Customer Reviews

Breville CT70XL Ikon 2-Slice Electric Toaster

5 star:		(73)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(19)

 

 

This toaster has a few features that really stand out:
-Consistent Results.
If your partner likes their bagel lightly toasted, and you like yours golden brown, you can both get what you want without any guesswork.

-Digital Readout
There is a digital readout that gives you unambiguous feedback. You can see at all times what darkness you have the toaster set to. It also gives you a little count-down timer so you know how long you have left.

-Cancel button.
You don't have to pry at the handle to cancel your toast. Of course, since you get consistent results, you probably don't have to cancel that often.

-Toast-popup.
If you do pull the handle up, your toast comes up for you to look at it without having to cancel the toasting. Just let go, and the toast drops back down to continue the cycle.

-Audio feedback
It beeps when your toast is done. Sometimes the pop-up sound can be lost over the sound of the coffee machine. The beep is much easier to hear.

-More options I don't use.
There are some more buttons in the front that I've not had to use. Defrost and warm, I think.

I'm very pleased with my new toaster. I like over-engineered devices- devices where someone has thought of nearly everything and found an elegant solution. This toaster doesn't disappoint.

Update, Aug 14, 2009:
After two years of use this toaster is still going strong.

it looks good and importantly toasts well. Unlike many cheaper toasters that use a silly thermostat (thermocouple) system to decide when the toast is done, this toaster uses an actual timer (electronic). That means it will toast the same in a year as it does now. Thermostats used in cheaper toasters degrade over time until they're effectively useless. The only issue with this toaster is it tends to toast the upper portion of the slice more than the lower portion. If not for that minor issue, I'd give it five stars.

I too like the first review bought the toaster to match my juicer and didn't expect much.

This toaster surpassed any toaster I have ever used, even the top of the line import for Sweden. It isn't one of those toasters you need to pop down two times for thick bread. It has a lighted dial and it WORKS GREAT!

Everything I have tried in the Breville line has been quality and worth every penny.

OK, I only bought the Breville CT70XL Ikon 2-Slice Electric Toaster so it would look well (with the Breville Water Kettle and the Breville Espresso Machine) for the brushed steel look.

Other than that, I did not expect much - I mean: "What can you expect from a Toaster?" (Just for heating up some bread, no?)

Now I know better: This toaster not only looks neat and seems well made (from apparently high quality materials) it is also the "Toaster out to impress". It has more of a digital display than my first mobile ever had, beeps when completed with the bread-heating-process and does all of that, in a sort of "comforting way"!

Further:

The setting of the toaster is foolproof (I personally know one;) due to that digital display mentioned before AND it lights up the "Panic" Button while heating the dough!!!

So, if you are going for the looks, and you are looking for that satisfyingly perfect Bagel Roastin' Experince: This Toaster is worth every Cent.

I read all the reviews and was a bit nervous purchasing this toaster after some of the negative reviews. Since I couldn't find a toaster with all good reviews I decided to give this one a try. I figured if I found the same problems I could just return the toaster. The toaster is great. The toast comes out perfect! The dial allows you to make adjustments just fine. One review complained that the light on the toaster stayed on all the time. It does not. It automatically turns on when toasting and off a little bit later. When you use the toaster the first time each day a little red led shows on the knob so you know what setting it is on. If you turn the knob then the toasting number lights up and you can adjust. Otherwise it lights up with the count down timer when you turn it on. The bagels come out perfect with only the inside toasted. The "lift-to-look" feature is simple, just lift the handle while toasting and you can see how things are going. I leave it plugged in all the time, no problem. The toaster looks great. It beeps when done which I can hear just fine from the other room. My advice to you. Buy it. If you are worried then save the box and your receipt but I suspect you will never need to return it.

Toaster works perfectly and looks great. No complaints. It has a nice bagel feature that toasts the inside of the bagel more than the outside. The slots are nice and wide. The only drawback is that it stays illuminated whenever it is plugged in, so it uses standby power. In order to not waste power and emit unnecessary greenhouse gases, I unplug it whenever I'm not using it. The manufacturer recommends this.

I was at a loss for a toaster when my glass Russell Hobbs went on the fritz. I'm not an easy sell when it comes to the perfect look for my modern kitchen. This one looks great and unlike my old Russell Hobbs, it does a fairly decent job at toasting too. I love the light up display and the countdown timer. It has a handy lift up lever so you can look at the toast without stopping the cycle. The cord is bulky but that just helps with unplugging when it's not in use.(saves energy)
The downside is the fact that it doesn't toast both sides evenly. I have learned by trial and error, if I'm toasting just one piece of bread, I need to put it in the right (back) slot. I would have rated it five stars but why, in this day and age of technology, can't we develop a toaster that toasts evenly on both sides in both toasting mechanisms? This isn't rocket science, just some red hot coils in a box.

I was tired of toasters that sort of worked, fine the first time but burnt or just warmed the bread the 2nd or 3rd time. This toaster does a great job of consistancy and the popup checker is a GREAT feature.

I highly recommend this toaster for home use.

My wife and I really liked the look, size and feature set of this toaster. However, the outer facing side of both slices toast were burned (or much darker at lower setting) on the top third, and not toasted at all on the bottom third on all settings tested. The inward facing sides were barely toasted, the inner heating coils were barely lit, while the outer coils were bright red.

We tried various settings, and had the same poor results. Back to Amazon it went. Replaced it with a KitchenAid KMTT200SS, which had even worse performance! Center coils were barely lit, so back it went!

After reading countless reviews of dozens of toasters over the past few weeks, I have yet to find a review of any model that did not have at least a few complaints of poor toasting performance. Evidently it's a real crap shoot out there!

Now waiting on a Cuisinart CPT-170, if Amazon doesn't cut me off testing all their toasters :)

(just kidding about being cut off, I've had excellent service from Amazon, and have no reason to believe they would do such a thing)

The jury's still out on this toaster for me. I actually sent for a second toaster after I received the first one. The first one didn't toast very evenly--it seemed to toast darker on the sides facing inward, and very very light on the other side, even without using the bagel setting. I wasn't satisfied, so I sent for another one. The second one toasted marginally better than the first, but the lever on this one was kind of "sticky" and didn't move down smoothly. I decided to just keep the first one, and sent the second one back. I probably should have sent both back and tried another brand. My old DeLonghi toaster toasted better than this one.

I do love the end-of-cycle beep. No more forgetting my bagels in the toaster. The lighted dial looks really cool, but my toaster faces the window, and I really have to get down to eye level and cup my hand around the display in order to read it.

I don't know...all and all it's OK. I expected a lot more for a $60 toaster, and all of the other positive reviews on this toaster on Amazon.