13 Best Toasters in 2023 [Tested and Reviewed]

Breville's Die-Cast 2-Slice Smart Toaster has five browning settings and they all produce great toast! White bread, whole-grain bread, and both fresh and frozen bagels came out with a rich golden color. English muffins came out a bit light for our taste though. The toasting was also even and covered the whole surface. It gave us this result each of the three times we tested the various types of baked goods. Every bite was crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.

On top of that, it offers extra functionality. There's a setting that allows you to add more time for a darker finish, a Defrost setting to toast right from the freezer, and a Bagel mode.

Its Lift & Look feature raises bread automatically during toasting so you can check progress. It lifts the finished toast again at the end of the cycle. This full-featured model has wide slots to accommodate everything from thinner slices of bread to thick bagels. The toaster body is quite bulky, so it can be awkward to turn it upside down to get crumbs out of the slots.

But you won't need to do that often, since the crumb tray slides out and can be dumped by itself. Most of the crumbs fall into the tray, so everyday cleaning should be no concern. With its one-touch operation and all the bells and whistles, this toaster is great for any kind of bread. Even on the busiest of mornings, you'll wake up to a perfectly-toasted breakfast.

Oster's 2-Slice Toaster has seven browning settings and is a must-have for bagel addicts. Whether you use fresh or frozen, it produces evenly-browned results with only an occasional white patch. It performed the same every time, too. And don't think it can't handle bread--white bread also came out deliciously golden.

However, whole-grain bread and English muffins were not as toasted as we'd have liked on the medium setting. The difference from bagels and white bread was noticeable. Plan on adjusting the browning settings as needed.

We also thought the slots were a bit shallow. Our bread stuck out from the top. And when it pops up, it does so just barely. Be careful when grabbing your toast as you'll have to use your fingertips and get close to the hot surfaces. On the plus side, it has Bagel and Defrost modes, and those work well. Setting it takes one touch and the wide slots fit bagels just fine.

The crumb tray slides out for easy cleaning. It's not too heavy, coming in under three pounds, so it's not hard to upend it to shake out crumbs. The ease of cleaning is another reason we recommend it for those who make toast every day.

Looking for your breakfast to be ready in a jiffy? This compact two-slice toaster from Cuisinart comes with seven different browning settings. It toasts in only two minutes! 

It also shines when toasting bagels, producing crunchy cut sides and chewy outsides. It does a decent job with other breads too. The toasting came out even and covered the whole slice. But we found that at times, two slices cooked side by side came out with different levels of doneness! 

And taller slices of bread may not fit. If you like tall artisan loaves, you'll need to cut them down to get them in the slots. We had a few issues while using it, too. Sometimes the lever got stuck on the way down, or the toast doesn't pop up high enough to reach the top.

But clean-up won't be hard even if you use it daily. The crumb tray slides out, and it's lightweight at under two and a half pounds, so it won't be hard to turn it over if needed. We also like that the plastic exterior won't smudge as much as a steel one. This is a good choice for those who like things to stay tidy.

This is a great choice for those who toast a lot of frozen bread, waffles, or hash browns. We found the Frozen mode worked like a charm. Frozen bagels came out piping hot and evenly toasted with a golden brown color in each of the three toast tests. The "A Bit More" is a two-slice toaster with five browning settings, just like its cousin the Smart Toaster. You will need to lower your slices by hand, however.

Fresh bread also developed a lovely hue. However, English muffins and whole-grain bread were only lightly toasted with the medium setting. We recommend turning it up for those and monitoring the progress until they're crunchy and aromatic.

It has all the basic functions so you won't feel anything is lacking, but we found that bread doesn't pop up very high. Be careful when pulling your toast slices out.

At four pounds, it's a hefty unit and you may need to use two hands when moving it around. But the crumb tray slides out for cleaning, meaning you won't need to do so often. This one is a great choice for delicious toasted breads straight from the freezer.

With six browning settings and a built-in rack for croissants or muffins, Elite Gourmet's Extra-Wide Slot 2-Slice Toaster is versatile and useful. The bagel mode performed well in our tests, both for frozen and fresh ones. The browning was a bit light, but the bagels came out mostly uniform and each bite was crunchy.

However, we noticed inconsistency when toasting bread. White bread and whole grain alike came out at various levels of doneness every time. Some were too light and some too dark, and no three slices were the same. If you don't like variety in your toast, this may not be the one for you.

Despite this, We evaluated it highly for ease of use and care. In addition to the Bagel, Defrost, and Warming functions, it has a countdown timer display. You can see exactly how much time you have left before your toast is ready. This can help streamline your breakfast preparation.

Finished toast pops up nice and high so it's easy to grab. At about three and a third pounds, it's a bit heavy, but the slide-out crumb tray is a cinch to wipe down for daily cleaning. With its ease of operability and maintenance, we like this one for an everyday toaster.

Although it has Bagel and Defrost modes as well as seven browning settings, The Warm Mode 2-Slice Toaster from Hamilton Beach impressed us most with its consistency on white bread. Two slices toasted at the same time came out browned thoroughly with no white patches. Furthermore, we were able to replicate this result all three times we tested it. Whole-grain bread, English muffins, and bagels came out a bit underdone, evenly toasted. So plan to adjust the browning level accordingly.

The wide slots will accommodate hefty slices of bread, but they may not pop up high enough to grab easily. We had to dock a few points for usability because of that.

But overall, we had no issues with it. The crumb tray is a bit stiff but comes out without the need to move the whole unit. Note that because the area near the tray is stainless steel, it tends to show fingerprints, though.

