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Head-to-head · Best Compact Induction Cooktops

Duxtop 9600LS Portable Induction Cooktop vs IKEA TILLREDA Portable Induction Cooktop

Which is the better buy? Side-by-side on rating, price, strengths, and watch-outs — with the published ratings we averaged to get there.

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The short answer

Duxtop 9600LS Portable Induction Cooktop comes out ahead by a clear margin (4.3 vs 3.9). The gap is mostly about Renters, dorm and RV cooks, and home cooks who want an affordable second burner for simmering sauces, holding stocks and fast boils. The 10-hour timer and 20 fine power steps are the reason to pick it — not raw speed or deep-frying, where cheaper burners beat it. — read the strengths below before deciding.

Duxtop 9600LS Portable Induction Cooktop
Higher ratedRanked #4 in Best Compact Induction Cooktops
Duxtop 9600LS Portable Induction Cooktop
6 sourcesall derived$116.99

The Duxtop 9600LS is a single-burner 1800W portable induction cooktop, and reviewers repeatedly name it a top pick under roughly $250 on the strength of its 20 power and 20 temperature steps and a 10-hour timer that few budget units match. It boils water quickly in testing (CenturyLife saw about 3.5 minutes) and holds low simmers better than cheaper Duxtop models. Precision is not its game: the fan is loud (around 56 dB), it can whine at full power, the temperature sensor reads roughly 15F low, and it pulses at the lowest settings. On an inexpensive countertop induction burner, those are expected trade-offs rather than dealbreakers.

Strengths
  • — NYT Wirecutter's top pick after testing more than a dozen portable induction cooktops, praised as "the easiest to use for everyday cooking"
  • — 20 power settings and 20 temperature settings — the most of any model in Wirecutter's test group, and more than the 15 on the cheaper Duxtop 9100MC
  • — Temperature floor of 100°F, low enough to melt butter or chocolate without a double boiler
Watch-outs
  • — Serious Eats could not get frying oil above 350°F on it even after an hour, missing the 375°F target that the cheaper Duxtop 9100MC and the IKEA TILLREDA both reached
  • — Slower than its cheaper sibling in the same test: 18.5 minutes to boil a gallon of water against the 9100MC's 16, at roughly 1.4 times the price
  • — Its one-touch Boil preset starts a 10-minute countdown, which Serious Eats measured as about eight and a half minutes short of an actual rolling boil
$116.99 · Check Price on AmazonFull review →
IKEA TILLREDA Portable Induction Cooktop
Ranked #5 in Best Compact Induction Cooktops
IKEA TILLREDA Portable Induction Cooktop
3 sources2 derived$74.99

The TILLREDA is IKEA's answer to the argument that portable induction is complicated: four buttons, no temperature mode, no presets, no menu. Serious Eats found it genuinely powerful for the price — it boiled a gallon in 18.5 minutes and cleared the 375°F frying mark with headroom — and easy enough that it removes the induction learning curve entirely. The catch is a seven-inch coil and a stated 7.9-inch pan ceiling, the tightest cookware limit in the field.

Strengths
  • — Four buttons total — Power, Lock, Plus and Minus — which Serious Eats called "dead simple" and the shortest learning curve of anything in a 17-model test
  • — Cleared the 375°F frying target easily on full heat, one of only two burners in that test to do so with room to spare
  • — Boiled a gallon of water in 18.5 minutes, matching the pricier Duxtop 9600LS despite a smaller seven-inch coil
Watch-outs
  • — IKEA's stated pan range is 4.7 to 7.9 inches — the narrowest of any burner in Serious Eats' test, and a real constraint if you cook for more than two
  • — Serious Eats put a 12-inch skillet on it and the chicken around the rim of the pan did not brown evenly
  • — Power settings only, with no temperature mode at all, so hands-off heat maintenance is harder than on burners with both
$74.99 · Buy at ikea.comFull review →

Derived means the reviewer published no score, so one was inferred from their written verdict. Everything else is a number the publisher printed. How we rank.

How they stack up

Duxtop 9600LS Portable Induction Cooktop

This is the product the two best tests in the category disagree about: Wirecutter's top pick is Serious Eats' also-ran, beaten there by the cheaper Duxtop 9100MC. The 9600LS has 20 settings to the 9100MC's 15 and a 10-hour timer against its 170 minutes; the 9100MC boils faster and fries hotter. The Hamilton Beach 34104 beats both on oil, the IKEA TILLREDA matches the 9600LS's boil time for far less money, the Nuwave PIC Gold is down on wattage, and the Breville Control Freak CMC850 Induction Cooktop is the only unit whose temperature readout can be trusted.

IKEA TILLREDA Portable Induction Cooktop

The TILLREDA is the simplest burner here and the most restrictive on cookware: 7.9 inches against the Hamilton Beach 34104's ten and the Duxtop 9100MC's open-ended five-inch minimum. It matched the Duxtop 9600LS's 18.5-minute boil while costing well under half as much, and unlike the 9100MC it has a lock function. The Nuwave PIC Gold offers far more claimed settings and far less confidence in them, and the Breville Control Freak CMC850 Induction Cooktop is the opposite appliance in every respect.

Specs side-by-side

SpecDuxtop 9600LS Portable Induction CooktopIKEA TILLREDA Portable Induction Cooktop
TypePortable countertopPortable countertop
Burners / Zones11
Total Power1800W1800W
Power Levels20 (100–1800W)9 settings (200–1800W)
Temperature Range100–460°F (20 steps)None (power settings only)
SurfaceGlass-ceramic (11 × 11 in)—
ControlsLCD sensor-touch, child lockTouch — Power, Lock, Plus, Minus
TimerUp to 10 hrs (1-min steps)None; 2-hr idle auto-off
Voltage120V120V
Dimensions14 × 11.4 × 2.5 in12.8 × 10.6 × 2.5 in
Weight7.3 lb6.2 lb
Warranty1-year limited2-year limited
MaterialGlass—
Wattage1800 watts—
Burner Diameter—7 in
Recommended Pan Diameter—4.7–7.9 in
Lock Function—Yes
Cord Length—55 in
Model—TILLREDA, IKEA art. 104.935.20
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