
Some may be made with better material, or have a sleeker appearance, but few offer a distinguishing characteristic. Let's face it, most toasters look the same: a smooth black or silver box. The crumb tray is removable for easy cleaning, though we noticed the easy-to-wipe exterior tended to capture fingerprints. We did have to manually help thick bagels into the slots, but they came out with a golden brown cut-side and a soft crust, even on the highest setting. Bread toasted to a nice golden brown on medium and high settings, with the highest coming out evenly dark without being burned. The usefulness of this toaster's different features, as well as how well it toasts bagels, earned it praise.

This toaster’s display rests in standby mode when it’s not being used and wakes up at the touch of an icon, ready to help with breakfast tasks. Two levers each control a pair of toast slots, and each pair can operate separately, so it’s easy to toast one side lighter and the other side darker at the same time.

Touchscreen controls on the front and six shade settings give precise control, and features include bagel, defrost, single-slice toasting, a +30 second option when the toast needs just a little more time, and a cancel button that stops the toasting right away. The CPT-T40 4-Slice Touchscreen Toaster outperformed the competition in our tests, particularly when you factor in its price.
