Best toasters 2025: top 2-slice and 4-slice toasters to upgrade your kitchen

This selection of our favourite Best Buy toasters, alongside our expert buying advice, will help you choose a model that will serve up slice after slice of perfect toast.

We've tested hundreds of toasters, from budget to premium models, so we know which ones are worth buying and which to avoid. 

Read on for our current recommendations of the best toasters, plus get tips and advice on choosing a new toaster for your home. 

Go straight to our toaster reviews to see all the models we've tested. 

Best toasters

Each of the toasters recommended here aced our rigorous lab tests, which assess everything from toasting evenness to speed.

Only logged-in Which? members can view our expert recommendations. If you’re not yet a member, join Which? to get instant access to the results of our rigorous testing.

Want to buy a matching kettle and toaster? See our guide to the best kettle and toaster sets.

Toaster reviews by type

• Two-slice toaster reviews
• Four-slice toaster reviews

Toasters by price

• Toasters under £20
• Toasters under £30
• Toasters under £40
• Toasters under £50
• Toasters under £75

Why you can trust our toaster reviews

The design of the electric toaster has hardly changed since its invention more than a century ago, but that doesn't mean our tests have stayed the same.

We regularly review our test programme to ensure that it's still relevant and you get the best recommendations. In February 2024, we raised our Best Buy score threshold to 70% to account for changes in the market and consumer demands.

We buy everything we test and don't accept freebies or loan models from manufacturers. This ensures our testing is independent and our reviews remain impartial.

Which? members tell us it's most important that a toaster browns evenly across all the slices. That's why evenness of browning accounts for 40% of a toaster's total score. We also test using the bread that's most popular with our members – medium white supermarket bread – so that our results reflect real-life use. We store the bread in controlled conditions so variations in freshness don't affect our test results.

Where to buy a toaster

There are plenty of places to pick up your next toaster, but here are a few options to get you started.

• Amazon has models made by Breville, Morphy Richards, Russell Hobbs and more. Orders of £35 or more of eligible items qualify for free standard delivery in the UK. Amazon Prime members in eligible postcodes can get free same-day and overnight delivery on eligible orders over £20.
• Argos sells toasters from its own Cookworks line, as well as from brands such as Morphy Richards, Russell Hobbs and Smeg. You can pick up a toaster for less than £15 or splurge up to £200. Standard delivery is from £3.99, or free on orders over £100. You can also choose to click and collect from an Argos store or Sainsbury's collection point.
• B&Q sells toasters online, with some models also available to buy in stores. Depending on your location, you may even be able to find one with a one-hour click-and-collect option. B&Q offers an in-store recycling service to help you dispose of your old toaster responsibly.
• Debenhams has disappeared from town centres, but still exists online. Toasters start from £15 and delivery starts from £2.99, but is free for Debenhams Unlimited members. If you decide an item isn't right for you, you have 28 days to send it back starting from the day you receive it. However, a one-off return fee of £1.99 will be deducted from your refund amount.
• Wayfair stocks brands including Daewoo, Haden and Russell Hobbs. Prices range from less than £15 to more than £200. Shipping starts from £4.99 but varies depending on your location, rising to an eye-watering £11.99 for a small parcel if you live on the Scottish Islands. 

How to buy the best toaster

Toasters are pretty simple gadgets, but there are still plenty of things to think about when buying one.

• How much are you willing to spend? Pricier toasters will usually have more capacity and extra features, for example illuminated countdown controls and specialist toast settings for items such as bagels and crumpets. They may also have stylish designs and premium metallic finishes. Paying more is no guarantee of good results, though. We've found some brilliant cheap toasters and, disappointingly, some bad expensive ones.
• How much toast do you need to make at a time? If you have many mouths to feed at breakfast, you might need a larger four-slice toaster.
• What do you want to toast? Most toasters struggle with larger bread slices, leaving a strip untoasted or – annoyingly – not fitting them at all. If you like teatime treats such as crumpets and bagels, look for extra-wide slots, and check our reviews for more versatile models.
• Is speed important to you? In our tests, we've found that slower toasters often do a better job of toasting bread evenly. Luckily, many of our Best Buys manage to combine speed and browning pretty effectively.
• Is design important to you? With open-plan living commonplace in many homes, most toaster designs have aesthetics in mind. You can buy anything from a retro-look toaster to a stylish steel model. Patterned or textured toasters are popular, but bear in mind that these, and polished metal finishes, can be harder to keep clean.
• Do you need easy-to-use controls? If controls are too small and hard to read or twist, you could find it an everyday frustration. Read more about the best easy-to-use toasters from our tests.

Toaster types explained

When buying a new toaster, you'll have three main types to choose from:

Two-slice toasters

• These are the most popular and are widely available.
• Most are fairly compact and are a good choice for small kitchens with limited counter space.
• Controls are usually on the short end of the toaster.

