I've never had a drawer mw, so not qualified to comment, but do generally prefer the counter height option. Ours is on a counter in our walk in pantry.

If you can do it in a walk in pantry at counter height or slightly above that is fine. Helps to keep a modern kitchen minimal with less appliances. However, if you have a cabinet style pantry and the micro will definitely be in the kitchen I find the drawers are a great option.

I didn't go with a drawer MW because I didn't want to sacrifice the drawer space in my island, because they are super expensive, and because at least one of the Sharp models has significant problems. There are numerous threads on here about this topic, so I'd search for them if you haven't already. (BTW, Sharp actually makes them all; other brands slap their label on a Sharp MW.)

I will say to be sure you have a wide enough pantry if you go that route - we ended up not having a wide enough one and that is one thing I would do over if I could. We are now struggling with where to put the MW. Also be sure to leave enough clearance on either side / top-bottom of it for venting - we have ours in a cabinet on a trial run right now and last night I felt moisture on the inside cabinet wall while using it, so it can't stay there.

Good luck!

I have the Wolf MW drawer ... they are all made by Sharp, with some different features and design. It works fine as a MW! My husband somewhat hates it because you have to press a button to open and close the drawer. It took a few times to retrain everyone not to push the drawer closed.

No issues with the no-turntable design. I don't notice a difference in results.

I love my Sharp drawer microwave. Had it installed in my island last December and it works great. It warms things evenly and is easy to use. I still have a good size drawer underneath it with most of my plastic ware in it.

I love my Sharp microwave drawer. I had the older model in my condo which we sold in 2016 and now have the updated model in my new house. What I love best is that you're not reaching up to take hot foods out. You reach down.

I haven't used the drawer microwave before but I think its cool as long as you are comfortable with the idea. Because I prefer the microwave on a height so that I don't have to bend every time.

We also love our Sharp microwave drawer. I would never go back to one up high again--dangerous to pull hot things out of and I'm short so I couldn't see what I was heating.

My MIL has one and she loves it. However, they are expensive to replace should you need to. It’s so much easier to throw out a $100 Panasonic m/w from Costco than a $1000 one :/ She recently left a forgotten bowl of broccoli in it before going on a 10 day vacation which I had the pleasure of discovering on Day 7. I cleaned it thoroughly and it’s now been a couple of weeks and the smell still won’t go away no matter what she tries. I’d have chucked my $100 one and started over ;)

DH has forbidden me from getting one because he’s way too impatient to wait for the drawer to open and close. He’s used his mom’s and loathes it.

YMMV.

Cost of a drawer microwave is $1200-1500. Cost of a countertop microwave is less than $300 and it's much easier to replace. Just plan around any clearances required by the manufacturer for ventilation (will be given in their manual - usually an inch or two on either side and 2-6 inches above).

I love our sharp MW drawer I had not considered one, but when hubby saw it , he told me to change the appliance order.

Love our sharp MW drawer. Installed one at our old house and in the year we lived there after the remodel, never had an issue. We are installing a Sharp in our new house now. All MW drawers are made by Sharp, just be aware that other brands slap their name on it. The MW heated food evenly, even without the turntable. Good luck!

I've heard complaints about not being able to see your food and check on it while cooking. Also heard issues with bending down to clean them.

We chose not to get one. We have a small microwave on a shelf next to fridge. Works for our needs, was cheap and cheap to replace. The one we have now was from our previous house and is 10 years old and still going strong. We just couldn't see spending $900+ dollars on something that we use to reheat food. Then if it breaks having to spend another $900+ for another one for that spot.

Since decoenthusiast brought up cleaning, I will say that when I had to clean my MIL’s, it was a PITA to reach in and up to clean the ceiling of the drawer and also to get to floor of it under the actual drawer. Lots of crevices and lots of awkward positions to reach everything.

“he’s way too impatient to wait for the drawer to open and close.”

I agree, and that is exactly why I didn’t get a MW drawer. I realize we are talking about a couple seconds. But I need to be able to just push the latch button on my $100 MW to pop open the door, and then slam it shut when I want. I have my MW on a shelf in my pantry. I don’t use a MW frequently, so this set-up is good for me. Many people on this forum love their MW drawers, so there is no right or wrong answer. You have to decide what is important to you. Certainly getting the MW out of sight in a drawer is an important consideration.

