Redmond 2 Slice Retro Review

The Redmond 2 Slice is another appliance we tested that does a decent job of most toasting tasks overall. It has a sleek appearance, is only slightly more expensive than less stylish models, but could do a better job on bagels.

Performance Comparison

Bread Toasting Quality

The Redmond 2 Slice performed decently in our bread toasting tests. The toast it made was evenly colored on both sides and was pretty consistent across the faces.

We started our tests on the low setting, which resulted in a crisp texture, but only a slight color change. This model did not toast the bread as evenly as we would have liked and left more to be desired.

Higher heat settings resulted in a better slice of toast. Medium heat settings resulted in a golden color and an even and desirable crunchy texture. The highest heat setting performed just as well, producing consistent results with dark and crunchy textures.

Whether you like softer, less toasted bread slices, or a darker toast with a crunchier texture, the Redmond 2 Slice will satisfy you with its performance.

Ease of Use

The Redmond continued to perform well in our ease of use series of tests.

The Redmond 2 Slice uses a removable crumb tray, although the poor access to the crumb tray at the back of the toaster, which was fussy to remove from the toaster body, made this model more difficult to use.

During use, the body of the Redmond 2 Slice would become warm to the touch but never hot, so it adequately passed our surface temperature test.

The interface is where the Redmond made up for an annoying and finicky crumb tray. Like many other products we tested, heat settings are controlled by a dial, and activation is controlled by pulling down on a lever. This model has an attractive and shiny knob at the end of the lever and backlit buttons. Buttons control options for bagels, defrosting, and canceling. These are simple and straightforward controls that helped this model's performance when it came to ease of use.

Bagel Toasting Quality

The Redmond 2 Slice did a dismal job in our bagel tests. Its performance was well below average and scored one of the lowest scores that our testers have ever awarded for the test metric.

Across all of our tests, the Redmond failed to toast bagels, create any desirable coloration or texture, and barely warmed the bagel. Perhaps you enjoy a soft, lukewarm bagel with a minimal crunchy texture. If that's the case, this is the perfect bagel warmer.

However, you will be sorely disappointed if you expect bagels with a nice golden coloration, uniformly warmed center, and delectable texture.

Frozen Food/Defrosting Quality

After those terrible bagel performance tests, we moved on to frozen food tests. The Redmond 2 Slice did surprisingly well across our series of tests after its disappointing bagel performance.

In our waffle tests, waffles ended up with a crunchy texture throughout. However, coloration and heat distribution was uneven, resulting in waffles with one darker gold side and a lighter, less cooked light gold side.

The Redmond performed similarly when it came to frozen bread. The resulting bread in our tests had a toasty texture and was generally enjoyable. However, the toaster heated the slice unevenly, producing slices with one darker, more cooked side than the other.

While the Redmond 2 Slice did well across the other frozen food tests, it did exceptionally well when cooking strudel and was just shy of a rare perfect score. Strudels were warm at the center, fillings had a nice gooey consistency, the edges were properly warmed, and strudels ended up with an attractive golden color.

Should You Buy the Redmond 2 Slice?

If you are looking for a retro-style toaster, and don't care much for toasted bagels, then the Redmond 2 Slice is a good choice for you. Its overall performance and ease of use were above average, with its overall performance mostly negatively affected by poor bagel toasting. Although this model isn't noted as the best bang for your buck, it does provide good value at the price point, and you won't pay a premium for the retro styling.

What Other Toaster Should You Consider?