14 best toasters for perfect golden slices every time, tested by experts

Score: 91/100

The matte black finish lends a stylish touch to this functional Salter toaster, making it an excellent kitchen-top addition. It offers adjustable slot sizes for varying thicknesses of bread and its indicator lights are clear and easy to follow. It also has minimal dirt traps and a removable crumb tray, to help with clean-up. Testers liked the anti-jamming function for easy toast extraction, too.

In our toast tests, slices browned evenly with good coverage and our bagels were ready in just two minutes. Note that the toaster walls took a little while to cool down after use.

Score: 89/100

If you’re fussy about the shade of your toast and are often left disappointed, rest assured that this two-slice model offers nine browning levels for the best breakfast every time. The handy “lift and look” function lets you sneak a peek at that all-important colour without cancelling the cycle, while the extra lift feature protects your fingers from burns.

Our tester found it toasted a variety of breads quickly, and always in under three minutes, making it a top pick if you’re often running late. It mostly browned consistently, though one of our slices wasn’t the same colour on both sides, and we loved its deep, wide slots for toasting hearty farmhouse loaves. Overall, it’s a smart, simple steal for under £50.

Score: 89/100

This four-slice toaster offers precise colouring and an even finish, thanks to its seven browning settings. With wide slots and a powerful 1850 watts, it turned hearty farmhouse slices, bagels, crumpets and frozen bread into golden, toasted treats, and the anti-jamming function ensures for smooth operation every time.

It was slightly slower than other models on test, taking just under three minutes 30 seconds for sliced bread and an average of two minutes and 47 seconds for bagels. But all in all, this is versatile and efficient buy.

Score: 88/100

If you typically make breakfast for the whole family in the morning, then this toaster will help you cater to all those differing demands. It has slots to toast four slices of bread at once and you can also select two different browning settings – genius! Thanks to the retro design, it also looks the part – we’re fans of the pastel blue colourway for a pop of colour on your countertop.

It doesn’t have a bagel setting, but the wide slots mean it can accommodate a whole bagel with no need to slice it in half, and it didn’t come out of the toaster squashed either. It also has extra lift, so it’s easy to get your toast out without burning those fingers.

Score: 86/100

KitchenAid has a reputation for creating good-looking products, and this four-slice is no exception. It’s big and heavy, so you’ll need spare worktop space, but it boasts every bell and whistle in the book.

Our favourite design features include the sandwich setting (rack included) and clever sensor that automatically lowers your toast after 45 seconds and keeps it warm for three minutes – a saviour for those manic mornings.

There are seven browning levels to suit all tastes and an LED countdown timer for keeping an eye on its progress while attending to other chores. It could have been more consistent when toasting a single slice, especially in the right-hand slots, but it delivered delicious results from thick rustic bread and is a winner for big families.

Score: 86/100

If your kitchen aesthetic matters to you, this sleek four-slice leads the style stakes with its range of five tasteful colours. Happily, it offers plenty of substance, too – it scored full marks for its intuitive design and impressed our tester when toasting thickly sliced bread and bagels.

It only offers five browning settings, but our testers found setting three adequate, leaving more options for those who prefer darker toast. It consistently browned both sides, albeit with 90% coverage at times due to the wide yet shallow slots – the top of longer slices was often left soft and pale, meaning we had to flip them over. If you can let that go for its looks, you’ll love it.

Score: 86/100

Compact, with just two slots for bread and six browning levels, the Laica toaster is a great option for couples, single people or anyone with limited countertop space.

It performed well in our tests, toasting everything from regular slices to thick, chunky farmhouse bread, and providing good colour and consistent browning on both sides. However, it only toasted two-thirds of a slice at a time due to its shallow slots, so you'll have to flip them over, and the browning dial didn’t feel that sturdy. That said, for the price, this is a trusty buy.

Score: 85/100

For anyone who likes to experiment with a variety of different breads, this Breville model boasts extra-long slots and variable widths to accommodate everything from oversized slices of sourdough to crumpets and bagels.

Our testers found the central controls made the toaster easily accessible for both left and right-hand users; however, they weren’t the most responsive. Browning coverage was a little patchier when toasting vertically, too. However, it makes up for any inconsistencies with its speed – it took just over a minute for one slice – and stylish stainless-steel exterior.

Score: 84/100

This timeless toaster’s bagel function is designed to toast the inside to perfection while keeping the outside warm and soft. It did this brilliantly, but when toasting single slices of bread, it left one side darker than the other and a slither at the top soft and pale.

It fared better when batch toasting, but its hefty power meant our testers achieved a golden brown shade on setting two but noted some burning on three, leaving limited options for those who like paler toast.

On the plus side, there’s no danger of popping your bread down and forgetting to collect the toast, as a bell goes off once it’s ready. Breakfast's served!

Score: 83/100

This modern, minimalist four-slice comes in a range of eight colours to suit all kitchen colour palettes. It toasted quickly (two and a half minutes max) and performed well, especially when batch toasting. Our tester also loved that each pair of slots could be set to different temperatures, meeting everyone’s demands.

The effective bagel setting is sure to prove popular, too – on test, it evenly browned the sliced sides and left the backs pillowy soft. Our only qualm is that, while the outer casing remains cool, the metal top gets hot, and there’s no extra lift function to keep your fingers safe.

Score: 83/100

With its pared back looks and budget-friendly price, this four-slot toaster is a great value buy. It felt well-made and durable on test and with six levels of browning, it should suit everyone’s toasting taste.

Our toast was a little on the patchy side when it came to coverage, and it doesn’t have a bagel setting (so both sides will be toasted). It’s quick though, making it ideal for busy mornings.

Score: 81/100

Most kitchen appliances come in blacks, greys or neutral colours, but this toaster switches things up with raspberry pink, pale green and trendy butter yellow.

The controls are straightforward to use, with a dial for the browning settings and buttons to defrost and pop up your toast. In testing, three minutes provided the perfect level of toastiness for normal slices, while frozen bread took closer to four minutes and had uneven browning across both sides. There were quite a few dirt traps too, with the crumb tray failing to keep our surfaces neat and tidy.

That said, the simple, user-friendly design makes this a great value buy.