The 5 Best Toasters - Fall 2024

The best toaster we've tested with two slots is the Breville the 'A Bit More' 2 Slice. It's notably expensive for a toaster, and you can get a good toasting performance for much less. That said, if you also care about quality-of-life features and a high-end look, it's a great option. It has a sturdy metal body with slots that are twice as wide as a slice of regular sandwich bread, so thickly sliced bread and chunky bagels easily fit. The slots are on the longer side and deep enough for tall slices. It has a fantastic toasting range, so you can get anything from very light toast to well-browned multi-grain or rye bread with just one cycle. It toasts the bread very evenly. The slots all perform the same way, and it's very consistent from slot to slot, although you might notice that the inner face of the toast is darker than the outer face.

Aside from a fantastic toasting performance, it has some extras that help justify its premium price point. The 'Lift and Look' feature lets you check on your toast without interrupting a toasting cycle. The 'A Bit More' button adds some time to the end of a cycle. Also, unlike most toasters, it has cycle countdown indicators, so you can tell when your toast will be ready.

If you want a good, basic toaster, the Black+Decker 2-Slice Toaster T2569B is all you need. This budget-friendly toaster doesn't have cycle countdown indicators or the Breville's 'Lift and Look,' and its plastic body doesn't look or feel as well-made. However, it offers a superb performance where it counts the most. Its incredible toasting range means you won't need to push your toast down again to get properly browned multi-grain bread or bagels. It toasts the entire surface of the bread evenly, and both slots perform similarly.

It's also consistent after several batches, so you can prepare lots of toast using the same setting without burning it. There are functions for bagels and frozen items, but unlike the Breville the 'A Bit More' 2 Slice, it doesn't include a way to tell when your toast will be ready. There's also no way of raising the slots mid-cycle to check on your toast's progress. That said, the slots are wide enough for thickly sliced bread and deep enough for taller slices. Even though you can't lift the slots without interrupting a cycle, when your toast is done, the slots lift high enough to reach smaller items like English muffins, similar to the Breville.

If you're looking for a 2-slice toaster and haven't found what you need, you can find more options on our list of the best 2-slice toasters.

If you need more capacity for busy mornings, the best 4-slice toaster we've tested is the Breville Die-Cast 4-Slice Smart Toaster. This toaster is similar to the Breville the 'A Bit More' 2 Slice, with a sturdy aluminum body, and like that model, its premium design and extra features are what set it apart from cheaper options. It has the same 'A Bit More' and 'Lift and Look' functions. In a little twist on the usual toaster design, it has buttons instead of levers to push down the slots. It has a superb toasting range, so you can easily make golden brown sandwich bread or toast denser pieces that take longer in a single cycle. Its slots can be lifted higher than the previous pick, making it easier to grab small items like frozen waffles or English muffins. Each pair of slots can be operated independently, so it's a good option if you have kids or roommates who want to use the toaster at the same time.

However, even though it's one of the best-performing 4-slot toasters we've tested, it doesn't toast bread that evenly compared to the 2-slot toasters recommended here. Some slots produce darker toast than others on the same setting. It doesn't compensate very well for the toaster heating up after the first cycle, so if you're making several batches of toast, you'll want to use a lower setting after the second result to get consistent results. It's pretty heavy and bulky, even compared with other 4-slot models made of metal, so you'll need enough space to store it on your counter.

The best budget 4-slice toaster we've tested is the Black+Decker 4-Slice Toaster TR4900SSD. This toaster lacks the Breville Die-Cast 4-Slice Smart Toaster's premium features, like 'Lift and Look' and button-operated slots, but it's still made of metal, with a stainless steel body. Its slots aren't as deep, long, or wide as the Breville's, making it less suited for bigger slices of bakery bread. However, it's a little smaller, which is helpful if you have limited counter space, and it offers a similarly fantastic toasting performance. Its seven shade settings produce anything from lightly toasted to charred sandwich bread, so it's easy to get nicely golden brown bread or fully brown denser breads in one cycle.

It toasts bread more evenly and consistently than the Breville, so you don't have to switch to a lower setting after the first batch. It does a good job of browning the entire surface of the bread. The Black+Decker also has modes for bagels as well as for thawing and toasting frozen items but lacks cycle countdown indicators, so there's no way of telling when a toasting cycle will conclude.

If a slice of your favorite bread won't fit into a regular toaster slot, you might need a long-slot model like the Smeg 4-Slice Toaster. This high-end toaster has a glossy retro design and comes in lots of different colors. Its slots are long enough to fit a couple of slices of sandwich bread side by side, wide enough for chunky bagels, and deep when pushed down, so it's a good choice for tall as well as long slices. Its toasting range is good, but not great. Unlike previous picks, it might not brown denser bread in one cycle, but you can easily add more time to the end of a cycle with the 'reheat' function.

It has settings for bagels and frozen items but no cycle countdown indicators, so you can't tell when your toast will be ready. That said, its biggest downside is the price. If you're not looking to invest in a high-end toaster, the Cuisinart Long Slot Toaster is way cheaper and offers a similar performance. However, its slots don't pop up all the way automatically. You must manually lift the lever at the end of the cycle, or you'll have difficulty grabbing regular-sized sandwich bread without burning yourself. Its slots are also quite shallow when pushed down, so taller slices might stick out the top.

If you're still looking for a 4-slice toaster, check out more recommendations on our list of the best 4-slice toasters.