Panasonic Microwave Oven NN-SN686S Stainless Steel Countertop/Built-In with Inverter Technology and Genius Sensor, 1.2 Cubic Foot, 1200W

I absolutely LOVE this inverter microwave!! I used to sell appliances, and we also sold these (in a larger size). I always knew that when my old GE microwave crapped out, that I wanted a Panasonic inverter microwave next. FIRST, an inverter microwave is SUPERIOR to a regular microwave. It’s more powerful, cooks faster, doesn’t change the texture of your food (ie- frozen bread can be thawed in it and it comes out soft and not ruined), it does a great job with defrosting overall, and doesn’t turn hot dogs into rubbery sticks. Time to heat a cup of coffee to a perfect hot temperature is only slightly more than a minute.I have a small shelf built into my kitchen cabinets on which a microwave sits. It really only can accommodate a small microwave with a small interior. But this fits and it has a nice big interior in which I can put full size plates and casserole dishes.Now let me address some negatives. The sensor technology, which senses steam, doesn’t work the greatest. You have to leave the food uncovered to get it to work its best, which means the possibility of food “popping” and getting all over the interior of the microwave. If you cover the food, even loosely, the steam sensor can’t pick it up. With foods that I can put in without any cover, I often find them not hot enough, even with the additional time feature, but sometimes it’s perfect. So the sensor is hit or miss.One disadvantage is that the directions on frozen foods don’t work with this, so you have to learn how long to cook things. So if your Marie Calander’s meatloaf dinner says 4 minutes on high in a 1200 watt microwave, that’s going to be too long in this one!I did buy the extended warranty (through Amazon) because when I used to sell the larger version of these, I had more than one customer who told me theirs died after a couple years. But the inverter technology is so superior to a regular microwave, that I wasn’t discouraged by that. If it dies after my extended warranty, I”ll just buy another!This was made in Communist China for Panasonic, which is a Japanese company.

Perfect for me. I’m not very tall. A microwave over a stove or cooktop does not work for me. This countertop microwave is easy for me to put things in and take them out. Its compact shape makes it fit neatly on my cupboard. (It looks really nice!) Surprisingly, it accommodates all of my different size microwave cooking and reheating needs. The inverter feature is new to me. 50% power usually means a microwave operates at full power for 50% of the cooking time. Zapping the food on and off until times done. This microwave runs at 50% of the power for the time selected. It gently heats or reheats pasta and many other foods so they come out tender. Not like a fossil! There is one negative for me. The glass in the door is dark and it’s almost impossible to see the food as it cooks. I’m used to keeping an eye on certain foods so I don’t over cook them. That is a factor, especially since I’m cooking with new technology. I’m sure I’ll figure it out. And the trade-off is well worth the effort.P.S. Silly me! There was a minor issue with the interior light in this microwave. Easily corrected.

I bought this for Christmas 2024 to replace a 7 year old Farberware microwave that was still technically functional but the clock display would intermittently lose few lcd segments which would randomly come back to life and the interior was sorta yucky looking no matter how or how often it was cleaned. Time fora replacement.I first ordered another identical Farberware because I loved the control interface and I was happy with the 7 year life. But the new one arrived in an undamaged box totally dead electrically. Back that went.So I decided to look around at other brands. One of my key criteria is that the microwave has to fit in a built in nook or "garage" built into my kitchen cabinets. So dimensions mattered. This fits the physical space and provides 1.2 cu ft of internal volume and 1200 Watts of power. About the same as the unit it was replacing, 1.3 cu ft and 1100 Watts.Where this unit distinguishes itself it the exterior design. This is a super clean, simple design that looks great. The smooth featureless design with black glass and stainless steel looks sharp.This also uses and inverter vs the typical transformer. That sheds some weight and makes it more efficient from an energy usage standpoint. But all of the independent testing seems to indicate inverters don't make a huge difference in cooking vs the old 100% ON / 100% OFF transformer switching design.What does seem to make a difference is the Genius Sensor Panasonic has used in their microwaves. The Farberware also had a sensor but it was never as good as the one in this Panasonic. So I never used it. This oven's sensor on the other hand seems to get defrosting frozen foods and reheating leftovers pretty close to perfect every time.The only thing that I miss, what Farberware got right and Panasonic got wrong is the control interface. The old unit had some great one touch features. One press and you could set and start the oven for 1, 2, or 3 minutes. You could add 30 seconds at a time with a one touch button. Or you could start it from scratch with the one touch 30 second button to reheat a cup of coffee, etc. With the Panasonic setting say 2 minutes requires 4 button presses 2-0-0-start. Using the 30 second button now requires 2 button pushes, 30 seconds - Start. It doesn't sound like much. But once you've become accustomed to the convenience, taking it away is annoying. Those were the most used buttons, multiple times, every day.Another interface failure in my opinion is the "custom" features that used the sensor to custom cook certain foods. The farberware only had 9 custom food profiles but, they all were available with one touch via their own discrete button. The panasonic on the the other hand has 14 custom cook profiles but they are all available only through 1 button you have to push 14 times to scroll through all the functions. The Panasonic is a button pushing pain in the butt.On the other hand I'm hoping the inverter and better sensor end up producing better results. And as I said, the Panasonic looks a LOT better.None of this is a huge deal. Like I said, a minor annoyance. But the control interface is why I deducted a star.Hope this helps you make your decision.