Panasonic NN-SN68KS Compact Microwave Oven with 1200W Power, Sensor Cooking, Popcorn Button, Quick 30Sec & Turbo Defrost, 1.2 cu.ft, Stainless Steel

We have been looking for a microwave to replace our 20 year old microwave. I compared several ones and ordered this one because it met all of our needs. It opens like our old microwave, it’s at 1200 which our old one was too. Not sure what to expect with the child lock but we read about it when we received this. We didn’t think there was a problem with the child lock, just have to wait 5 seconds before you can open door. The sleek design and the black and silver match our kitchen to a tea. Also there are many quick cooking preset buttons like popcorn so it takes the guess work out. The light inside is a bonus and we definitely had to have out rotating. Very easy to clean, just wipe down with a cloth. I don’t see any finger prints on it. And this microwave is slightly busier than the other ones. Make sure you measure the space you have so this fits. This was a great choice for our family. We love it and I really did do a lot of research before I bought.

The best part about this brand of microwave is that it works - no hassle. My first Panasonic Inverter lasted 15 years. Replaced it b/c I wanted a smaller one. Gave it away to a coworker who says it’s still working 5 years later. Still looks new. So, instead doing the smart thing + buying another one, I bought a Toshiba based on the over 15k reviews. First one came dented. Sent back. Reordered and hated it. Cheaply made, door was noisy to open + close and within a year had to throw it in a dumpster. The back blistered and the inside was stained (could never get any food stain to go away). Idk if I just got a bad one or not, but this Panasonic is hands down a superior machine. Pros: minimalist look, no handle, easy to use, reheat option - did I mention it works??? My fridge + stove are black stainless, but my dishwasher is reg stainless, and the microwave sits right above it on the counter. I was thinking about replacing the dishwasher to match the rest, but the microwave kind of pulls it together, + the look is aesthetically pleasing now, so saved some $ there. Cons: in dim light, the operating panel is harder to see, and I still haven’t figured out how to permanently disable the child lock, but tbf, I haven’t spent any time reading the manual other than having to press 0 to open the door. I think that a child safety lock should be something you have to purposefully activate, not come already enabled. So, if you want a reliable, attractive, microwave that has an inverter and multiple cooking options, I cannot recommend Panasonic enough. The LG models are more expensive and aren’t nearly as attractive. I was tempted to buy the small Breville, but reviews were mixed. Btw…if it matters, Panasonic is one of the few microwave brands that isn’t made in China. That was a nice bonus for me. I’ve had this model a month with no issues. Some ppl didn’t like the dark gray interior, but I do. It’s different and makes it look more expensive than it is. Honestly, if I became a millionaire overnight, I’d still buy Panasonic microwaves. They’ve never let me down.

