The 5 Best 4-Slice Toasters of 2025, Tested & Reviewed

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Our top performers include options from Zwilling, Cuisinart, Smeg, and more.

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When it comes to the perfect breakfast, toast can be a bit of an afterthought. But nothing ruins a morning quite like burnt toast. A perfectly toasted slice of bread can be its own meal or play a surprisingly important supporting role in a sandwich, mushroom toast, avocado toast, or on the side of soups or hearty stews.

Regardless of how you plan to eat your toast, getting to that golden-brown perfection requires a toaster of some kind. Yes, toaster ovens are undeniably versatile, and you could preheat the oven and pop a few slices onto the rack, but a standard slotted toaster is the best way to quickly and evenly toast bread, bagels, waffles, and toaster pastries.

If you live in a household of more than one or two people, you might have experienced toaster traffic — waiting your turn to use a traditional two-slice model. If this has happened to you, it's time to upgrade to a four-slice toaster with enough room so no one is waiting impatiently for their bagel.

After toasting mountains of bread, bagels, and waffles in 20 different four-slice toasters, we determined which models yielded the most perfectly golden brown and crisp results. Keep scrolling to learn more about the best (and the not-so-great) four-slice toasters on the market.

Our No. 1 four-slice toaster is the Zwilling Enfinigy Cool Touch Toaster due to its consistent browning, even coverage, and easy-to-use features. The Cuisinart 4-Slice Custom Select Toaster offers excellent value, with stellar toasting that rivals machines that cost twice as much.

This machine gave us the most consistent browning, both from edge to edge and from piece to piece.

It doesn't have as many setting options as some comparably expensive toasters.

The Zwilling Enfinigy Cool Touch Toaster evenly toasted bread, waffles, and bagels to a beautiful golden brown with a pillowy interior. Each of the two pairs of slots can be set to seven different brownness levels, which were both accurate and consistent in testing. In some other models we tested, bread emerged with extreme light and dark patches, but the color was consistent across slices with the Zwilling. Especially on the middle setting, we found that the bread came out an even brown without any scorching or charring. Even our waffles, which proved difficult for many toasters, were perfectly golden brown with a warmed-through and fluffy interior.

The matte black stainless steel casing and simple interface add a nice design, making this toaster a worthwhile buy. We also liked the wide slots, which easily accommodated our slices of bread and thicker bagels. While we like the uncluttered look and uncomplicated interface, the Zwilling only has a handful of preset programs, for frozen foods, bagels, and reheating. For the above-average price, we'd have liked a few more bells and whistles, like settings specific to waffles or English muffins.

Dimensions: 12.2 x 11.3 x 8.1 inches | Weight: 8.38 pounds | Settings: 7 | Programs: 3

This low-priced toaster outperformed many of the more expensive models we tested.

The slider and dial for selecting settings don't click into place effectively.

The reasonably priced Cuisinart CPT-640 4-Slice Metal Toaster toasted bread better than any other model under $100 in our tests. It toasted bread and bagels evenly at various temperature levels, with no noticeable hot or cool spots.

The Cuisinart CPT-640 also has a surprising number of extra features for a relatively inexpensive toaster. There are settings for bread, bagels, waffles, pastries, and English muffins, with a defrost mode you can use on top of any of them. A slider also selects from seven levels of browning, for a total of 70 possible combinations.

What we didn't love about this machine is that the settings dial and browning slider seem a little cheaply constructed. There's no firm "click" as you cycle through settings, so you might not be sure if it's actually changed over from bagel to waffle mode. However, if you make your toast the same every day and don't need to adjust anything, this won't be much of an issue.

Dimensions: 13 x 13 x 9.25 inches | Weight: 7.3 pounds | Settings: 7 | Programs: 6

This toaster is well-designed and easy to use, with consistent gradation from light to dark coloration.

It's not very sturdily built, and it toasted our bagel unevenly.

