Hisense BSA66226ADBGUK Review

Design and features

• Simple, manual controls
• Telescopic shelf
• Steam function

Part of Hisense’s more entry-level range of ovens, the BSA66226ADBGUK is a bit more basic than some of its other models, such as the Hisense BSA66346PDBGUK.

What that means in practice is that with this oven, you don’t get smart app control, and there are standard mechanical dials rather than touch controls. But, sticking with what I’ve come to expect from Hisense, the oven does have a surprising number of features for the price.

It’s a nice-looking oven, too. Its black finish and reflective door looks stylish and smart, and the controls are all on push-out dials, which sit flush when not in use.

There’s one dial for oven mode selection, which uses icons to show the mode. That does mean that you’ll need the manual around for a bit to get used to what all of the modes are; an oven with an LCD generally, such as the high-end Neff N90 B69VY7MY0 Oven, makes things easier as the screen describes what each cooking mode does.

The Hisense BSA66346PDBGUK certainly isn’t short of cooking modes: top and bottom heat with fan; large grill with fan; air fry; hot air; top and bottom heat; large grill; slow baking; pizza; frozen food; and defrosting.

This oven can heat up to 300°C, which is ideal for some breads and pizzas. It’s a higher overall heat than a lot of more basic ovens can reach.

Temperature is selected using the second dial. Again, it’s a manual one, so it’s a little tricky to set with absolute precision, although getting the rough figure right is quite easy. 

As this is a steam oven, there’s also a water reservoir on the right-hand side. Steam can be added to a selection of the oven programmes by hitting the steam button. Steam is produced at one constant level. If you want more advanced control, such as the ability to adjust the steam amount or to inject steam at a specific cooking point, you’ll need a more expensive oven, such as the Neff N90.

Steam can also be used in the steam cleaning mode. This is handy for cleaning some stains, but it doesn’t go as far as an oven with pyrolytic cleaning.

There’s no app control on this oven, but you can scan the QR code in the ConnectLife app. This gives you an information page for the oven, including a shortcut to the PDF manual. In this regard, it’s well worth scanning the oven into the app.

Hisense provides a decent range of accessories with this oven. There are five possible shelf positions, and one clip-on telescopic shelf. I’m a big fan of these, as they make it easier to load and unload heavier items.

In the box there’s one wire shelf, a shallow baking tray and a deep baking tray. Ideally, I’d like another wire shelf.

Overall, there’s 77 litres of space inside, which is about as big as you’ll get in a single oven. That’s plenty for cooking large meals.

The door is mostly glass, and the internal light makes it easy to see through so that you can check on food as it cooks.

Performance

• Can be a little intense
• Good grill
• Steam cooking adds options

I put the Hisense BSA66226ADBGUK through my standard tests, starting off by setting the oven to 200°C. I then added baking trays loaded with ceramic beads at the top and in the middle of the oven. After leaving them for 10 minutes, I measured the temperature at the front and back.

At the top of the oven, the temperature read 206.1°C and a warmer 218.4°C at the back. In the middle of the oven, it was 202.8°C at the front and 210.6°C at the back. That’s not a bad heat distribution, but the oven’s heat can be quite intense.

Cooking oven chips, with the oven set to 210°C, I found that the Hisense BSA66226ADBGUK used 0.475kWh of power (that’s towards the lower side). However, the chips weren’t cooked as evenly as I liked, with a few a little overdone. I think it’s worth either turning the dial to be slightly under the target temperature or moving food around more as it cooks.

I tried the air fry setting. This used less power to cook the chips (0.425kWh), and the overall result was better, with more evenly cooked chips that were crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

Moving to the steam setting, I baked a baguette. Using steam allowed the bread to cook better, making it moist on the inside with a crispier coating than you get without. If you’ve not cooked with steam before, it’s well worth getting into.

I then used the grill, lining a wire shelf with slices of bread. As you can see from the result, the bread is all toasted without burning, although the bread at the top right is slightly less done than the other slices.

Should you buy it?