Breville unveils ‘smart’ $629 toaster with colour-sensing technology

Breville says it has reinvented the toaster that promises to end burnt breakfast forever, thanks to Australian-designed colour sensors that don’t come cheap. So is it worth it?

A piece of sourdough toasted by the Breville (left) versus the a piece toasted by the $7.50 Kmart toaster.

The humble toaster, a kitchen staple often relegated to the background, has seen little in the way of true innovation since its inception.

Most toasters still rely on a rudimentary timer, leading to inconsistent results, burnt edges, and the perennial frustration of a less-than-perfect slice of toast.

Sensors inside the toaster analyse the bread while toasting 10 times a second.

I found this out the hard way after my near 10-year-old Smeg toaster, a time-based appliance, suddenly caught fire due to a hidden crumb. It had a good innings, what can I say.

But, Australian appliance company Breville says it has developed a solution to end such spontaneous combustion. Its answer? The Eye Q Auto Toaster, which uses sensors to toast by colour, not by time. Breville says this leads to more consistent toasting.

So does it live up to its claims?

Unboxing

This toaster is not cheap. The four-slice toaster costs $629 and the two-slice version is $469. Breville says this is the price of Australian innovation, with the sensor technology coming from the University of Adelaide.

Still, spending more than $600 on a toaster might be hard for some to stomach, particularly when Kmart sells them from as little as $7.50.

Breville's EyeQ Auto Toaster has a non stick ceramic surface on its top.

So I went down to Kmart and got one of these cheapies to see how it performed against the Breville. Both were plug and play from the box, although the Kmart had a slightly plastic smell on initial toasting.

Performance

The most significant departure from traditional toasters is the Eye Q Auto Toaster’s ability to toast by colour rather than time. This is achieved through its patented Eye Q Optic Sensor technology, which monitors the toast up to 10 times a second, using dual wavelength green and infra-red LEDs to accurately track colour change.

Users simply select their preferred shade on a colour selector, and the toaster automatically stops when that precise colour is reached. This aims to directly solve a common pain point: the varying toasting times required for different breads and the “pseudoscience” of adjusting a timer based on prior toasts. As Doug Nash, Breville’s Global Product Officer, tells me, “Until now, every toaster no matter the brand or price has relied on timed heating, which is why toast can turn out uneven, inconsistent, or burnt.”

Breville's new EyeQ Auto Toaster, which toasts by colour instead of time.

But I found it seemed to toast more of one side of the bread than the other. I tried this on multiple types — sourdough, wholemeal, gluten free.

It did a good enough job, but I had to precisely adjust the settings to get the desired result to prevent the crust from burning.

The Kmart toaster did the job. But, once it heated up and you put another slice of fresh bread in it had a tendency to burn slightly, raising the pain point Nash mentioned.

Beyond the sensor

While the Eye Q Optic Sensor is the star of the show, the toaster is packed with other premium features that enhance the toasting experience. One notable improvement is the “Clearway Cavity” and “Catch All Crumb Tray.” This full-coverage, extra-wide crumb tray is a significant upgrade, directly addressing the fire hazard posed by hidden crumbs in traditional toasters.

It also has a non-stick ceramic top, curved slightly to direct crumbs to the crumb tray, making it easier to clean.

Nash said the toaster is tested for 10,000 repetitions, equivalent to five years of heavy use or 10 years of average use, with no expected failure.

But, he also acknowledges the high cost. While its price tag is more expensive than many conventional toasters, they are comparable to or even exceed premium brands like Smeg. Nash says that this is “obviously a flagship toaster but Breville aims to bring this technology to more affordable price points in the future.

“It’s a lesson I’ve learned in my career … anytime you take a fundamental technology out of the lab and you try and industrialise it, it is a long journey,” he said.

“It took at least five to six years to get the technology good enough to build a toaster around it,“ and that the original prototype was ”like seven or eight kilos. And it took forever to toast, like it was good, but it was going to be like a $600 toaster just for a two slice.”

The perseverance in overcoming significant engineering hurdles, such as the harsh 400-degree environment inside a toaster, is a testament to the “can-do problem solvers” spirit that Australia is known for, much like the invention of the black box and Wi-Fi.

“I think these kinds of feats of endurance and grit and perseverance are quite rare, and so, you know, whether you think it’s stupid or clever, like, I like that we did it,” Nash said.

A wide crumb tray is designed for easy cleaning and to prevent hidden crumbs igniting.

Bottom line

The Kmart toaster does the job for a fraction of the price. But, it doesn’t have anywhere near the level of durability as the Breville. While Kmart has a great exchange policy, these cheap products are potentially landfill in the making.

You get what you pay for, and that is what Breville is betting more Aussies will realise.