The Buydeem was a close runner-up for both the best overall and best value titles, performing well in the bread and waffle toasting tests with good overall progression from light to medium to dark as we changed settings. We got an even golden brown, particularly at the middle and higher level. During our waffle test, we were impressed that it thoroughly warmed the waffle without imparting any extra color. However, the bagel settling toasted a thick bagel unevenly.

The Buydeem's design is fun and retro, available in stainless steel or six colors including minty green or buttery yellow. The control buttons and sliders are very straightforward to use, though the lightweight plastic casing felt rather flimsy.

Dimensions: 6.9 x 12.2 x 11 inches | Weight: 7.63 pounds | Settings: 7 | Programs: 4

This touchscreen toaster has a sleek, modern design and helpful features.

Temperatures skewed high, making it easy to burn toast.

The sleek outer casing and modern touchscreen design make this Cuisinart toaster the best-designed in our test. When powered off, it looks like a sleek black box, but when you turn it on, the unit lights up to reveal backlit touchscreen buttons. During testing, we loved the handy progress bar and countdown feature — it's not necessary, but it is an extra that made this toaster feel more cleverly designed. The four-slice capacity is broken up into pairs of slots with separate controls, so you can deeply toast a bagel on one side and lightly defrost a waffle on the other simultaneously.

Our test bagels (though they fit pretty snugly in the slots) were perfectly toasted. And even on the highest setting, our toast was a consistent color across the entire surface. But we'd advise against using the higher settings in general: This toaster tended to run hot and was prone to burning.

Dimensions: 11 x 10.4 x 7.2 inches | Weight: 6 pounds | Settings: 6 | Programs: 4

Visually, this toaster is a show-stopper, and we loved how straightforward the design is.

It's expensive and runs a bit cool.

As with all Smeg appliances, a big part of this toaster's draw is its retro design and vintage-style colors — you'll want to keep it out on the counter. This is certainly on the more expensive side when it comes to toasters, but you get what you pay for; the construction feels heavy-duty, and all of the parts feel sturdy and functional. We were also impressed with the overall interface; it was easy to use without much trial and error.

In our bread test, a single slice toasted unevenly, but we got much better results toasting two slices at once. The Smeg toaster also ran a bit cooler than others in general: You might need to turn up the heat or toast a little longer than you're used to. But for that distinctive look, it's still worth the investment.

Dimensions: 13 x 12 x 8 inches | Weight: 8.4 pounds | Settings: 6 | Programs: 4

Beyond just an off/on toggle, a good toaster will have a few features and controls to customize your toasting experience. Look for legible icons and defined ranges to avoid accidental over or under-toasting. The most basic feature is an adjustable toast shade, which adjusts the temperature (usually between 150 and 450°F) and timing for the right color level.

If you keep your bread in the freezer, it’s important to choose a toaster that has a defrost function; this starts at a cooler temperature and then brings up the heat so the interior can thaw before the outside fully toasts. Many models have settings specialized for bagels, English muffins, waffles, and other common toaster uses, though these are only helpful if you eat those items regularly. Two other not-flashy-but useful features are a removable crumb tray you can dump into the compost bin for cleanup and an extra-lift lever to pop the toast up a little farther for easy removal.

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Toasters typically live on the countertop full-time, so it’s essential that they complement your existing appliances. A four-slice toaster is naturally bulkier than a two-slice model, but it can make twice as much toast at a time — and it still takes up less space than a toaster oven. Not all toast is the same size, either, so you should consider the width of the slots. Narrow ones are fine for sandwich bread, but you should look for extra-wide options if you want to toast bagels and burger buns.

With regular use, your toaster will attract fingerprints and build up crumbs that fall to the bottom of the slots. In our tests, some materials showed every single fingerprint and smudge on the body, while others looked pretty much new at the end of testing. However, even the worst offenders were restored to their original luster with just a quick wipe from a damp cloth.