Four-slice toasters

• If you live in a larger household, you might want a toaster that can brown four slices at once, although our tests show it can be tricky to find one that browns all four slices evenly. 
• Look out for independent controls that enable you to set different browning levels on each pair of slots.
• Make sure you've got enough worktop space to accommodate the larger size.
• Controls are usually on the front of the toaster.

Long-slot toasters

• Long-slot toasters have one or two longer slots, which can accommodate two slices each.
• They are less common, but are a good compromise for those who want to toast four slices at once but don’t have room for a bulky appliance, as they have a slimmer profile. 
• They’re also great at fitting in taller slices or oddly shaped bread, as you can fit them in on their sides.
• The quality of long-slot toasters varies hugely.

Best toaster features to consider

Here's what to look out for when choosing a new toaster.

Standard features

These tend to come as standard on even the very cheapest toasters:

• Cancel – stops the toasting cycle
• Defrost – takes the guesswork out of toasting frozen bread, by adding extra time to the toasting cycle to defrost then brown. This means you don't have to adjust the browning setting, handy if it's set to your ideal level of toast already. Check the manual first though, as with some toasters you have to press the defrost button before you lower the bread whereas with others it's the other way round.
• Reheat – quickly warms up your toast
• Crumb tray – captures any stray crumbs. Empty at least weekly if you use your toaster every day.

Nice-to-have features

Spending a little more can get you some handy features:

• Extra lift – great if you love to toast crumpets or muffins, this raises small items out of the toaster so you won’t burn your fingers when fishing them out.
• Bagel setting – some turn the heat down on one side so your bagel ends up with a traditional doughy edge and a toasted centre. Others simply add extra time to the toasting cycle to allow for the extra thickness of the bagel.
• Lift and look – also called ‘peek and pop,’ this feature lets you check on your toast without cancelling the cycle. Some Sage toasters also have a 'bit more' button for a burst of extra toasting time.
• Countdown timer – as the name suggests, this counts down the time until your toast is ready, so you know exactly how long you have to make a cup of tea or get your butter out of the fridge.
• Bun warmer – either a clip-on rack or a pop-up version that’s integrated into your toaster, although you might be better off warming buns and croissants in the oven.
• Sandwich toasting cage – hinged metal cages that let you make quick and easy toasties and do away with your toastie maker. Sometimes sold as an additional accessory (eg for some Dualit toasters). A cheaper alternative for toasting cages is reusable toastie bags.

How much do I need to spend on a toaster?

In 1958 when Which? named its first Best Buy, the Morphy Richards Automatic Electric Toaster cost £6 10s 9p (equivalent to about £92 today) and was a substantial investment for a 1950s family.

But today, toasters are commodity items manufactured on a huge scale in far-flung factories. Prices start from as little as £15 for a supermarket own-brand model, and rise to more than £200 for a feature-laden, premium-brand toaster.

Pricier toasters tend to offer features such as illuminated controls and countdown timers, as well as special settings for bagels and crumpets. They can also come with accessories such as sandwich toasting cages. 

Paying more doesn't guarantee glorious golden toast, though. Some expensive models have flunked our tests, producing toast that's barely warm or horribly uneven. We've also found some brilliant Great Value toasters for less than £20. 

Use the Great Value filter on our toaster reviews to find the cheap toasters we recommend.

For ideas for making toast and beyond, see BBC Good Food's leftover bread recipes.

Is it worth buying a designer branded toaster?

Designer toasters from brands such as Dualit are popular choices for statement kitchens, but they can cost more than £100 each. So, are they worth the investment? 

You can expect premium materials and finishes from a branded appliance, but it’s not just looks you’re paying for. High-end toasters often come with extras, such as bagel toasting settings and lift-and-look functions.

Our bi-annual toaster-brand survey shows big differences between the best and worst toaster brands. It's worth reading our advice before you buy to find out which brands' toasters tend to develop faults more quickly and the type of faults they're prone to.

To find out which companies make longer-lasting toasters, see our guide to the most reliable toaster brands. 

Toaster maintenance

Ideally, you should clean the crumb tray in your toaster weekly, to avoid accumulating stale crumbs which can attract vermin and pose a fire risk.

Plastic or coated steel finishes (such as those found on coloured toasters) tend to be easier to keep clean. If a wipe with a damp cloth doesn’t do the trick, mild detergent can be used.

Polished finishes often need rinsing and drying too, to avoid streaks. An environmentally-friendly Ecloth can be a good way to get rid of fingerprints and restore a shiny finish.

Be careful with cream cleaners though, as their abrasive texture can leave scratches. 

Want to get rid of your old toaster? Read our guide: How to recycle electrical items