REASONS TO BUY
Budget-friendly
Easy-to-use
Great strudels
REASONS TO AVOID
Subpar bagel toasting
Oster 2 Slice Review
An easy-to-use toaster that is also easy on the wallet, and great for strudel lovers, but not for bagel lovers
Credit: Oster
Our Verdict
The Oster 2 Slice is an easy-to-use toaster from our best toaster review. It is easy on the wallet and makes a great toaster strudel, but it could be better at other toasting tasks. If you're someone who finds yourself eating a bagel and schmear every morning for breakfast, you might want to look elsewhere as this toaster produces so-so bagels. If you want something affordable that also does a pretty decent job all-around, we recommend this toaster. Overall, we quite liked this model for its price value which seemed to correlate well with the overall performance. You'll get what you pay for and then some with this particular toaster.
Our Analysis and Test Results
The Oster 2 Slice offers great bread toasting performance and the opportunity to make the perfect strudel for a budget-friendly price. However, while this model isn't expensive, you pay the price for great sliced toast and perfect strudels — with a terrible bagel, waffle, and frozen bread performance.
Performance Comparison
The Oster 2 Slice is a traditionally styled toaster with predictable performance and a simple interface.
Credit: Chris McNamara
Bread Toasting Quality
The Oster 2 Slice did well on toasted bread, and with a range of toasting power levels, you will consistently make toast to your preference level.
Oster 2 Slice Bread toasting test comparison, round two.
Credit: Genaveve Bradshaw
On our light setting tests, this model made lightly gold-colored toast that was crispy and enjoyable. The golden color on the toast was further improved on the medium setting, resulting in a better spread of golden color. The texture was, again, consistently crispy.
The toast was distinctly darker when we switched to the high setting but never burnt — what you'd expect from a heavily toasted piece of bread.
We repeated our tests to ensure the results were never a fluke and to determine if the performance of every model was repeatable. The Oster 2 Slice proved it can repeat the same performance over and over again and does a stellar job at producing consistent results.
Ease of Use
The Oster did a great job designing a toaster that is easy to use and easy to clean. Most models we've tested utilize a removable tray at the rear of the toaster, and the Oster 2 Slice is no different. However, while the tray location is no different, it was much easier to slide the tray in and out than in other models.
We checked how hot each appliance got during use, and the body of the toaster was warm but not hot to the touch, thus passing our surface temperature test with ease.
The Oster 2 Slice interface is simple and easy to use. Buttons are enhanced with an indicator light.
Credit: Chris McNamara
Bagel Toasting Quality
The Oster 2 Slice performed poorly in our bagel tests. Many toasters we've tested seem to produce mediocre results in our bagel tests, but the Oster 2 Slice wasn't mediocre; it was a disappointment.
Oster 2 Slice bagel testing round one results. Bagels could be a lot better.
Credit: Genaveve Bradshaw
Heating bagels on a medium setting produced burnt bagels that were mostly deep brown in color with some blackened areas and very poor texture. In repeat tests, the Oster managed to toast half a bagel to an attractive gold coloration; but coloration, heat distribution, and texture were uneven across the bagel.
Overall, the Oster consistently performed poorly, resulting in badly toasted bagels.
Frozen Food/Defrosting Quality
The Oster 2 Slice didn't perform well across the full range of our frozen food tests but did incredibly well when it came to preparing the perfect strudel. Its poor performance also resulted in waffles that were mostly crispy and dark gold on one side and burnt on the other. The uneven cooking was the same across both slices for multiple tests.
Left: the Bella 2 Slice frozen waffle test medium heat. Right: the Oster 2 Slice frozen waffle test medium heat.
Credit: Genaveve Bradshaw
The Oster 2 Slice exhibited poor performance in our frozen bread tests. It can toast frozen bread and create an attractive golden coloration, but heat distribution was uneven, and it didn't achieve what we considered a good slice of toast in our tests.
Left: The Bella 2 Slice frozen bread test. Right: the Oster 2 Slice frozen bread test.
Credit: Genaveve Bradshaw
After doing poorly on our first two frozen food tests, we didn't expect too much on our third and final frozen food test for strudels. That's why we were blown away when the Oster produced perfect, delectable strudels.
This model produced a nicely toasted strudel.
Credit: Genaveve Bradshaw
The perfect strudel from a countertop appliance isn't unobtainable, but it is pretty rare and even more shocking than a toaster that did a horrendous job on all other frozen foods we tested.
Should You Buy the Oster 2 Slice?
The Oster 2 Slice is easy to use, easy to clean, and makes a perfect strudel, for a budget-friendly price. We find this to be an acceptable purchase.
There are more aesthetically pleasing toasters that are better performers all-around, but the Oster 2 Slice is sure to please strudel lovers.
Credit: Chris McNamara
What Other Toaster Should You Consider?
If you are looking for a well-rounded kitchen appliance that will handle waffles, frozen bread, and bagels, you should consider something other than the Oster. We'd recommend taking a look at the Elite Gourmet ECT-3100. If you are looking for better all-around performance and don't care too much for bagel toasting, consider the Cuisinart CPT-122.
—
Genaveve Bradshaw and Benjamin Hickok
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