Breville Eye Q Toaster Review: Stylish Design, Uneven Toasting

Elegant Design and Easy-to-Use Controls

The Breville Eye Q looks very nice for a countertop appliance, although Breville products tend to clear that hurdle easily. Its “Dark Noir” brushed steel finish is beautiful, the controls are intuitive, and the ceramic-coated top is easy to clean. It also seems likely to stay cleaner over time than a traditional stainless steel surface.

Simple Enough for the Whole Family

Over the summer, I took the Eye Q with me to spend a few weeks with family in New Hampshire. We often had groups of eight or more people around the table, ranging from teenagers to people in their 80s. Almost everyone was interested in the toaster, but fortunately, nobody needed instructions to use it.

Breville Eye Q Toasting Performance

After using the Breville Eye Q for several months, I found that it almost always delivered satisfactory results. It was not difficult to toast bread properly, which is a major concern with any toaster. However, compared with a regular toaster, the toast quality was about the same—not better.

In general, the Eye Q produced somewhat uneven toast. The top of each slice tended to be darker than the bottom, particularly when comparing the front and back of a slice or one slice with another. Still, polite guests probably will not complain when you serve them a few slices of buttered toast.

Testing Every Toast Setting

On BLT day, I recruited my nephew Eli as an afternoon intern and had him toast seven consecutive pieces of dark toast—one for each setting—then arrange them in order on a sheet pan.

The lowest setting produced very light toast. Settings 2 and 3 were about the same, while settings 4 and 5 produced the best results. Setting 6 was strangely lighter than setting 4, and setting 7 was very dark and slightly burnt. The two-slot toaster is not designed to toast seven times in a row, but it handled the test well enough. Store-bought bagels did not perform particularly well.

Inconsistent Results During Extended Testing

Back in Seattle, I unpacked the new Eye Q, which had developed a bad habit of making light shades darker than most people would expect. Breville sent me another Eye Q to complete the testing.

The replacement worked fine overall, although the edges tended to burn slightly more than the center. The problem appeared to worsen as testing continued. If you are considering buying the Breville Eye Q, it may be worth monitoring user comments for a few months before making a purchase.