I was looking for an inverter style microwave that was powerful, feature rich, and did it's job. This hit on all of those points and except for one flaw would be a perfect 10/10. Pros: - Microwaves food well. I know this should be obvious but with some of the reviews I'd read I thought I should make this clear. It does its job well with no uneven heating. - Sense reheat works awesome. Coming from a microwave that didn't have this feature, this makes warming up food easy. No more guess work or babysitting the food while it reheats. Put it in, press Sense Reheat, start it and walk away. You'll come back to fully warmed up food. It errors on the side of too warm than too cold so you don't have to worry about those odd cold bites. Just be sure not to cover it. - Cleans super easy. Whatever material or coating they are using is perfect for wiping out any mess. Compared to my old microwave this is world's better. You won't realize how awesome this is until you try wiping dry spaghetti sauce from the top of a microwave. I could never go back one without this coating. - Ability to turn off sound. As someone who has a toddler who naps/sleeps in the room next to the kitchen this is a huge feature for me. No more loud beeps whenever you're pressing buttons and no more alarm going off whenever it's done. - Build quality feels solid and I have no worries about its longevity. This wasn't the cheapest microwave but it feels like it hit the sweet spot between features and quality. You could spend a lot more on a microwave that wouldn't work any better. So with all these positives what is the flaw that single handedly takes an entire star off the rating? The most annoying flaw: After heating something up and checking it, if you need to add additional time you can't just press the number keys. Your options are, use the 30 second button to add time in 30 second blocks, press the add time button then hit the number keys, press clear then hit the number keys, or wait 1 minute for it to lose its memory and then press the number keys. Now let me be clear, I understand why they have the additional time button. It's so you can add time without having to go through re-entering all those additional settings again. But the amount of times I actually use the advanced heating options vs just throwing food in there and hitting it full blast aren't even close. I've had this microwave for 2 months and I haven't once set the power level or used it to make dough or bake a cake or any ofhat other stuff. But you know what I do basically every single day? Throw my kids food in there and then have to keep checking it to make sure it's not too hot then adding more time. And every single time I run it for 10 seconds then have to check it, when I need to add more time guess what? I can't just press the number keys and hit go. I've got to hit additional time then 10 seconds. Doesn't sound like a big deal right? It only adds an extra second of time. Sure, you're right, except I've got 20+ years of microwave muscle memory built in telling me once you open the door to check the food you can go right back to pressing the number keys and hitting go. So every time I use it I naturally close the door and then go right to pressing numbers only to remember, "oh that's right they've added an additional extra unnecessary step before allowing me to add additional time". I don't care about giving us an extra minute of time after heating up food to decide if we want those same settings and to add additional time. I want to check my food, press numbers, and hit start. I'm sure some engineer got paid a lot of money to add more features to a microwave that wasn't needed simply to check off something on a checklist somewhere but they sacrificed flow of use for it. Yes it's a minor thing. Yes it doesn't take away from the overall product. Yes it still pisses me off every time I need to add an extra 10 seconds to something. Yes I'm removing an entire star because of this.

Very nice microwave! Has the power, features and reliability that I was looking for!

Listen, I'm not the kind of person to write angry product reviews. I try to be an informed consumer, I research products before buying them, and I try not to assign blame where it isn't deserved. But my experience with this microwave was ridiculous. Setup of the microwave out of the box was painless, pop the rotating tray inside, plug it in, you're good to go. The sensor heating worked well, operation was reasonably quiet, no complaints! ...for four days. On day five when attempting to defrost some hamburger, the microwave stopped working 30 seconds into a cycle and the display said "H97." A quick look in the user manual said of this error simply: Contact Panasonic Support. And here my troubles began. Panasonic's support website is labyrinthine, and does not list a support phone number. The first point of contact I could find was a live support chat. Clicking on the support chat link gave me a DNS error saying that the server could not be reached. I eventually figured out that the support chat line is only operated from Monday to Friday during Eastern Seaboard business hours, and outside of those hours they just... turn off the web server? Keep in mind that this is an international consumer electronics giant. Attempt #2 was when I found a separate page on the Panasonic website for making a service/repair request. Emailing the repair request email generated an automated email saying that I would get a reply within 48 hours. 48 hours later, I received an email telling me to call their support phone number, the one that was not listed anywhere on their website. But whatevs, I passed their first temple guard and now I had the magic number. I called the number, an automated voice told me that I could expect a 30 minute wait before hearing a human voice, and that I might be charged a $9.95 service fee just for calling them(!?). Ok, I'll fight that battle when I get there. I follow through a nesting doll of "Press 1 for X, Press 2 for Y," until I get to a menu for "Consumer Microwaves that display an H97 error." Jackpot! I Press 1. The automated response is, "Visit the service request webpage to submit a repair request ticket. Have a nice day." Listen, I'm not a luddite who is scared of phone robots. I know they serve a useful function by funneling calls to the appropriate channels of large corporations with millions of customers. But this particular phone robot made me want to travel back in time to 1995 and kill Dr. Myles Dyson before he can invent Skynet. I return to the computer the next day and try the support chat once more, making sure that I'm doing it during "banker's hours." The website does work this time, and I'm connected with what I'm fairly convinced was a human being. After asking the basic support questions, "model number, when did you buy it, did you try turning it off and on again," I was given this stupendous piece of advice. By a paid human employee. Of the Panasonic Corporation, formerly Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., established 1918. "I suggest you just return it to Amazon for a refund and buy another one." Listen, I believe in science. I feel I know enough about electronics manufacturing to understand that sometimes, every once in a while, an appliance or device can be shipped with a defect, a bad inverter or a weak fuse. I know that my experience with Panasonic microwaves is not going to be a universal experience. Someone else's Panasonic microwave might last for twenty years without a lick of trouble. But know that if you ever do experience a problem with your Panasonic microwave, and if you attempt to seek support from the Panasonic Corporation, you will be drawn into a Kafkaesque customer service nightmare that will make you want to brick yourself up in the wall of a Catholic Church and become an anchorite. I did return it to Amazon. I did receive a refund. I'm not buying another one.

