°C for 12 minutes. That worked perfectly well, but it meant the AI didn’t exactly inspire confidence straight away.

I suspect the AI works best when you’re cooking one type of food at a time and sticking closely to the preset categories. For anyone buying a smart air fryer mainly for family meals with mixed foods, that’s worth bearing in mind.

We tested the Tower AirX AI 5L using everyday foods like wedges and nuggets

Performance and cooking results

Once cooking was underway, performance was reassuring. Results were solid regardless of how tricky the setup was. The wedges came out crisp, nuggets were cooked evenly and nothing needed rescuing. The Vortx hot-air circulation does its job and heat distribution feels consistent. 

It automatically pauses when you open the drawer and resumes cooking when you slide it back in, without resetting the programme. That’s a big plus. There’s also a latch you need to press to release the drawer, which I appreciated with kids around. It feels like a small thing, but it adds peace of mind. 

One downside is there’s no alert when cooking finishes. If you’re used to a beep telling you dinner’s ready, you do need to remember to check back. 

Is the Tower AirX AI air fryer noisy?

One thing that stood out was the noise - or rather, the lack of it. It’s noticeably quieter than our Ninja dual air fryer and one of the quietest air fryers we’ve used full stop. On first use, we genuinely checked it was switched on. If noise is a deciding factor for you, especially in open-plan kitchens, this is a big tick.

Compared with our Ninja dual air fryer, the Tower model is noticeably more compact

Capacity and size: is 5L big enough? 

For us, this is where the 5L model falls down. For a family of four, it’s just a bit too small. You can make it work, but you’ll be cooking in batches more often than I’d like.

That said, the drawer is longer and deeper than the ones on our Ninja, even if the overall capacity is smaller. You could comfortably fit a chicken in there, for example. But for everyday family teas, it didn’t quite keep up. 

As a smart air fryer, it feels far better suited to singles or couples who are more likely to cook one thing at a time and let the AI do its thing. I suspect the 8L version would be a better fit for families, especially if you’re coming from a large-capacity or dual-zone air fryer. 

The air fryer automatically pauses when the drawer is opened and resumes cooking when it’s pushed back in

How does the Tower AirX AI air fryer look?

Design-wise, it’s a win. It looks modern without shouting about it and doesn’t dominate the kitchen. It also has a smaller footprint than many 5L air fryers, which will matter if worktop space is tight. 

Like most new appliances, it did have a “new” smell. Not chemical, but noticeable. It lingered for about a week, which matched our experience with the Ninja, so nothing unexpected there. 

Is the Tower AirX AI air fryer easy to clean?

Cleaning is straightforward. The non-stick basket and removable grill plate were easy to wipe down and didn’t feel any more hassle than other air fryers we’ve used. So, no complaints here. 

The drawer includes a manual latch, which felt reassuring with children around

Is the price of the Tower AirX AI worth it?

As a budget-friendly AI air fryer, the Tower AirX AI 5L makes sense. You’re getting a modern design, quiet operation and smart features without paying premium-brand prices.

For our family, though, the capacity and touchscreen quirks mean it wouldn’t replace our Ninja long term. That’s more about suitability than quality, though. 

Tower air fryer comparison: AirX AI vs Vortx

Who would this air fryer suit best?

In my opinion, the Tower AirX AI 5L is best suited to singles, couples or smaller households who cook relatively simple meals and don’t need to cater for four people in one hit.

If you mostly cook one type of food at a time, for example chips, chicken or fish, the AI presets make more sense and you’re more likely to benefit from the smart features. It also suits anyone short on worktop space, as the footprint is compact and the design doesn’t overwhelm a smaller kitchen.

For families of four, or anyone used to cooking mixed foods together, the 5L capacity and AI quirks mean it’s less of a natural fit. In that case, the 8L version would be the better option.

The Tower AirX AI 5L has a compact, slimline design that doesn’t dominate the worktop

Is the Tower AirX AI air fryer good for beginners?

Yes, but with a caveat. If you’re new to air fryers and want something that looks modern, doesn’t make much noise and won’t cost a fortune, this is a friendly place to start. The presets are clear, manual mode is easy enough to use and setup is straightforward.

Where beginners might stumble is trusting the AI too much. In our experience during testing, manual settings still delivered the most reliable results, so a bit of confidence and willingness to tweak timings does help.

Final verdict

The Tower AirX AI 5L is a smart-looking, quiet and capable air fryer that’s best suited to singles, couples or smaller households. 

The AI cooking is an interesting idea and, at this price point, genuinely novel. But in real family cooking, especially with mixed foods, it didn’t quite deliver the confidence I wanted. The 5L capacity also isn’t ideal for a family of four, although the larger 8L version may well solve that. 

If you’re curious about trying an AI air fryer for the first time and don’t want to spend a fortune, it’s a relatively low-risk way in. Just be realistic about capacity and how much you’ll actually rely on the AI versus manual cooking. 

About the author

Rebecca Roberts (aka Beccy) is our resident lifestyle expert with a practical focus on sleep, wellness and everyday comfort. She’s equally at home tackling frank, NSFW‑adjacent topics as she is road‑testing kitchen appliances, mattresses and vacuums that work for real parents. A former editor of LJMU’s Looprevil Press, she cut her teeth in journalism in 2010, earned a post‑grad diploma in Journalism and later led editorial at ExpatWoman in Dubai before joining Mumsnet. As a mum of two, she writes with the time‑poor, sleep‑deprived in mind - honest product reviews, realistic routines and products that make parents’ lives easier.

When she’s not at her desk, she’s probably product‑testing with her two helpers, corralling a PTA or walking her two dogs up and down country lanes.

About Mumsnet reviews

All Mumsnet product reviews are written by real parents after weeks of research and testing. We work hard to provide honest and independent advice you can trust. Sometimes, we earn revenue through affiliate (click-to-buy) links in our articles. However, we never allow this to influence our coverage.

All prices are correct at time of publication.

Read next: Best air fryers of all time