The point of using the air fryer for me was not to use oil,
If you take freshly made french fries and just put them in the oven, they come out mushy on the inside also, you have to get the water out of the freshly cut fries, thats why its soft on the inside.
Im not saying your assessment of the air fryer is wrong, it may suck, ill find out in the next few weeks.
Also they come in different sizes, I dont know how many quart size yours was, but a 6 qt looks plenty big enough for two people in the videos ive watched