I just got the Panasonic Genius Microwave NN-SN68KS without all the numeric buttons and you don't need them once you read the manual. This is a 1200 watt microwave with 12.4 amps so you have to have common sense and give it its own dedicated power outlet. I have mine running smooth with a common house lamp on the circuit and it's doing great. If you have an old outlet be sure to ground it with a grounding screw and grounding wire with the adapter to put it in the wall. A standard 13 amp extension cord will work if you have to use an outlet in the next room like I did. If you try and run this on the same outlet as the refrigerator you're pushing 19.5 amps and could have some issues. Same goes for a toaster oven which would be 21.4 amps which is a big no no for most common house outlets running at 15 amps max. I saw some guys review on here and he didn't know much about electricity and was having breaker issues but just needed to use the next nearest power outlet to resolve his issue. This needs it's own power outlet with maybe a common one bulb lamp hooked at the max. The food cooks awesome. It is genius!!! I love how you just have to press 2 buttons and listen for beeps to cook the food and it does everything for you. Learning to use this only takes about 10-15 minutes reading the manual. The notes are on the inside of the microwave when you open the door so you don't have to memorize 16 codes. If you properly read the manual and use common sense you will love this microwave. It is so freaking amazing and my food cooks perfect with the Genius sensor. Tips: If you go manual be sure to adjust the power settings. If it doesn't come out all the way cooked use the Reheat button and let the sensor cook your food the rest of the way for you. Works for me. Listen for the beeps and check the food if the Genius hasn't stopped cooking it yet and your Frozen Food Entree is still in there and it smells good; check it if the Genius sensor tells you there is 5:30 remaining. I checked mine and the food was done and I stopped it early. If you let it go without common sense after beeps you might overcook your food. So far we haven't overcooked anything and everything is all smiles and perfect. For some people it might seem a little overwhelming at first but if you read the manual and forums you understand the idea of how the sensor needs to detect steam and work and how it needs some of your attention sometimes when it's cooking and everything comes out great. I literally have chills and goosebumps by how amazing this microwave works and how simple it actually is to use. Never microwave anything frozen on full power or you can break the magnetron. It needs you to either lower the power or turbo defrost or use the frozen food button. I think some people didn't read the manual and freaked out. You don't need all the numerical buttons with this microwave because it is high powered with an inverter and cooks fast and evenly. That's why there are only 3 sets of numerical buttons in logical increments if you decide to cook it the old way manually without the Genius sensor. Anyone who complained is just behind the simple learning curve of a 15 minute manual read. In reward you get a microwave oven that cooks everything for you after you hit 2 buttons and don't have to guess the times. F-ing awesome. I love it. So far so good.

This microwave works great, 12oo watts of power. I does have a glitch in the controls that after several uses the buttons won't work unless you hit the stop/reset button then they work perfectly again. We have not found them hard to push until you have to rest it as stated before, same size as out last Panasonic but has a larger turntable and buttons so you can get exactly the time you want as our last on had a turn dial and after so many seconds it jumped 10 and 15 seconds at a time. We hope this one last as long as our old made it 11 years.

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.