The 6 Best Toasters of 2020

This four-slice toaster will have breakfast ready much faster. The extra-large, self-centering slots hold thin slices or thick bagels snugly for even toasting. Each pair of slots has its own toasting control, so Mom can have her favorite nearly burned toast while Dad opts for golden brown. Or you can toast bagels at the same time you’re making toast.

There are six levels of browning and five buttons for functions including toasting, defrosting, reheating, properly toasting bagels, and canceling the process. The bagel-toasting feature, in particular, is a big hit among reviewers: Many praise the toaster's ability to perfectly toast the sliced side of the bagel while warming (not burning) the outside. A high-lift lever brings short English muffins or other pastries high enough to grab them without burning your fingers.

This has an elegant brushed and chromed stainless steel finish and blue LED lights that indicate the cooking process.

For two-slice toasters, nothing beats the speed, quality, consistency, and ease of use of this Hamilton Beach model. A top seller on Amazon, this appliance is the standard for smaller households that only need to make two pieces of toast at a time. The easy-to-operate, illuminated buttons let you choose between regular toasting, a bagel setting, and defrosting, and a numbered dial allows you to choose just how crispy you want your toast to turn out.

You’ll also see a “Keep Warm” button that's one of the best features of this model. If you need a little extra time to finish making your coffee or frying some eggs, simply press the button, and the toaster will maintain the perfect temperature for your toast for up to three minutes. (It shuts off automatically after that.) Many reviewers are also happy with how well the appliance toasts both sides of a regular piece of bread, leaving no area untoasted (although some do warn that this requires playing around with which darkness setting works for you). The toaster also has a lift feature (called “Toast Boost”) that allows you to raise your slices out of the toaster, making them easier to remove without burning your fingertips.

Finally, the exterior of the toaster remains cool to the touch even after making breakfast for the whole family, so you can scoot it across the counter or store it away in the cabinet without having to wait for it to cool down.

If you bake your own bread or buy a variety of artisan breads, you’ll love the versatility of this toaster, as many reviewers do. This is due in large part to the size of the toasting slots: They are extra long, so each holds two slices of standard sandwich bread or long slices of bread. Furthermore, the slots are 1.5 inches wide, so reviewers say they are able to toast everything from bagels and English muffins to artisan boules and folded-up flour tortillas with ease.

The toaster has seven different settings for toast color as well as settings for bagels, defrosting frozen bread products, reheating toast, or keeping the toast warm. The lever is designed to make it easy to lift small bread slices high enough to easily remove them from the toaster.

A crumb tray makes it easy to clean the toaster, and if you need to store it, the cord stores neatly under the base.

Maybe you’ve been burned (pun intended) by cheap toasters in the past. Or maybe you’re just looking for something a little more advanced—something that toasts with the graceful efficiency of an appliance from the future. In that case, look to the super-sleek Breville BTA830XL, a streamlined appliance with simple controls and some highly intuitive features that you probably haven't seen on a toaster before.

Fitted with extra-long slots for all kinds of bread (or four slices of sandwich bread), the BTA830XL is a surprisingly unobtrusive addition to your countertop. Set your shade level on the slider, put in your bread, and allow the motorized lift to quietly lower it into the toaster. The LED lights indicate your toasting progress, and when it’s done, the BTA830XL quietly raises your bread (no sudden “popping up”) and dings to let you know it’s done. If you don’t like noise in the morning, there’s an option to lower or entirely mute the sound.

As for those intuitive controls: the BTA830XL has some unique button options. Besides the expected bagel and defrost settings, there is also a “Lift and Look” buttons that raises the motorized carriage so you can check your toasting progress without starting over. Lastly, there is “A Bit More” button, a feature many reviewers praise as being especially handy when they're toasting frozen bread or when their finished toast needs a few more seconds of browning.

If you like to start your mornings with a toasted bagel and cream cheese, then you’ll want a toaster that can handle more than just sliced sandwich bread. The Cuisinart CPT-440 is your best bet: sliced bagels won’t get stuck in the extra-wide slots, and reviewers love that the “Enhanced Bagel Toasting” feature delivers a perfectly toasted sliced side and a lightly warmed outside, ready for all your favorite spreads. Not to mention the CPT-440 comes with a host of other high-tech features that make this little appliance a true asset to your kitchen.

The CPT-440’s four-slice design is perfect for busy households and caters to everyone’s toasting preferences with independent controls on each side. Just select your shade setting on the easy-to-read digital displays, which also act as a countdown timer once toasting starts. You can also choose from the buttons to enable specialized settings, including “Bagel,” “Defrost,” and “Reheat.” The CPT-440 is also lever-less and designed with a motorized bread lift, so it doesn’t pop up like a traditional toaster—instead, it quietly raises up your perfectly-toasted bagel and beeps to let you know it’s done. (If you’re tired of being startled by your toaster first thing in the morning, this feature can be a blessing.)