Tough Mama NTM-IC5 review: 1500W, 7 settings, and a free pot

The Tough Mama NTM-IC5 is the most popular cooker in this category by a distance, with a 4.9 rating and 6K+ sold. It is also one of the few here where the brand actually prints the specification: 1500W, 7 cooking settings, adjustable temperature on a digital display, and a ceramic top plate.

The free pot is the most useful thing in the box

Tough Mama bundles a pot with it, and that is not just a sweetener. Induction does not heat the plate and pass warmth to the pan. It heats the pan itself, through a magnetic field, which means the pan has to be magnetic or nothing happens at all.

Plenty of Filipino kitchens are stocked with exactly the pots that do not work: thin aluminum kaldero, a clay palayok, glass. Retailer spec sheets for this model list flat-bottomed steel, cast iron, enameled iron, and stainless pans, roughly 12cm to 26cm across, and that is the shape of the rule generally.

The test takes five seconds and costs nothing. Hold a fridge magnet against the base of your pan. A firm grip means it will work. A weak pull or none means it will not. Doing that before you order tells you whether this is a ₱2,100 purchase or a ₱2,100 purchase plus a set of new pans, and it is why the included pot matters more than it looks.

1500W, and what that costs you in time

1500W is honest mid-range. It sits below the 2000W class, including Tough Mama’s own NTM-IC8, so a full pot of water takes longer to reach a rolling boil. For everyday cooking, sauteing, reheating, a pot of sinigang, the difference is minutes rather than anything you would plan around.

What 1500W buys you back is that it fits a normal outlet without drama. Seven settings matter more day to day than the last 500 watts: induction responds instantly, so having real steps between “keep warm” and “boil hard” is what makes it feel like a gas burner rather than a switch.

What ₱2,100 gets you

Around ₱2,100 as of August 19, 2026, this is a fair middle price for a cooker from a brand with a service network you can actually walk into. The lifetime free service warranty is a real part of what you are paying for here, and it is worth asking what it covers, since free service usually means labor rather than parts.

Who the NTM-IC5 suits

Buy this if you want a mainstream induction cooker with published specs, a pot in the box, and somewhere to bring it if it breaks. Check your pans with a magnet first. See how it compares in our best induction cookers in the Philippines roundup and use the induction cooker buying guide.

If your pots are not magnetic

The Tough Mama NTM-IFRIC4 is the brand’s infrared option, which heats any pot you put on it, clay and aluminum included. The Xiaomi N1 Induction Cooker is our Best Overall true-induction pick and runs at a higher wattage.