Breville VTT296 radio toaster April 2011
For music while you toast...
Breville’s ‘all-singing, all-dancing’ VTT296 toaster comes with an in-built radio and plug-in socket for your MP3 player. A musical toaster is a new one on us, so we tried it out to bring you our initial impressions.
The Breville VTT296 two-slot, two-slice radio toaster is currently being fully evaluated in the Which? test labs, but given its quirky dual function – the toaster includes an in-built speaker and AM/FM radio tuner – we also gave it to one of our researchers to try out for a First Look review.
Stylish and space-saving
The toaster has a stylish retro-inspired look: curved edges, a glossy black and stainless steel finish, and the silver circular front speaker. You'll need to wipe down the black façade and metallic trim regularly as they are prone to picking up fingermarks. Breville suggests using a damp cloth.
The toaster is a neat size and won't take up too much space on your kitchen worktop – and because you're effectively getting two products in one, it's a good option if you're short on space or power sockets in your kitchen.
The Breville radio toaster has an AM/FM tuner and extendable aerial
Music while you toast
The built-in radio lets you listen to music while you're toasting, and is straightforward to switch on and use. There are two twist buttons on the radio control panel at the front of the toaster that are used to tune in the AM/FM radio and adjust the volume. An illuminated screen highlights your selection.
We haven't lab tested the sound quality of the radio – but it's an uncomplicated way to tune into the radio over breakfast. The sound could even be heard over a boiling kettle when our tester turned up the volume.
You're able to store up to ten radio stations. Simply press the ‘Store' button, twist it around to browse frequencies, then save your selection by pressing down on the button until you hear a beep.
The toaster features an extendable aerial to help you get a better signal – though our tester listened to several national FM radio stations clearly without it.
It's disappointing this toaster doesn't have DAB (digital audio broadcast) radio - if the UK does hit the government's 2017 target for switching national FM stations to digital, you may be limited to toast and community radio.
On the plus side, we like the extra option to hook up your MP3 player - via the auxiliary input at the side of the toaster – to the speaker, though the toaster doesn't come with a lead.
Toasting abilities
Our tester's toast had criss-cross markings on one side
As with many toasters we see, standard square-shaped supermarket loaves fit in well, but the slots struggle with tall or wide breads, which poke out of the top. Crumpets and teacakes are easily accommodated.
We'll reserve our full verdict on this model's actual browning abilities until the full results are in from the test lab, but during this initial try, fresh bread on a medium browning setting took about two-and-a-half minutes – a pretty average toasting speed.
We did notice that with both slots on our tester's toaster, one side of the bread emerged more toasted than the other, and the criss-cross markings of the toasting element were visible on one side of the toasted bread.
There's a defrost setting, and a reheat function to warm up cooked toast, which takes about 25 seconds. The high-lift carriage lets you take toast out without difficulty and the buttons illuminate blue when on.
The crumb tray is easy to pull out, but shallow – so be careful not to spill crumbs when emptying.
For the latest test lab verdicts on toaster models from brands including Breville, Dualit, Magimix and Morphy Richards - and to find out which were rated as Which? Best Buys - head to our toasters review.
The Breville VTT296 radio toaster is available at Argos and Amazon for £49.99.
Pros: Stylish design, analogue radio function, MP3 player socket for listening to your own music
Cons: Not DAB-compatible, shallow crumb tray, attracts fingermarks
