Kitchen · Kitchen Appliance
Instant Pot Duo Crisp Review: Is the Hybrid Worth It?
Wirecutter says: “It works, but it’s not worth it,” while TechRadar and BBC Good Food rate its versatility and usability highly.
No single aggregate score — here's what the reviewers agree on, below.
The short version
The Instant Pot Duo Crisp with Ultimate Lid is a large, 13-function pressure cooker and air fryer built around convenience. TechRadar and BBC Good Food praise its intuitive controls, automatic pressure release, secure lid and batch-cooking capacity. Wirecutter is much less convinced, arguing that it is expensive and that separate pressure cookers and air fryers perform their individual jobs better. The honest verdict: it makes sense for one-pot meals that need pressure cooking followed by browning, but not for shoppers chasing the best standalone air-frying or pressure-cooking performance.
What reviewers loved
- Thirteen cooking functions cover pressure cooking, air frying, slow cooking, sautéing, roasting, baking, sous vide and more in one appliance.
- Automatic pressure release, clear on-screen prompts and a secure sliding lid lock make pressure cooking less intimidating.
- The 6.5-quart capacity suits larger households and batch cooking, according to BBC Good Food.
- Six sauté levels and a wider, shallower pot provide finer heat control and faster browning than the Instant Pot Rio, according to Wirecutter.
- Dishwasher-safe removable parts reduce cleanup after pressure cooking or air frying.
What held it back
- It is a bulky, 27.8-pound appliance that demands a substantial amount of counter and storage space.
- Wirecutter reports that dedicated appliances perform better when pressure cooking or air frying is considered separately.
- The fixed lid can be harder to clean, and an inner metal insert still has to be removed for certain functions.
- TechRadar found the steam function too fierce for delicate vegetables, and the stainless-steel cooking pot is not non-stick.
Buy it if your priority is making large one-pot meals that can be pressure-cooked and then browned or crisped without changing appliances.
Skip it if you mainly want the strongest air-frying performance, a compact cooker or the best value from a single-purpose appliance.
What the reviewers say
TechRadar calls it the best Instant Pot it had tested, awarding 4.5 out of 5 for price and performance and 5 out of 5 for design. Its reviewer praised the intuitive controls, automatic pressure release and ability to offer 13 functions without a second full-size lid. BBC Good Food reached a similarly positive conclusion, giving it 4.5 and highlighting its large capacity, presets and reassuring sliding lock.
Wirecutter delivers the key dissenting view. Its testers found the Duo Crisp convenient for cooking and then browning food in the same machine, and they liked its six-level sauté control. However, they concluded that it was expensive for its capabilities and recommended it only when one-pot combination cooking is the main goal. Reviewed reinforces that distinction by describing this type of Duo Crisp as a pressure cooker first and an air fryer second.
The competition
Instant Pot Rio
A simpler Instant Pot alternative. Wirecutter says the Duo Crisp has six sauté levels versus the Rio's three and browns food noticeably faster.
Instant Pot Pro
Another conventional Instant Pot option. Wirecutter lists five sauté heat settings for the Pro, compared with six on the Duo Crisp.
Standalone air fryer
The better route if crisping is the main priority. Wirecutter says separate appliances perform better for air frying, while Reviewed characterizes the Duo Crisp as a pressure cooker first.
Should you buy it?
Buy the Instant Pot Duo Crisp with Ultimate Lid for its workflow, not because it is best at every function. Critics agree that it is versatile, spacious and unusually approachable for a pressure cooker. Its strongest use case is a braise, stew or similar meal that can be pressure-cooked and then browned in the same pot. The trade-off is a high price, a large footprint and air-frying performance that does not clearly replace a good standalone machine. RightWei summarizes independent reviewers' hands-on tests and does not test review units itself.
Sources
RightWei aggregates and summarizes independent reviews — we link to the original hands-on tests so you can go deeper. We don't test units ourselves.