Smeg Retro-Style Toaster Review: Is It Worth $275? We Tried It Out

A few weeks ago, Kodiak sent over a nice PR box to promote their line of frozen Power Waffles. Since there wasn’t a new flavor, I didn’t think there’d be anything to cover here—until I took a closer look at the contents. There was a cute Yeti mug, assorted waffle toppings, hiking socks, a waffle-shaped candle, and…a shiny red toaster! I recognized the brand from some classy Instagram ads I’ve never clicked on; searching online led me to a horrifying realization: this toaster is $275. A lifetime of coupon-clipping flashed before my eyes; I nearly fainted.

On that bombshell, welcome to my first kitchen tech review here on Sporked. As stated earlier, this toaster was gifted…but not by SMEG themselves. What a tricky disclaimer! Let’s get toasted and find out if this nearly $300 toaster is worth the price tag.

A $275 Toaster!?!

SMEG Retro-Style Toaster

Amazon

Pros: I don’t even know where to start with this beautiful, perfect toaster. It does everything a toaster should do but…nicer? The lever is so easy to press down. The crumb tray clicks into place and pops out at the push of a button. The cord wraps underneath the appliance with little clips—no sloppy bundling! That scratchy metal noise when the trays pop back up with your finished product? It’s muted. There’s a bagel setting to cook a single side of your bread and a defrost setting for cooking frozen bread (or Eggo waffles, which cooked perfectly on 2 plus defrost). Admittedly, those are both standard settings for good toasters these days. But do those toasters have add-on accessories? I’ve got my eyes on the sandwich rack for bulk grilled cheese prep.

Cons: This toaster is strong. With heat settings ranging from 1 to 6, I thought 3 would be a safe place to start for toast—but that turned out to be a good way to waste a couple slices of bread. I have yet to find anything that needs to be cooked higher than 2. Past that, there’s one glaring issue that’s been on all our minds since we went down this path together; we’ll tackle that in the next section.

Credit: Liv Averett / Smeg

Rating:

9.5/10

Sporks

Is the SMEG Retro-Style Toaster worth the money?

Are you kidding me? My thesis statement when I pitched this article was a sincere belief that no toaster should cost more than $60. Is this the nicest toaster I will ever own? Absolutely. Is it worth $275? Of course not. SMEG makes beautiful products for people with more money than sense. If I were disrespectfully wealthy, I would totally replace my whole kitchen lineup with matching glossy red SMEG appliances. As it stands, I’m going to start saying “get out the good toaster” when we have guests over.