Sage The Smart Toast review: a stylish toaster that more than lives up to its name

The Sage The Smart Toast review in one, time-saving sentence: this compact, stylish toaster is not only smart, it’s also bloody excellent.

From crispy bread to lightly-toasted crumpets, we all have our favourite toasting preferences. And the best toaster will make sure you get that perfectly browned slice of toast at all times. But when there are tons on the market to choose from, it can be rather tricky to know which one is right for you.

Investing in the best high-end toaster can make all the difference to your toasting needs. Premium models aren’t cheap, and they aren’t all significantly better than a toaster costing much less. Not the Smart Toast, however; it delivers on the promise of its name by both looking smart, and making superb toast.

The Smart Toast comes in 2-slice and 4-slice models – this review is about the 2-slice but the same comments apply to the 4-slice. It’s just larger. Now, come on everybody: there’s toastin’ to do.

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SAGE SMART TOAST REVIEW: PRICE AND AVAILABILITY

The Sage Smart Toast is available at most major retailers, and is an expensive bit of toasting kit - costing around £129.95 for the 2-slice version. If you prefer the 4-slice version, with extra-wide slots, it will set you back at £169.95.

In Australia the toaster is known as Breville Smart Toast and is AUS$199.95 for the 2-slice and AUS$249 for the 4-slice.

The Smart Toast does not appear to be on the sale in the USA but you can get the very similar Breville Die-Cast Smart Toaster instead. The 2-slice and 4-slice will set you back $129.95 and $179.95 respectively.

While it does seem like a steep price to pay, The Smart Toast's quality, reliability and impressive capabilities mean it should probably save you more money in the long-run.

SAGE SMART TOAST REVIEW: DESIGN AND BUILD

Perhaps the more exciting features (and what you’re paying for) are the five auto features designed to make toasting a breeze. The buttons are self-explanatory, so you won’t have to decipher complicated symbols. 

There is the Toast/Cancel, ‘A Bit More’, which lets you toast for one minute longer. ‘A Quick Look’ allows you to sneak peek on your toast without ruining the process. There’s also Crumpet/bagel and Frozen functions, which do what you’d expect. And with its simple pull-out crumb tray at the side of the toaster, it’s straightforward to clean and maintain.

The Sage Smart Toast looks simple yet sophisticated with its solid brushed stainless steel design. Unlike other humongous, premium toasters, it's reasonably light and doesn’t take up heaps of kitchen counter space.

The 2-slice toaster comes with mechanised slots for simple toasting (no more springy levers!), and a high lift mechanism for easy removal. Best of all, the slots are wide and dense enough to accommodate thick slices, bagels or specialist bread. Plus there is a stylish illuminated variable browning control that goes up to five settings.

SAGE SMART TOAST REVIEW: TOASTING PERFORMANCE

For those who are fussy about their toasting results, you’ll definitely love the Sage Smart Toast. Firstly, and most importantly, it makes perfect, evenly-toasted bread every time. Result!

The slots are wide enough to fit thick slices, sourdough or hand-cut bread, although it might be a little short for the longer-sized breads or pittas. In any case, the crumpet and muffin toasting was done to perfection without anything tearing apart. 

The motorised slots are a genius idea (or maybe I’m just lazy), making a refreshing change from the traditional pull-down lever. The fancy ‘glide-down’ of the bread is smooth and quiet, and once your toast is ready, it simply raises up with a little beep.

While I didn’t take full advantage of the Frozen setting, I found A Bit More Time and A Quick Look particularly handy to ensure that perfect browning. Besides the absence of a Keep Warm setting, which may be a downside for those always on the go, this is probably one of the best performing toasters on the market.

SAGE SMART TOAST REVIEW: VERDICT

If you don’t mind splashing out on a high-end toaster, the Sage Smart Toast is the ideal pick. Not only does it make excellent toast, but comes with auto ‘no-brainer’ features that will make your life easier! Plus it’s sturdy and sleek (without all the bells and whistles), and will look great in your kitchen.

It really toasts up a storm, and the results make it a worthwhile, if premium, purchase.