Can you give me the layman's understanding of air fryers?

- how do they work? What does air frying entail that oil frying doesn’t? Is air frying a real substitute?

- is cleanup really as simple and easy as advertised?

- does the food taste like it’s really fried? Or is sort of an ersatz semi-edible substitute?

For example: I bought some felafel mix at the local Syrian food store. The box says “fry….until golden brown”. I assume they mean in oil.

Would an air fryer do an acceptable job?