Breville 4 Slice BTA840XL Smart Toaster

So far we LOVE OUR BREVILLE DIE CAST 4 Slice TOASTER—Beautiful, Heavy in a good way and seems like it will last a long time—Love Breville Products you pay a little more but they make Great Quality Products!!

Our old toaster was working fine, I have other Breville products and they are well built. I got the toaster for a good price it is an open box. we hope it lasts like our old toaster

We have a couple of other Breville products that we have been very happy with. So when it was time to replace our toaster, I decided that Breville was the way to go. At this point, I was so looking forward to getting it, and now, I am very disappointed with this toaster. As soon as we got it, I had to make some toast to see how it worked. as soon as the bread went down, I saw that the elements on the inside panels of both sets of slots did not light up or heat and only some of the elements on the other side of all slots heated. I used homemade whole grain bread that usually takes longer to toast. So I put it on the highest setting. At the end of the cycle, one side of the bread was partially toasted. So I turned the bread around to toast the other side – again only partially toasted using the #5 setting. Really, my old cheap toaster did better!!

Since I have never been disappointed with a Breville product before, I decided to return this toaster as defective. Since the seller was not Amazon, the seller expects me to pay return shipping for a defective product. This is totally unacceptable, and I have reported this situation to Amazon. I have decided that I will give Breville another chance on this toaster, and will update this review if my experience with this product improves.The seller did finally email me a return shipping label with the help of Amazon customer service.

UPDATE 11/10/16

I have increased my star rating from 1 star to 5 as we now really like this toaster. Just in case we still didn’t like it, I ordered it from Bed Bath and Beyond so that the return would be easier. They don’t have the 30 day limitation on returns and we have a local store. When we first got this toaster, I did toasting with no bread a couple of times to burn off anything that might be on the elements. This was recommended in the instructions. During this process, I noticed that all of the elements did not heat as much as the other side on one side of each slot. Many more heated than with the previous returned toaster, but still not all of them. Having had problems with the first toaster, I called Breville customer service the next day. They told me that the toaster was designed to make “restaurant style” toast. One side of each slice is not toasted as much as the other side so that toppings can be put onto the softer side, and the other side is crisper. The explanation sounded good, but I wasn’t sure that I would like “restaurant style” toast. Our first test of the toaster was bagels. I set the toaster at level 5, pressed bagel and the toast. Our old toaster had to be set at the highest level to get anything browned. Before the toasting cycle finished, I checked the bagel and it was almost burned. The next bagel I set the toaster to level 3, and the toasting was perfect. The inside of the bagel was golden brown, and the outside was still soft. Perfect!!

The ultimate test was toasting homemade bread, All of our bread is homemade and is primarily made from fresh milled whole grain flour. This type of bread is heavier than store bought bread, and takes much longer to toast. I also freeze loaves after slicing, and we take slices out as needed. For 100% frozen whole wheat bread, I set the toaster at level 5, pressed the frozen button, and then toast, and the bread went down to toast automatically.The bread was beautifully, evenly toasted.

A couple of things that should be noted. Although the outside of the toaster gets only warm, it does give off a lot of heat from the top. I initially had it in a space on the counter that was under a cabinet. The underside of the cabinet got really hot – too hot to touch. I also mentioned this to Breville customer service, and was told that it should not be placed under a cabinet. I love and would recommend this toaster, but this may be a point to consider if you are considering purchasing it.

UPDATE 12/21/21:
We have had this toaster for over 5 years, and it still works as well as the day we got it. I love it not only for toasting bagels, but also use the bagel setting to toast hamburger buns. When the hamburger buns are toasted on one side as bagels are, they hold up much better to the hamburger and other ingredients without falling apart. When I make Belgian waffles, I always make extras for my husband to toast in this toaster. After over 5 years, this toaster still works and we still love it. If it ever poops out, I would certainly buy another of these.

I hope this review was helpful for you.

I love how evenly it toasts everything – bread, English muffins, bagels…. Slots are a comfortable width for everything. The “a little more” feature is good for that little extra, and if we don’t pull our toast out right away, I use it to slightly warm it again.