Zwilling's Enfinigy 2-Slot Toaster uses fairly strong heat. It toasted all kinds of breads well, particularly English muffins. Other toasters struggled with those, but the Zwilling produced English muffins with a golden brown color. The seven settings can be adjusted via dial with their logo on it. If you like really crunchy toast, we say give this a go.

But keep its awesome firepower in mind when using it. It can easily burn things if you aren't careful. Bagels, both frozen and fresh, were especially susceptible. They came out blackened on the medium setting. The lowest was perfect for them, producing a nice golden brown. But even then it was solid toasting, so you may find it hard to get a light browning if that's what you're after.

We gave it high marks for ease of use and care. The heavy, almost four-and-a-half-pound unit won't rattle when you push down the lever. This does make it a bit awkward to upend it for crumb dumping though. Otherwise, bread pops up high enough to grab without worrying about burns.

Since the surface is matte, fingerprints don't show much. Neat freaks should be impressed.

Revolution Cooking's InstaGLO toaster is a two-slice unit with seven browning settings. It has a touchscreen on the front for user input. 

Fresh bagels and English muffins were browned to a delectable and uniform golden finish. We got these results all three times we tried. However, white bread, whole-grain bread, and frozen bagels didn't achieve a golden tone on medium. Be prepared to set the browning higher to get the best results there. 

The sliding crumb tray comes out in a jiffy, so daily cleaning is no problem. But it's heavy. At 5.75 pounds, you might have a hard time turning it over to shake out crumbs.

We did like the digital aspect. While this is rare on a toaster, it made the product simple to figure out. It consists of a large, easy-to-read screen with good touch sensitivity. Bread is lowered and raised automatically without the need to push a lever. There's a countdown timer display and a chime that goes off when toasting is complete. All in all, this is a great choice for stress-free mornings.

With no Bagel or Defrost modes, this toaster from Bella is simple, but it does have six browning levels. We did test it with bagels anyway, and the first time they came out a bit too dark. But still, all three tries produced a uniform browning. English muffins weren't quite as toasty as we wanted. But because the heating elements cover the whole surface, we got a crunchy texture in every bite.

However, when it came to other baked goods, we found the heating elements to be a bit weak. Frozen bagels in particular didn't work well, with a white surface that wasn't toasted at all. Since this toaster isn't designed to do frozen foods, you'll need to defrost first or add more heating time.

Since it's not multifunctional, we couldn't give it extra points for any features. We also noticed that the lever is heavy and it can get stuck when depressing it, and that toast doesn't pop up very high. It wasn't the most seamless experience of the products we tried.

The crumb tray is easy to take out, and it weighs under two pounds, making it easy to shake crumbs out of. But with a stainless steel finish, you may find yourself constantly wiping fingerprints.

Black+Decker's 2-Slice TR1278B has extra-wide slots and seven browning settings. Fresh bagels will come out golden brown every time, so we felt it was reliable in its toasting ability.

But other types of baked goods came out too light. There were white patches each time, although again, the results were always consistent. You might want to set it higher for anything other than fresh bagels. 

Bread toasts pretty fast, taking about two minutes and 10 seconds. The lever is smooth to operate with no rattling. But toast doesn't pop up far, so be careful not to touch the hot surface when grabbing it.

The crumb tray doesn't slide out, so you'll have to lift the whole unit to dump them. It's not heavy, but keep that in mind. We found we had to be careful not to spill crumbs when cleaning it.

Black+Decker's T2569B is a two-slice toaster with Bagel and Frozen bread modes. It has six browning settings.

Fresh bagels came out with a nice color all three times we used that mode. White bread was a bit underdone but consistently toasted nonetheless. Each bite had the same crunch. However, with the other breads we tested, it seemed rather weak. They all came out barely toasted at all. You can expect to have to raise the browning setting higher to get the toastiness you're after.

As far as operation, the lever is smooth with no rattling, and overall it's stress-free to use. But be careful when taking your toast out, since it doesn't pop up very far above the hot surface. English muffins and bagels might be tricky to get out.

The crumb tray slides out, and the plastic body won't show fingerprints. It also only weighs about two and a half pounds, so you can pick it up with one hand.

The Express Finish Toaster by Cafe has eight browning settings. It also has Bagel and Frozen cycles, and a warming function. Although the Express Finish mode claims to toast bread in about a minute, on the regular mode we clocked it at three minutes and 10 seconds. This was fairly slow compared to other toasters.

However, bread was evenly toasted, and all three attempts produced good results. If you're picky about the quality of your toast, we'd recommend it. Fresh and frozen bagels as well as English muffins came out only lightly toasted. Even using the Bagel mode, fresh ones didn't brown at all, so they may take more than one cycle to be ready.

Bread doesn't pop up very high, but the lever moves smoothly and doesn't rattle.

Although the crumb tray is smaller than those on other products, it collects crumbs in the center so there's no mess. The plastic body, which won't show fingerprints much, is another plus for those who like a neat kitchen.

Keenstone's Retro Stainless Steel Toaster has six browning levels, a Bagel mode, and a Defrost mode.

Whole-grain bread actually came out very nice. It had a golden brown color and crunch all three times we tried it. If you like whole wheat toast, you should consider this one. But other types of baked goods, especially bagels, don't brown much at all. Fresh bagels came out of it still totally white. You might not be satisfied with this product if you want to eat a variety of toasted foods.

On the medium setting, toast pops up in a speedy two minutes and 12 seconds. This may be why the slices weren't as brown as we'd hoped! The lever also can get caught on the way down, and it's a bit stiff, so it might be annoying to use every day.

Care and cleaning aren't a big concern. The slide-out crumb tray works well. Since it's under three pounds, you can lift it easily to shake crumbs out.