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The main thing is that power affects heating speed: at 1000W a dish will heat up twice as fast as at 500W 🔥 Weaker microwaves take longer to cook, but they're gentler - less risk of drying out food or heating it unevenly. If you cook often and are in a hurry, go for something more powerful, but for reheating and gentle cooking a lower-wattage one will do just fine.
Another important factor is the cavity size - in a larger microwave, heat distributes more evenly.
I have an 800-watt microwave at home, and I noticed that when I reheat food, I either have to set it to medium power or stir constantly, otherwise the edges of the dish heat up noticeably more than the center.
My friend recently bought a weaker 500-watt model - it's slower, but the heating is much more even, and you don't have to keep watching to make sure something doesn't dry out or burn.
From my experience, a powerful microwave wins on speed, but it requires more attention and you often have to use less than the maximum setting.
Power isn't just about speed, but also about even heating. I've noticed that in weak microwaves (500-600 W) food does heat up more gently, but here's the catch - you get cold spots, especially if you forget to stir.
With 800-1000 W though, you can run it at half power through a special mode and get both speed and even heating at the same time. Plus, weak models are just inconvenient in everyday use - even heating a simple mug of water takes like ten minutes, and that's seriously annoying.
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