Home » Vacuum Sealers » FoodSaver 4980 vs 4840: Which Vacuum Sealer is Better?

Today’s culture, and rightfully so, is all about finding ways to reduce our carbon footprint. One of the simplest ways that we can all contribute to is not throwing out so much food. It’s so tempting to buy in bulk to save money but without a quality preservation system, it’s more waste.

We are going to look at two solutions to preserve food for up to 5 times longer than ordinary methods, based on food in the freezer. We will look at how the FoodSaver 4980 vs 4840 are similar and different and offer some other insights that will help with your purchasing decisions.

We will begin with what the FoodSaver 4980 and the FoodSaver 4840 have in common.

FoodSaver 4980 vs 4840

Quick Glance

Name	FoodSaver V4840 2-in-1 Vacuum Sealer Machine with Automatic Bag Detection and Starter Kit	FoodSaver 4980 2-in 1 Vacuum Sealing System (standard)
Image
Size	10.9 x 20 x 12 inches	10.2 x 19.4 x 9.4 inches
Weight	10.1lbs	10.8 inches
Uses	Meat, fish, bread, pantry goods, cheese, fruit, vegetables, soups, stews, cakes, cookies	Meat, fish, bread, pantry goods, cheese, fruit, vegetables, soups, stews, cakes, cookies
Operation	Automatic	Automatic
Retractable Handheld Sealer	Yes	Yes
Removable Drip Tray	Yes	Yes
Dry/Moist Mode	Yes	Yes
PulseVac	Yes	Yes
Built-in Roll Storage and Cutter	Yes	Yes
What’s Included	An 11 x 10-inch vacuum seal roll, 3 1qt vacuum seal bags, 2 1-gallon vacuum seal bags, 3 1qt zipper vacuum bags, 2 1-gallon zipper vacuum bags	An 11 x 10-inch vacuum seal roll, 5 1qt vacuum seal bags, 5 1-gallon vacuum seal bags, 4 1-gallon vacuum zipper bags, a leftovers container, a bottle stopper
Price	Check Price on Amazon	Check Price on Amazon

Uses

You can use the FoodSaver 4980 and the FoodSaver 4840 for preserving food in the freezer, the fridge, and your cupboards. They will seal meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, cheese, pantry foods, soups, and stews.

Automatic Operation

The FoodSaver 4980 and the FoodSaver 4840 are both completely automatic. They will sense the bag in between the sealing strips and automatically start the vacuuming and airtight seal.

Retractable Handheld Sealer

Built-into the FoodSaver 4980 and the FoodSaver 4840 is a retractable handheld sealer. You can take this out to conveniently seal zipper bags, canisters and to marinate food in just a few minutes.

Roll Storage

You will be able to store your vacuum seal roll inside the FoodSaver 4980 and the FoodSaver 4840. There is also a built-in cutter so you can cut the roll to the exact size you need.

Dry/Moist Mode

If you are sealing foods and you want to remove any additional moisture, you can switch the FoodSaver 4980 and the FoodSaver 4840 to the moist mode and the machines will intelligently remove the moisture before sealing the bag.

Drip tray

Removed moisture and any accidental spillage will be caught in the drip tray that comes with the FoodSaver 4980 and the FoodSaver 4840. The tray is easy to remove and can be put in the dishwasher to clean.

PulseVac

If you want to vacuum and seal delicate goods like chips, muffins, or cakes, you don’t want the vacuuming to be so strong that it crushes the food. The FoodSaver 4980 and the FoodSaver 4840 have a PulseVac setting, which allows you to control the amount of vacuuming and keeps food intact.

Now that all of the shared features have been covered, we can go on to look at how the FoodSaver 4980 and the FoodSaver 4840 are different.

Differences Between FoodSaver 4980 and FoodSaver 4840

Appearance

There isn’t a great deal of difference in how the two vacuum sealers look. They are both silver with black features. However, there is a slight difference in the size and the controls.

FoodSaver 4840

The machine measures 10.9 x 20 x 12 inches and it weighs 10.1 pounds. The retractable handheld sealer is built into the left of the unit and the controls are on the top, at the back.

FoodSaver 4980

This machine is just a bit smaller at 10.2 x 19.4 x 9.4 inches. It weighs 10.8 pounds, not enough of a difference to be noticeable. The retractable handheld sealer is also on the left, but the controls are on top and at the front.

The Winner Is- A Tie

What’s Included

So that you can start preserving your food straight away, FoodSaver includes a starter kit with their vacuum sealers.

FoodSaver 4840

This comes with an 11 x 10-inch vacuum seal roll, 3 1qt vacuum seal bags, 2 1-gallon vacuum seal bags, 3 1qt zipper vacuum bags, and 2 1-gallon zipper vacuum bags.

FoodSaver 4980

The starter kit is slightly more generous with an 11 x 10-inch vacuum seal roll, 5 1qt vacuum seal bags, 5 1-gallon vacuum seal bags, 4 1-gallon vacuum zipper bags, a leftovers container, and a bottle stopper.

The Winner Is- The FoodSaver 4980

Pros and Cons

Before our final verdict, we will cover a few pros and cons of the FoodSaver 2-in-1 vacuum sealers.

FoodSaver 4840

Pros:

Very straight forward to use
It doesn’t take up a great of space
The bag sensor is very smart

Cons:

We noticed a little air left in the bag when we cooked by sous vide

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FoodSaver 4980

Pros:

It provides a consistently good seal
It’s ideal if you love baking in batches
Nice to be able to seal drinks in bottles

Cons:

It struggles to seal properly if the bag is wet

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The Final Verdict

When you are using the FoodSaver 4840 and the FoodSaver 4890 side by side, you really won’t notice much of a difference. They both do exactly as advertised; they will save you money and preserve food for longer. The FoodSaver 4890 was that little bit smaller and it did take up less space, which was an advantage.

It was also impossible to base the decision on the features. They both came with built-in storage and a cutter, the PulseVac and Dry/moist mode, and the retractable handheld sealer. All of which meant we could seal a great range of foods.

Today’s winner is the FoodSaver 4980. We appreciated the smaller size and most of all, we felt that the starter kit was much more complete and better value for money.