Samsung - 1.6 cu. ft. Over-the-Range Microwave - Stainless steel

This over-the-range microwave is a basic microwave without too many fancy features found on higher-end models. It does come with a two-speed fan and two-level cooking light. The fan, used in ductless mode, directs air through the back and out the top front of the microwave, and is quite adequate for the job. However, the incandescent cooking light is very dim, even at the “high” setting. Another feature that is dim on this microwave does not use power, but could have benefitted from a design change. The touch keypad to use the microwave has thin lettering and numbers on a black overlay and is virtually invisible in a darkened kitchen at night. (Our previous countertop microwave had black numbers and letters on a white background and could very easily be seen in the same light conditions.) One can learn to find the cooking light key since it’s on the bottom row, but since that light is so dim it’s no help to see the rest of the keypad. Perhaps this keypad could have benefitted from thicker and more contrasty numbers and letters, or better yet a backlight feature. As noted, this Samsung microwave is very basic. It has 1000 watts of power, selectable in 10 power levels. The interior is rated at 1.6 cu. ft., which is quite spacious, but the glass turntable is only 11.5 inches in diameter, rather small for a microwave this size. Installation seems standard for an OTR microwave, but in our case, the range hood that it replaced had been hard-wired into an opening in the backsplash area. I had to disconnect the range hood, seal the backsplash, cut an opening in the back of the cabinet above the installation area, reconnect the wires to an outlet (I chose a GFCI outlet), fasten the outlet into the back of the cabinet, and then plug the microwave into that outlet (after drilling a hole in the bottom of the cabinet. The microwave hangs on a bracket against the backsplash connecting to the lower edge of the microwave, and by two large screws on either side of the top front of the microwave. Opening the microwave door requires a forceful pull of the oversize, metal-clad handle. The microwave is quite basic, but the stainless steel front lends at least an appearance of sophistication to the kitchen.

We sprung for a Samsung microwave to match our new Flex Duo gas oven... (split Flex door style, so innovative and ergonomic, it's amazing!). 3 stars, to be fair it could be 4 or 4.5, depending on your needs. The other ME18H704SFS (not this one) is worth the extra price, compared to an identical looking model. Actually had this cheaper one installed due to its keypad simplicity, however later discovered it had an 11"in vs. 14" glass carousel plate on larger one (not this one) -- and well worth the effort to swap! (Not this one, but the other one...) Besides the slightly roomier interior, you will really like the quiet "Lo" fan setting, which actually moves air well -- there's also a simple fan countdown timer, and you can choose 1, 3, 5, 10 or 30 min, a very nice feature. The dual LED lights are a plus if they stay on, and the filter "pop-out" is so much better than the traditional 2 smaller grease filters. All in all, the few extra buttons and cost aren't that big of a deal like I first thought! Just look up the other one and add to cart already, woo hoo!

Oooh, Samsung! Gotta be good, right? I read the reviews here before choosing this model to replace our 15 year old GE Profile. I was stoked when this arrived, then the disappointment sank in. The box was in good shape, but the unit itself was slightly damaged (bent cover), perhaps before being boxed up? Shiny and new, but this one I received has buttons so hard to push that my 9 year old daughter cannot use it. On top of that, there are no convenience buttons that came into vogue 20 years or more ago. You can't just touch (push hard in this case) the number 1 button to get a minute of nuking. No, you must press 6 then 0 then start. Big deal, having to push two more buttons, right? That's so 90's! The point is my toaster is more sophisticated than this museum relic. Samsung could have recycled old smart phone screens to use on this instead of using this archaic button-smashing method. And yes, the cheap bastages used a 100 year old style incandescent bulb instead of their top notch led lights. Barely get any light out of this old flashlight bulb. So far I've written just whiny stuff, but on top of that this thing is noisier than my old GE, and there is a disconcerting frequent grinding noise located I believe in the turn table area. Other than the using parts salvaged from 1990's microwave productions, this unit does nuke well, but no better than any other comparably-priced MW. Spend a few more dollars and get a GE, wish I did, and probably will eventually.

