Best toasters: Two-slice, four-slice and budget-friendly picks from Breville, Smeg and more

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A toaster is one home appliance you just can't do without. Whether you love a buttery slice of bread or a lightly toasted bagel for breakfast, lunch or dinner, it's a tool that will see plenty of use.

You don't need to spend a fortune either, with plenty of budget-friendly designs on the market. However, if you did want to splash out, there are luxury brands like Smeg or Tefal creating high-tech, stylish toasters too.

We've handpicked the very best, across two-slice, four-slice and affordable toasters, to help you narrow down your search.

No matter if you want a larger one to feed a bigger family or a cheap and cheerful model for thrifty shoppers, you'll be spoilt for choice with our edit.

Read on for the best toasters from major retailers such as John Lewis, Currys, Amazon and Aldi.

Best two-slice toasters

Smeg TSF01 2-Slice Toaster | £129 from John Lewis

King of the kitchen appliance, Smeg is well known and loved for its stylish designs. This retro cream two-slice toaster makes for a chic addition to your kitchen counter. The slots are extra-wide to fit even the thickest bread slices, with six browning levels, as well as a defrost and bagel function, for a perfectly toasted slice every time. That's not all, the non-slip feet and removable crumb tray are helpful features to ensure your kitchen stays clean and tidy. After all, nobody likes cleaning up crumbs.

Cuisinart Two-slice toaster | £60 from Selfridges

This toaster from Cuisinart is more contemporary thanks to a stainless steel body. The deep slots will ensure even the widest hand-cut slices of bread or chunky crumpets won't get stuck, and it too has six toasting levels. Our favourite feature has to be the self-centring slot function, which means each side of the bread is evenly toasted.

Lakeland Stainless Steel 2-Slice Toaster | £41.99 from Lakeland

Lakeland's own brand toaster is fuss-free and reasonably priced, perfect for a smaller budget. With an easily adjustable dial, bagel setting and extra-wide slots, it's ideal if you're sick of burnt bread ruining your breakfast.

Russell Hobbs Colours Plus 2 Slice Flame Red Toaster | £28 from Dunelm

Add a pop of colour to your kitchen with this vibrant red design from Dunelm. It has a 'lift and look' feature that allows you to check on the progress of your bread without cancelling the toasting time, as well as a frozen bread control for fast defrosting when you're in a rush to enjoy a doughy loaf.

Best four-slice toasters

Breville Lustra 4 Slice Toaster | £40 from John Lewis

For larger families, a four-slice toaster is a perfect way to get breakfast done. This chrome design from Breville comes with variable browning control, illuminated controls for fetching a midnight snack and a high-lift facility that allows you to remove smaller slices without burning your fingers. What more do you need?

Pink De'Longhi Argento Toaster | £44.99 from Aldi

Aldi is a bargain hunter's dream, but it also stocks reputable brands like De'Longhi and this pink toaster stands out from the rest. Retro-inspired, it has a reheat and defrosts function, six browning levels and easy to use controls. It has five-star reviews from shoppers too, one described it as, "attractive and very easy to use with a really good dial for how you like your toast."

Dualit Classic four-slice toaster | £200 from Selfridges

If you're looking to indulge in your next home appliance, make it this Dualit toaster. An even mix of style and function, we love that the selector control means you can choose to heat either one or both slots and all parts are repairable or replaceable, so if you have any unexpected issues, it can easily be sorted. There's four heat setting and a defrost function as expected, with a sturdy stainless steel body.

Retro Seafoam 4 Slice Toaster | £40 from Dunelm

Online retailer Dunelm is another place well worth a look.This seafoam green toaster is going in our baskets ASAP, and it's also available in sage green and baby pink. Aside from the typical toaster features, this has a mid-cycle cancel function which will ensure you never end up with burnt crumbs.

Best budget toasters

Morphy Richards 228398 Arc 2 Slice Toaster | £21.99 from Amazon

Amazon is full of affordable home appliances and this Morphy Richards toaster is no exception. Smart and simple to use, it has variable brown control and the standard frozen and re-heat setting along with a removable crumb tray to make clearing up the remnants of your toast as easy as possible.

Dunelm Black 2 Slice Toaster | £12 from Dunelm

You can't beat the price of this Dunelm toaster and, for less than £20, it's perfect for tight budgets. It has a slide-out crumb tray, blue LED illuminating lights and three functions: for toasting bread, defrosting or re-heating.

John Lewis & Partners JLT093 2-Slice Toaster, Brushed Metal Silver | £25 from John Lewis

This toaster from John Lewis is part of its Anyday range, a new in-house collection of affordable homeware and fashion staples. Available in black or silver, it's modern and compact, so won't take up lots of space on smaller kitchen counters.

Russell Hobbs 24080 Adventure Two Slice Toaster | £22.50 from Amazon

Another big player in the kitchen appliance game is Russell Hobbs, and among its extensive line-up of products is this budget-friendly toaster. It's got all the basics: reheat and defrost functions as well as variable browning control, with the added bonus of a lift and look feature to ensure your bread is evenly toasted every time.

Watch: When should you replace your baking trays?