Before digital technology became widespread and popular with consumer devices, not all fryers had “digital” features. This largely refers to the digital touchscreen and/or LED display. Now, it’s important to note that both manual and digital air fryers function the same in terms of cooking the food. However, their main difference is in their ease of use. Digital fryers have a control panel that allows you to use one of the pre-programmed cooking functions, like “preheat” or “bake”. All of these amount to just specific time and temperature combinations. On the other hand, manual air fryers don’t have any preset options, and they sometimes lack a screen as well; all they have is a dial or buttons that you can use to set the time and temperature manually.  Considering that, we recommend going with a digital fryer; you don’t want to consider what kind of settings you need for every single meal you prepare.