Aobosi Sous Vide Cooker Review
Pros: Proficient at maintaining temperature, good circulation performance
Cons: Relatively expensive, took a very long time to recover in our test
Manufacturer: Aobosi
Our Verdict
Compare to Similar Products
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Aobosi Sous Vide Cooker | |||||
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Awards | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |
Price | $110 List | $200 List $172.83 at Amazon | $129 List $128.38 at Amazon | $100 List $77.76 at Amazon | $100 List $67.99 at Amazon |
Overall Score ![]() |
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Star Rating | |||||
Pros | Proficient at maintaining temperature, good circulation performance | Incredible circulating skills, extremely easy to use | Exceptionally convenient to use, impressively stable in our test | Relatively inexpensive, strong circulation performance | Powerful circulating pump, solid thermal stability |
Cons | Relatively expensive, took a very long time to recover in our test | Pricey, mediocre results in our stability test | Not the quickest to heat up, slightly inferior circulation | Accuracy wasn’t amazing in our tests, attachment clip is far from our favorite | Bulky design, somewhat pricey |
Bottom Line | Delivering some overall subpar results, this sous vide failed to impress with its relative mediocrity and higher than we would expect price tag | If you don’t mind spending a bit for a premium SV machine, then the Anova AN500-US00 is a great option | This is an overall excellent product that doesn’t sacrifice much in performance and costs a lot less than the top models | If you are shopping for one of these appliances on a tight budget, then we highly recommend checking this option out | This is a solid all-around sous vide on a budget but you can get significantly more features if you are willing to spend a bit more |
Rating Categories | Aobosi Sous Vide... | Precision Cooker... | Precision Cooker... | VPCOK Sous Vide... | Thermal Immersion... |
Temperature (40%) | |||||
Circulation (30%) | |||||
Ease Of Use (30%) | |||||
Specs | Aobosi Sous Vide... | Precision Cooker... | Precision Cooker... | VPCOK Sous Vide... | Thermal Immersion... |
Clamp/Mounts | Adjustable and removeable screw clamp | Adjustable and removeable screw clamp | Fixed screw clamp | Removeable fixed plastic clip | Fixed spring clamp |
App Control | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
Wattage | 800W | 1000W | 750W | 1000W | 850W |
Our Analysis and Test Results
While the Aobosi Sous Vide clearly isn't our favorite, we did appreciate its strong showing in our temperature stability and accuracy assessments. This doesn't quite redeem its overall unimpressive results but is something to consider if you found it on sale at a steeply discounted price.
Performance Comparison
Likes
The Aobosi Sous Vide's most noteworthy set of results came in our circulation metric, which is responsible for 30% of its final score. We did a circulation test by adding a small amount of dyed water to a corner of the sous vide container with 9.5 quarts in it, then timed how long it took the pump on the Aobosi Sous Vide to achieve a consistent shade throughout the bath. The Aobosi Sous Vide only needed around 26 seconds for this to occur, with the slowest models taking close to 200 seconds and the fastest only taking 15 or so.
The Aobosi Sous Vide also did decently well in our temperature accuracy and stability evaluations. We compared the accuracy between machines by setting each one to 135°F, giving it plenty of time to come up to temperature, measuring the water bath in six different locations with a precision thermometer, and then averaging the results. We repeated this process with the water bath set for 147°F and found the Aobosi Sous Vide had an average error of 0.63°F over when the temperature was set to 135°F and 0.93°F under when it was set to 147°F.
For our stability assessment, we used a data logging temperature sensor placed in a bag to measure the temperature in the center of the water bath every minute for an hour, then awarded points based on the amount of time each sous vide showed a discrepancy from their steady-state temperature. The Aobosi Sous Vide only has an error for 8.33% of the time in our test, with an average discrepancy of only 0.07°F.
The interface on this sous vide is fine but definitely far from the most user-friendly. It lacks a companion app, so you are limited to just the touch buttons and digital display on the device itself.Dislikes
The Aobosi Sous Vide did take a decently long time to heat up the water in our initial heating test. We started it with 9.5 quarts of 48°F tap water and it took almost an hour — 57 minutes — to warm it up to 147°F. The fastest sous vides took about 20 minutes less to do this. However, it was in our recovery time test where we found the results to be the most disappointing. For this test, we timed how long it took each sous vide to recover to the set temperature once cold food was added — three frozen hamburger patties to be exact. It took the Aobosi Sous Vide 18 minutes to recover to 135°F when it took the top sous vides only a minute or two. The screw action on the clamp also doesn't spin super freely, so it can be a little more cumbersome to attach than other models as well.
Value
The Aobosi Sous Vide isn't a great value, pairing an unimpressive set of results with what we felt to be a higher price tag than it should.
Conclusion
Overall, we aren't enamored with the Aobosi Sous Vide. It has plenty of flaws and there are other options in the same price range — or an even lower one — that we liked much more and would suggest you go with one of those alternatives.
— Michelle Powell and David Wise