If you're looking for a new toaster, you'll find plenty of options, from suspiciously cheap to surprisingly expensive. While you don't have to spend much for good performance, if you're going to be using your toaster daily, you might want to upgrade to a model with extra features or find one with a design that suits your style.
We've tested more than 20 toasters from a range of brands, and below are our recommendations for the best toaster brands. We haven't ordered them by performance; instead, they're listed alphabetically, so you can find the brand that suits you best. Of course, we also haven't tested every model available, and some notable brands, like Dualit, aren't represented here. Still, we have recommendations for brands that offer reliable options, from budget-friendly 2-slice toasters to high-end long-slot models. If you want more specific recommendations, check out our lists of the best toasters and the best budget and cheap toasters. Or, if you want to know if a toaster oven is a viable option for you, check out the best toaster ovens.
We've put our 20 toasters through the wringer to help you make a confident buying decision. But how do we do it? It starts with buying the products ourselves, just like you. We take it a step further with our lab, where we measure a variety of characteristics, like toasting evenness, so that a prospective toaster's performance doesn't come as a shock. You can even compare models and results, making it easy to find the right toaster for your needs.
Check out our About Us page to learn more!
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Beautiful
Toasting8.2Toasting Range6.0Toasting Evenness9.5Repeated Toasting8.4MaterialPowder-Coated Steel & PlasticSee all our test resultsToaster Type4-SlotBeautiful by Drew, Drew Barrymore's kitchenware brand, offers budget-friendly small appliances, including blenders, waffle makers, and stand mixers, sold exclusively at Walmart. They have a small product line, with just one or two models for each product type, and they tend to have simple designs without a lot of extra features. While they don't always offer the very best performance, they usually work reasonably well and come in many colors with light-up controls and gold-colored accents, so they're a good option if you care about aesthetics as well as price.
The Beautiful 4-Slice Toaster with Touch-Activated Display is a sleek model with a steel body and touch-sensitive controls. There are only a few settings, but you'll find a shade selector, plus buttons for toasting bagels, frozen items, and even gluten-free toast. It has wide slots that can easily fit bagels and slices of artisanal bread, and they lift high enough so you can grab your toast without burning yourself. It toasts very evenly on both sides of the bread, batch after batch, but unfortunately, while it has seven distinct shade settings, none produce golden-brown toast with white sandwich bread.
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Black+Decker
Toasting9.7Toasting Range10Toasting Evenness9.6Repeated Toasting9.2MaterialPlasticSee all our test resultsToaster Type2-Slot RegularWhile you might associate Black+Decker with tools like screwdrivers and saws, they also sell budget-friendly kitchen appliances, including blenders and toasters. In our investigation into toaster performance, we found that spending more on a toaster doesn't necessarily lead to more evenly toasted bread or faster performance. Black+Decker toasters are among the least expensive and best-performing that we've tested. While they lack high-end features that you might want, such as cycle countdown indicators that tell you when your toast will be ready, they offer fantastic performance and have the essential functions, like a bagel setting, a cancel button, and a dial that allows you to fine-tune the shade setting, so you're not limited to the marked settings.
The Black+Decker 2-Slice Toaster T2569B has a superb toasting range, meaning you can get golden-brown sandwich bread or use a higher setting to properly brown denser slices of bread in a single cycle. It browns bread evenly all over and on both sides, performing consistently batch after batch. We also recommend the Black+Decker 4-Slice Toaster TR4900SSD if you need more capacity. Four-slice models usually produce less even results since there are four slots that should all perform the same, but this 4-slice option produces much more even results than the next-best model we've tested.
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Breville
Toasting9.4Toasting Range10Toasting Evenness9.0Repeated Toasting9.1MaterialStainless SteelSee all our test resultsToaster Type2-Slot RegularBreville is a higher-end kitchenware brand that makes small appliances like microwaves, blenders, toaster ovens, and toasters. Their products often stand out from the crowd thanks to a range of extra features, making the brand a good option if you're willing to pay a premium for quality-of-life touches or a modern design. Breville toasters include cycle countdown indicators, an uncommon feature that lets you know when your toast will be ready. Certain models use buttons instead of levers to push down the slots. Some also include an 'A Bit More' button, which adds 30 seconds to the timer, and a 'Lift and Look' option, which lets you lift the slots to check your toast mid-cycle.
The Breville 'A Bit More' 2 Slice and the Breville Die-Cast 4-Slice Smart Toaster are our recommendations for the best 2-slice and 4-slice toasters from the brand, based on a combination of toasting performance and useful extra features. These options offer a fantastic toasting range, so you can easily toast denser, thicker slices in a single cycle. They toast bread evenly and consistently, even after multiple batches. They're also both equipped with cycle countdown indicators, 'A Bit More,' and 'Lift and Look.'
