Microwave shopping is one of the simpler appliance categories, but wattage and sensor features are worth understanding correctly before assuming higher numbers always mean better.
Wattage affects speed, not quality
Higher wattage cooks and reheats food faster by generating more microwave energy, but doesn't inherently produce better-tasting or more evenly cooked results — it mainly changes cooking time. This matters practically because recipe and package cooking times are often based on a specific wattage (commonly 1000W as a reference point); a lower-wattage microwave will need longer than a package's stated time, and a higher-wattage one will need less, to reach the same actual result.
Sensor cooking measures steam, not doneness directly
Microwaves with a sensor-cooking feature detect humidity or steam released from food during cooking and use that to estimate when food is done, adjusting cooking time automatically rather than requiring a manually set time. This works well for foods that release steam predictably (many prepared and packaged foods) but is less reliable for foods that don't release much steam, or for very small portions where the sensor has less signal to work with.
Inverter technology changes power delivery, not just speed
Standard microwaves cycle full power on and off to achieve a lower effective power level (for example, defrosting cycles power on and off rather than truly running at reduced power continuously), which can cook unevenly, overcooking the outer edges of food before the center is fully done. Inverter microwaves can deliver a genuinely reduced, continuous power level instead of cycling full power on and off, which produces more even results, especially for delicate defrosting and gentle reheating tasks.
Turntable size limits real usable space
The interior cavity size on the box doesn't always reflect how much can actually fit and rotate freely on the turntable — a wide but oddly shaped dish can catch on the interior walls even in a microwave with generous stated interior dimensions. Checking actual turntable diameter, not just overall interior volume, is more relevant for whether a specific large plate or dish will actually fit and rotate.
The one thing people forget
Clean spills and splatters promptly rather than letting them accumulate, particularly for models with sensor-cooking features — buildup on interior surfaces can interfere with sensor readings over time, and consistently inaccurate sensor cooking is more often caused by a dirty interior than a hardware problem with the sensor itself.