My Sharp drawer microwave stays pretty clean, I find it easy to see and wipe up small spills. The only thing that ever splattered on the microwave ceiling was butter and it wiped up easily. My mother has a high microwave above her wall oven that rarely gets cleaned because it is so much harder to reach the deep back and ceiling of it.

My husband didn’t want the microwave front and center in the upper cabinets (he doesn’t like microwaves) and we didn’t have a pantry big enough to hide one in, so an unobtrusive drawer microwave in the far side of our island was a good compromise. You need to weigh the pros and cons of what will work best for you. Yes, a drawer microwave might fail, but I think there is a higher chance that it will last many years. It is the minority that fail, but the owners are upset enough about it to write lots of bad reviews. I think most people don’t feel strongly enough to write a review at all because appliances that do their job are boring and taken for granted.

I still think it is cool to push a button and have the microwave drawer push itself out. It feels like a neat trick and the speed has never bothered me.

We will be using a microwave drawer & I'm excited about it. I've only ever had either a built-in one or cabinet top one but have used a friend's microwave drawer. I loved the few times I've used it. I also spoke with her & she loves it also (plus the kids find it convenient...not sure if that is a pro or con, I guess it depends on your family & children ages).

I installed a micro drawer in the first ear or so that they were available -- 13 years ago. I am 6 ft tall and have no problem cleaning it. It works well -- probably better than any MW I have had. I would love to have another bank of drawers in my kitchen, but I with the layout I have, I gained both counter and cabinet space over my last kitchen. I would certainly do the microwave drawer again.

After many years with an above the range microwave we splurged for the drawer in our island. Sure it takes away some of the space but it keeps it out of the way and it looks much better! The only other option I would think about is maybe if I had a butler’s pantry or somewhere else I could put it out of sight. I have it at the end of my island.

I agree that the microwave drawers are so expensive! I really was not keen on getting one in our new kitchen but I’m glad we did. It’s at a nice height and looks nice set into the cabinets. I rarely use it though.

If you can afford a microwave drawer, in my experience and opinion, there really is no disadvantage and there are a lot of advantages. "Affording" also means that one accepts the reality that appliances don't last for a lifetime and so one can "afford" the $1000 or so to get a replacement.

My microwaves seem to last at least a decade so I am willing to accept the reality that I am committing to spending $100 or so each year amortized in order to get the best solution for my particular kitchen.

I realize people have different functionality expectations but it took me about two times to get used to the drawer opening and closing instead of my manually shutting the door. My personal lifestyle isn't such that I need to be able to immediately slam a microwave closed. The reality is that I open it - two seconds and while it is opening it I take the food off the counter - I then place it and shut it and hit the buttons to time it and select power level. By the time that is done, the drawer is closed and I hate start.

There is no difficulty seeing the food or checking doneness since it is completely viewable when the drawer is open. If anything food is more accessible since you generally need to take food out of a standard microwave in order to fiddle or check with it.

The microwave drawer can be installed at varying heights unless one is opting for something below the counter. Mine is installed below my Bosch side opening oven (which I HIGHLY recommend for ergonomic functionality) and the oven and drawer were both installed at a height that I specifically wanted when I stood in front of the cabinets and was asked.

You can test out the drawers at a good appliance showroom to get a sense of whether you would like it. When I did that, I realized that the tilt up controls were critical for functionality. There is also a Sharp model which is control by hand instead of pushing a button but I decided against that feature.

As others have pointed out, every microwave drawer is made by Sharp so there really is no functional reason to opt for the more expensive branded non-Sharp options.

I am having the same dilemma as you. i love the aesthetic and clean lines of the mw drawer. However we hardly use the mw any more so it's hard to justify an extra $900 on something that is going to be rarely used. I just want one small one for heating up soup and making popcorn. My other issue is that I have so many visitors ( it's a beach house and they seem to manage to break and damage everything) so I can see someone pushing it closed and breaking it.