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Cuisinart
Toasting7.7Toasting Range7.7Toasting Evenness7.9Repeated Toasting6.7MaterialPlasticSee all our test resultsToaster Type4-SlotCuisinart began in the 1970s by making food processors and now makes all kinds of other small appliances, including blenders, air fryers, toasters, and even air purifiers. They're a popular toaster brand with a lineup that includes straightforward 2- and 4-slice models as well as options with more specialized features, like an LCD screen that displays a countdown timer, so you know when your toast will be ready. Most Cuisinart toasters, however, forgo extra features like Breville's 'A Bit More' button or Oster's 'Quick Check' lever, but do include defrost, reheat, and bagel settings.
The Cuisinart 4 Slice Compact Plastic Toaster is a budget-friendly model that's very compact for a 4-slot toaster. It offers a good overall toasting performance, though it's not very consistent batch after batch, so you have to adjust the dial if you're making lots of toast for brunch. However, it has a good toasting range, so it can make anything from barely toasted bread to nearly burnt toast, and it toasts very evenly across the whole slice. Overall, while they aren't bad toasters, the Cuisinart models we've tested don't perform quite as well as some other options available at a similar price, like the Black+Decker 4-Slice Toaster TR4900SSD.
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Oster
Toasting8.5Toasting Range7.7Toasting Evenness9.1Repeated Toasting7.5MaterialPlasticSee all our test resultsToaster Type2-Slot RegularOster is a well-known appliance brand that started making blenders in the 1940s and now sells a wide variety of kitchen appliances, including toasters. Their products are generally budget-friendly and offer a good overall performance. In terms of toasters, they provide simple designs but have options to fit various needs, from a 'Tall' model with deep slots to one with extra-wide slots for chunkier bagels and thicker cuts of bakery bread. Oster also sells a touchscreen model for less than $100, so you can try the most modern toaster design at an affordable price.
The Oster 2-Slice Toaster with Quick-Check Lever is a simple toaster with a retro look. It has an excellent performance overall, producing very even, consistent results. It also has a good toasting range, although its highest setting won't char white sandwich bread, which suggests you'll need to run more than one cycle to brown bread from denser loaves. It doesn't perform as well as the Black+Decker 2-Slice Toaster T2569B and usually costs a little more, but its 'Quick-Check Lever' lets you check on your toast without interrupting the cycle. It's ideal for small items because its slots are very shallow when fully raised, so you can easily grab smaller items like English muffins. It also has a particularly compact design, making it a good option for small kitchens.
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Smeg
Toasting9.1Toasting Range10Toasting Evenness9.1Repeated Toasting6.4MaterialChrome-Plated SteelSee all our test resultsToaster Type2-Slot RegularSmeg is an Italian brand founded in 1948 as a metalworking and enamelling company. By the mid-1950s, they began producing gas stoves, and since then, their product line has grown to include a range of large and small kitchen appliances. They make high-end products, frequently partnering with luxury brands like Dolce & Gabbana and Porsche, and that premium sensibility shows up in their product design. Their toasters, kettles, stand mixers, and other kitchen products typically feature a retro design, with stainless steel bodies and enamel finishes in a variety of colors, harkening back to the company's origins. They tend to perform well, but don't include many extra features, especially considering their premium price.
The Smeg 2-Slice Toaster is a streamlined model with wide, long slots that can accommodate bagels, thick pieces of sourdough, or artisanal bakery slices. There are just two buttons and a dial to control the toaster; the dial is used to select your preferred shade or 'Reheat,' while the buttons adjust the settings for bagels and frozen foods. It can make anything from barely toasted bread to charred sandwich bread and toasts very evenly across the whole face of the bread and on both sides. That being said, it tends to make increasingly dark toast after the first batch, so you'll have to adjust the settings if you're making multiple batches.
Recent Updates
Feb 02, 2026:
We added Smeg and Beautiful to our list of the best toaster brands, and changed our recommendation for Cuisinart from the Cuisinart Long Slot Toaster to the Cuisinart 4 Slice Compact Plastic Toaster, since the former has been discontinued.
Apr 23, 2025:
We've added a link to the Beautiful 4-Slice Toaster with Touch-Activated Display and updated the text for clarity, but our recommendations haven't changed.
Mar 25, 2025:
We've made minor updates to the text for clarity, but our recommendations haven't changed.
Feb 24, 2025:
We've made minor updates to the text and checked that the products are in stock.
Jan 28, 2025:
We've made minor updates to the text for clarity, but there hasn't been a change to our recommendations.
All Reviews
The recommendations above are what we think are currently the best toaster brands at various price points. If you want to choose for yourself, here's a list of all our toaster reviews. Be careful not to get too caught up in the details. None is perfect, and ultimately, the best toaster brand depends on your needs and preferences.