First off our 4 slice toaster of over 20 years passed last Friday; one of the toasting elements stopped working. Out of grief, I began my search, unbeknownst by my wife, for a suitable replacement on Amazon. After reading the reviews, it was clear this expensive toaster was destined to be our replacement for the next 20 years.

I announced my choice and what I had ordered to my wife on Saturday just after placing the order… I got an earful for spending so much money on a “frigging” toaster…. I assured her that there was only one better that I could identify and that was selling for over $300 and it didn’t have perfect reviews either but both we considered well built and worth every cent; I mean, hey, spread that cost over 20 years right?

Well, the toaster arrived this Monday and I didn’t have time to unpack it till, yesterday, Tuesday. I read the manual for the toaster and did what it suggested; burning it in at full darkness setting on both sides of the toaster without and bread in the slots. I was impressed how the toaster gently lowered the bread elevators and how the holders moved toward center to hold a piece of bread vertical. I was, also, impressed how the LED’s flashed and went out in sequence while the toasting cycle was being completed. When finished, the toasting elevators rose and the toaster beeped the completion of the cycle. Any techno geek would be impressed. I did notice a slight bit of smoke as the toaster burned off oil that had been left in the unit during manufacturing. DO NOT FORGET TO RUN THE TOASTER WITHOUT “BURNING IT IN” FIRST AS DIRECTED BY YOUR USER MANUAL.

Well, this morning, Wednesday, was the big day! I plugged the toaster in, put two pieces of bread in, set the browning level to the recommended 3.5 browning level and hit the toast button. Once again, the toasting carriages gently, quietly, lowered and the toasting process began with LED’s flashing and the Lift and Look button illuminated along with the adjacent red Toasting button. I watched as the LED’s slowly went out as the toasting cycle was completed and when it was time for the toasting carriages to rise… well…. NOTHING! All I heard was a “clicking” for about 30 seconds and then every single button on both sides of the toaster lit up like a Christmas Tree and kept on flashing! You wouldn’t believe my ….ummmm … surprise and the greeting my wife gave me. What a wonderful way to start the day!

The very first thing I did was attempt to contact Breville Customer Support but phone but they wouldn’t be open until 8 AM Pacific Time so, I filled out a form on their support web site and sent it in. The second thing I did was contact Amazon and requested a replacement and return of this, obviously, expensive defective toaster; no problem, Amazon responded like a champ and a replacement was being prepared and UPS would be picking this “dog” up tomorrow. The world was becoming a kinder and gentler place to live in although I was still concerned about Breville quality and the replacement being sent.

Two hours ago, my phone rang; it was Breville Customer Support; I told them what happened. The first thing the Customer Support Rep asked me was “Did you have the toaster plugged into a GFI’d protected circuit (you know those you typically find in a kitchen or, in our case, throughout our home)? Well, yes, I told her…. she said OK, do me a favor plug the toaster into another circuit… well, I had already packed the thing back up for the return to Amazon and, out of anger, left both pieces of toast in the toaster…. maybe Breville could feed the birds once they received the unit back right? Well, I did what she said. Guess what, THIS WONDERFUL TOASTER WORKED AS ADVERTISED!

It appears that what you receive is a “smart toaster”; one of the features is recognizing fluctuations in electrical power and it shuts itself down to protect the onboard software! Geesh… I mean, wow I began feeling somewhat foolish although vindicated for my decision to purchase. The Rep told me that this is what the unit is supposed to do and I wouldn’t believe how many people, like myself, conclude the Toaster is defective. NOT!

While I have only run two toasting cycles now… looking at two perfect pieces of toast staring at me as I type this review, I’m confident this will, in fact, last the next 20 years. I’m looking forward to seeing my wife but, understand if she doesn’t exactly come up to me and give me a hug! LOL.

Last word, this toaster is built like a tank and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a durable, quality built, toaster. Don’t be put off by the price; you pay for what you get in this case.

Thank you Amazon for standing behind your sale; thank you Breville for your great Customer support and product and thank you UPS for being there when needed!

Great quality toaster. Looks good, works well. The many toasting options are nice. A bit pricey but I am expecting it to last long, time will tell!