Breville BOV650XL Review - Quick Verdict
The Breville BOV650XL is a compact countertop oven that comes with a flurry of features with the aim of making cooking a breeze. The element IQ, 8 preset functions, and other features make this a good oven by a good mile. Though there is no auto-eject feature, this oven is still a solid choice for those who need a compact countertop oven without breaking the bank.
- Element IQ feature gives you more control
- 8 preset functions for quick cooking
- LCD display is pretty handy and easy to read
- Lack of auto eject feature is disappointing
Author's Rating
People these days prefer countertop ovens for many reasons. They take up much less space when compared to regular-sized ovens. You can also move it around if you want to.
In this Breville BOV650XL review, we take a look at this smart countertop oven from Breville that promises to be a stick of pocket dynamite. Though the price is a bit on the upper side, it does come with several bells and whistles to make it right. Let’s see if this compact oven is worth your hard-earned money.
Design
Breville is a master when it comes to design. The Breville BOV650XL is another well-designed product by the company that looks great in your kitchen.
Out of the box, this compact smart oven can fit into any kitchen space. One of the main reasons why people countertop ovens, over conventional ones, is to save space and the Breville BOV650XL does a great job here.
The oven’s construction is sturdy, thanks to the use of high-quality stainless steel. The oven is durable and can last for a long time, thanks to the rigid build. The oven has a premium look and will get you compliments.
The handle is also made of stainless steel. However, when you’re opening and closing the door, you’ll not feel any heat through the handle.
Another nice touch is the glass windows. It covers a lot of the front portion giving you an extended look of what’s happening on the inside. Towards the right, you have the screen and the controls.
The Breville BOV650XL has dimensions of 15 x 17 x 10 inches and weighs around 20.5 pounds. With this dimension, we can understand how compact this oven is.
Breville BOV650XL Countertop Oven Features
Though not feature-rich as the Breville BOV900BSS, the Breville BOV650XL comes with its own share of good stuff. Let’s dive in to see what makes this oven good.
Element IQ
Element IQ is a smart functionality you’ll find in Breville ovens.
Four quartz elements distribute heat inside the oven. The element IQ feature controls these elements for a better output.
With the help of Element IQ, the oven can cook the food more uniformly. You can adjust the heating elements and how much heat they give to get the desired temperature for your recipes.
If there is a recipe that needs more heat on top of the tray, element IQ makes it happen. If you need more temperature below the tray, element IQ can give you that as well.
Settings
Like most ovens, the Breville BOV650XL model also comes with preset settings. There are eight settings namely.
- Toast
- Bagel
- Bake
- Roast
- Broil
- Pizza
- Cookies
- Reheat
You can see that presets like dough proofing, and air frying are not available as they are reserved for higher-end models.
With these settings, you should be able to do most of the work without having to customize anything. You can also meddle with the settings to get a specific temperature for a particular time as well.
Right Amount of Space
Many small ovens come with limited space inside. This will prevent you from doing more at the same time, and you’ll have to repeat to get the right amount of food.
With the Breville BOV650XL model, that’s not a problem.
In spite of being associated with the word compact, the Breville BOV650XL gives you ample space for fours pieces of toast, a 12″ pizza, a 6-cup muffin tray, and you can even fit in a good-size chicken.
In most cases, you can cook for a maximum of 4 people which is pretty impressive for the oven’s size.
LCD Display
There is an LCD screen that displays the time and temperature for the setting you have chosen.
The display is bright and clear so that you don’t have to squint your eyes to see what’s on the screen. You can even read what’s on display from across the room.
The display is orange when you’re preheating and cooking. It turns to blue when the process is complete.
Though not as useful as in higher-end models, the display does give us some clarity as to what is happening at the moment. In fact, the interface is simple to use and get used to.
Rack System
The Breville BOV650XL countertop smart oven comes with a 3-rack system.
This system gives you the ability to place the rack in any one of the three positions. Even some bigger ovens come with only two rack positioning which is clearly inferior to what we have here.
However, the lack of an auto-eject feature is quite baffling. Once you open the door, the rack will not eject by itself. You will have to manually take out the tray so exercise a bit of caution as it can be really hot.
Extras
The Breville BOV650XL comes with a 10 x 10 inches broil rack and a 10-inch baking pan.
These are nice inclusions and can save you a bit of money. Another nice touch is the removable crumb tray.
That’s pretty much it when it comes to extras.
Flaws But Not Dealbreakers
The Breville BOV650XL is a good smart oven, but it’s not without its set of flaws.
The first major flaw with the oven is that there is no convection in this model and we wanted to make sure that we mention that in this Breville BOV650XL review.
If you’re expecting to use the convection mode on this model, then we suggest you look at other models on the market.
At this price point, you’d expect the oven to have convection, but sadly, it’s not here.
The second issue with this model is that there is no auto-eject feature. We have already touched upon this a little earlier in the review.
The lack of auto-eject feature can be frustrating at times when you have a full tray inside. You’ll have to manually pull the tray out which can also burn your hand if you’re not wearing your oven mitts.
The final issue we feel with this model is the price.
The Breville BOV650XL is more expensive than many other models. Though you get the Breville branding, for a lot of people, it may not be worth that much. If you’re going to value smart features like element IQ and safety features like auto shut-off, then this price won’t bother you.
Another minor issue with this model is that there is no interior light. If you are going to pay this much, then it is only natural to expect interior light which is, unfortunately, missing here.
What do People Think?
The Breville BOV650XL model is a people favorite in the smart compact ovens category.
We went through customer reviews on Amazon to see what users of the product had to say.
We have a lot of long-term users who swear by their Breville BOV650XL oven. Many users have used this oven for more than five years with around 5,000 plus uses and have not faced any deterioration in performance.
If there is one thing that is a collective disappointment, it is the lack of the auto-eject feature.
Other than that, people seem to enjoy this oven.
Breville BOV650XL Countertop Oven Review – Bottomline
When looking for compact ovens, you need an oven that takes little space without compromising on the features you get. In this regard, the Breville BOV650XL smart countertop oven is a brilliant machine.
You get ample space on the inside to cook for four. There are eight preset modes that you can use swiftly for some quick cooking. You also get smart features like element IQ and auto shut-off as well.
The Breville BOV650XL smart oven is an excellent choice if you’re looking for a compact oven that can last for a very long time.