BTA840XL Die-Cast Smart Toaster, 4 Slice, Brushed Stainless Steel

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!

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.

We've had the Breville BTA840XL 4-Slice Toaster for two weeks now and can say its the best toaster we've ever used. Die cast construction is solid. The feet don't tend to come off. The two foot plus cord has a good storage method underneath when, like us, you only need a foot or so. And it toasts evenly and consistently every time. Plus it looks great on our countertop. The heating elements inside seem to vary quite a bit, but the results show that isn't a problem. On the bagel setting the inside elements go into high gear while the outside ones dim down to perfectly toast our bagels. The LED count down bars and top buttons are normally off when the toaster is not in use. Touch the settings levers or a top button and the LEDs come to life. They will all turn off again after 30 seconds of inactivity. We like the count down indicator bars, The manual suggests you start with a '3' setting of eight bars. We've found that our regular toast and bagels come out to our taste on six bars. The bars flash and disappear as the cycle counts down. The motorized lifts are quiet. It's silent when toasting. You can set a pleasant buzzer to Regular, Low or Mute to alert you that the cycle is done. You may need the buzzer because you could easily miss the end-of-cycle and toast lift because its so silent. Any new toaster needs to be run empty for at least one full cycle at the highest settings before you use it for real. This burns off any 'stuff' left on the heating surfaces from the manufacturing process. Haven't had to use the 'Bit More' buttons yet because our '6 bar' setting is working fine across all our toasting needs. But its nice that its there. We did use the 'Lift and Look' buttons when zeroing in on our best setting. Its a nice feature that doesn't change the overall cycle and still allows a peek at the progress. At first we thought this toaster was a joke because of its high price. After researching it, and seeing some YouTube videos, we began to think that it might actually be worth the cost. We're glad to say it really is. Can't go wrong shopping at Amazon.

I have used this toaster before, and it's pretty great! The buttons are simple, the mechanism is a smooth raising/lowering of the bread from the toaster so you don't have that "pop goes the weasel" effect. The "just a bit more" button is cheeky but functional, and the progress lights on the "how toasted" slide bar give you an idea on how close to done your toast is at a glance, even from a distance. It looks good, toasts well, accommodates wider bread slices, and generally raises the bar with the features that it provides. Will a $10 toaster toast? Sure. Is $200 for a toaster a good price? That's up for you to decide. It is a luxury purchase for sure. We all have our reasons for what we do and what we buy, but, short of any buyers remorse for spending $200+ on a toaster, this thing shouldn't disappoint.

Great so far. Heavy which somewhat reflects build quality. Great toast so far and motorized lift is smooth and quiet. I really like the bagel function as well as the blinking light that indicates the cycle is almost complete. However somewhat expensive for a toaster. As it stands today, I would purchase another.

We have been using the Toaster every day since purchasing on 11/04/15. It toasts everything exceedingly well...the best we've ever used. So......why the single star? It's not about how well it toasts but how well it WORKS. After two weeks of use the lift carriage for the left side stopped working. The heating coils cycled off but the toast did not appear, a regular ticking sound from behind the slide bar and all five buttons were blinking. I un-plugged, waited a few minutes plugged back in....no help. Checked crumb trays, turned unit over, nothing apparent. Picked the front up about 2" and let it drop to the counter, ticking and blinking stopped and the carriage rose. Everything working again. Called Breville USA, explained what had happened. They stated they had no idea what may have caused the malfunction, suggested that the 'bump' may have dislodged a crumb that was stuck in the mechanism. They provided a reference number and said to call it in if it happens again Plan of action?.....well if it makes it to 6 months, it'll get another star, and another, 6 months hence, repeating up to a max of 4....I do believe a one star PITA deduction is justified. Up-date 2/19/16... Well.... I guess it IS about how well it toasts after all. First...it may be fine for a leisurely weekend brunch, not so much for a hectic workday breakfast, it simply takes too darn long, very poor performance especially at this price point. Plus.... it NEVER toasts both sides the same, the only way I've found to even things up....stand & watch, lift & look, flip the bread around. Again...not acceptable at this price point. But, it does LOOK impressive sitting on the counter next to a 65yr old Toastmaster that also looks good & toasts well. Update 1/5/21 Well it took it's final dump today. Two left slots stopped working, all selector buttons blinking, continuous up/down, with heating elements cycling off and on. A total waste of money.

If I could award 10 stars I would. My husband and I are super picky about everything. This toaster is just plain amazing. Toasts well, stays cool to the touch, doesn't show fingerprints, is VERY high quality. Really? a showpiece toaster??!! yes. I'm proud I have it. Super pretty and love all the functions. You can check on the toast, easily change settings and two people can use their own settings so you don't have to change them every time. This is a very high quality product, with a high price tag that is worth every penny.

You'd think finding a decent toaster would be a pretty simple proposition, but it's turned out to be anything but. After concluding that a fancy chrome Cuisinart 4-slice toaster neither browned adequately nor produced toast that was actually warm even when browned, I checked out toasters made by the Australian company, Breville. Based on prior experience, Breville appliances are well-made and thoughtfully designed, if a bit on the pricey side, but you are paying for high quality. High quality is certainly applicable to the BTA840-XL, a handsome chrome 4-slice toaster with all the bells and whistles you could possibly want. At about $175, it sure ain't cheap, but I'm confident I won't be shopping for another toaster anytime soon. Though not small, the BTA840XL is more compact than it looks in photos, and it does an admirable job of producing nicely browned nicely warmed toast. It features 4 slots with dual controls: You set the desired degree of toasting on a slide on the bottom front and press the red start button. The toast is lowered automatically, and the toasting counts down with easily-read LED status bars above the sliders. When done, the toast automatically lifts for retrieval and beeps to let you know you're done. Need a bit more toasting? Press the "A Bit More" button and the toast goes back down for a little more time. Unsure if it's getting too done? Press the "Lift and Look" and the toast lifts up for you to assess without cancelling the original setting. There are also controls for Bagels and for Frozen products. So far, I'll give the Breville BTA840XL a solid A. Positive features: -- Handsome design -- Heavy and solidly made; nothing cheap about this toaster -- Easy-to-use controls -- Delivers nicely browned toast quickly and efficiently -- Toast is nice and warm; toaster stays completely cool to the touch -- "A Bit More" and "Lift and Look" features are quite useful Less than Positive Features: -- Slots are not quite long/deep enough to take "long" slices (such as Italian bread/panini); that said, the slots seem to do better than most with this kind of bread, and the "A Bit More" feature allows you to flip the end of the toast and get the whole slice nicely toasted -- Pricey for a toaster