An air fryer that does a good job can be had for under £100. Show me a pro-level oven in the same price range and I'd buy one of them. As it stands, I use the air fryer.
Because they're a lot smaller? Anyway your house/flat probably came with an oven, so it's 'free'; the 'under £100' for a countertop oven/air fryer is additional.
Assuming you only look at electric fan ovens (the vast vast vast majority these days) more money buys you better insulation mainly. A brand too of course (maybe better R&D/thought gone into the controls/ergonomics etc. hand in hand with that) - but not somehow better food.
'Pro-level' ones obviously cost more, buying reliability & service primarily. Still not somehow better food, don't buy a commercial oven for a home kitchen.
I don't know why are you so against an air fryer. Not all apartments in some countries come with ovens. It's a great device and many people love it. I get this impression you are just minmaxing it without trying it.
It's the marketing of them that rubs me the wrong way. If they were 'mini ovens' or 'countertop ovens' or whatever, fine, and I have no problem with anybody having, wanting, or liking one while understanding that is all it is.
It's largely from disappointment - I assumed initially that they were designed to save oil vs. a deep fryer, that they blasted jets or misted oil over the food. That I think would be novel and interesting.
As it is, if you have an oven already, the RoI is too long to do it on a cost basis. Maybe there's an argument of time-saving as they pre-heat a smaller box quicker? Hardly takes long as it is, I think that's a stretch.
If you don't already have an oven, then yes, if the capacity is not a problem then it's a great option, they start cheaper than bigger ovens... Obviously I suppose.
(I suppose I shouldn't have generalised so much above - I was speaking from my experience in the UK. Other than perhaps a tiny studio flat (single room apartment, no separate bedroom) I would think it's pretty much unheard of to rent somewhere without one here; buying it would normally (almost always) be included, but if not there'd be an obvious gap where yours or your newly purchased one would go.)
I've never rented a place that came with a convection oven. When I recently purchased a home, the oven that was here was also not a convection oven. An air fryer is just a small convection oven that sits on the countertop. But this has real benefits. You get better browning by being close to the element. It is more energy-efficient because it heats far less air. You get the benefits of convection. They also tend to be much easier to clean.
There are costs - you waste counterspace and you need to own another thing. But "just buy a convection oven" isn't an option for a lot of people.
Interesting, where (country) do you live that that's the case?
Honestly, if they didn't put separate fan temperature/time on the back of stuff (increasingly they don't actually, more and more I'm seeing fan only) I'd honestly never have known anything else existed. I've never lived anywhere with one, didn't see any for sale when I bought one (to replace broken one) a couple of years ago. (UK)
I think that surprises me even more, because aren't 'toaster ovens' - essentially duplicating grills/'broilers' - already commonplace? So this trend is a second appliance to partially duplicate something a third, in many cases, already does.
Personally I think I'd rather just replace the oven for one with a fan and grill, reclaim all that countertop, but at this point there is probably just a large cultural factor at play.
