Bosch - 300 Series 1.6 Cu. Ft. Over-the-Range Microwave - Stainless Steel

As the low-end Bosch over-the-range microwave, it does the job it needs to. But the unit it replaced cost the same, and had better features. This microwave has only one stove light intensity (compared to two), fewer single function buttons, a smaller, harder-to-read control panel, no internal probe, a noisier fan, and the internal light isn't really very bright. But it does the job -- it heats liquids, it cooks popcorn, it reheats food. On the plus side, it defrosts frozen meat in about half the time without cooking the food. It has one-touch time settings that are easy to use. The design is sleeker than before, and fits the exact footprint above our tile backsplash. The more expensive units take an additional .5" of vertical space and would have required removing some glass tile . Installation was fairly easy. The template furnished with the unit showed the power cord in the wrong place -- on the left -- when it actually comes out on the right. The template also indicated three bolts through the shelf above into the microwave, when actually only two holes are present in the unit. Aside from these errors, the installation went smoothly. I wish that Best Buy would recycle the previous unit for us without demanding $59.95 to do so. I'll have to take the unit to one of our local recycling places that will do it for $10. As a basic unit, it has enough power to do the tasks that most homeowners ask of a microwave. It doesn't have the bells and whistles that our previous Bosch unit did -- it seems as if Bosch just cheaped out on it to make more profit. But it works well, it looks good, and it matches our other Bosch appliances. I would recommend it if you have to fit a pre-existing space, as we did. Otherwise, I'd go for the models above this one for a few dollars more.

We bought this to replace an older Bosch series 300 microwave that lasted us over a decade. Still the same overall design, it's very powerful and looks great. But the keypad buttons are now small and hard to read, and the 1 - 3 minute shortcut feature is gone. We also had one light fail 3 months after purchase, and the rotating plate mechanism makes a grinding sound when it spins counterclockwise.

Received in December of 2024. Everything is working as expected. It was easy for my wife and I to install where one was previously. We had to use the new mounting bracket. We thought the old one was the same, but it wasn’t by just that much.