It's the exact opposite. The "air fryer" marketing lets companies present it as a healthy alternative to deep frying, and people eat that up (heh). If they sold it as what it really was – a toaster oven – there would be a lot less enthusiasm and demand, and people would definitely not spend multiple hundred dollars on one.
You obviously have not owned an air fryer, if you think it's a mere toaster oven. Or you got one of those convection toaster ovens with an air fryer rack, which really isn't an air fryer, like the basket ones are. I haven't used my stove, oven, or microwave since I got one.
I’ve had one before and I don’t really get the hype. It’s an oven that heats up faster. I see the value in that but it doesn’t seem useful enough to take up counter space when I could just wait a few minutes for the oven.
It's cut my cooking time down by magnitudes, but even more so, my cleaning time. But I suppose it all does depend on the use cases. I, for one, plan on never having to wait for anything to preheat in my kitchen ever again!