To tackle crumbs, make sure you get a model with a removable crumb tray (nearly all do). Not only will this make cleaning more straightforward, but turning your toaster upside down to dump out crumbs can damage the delicate heating elements. Cleaning the crumb tray often is essential not only to avoid a burning smell every time you turn on your toaster but also to keep it from smoking or catching fire.

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To find the best four-slice toasters on the market, we compared 20 different models in our test kitchen, putting each one through a series of trials to evaluate their performance. In addition to the below tests, we rated each toaster based on its ease of cleaning, its design, the look and feel of its components, the intuitiveness of its features, and its overall value.

After all testing was finished, we revealed the price of each toaster to gauge value. At the time of testing, the most expensive toaster was $500, and the least expensive was $38, with an average of about $147.

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With high heat very close to the food, a pop-up toaster works something like a broiler turned on its side. When you push the lever down, a spring-loaded tray lowers the contents in between two sets of electric heating elements. These heat to a set temperature for a set time, and then when the timer goes off, the spring releases to pop the toasted bread back up for easy removal.

If you wind up with bread stuck in you toaster oven, you should never use a metal utensil to remove it! You could cause an electric shock, not to mention a fire. We'd also avoid plastic, which can melt. Unplug your toaster, wait for it to cool, and then try fully wooden utensils for the safest trapped-toast extraction.

You can expect your toaster to last for about 5 years of daily use, or longer if you use it less frequently. Modern toasters infamously don't last as long as their vintage predecessors, some of which are still operational after 60-plus years. Older toasters used a strong and ductile (but expensive) nickel alloy in their heating coils, while modern ones use a more brittle aluminum alloy that wears out more quickly.

A removable crumb tray is crucial for regular toaster maintenance. It clears out dried crumbs that can be a fire risk, and keeps pests out. You simply pull out the tray and then dump it into the compost, trash, or sink. All of the toasters we recommend include removable crumb trays, and we don't recommend buying a toaster without one. Flipping a toaster over and shaking the crumbs out of it can damage the delicate electrical components.

To clean the outside of your toaster, first unplug it and let is and cool down. Then, simply wipe it down with a damp dish towel. If you encounter really dried-on jam or stubborn buttery fingerprints, a dab of dish soap on the towel should do the trick. Never wipe or rinse the inside of the toaster or heating elements, and make sure to thoroughly dry the outside of the toaster before using it again.

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All-Clad Stainless Steel Digital Toaster ($180 at Amazon)

This model had some useful features, such as a countdown timer, but we didn’t like that you couldn’t choose the settings until the bread was dropped down. For such a high price, it didn’t wow us during any of the tests.

KitchenAid KMT4115 4-Slice Toaster ($80 at Amazon)

If you’re looking for a toaster primarily for bagels, this one is a good choice, as it gave the exterior a nice crunch and left the inside fairly soft. As for bread, this toaster skewed dark to burnt.

Proctor Silex 4-Slice Toaster ($38 at Amazon)

While this toaster is a great value, it was very clear which side the heating element was on — the toast had a clear ombre coloration from right to left.

Elite Platinum Cool Touch Long Slot Toaster ($35 at Amazon)

The long slots were nice for rustic bread, but this toaster didn’t include a bagel function. We also found that the knobs and weight of the toaster felt cheap.

Food & Wine / Nick Simpson

We tested a few more four-slice toasters that didn't make it onto our list of favorites or as strong contenders. Among those were models that really struggled to toast evenly; we saw a lot of spottily colored toast in this test. Other models we tried missed the mark due to cheap components, features that didn't work, unreliable performance, or an interface that was just too complicated.

Food & Wine / Nick Simpson

Food & Wine staff writer Nick DeSimone spent 9 years working in professional kitchens before becoming a writer focused on kitchen products. Our in-house noodle expert, Nick makes fresh pasta almost every weekend and has covered everything from pasta machines to honing steels.