For the price, this is a very nice microwave. Does not have a ton of features, but as we use it mostly for reheating we don't require all the unneeded extra bells and whistles. The one thing we don't like though is that you cannot use the timer at the same time as you are running the microwave. I replaced a 10 year old GE microwave and was able to use the same bracket and mounting holes saving quite a bit of time. The only hole that needed drilled/relocated was for the power cord. HOWEVER...I had ordered the microwave shipped to store, as our local Best Buy was out of stock. It arrived quickly and was installed easily, but after running, we found that it made a really loud humming for the first couple seconds then quieted down to normal level. (like the magnetron was loose or maybe ungrounded). I'm guessing that since it was shipped to the store by UPS it was rough handled or dropped. Called Samsung who wanted nothing to do with the issue at all and told me to call Geek Squad. Called Best Buy and was told it would be better to return it since it was under their 15 day policy, so I uninstalled it, brought it back and traveled to a store further away to get one that was in stock. Wasted a bunch of additional time. This one works fine. Bottom line, we are happy with the microwave, just not with Samsung support as I had to install it twice. I would recommend this unit, just plug it in and test it BEFORE installing.

Once I got it to run quiet I am very happy with it, when the unit was on the floor before I installed it, I was going to plug it in and test it, I said to myself Naaaaa, should have went by my instinct. I went thru the trouble of installing it, after I finished I tested everything, when I got to the exhaust fan it sounded like a 747 taking off, Needless to say I had to uninstall it, I took the exhaust assembly fan apart and found the squirrel cage was actually hitting the case, sanded the edges and reinstalled, sounds really quiet now, I figured I saved Samsung a service called so I wrote them a email explaining what I did, instead of them throwing me a 25.00 gift certificate, I got a nasty gram saying I voided my warranty, They make a good appliance, but as far as a company they Suck. I put 3 stars because the unit should have been fine out of the box, PS no damaged what so ever on the box, and I am not recommending to a friend to buy because of the attitude of Samsung.

Love the beefy handle on this unit (my last over the range microwave, the handle broke and we had to reglue it numerous times -ugh!). As the family microwave is something that get's heavily used in our house it's important that the handle be strong and also that the number pad/touch pad be sensetive and easy to navigate. This unit surprised me with it's size internally and also the much faster cooking speed than my old one. We love it so far. I should mention that the digital display lighting is blue (which looks really cool in my book) but if your one of those people that has to be all "matched" ....I wanted to mention it. It doesn't show fingerprints badly (I worried with stainless that it would) and it fit straight into my old units mounting bracket and I didn't have to change anything out. We bought three aplliances (stove, fridge and microwave) this day and our sales lady nailed it spot on with what we NEEDED verses just selling me the most expensive thing in the store. She was FANTASTIC, took her time with us and actually listened to my input and "want's". I hadn't always thought of Best Buy for appliances but will say I am extremely happy with the sales service, pricing and extended warranty they were able to offer.

Originally our local Best Buy was out of stock so we went to another Best Buy. The box was in bad shape and obviously opened. The salesman swore that it was not a return, so we took it home to find the microwave had a dent in the side and that it was missing a few small installation items. Went back to our local Best Buy where the manager was very nice and took the microwave back and ordered a new one for us. Took almost a week, but it has been installed and is working great for the past few months. The Samsung is much more powerful than our old microwave and is also a fair bit quieter, the magnetron doesn't hum as loud. The only bad thing is the vents point straight up as they are hidden by the stainless steel front fascia, so cooking steam and smoke from the stove gets blown towards the cabinet doors immediately above. Since all the microwaves we looked at do the same thing I may have to rig up a small deflector to direct the exhaust away. So far we've had no problems with the microwave itself. So while the first salesman caused me a wasted trip to buy a open box microwave for a new in box price and another wasted trip to return it, the manager at our local (Utica,MI) was very apologetic and made sure that we were satisfied.

Bought this one to replace the existing LG microwave which was damaged by kids. This was similar in size and shape to the old one, and the style went well with the existing Samsung refrigerator. I was ready to pay more for better model "ME18H704SFS", but couldn't get used to the idea of a black ceramic interior. This model had white interior and similar look, so went for it instead. I had read the reviews before purchasing. I agree with most of the reviews. Heating food is like any other- fine. The range light could have been little more brighter. The keypad is not very sensitive, need to push it hard. I read complains about the exhaust being loud, but it is not louder than most others. Some amount of noise is expected. It works for now. However, if I have to buy a microwave again I will go for the higher model.