Sharp R342FS

Good microwave when working but poor build quality and broke after 7 years . The good : heats food really well and is quite powerful. Bright interior light so you see if your liquids are overflowing . Samsung microwaves don’t seem to have this feature. Easy to use and looks good in silver . One of the few microwaves to fit a 34l space . “Rice” preset cooks perfectly in a rice cooker as does “ reheat plate” which reheats a dinner plate full of cooked food brought out of a fridge . Great for re-heating yesterday's leftover s. Put a splatter lid over the food. press " reheat plate " and a your dinner will come out perfectly reheated without any guesswork.

The bad :I bought this microwave to replace an old LG microwave of about 15 years of age that was quite rusty inside . When I unboxed the Sharp microwave I was disappointed in the build quality It was a lot lighter than the LG and had a cheap feel about it. When heating food, even the noise it made from the magnetron sounded cheap and strained in some way . The door slams really loudly and is really annoying if you live in a shared living room/ kitchen . My concerns about the poor build quality were proven right because after only 2 months the internal LED light started flickering and eventually blew . Sharp replaced it under warranty , but the old LG microwave had a traditional halogen bulb which was still working after 15 years of used. After about 2 years, the cavity lining of the Sharp started to bubble and split . Then eventually started to peel off. The microwave started to rust after that. After about three years the turntable platter started to rotate unevenly causing the food to be unevenly heated . In year 7 the microwave failed completely with an Es 5 error. It won’t heat food at all . I wish I’d have kept the LG microwave that I bought in 1997 which I’m sure would be still working today . My advice is don’t buy any new electrical products just for the sake of purchasing something “ new” if your existing appliance is working fine. The new ones simply will not last as long. I would not buy another Sharp product again .