The Oster 2-Slice Toaster has a retro-inspired look with a textured plastic body. It's quite compact, but its slots are wide and deep enough for thicker slices. The 'Quick-Check' lever lets you lift your toast in the middle of a cycle without cancelling it, so you can check its progress. It has a bagel setting, but unlike similar settings on other toasters, it doesn't switch off one of the elements to prevent the bottom of your bagel from burning.
Our Verdict
It's an excellent toaster. The seven settings mostly produce different results, so you can get everything from very pale to dark brown toast from white sandwich bread. It's consistent after multiple batches and between slots. However, it would be better if its highest setting toasted the bread more. If your bread takes longer to toast or you're thawing and browning something like a frozen waffle, you might need to run another cycle.
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Seven toast settings.
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Bagel and frozen modes.
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Consistent performance batch after batch.
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Toasts lightly.
- 8.5 Toasting
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Oster 2-Slice Toaster comes in black, white, red, and blue. We tested it in white; you can see the label for the unit we tested here.
If you encounter another variant, let us know in the forums, and we'll update our review.
Compared To Other Toasters
The Oster 2-Slice Toaster with Quick-Check Lever offers good performance, with seven toast settings plus bagel and frozen modes. It toasts bread evenly and consistently, but even its maximum setting doesn't char white sandwich bread, so if you're making something like a bagel or multi-grain bread, you'll probably have to run a few cycles. If you want a toaster that doesn't have that issue, the KitchenAid 2-Slice Toaster with manual lift lever and the Black+Decker 2-Slice Toaster T2569B can both char white bread in a single cycle.
If you're looking for a recommendation, check out our lists of the best 2-slice toasters, the best 4-slice toasters, and the best toasters.
Test Results
The slots aren't particularly wide but can accommodate sandwich bread and bagels without an issue. They're shallow enough for you to grab smaller items like English muffins when they're fully raised.
According to the manufacturer, the Frozen and Bagel settings simply adjust the toasting time, and the bagel setting doesn't turn the outer element down or off to prevent the bottom from burning.
The photo above shows the results for slot 1, but you can see a full montage showing all the bread toasted here.
The photo above shows the results for slot 2, but you can see a full montage showing all the bread toasted here.
