Breville Bold Black 2-Slice Toaster with High-Lift and Wide Slots | Black and Silver Chrome [VTR001]

So it arrived today, well protected in its box, and just in time for breakfast!It looks good and contrary to another comments it toasts evenly enough on both sides even with just one piece of bread in the toaster. Yes there is a slight difference between the colour of the two sides, but not enough to matter and the toast still tastes crunchy all the way through.One point of criticism however is that poorly designed time dial, what were they thinking! I had to bend right down to read the numbers due to reflective chrome and where is the marker on the dial to line up with a number? It is tiny, the same colour as the rest of the plastic and can only be found by feeling for it unless you bend right down to look for it.Fortunately, the best place for this tiny plastic mark is straight up as that is whare the 4 is positioned on the toaster, so we will just have to get used to feeling it rather than seeing it.And now we move onto the buttons. Despite the misleading advert photo showing all buttons with bright symbols on them, in reality there is nothing on any of them to tell you what they are, unless you pick the toaster up and catch the light! You have to push the lever down first to start the toaster and push one before it lights up with a symbol. If you don't use defrost or reheat very often, this is going to be a nuisance when you do.OK, so moving on from that whacky dial and lack of info on the buttons, the rest of the toaster is well designed and the star of the show for us is its ability to allow you to review the toast part way through without turning the power off just by lifting the lever. This is a great feature I have never seen before and is really important because toast can take a longer or shorter time depending on how fresh the bread is. This neatly gets around that by allowing you to keep checking progress without breaking the timing cycle.We only found out about this from the original Amazon advert, surprisingly, the manual that came with the toaster didn't mention this most important feature. So despite that timing knob and the secret buttons, overall we are pleased with this toaster, as we will get used to its querks with time.We have got used to the controls now, so here is an update. That ability to review toast half way through is proving more useful than we thought. Most toasters are designed with a common element in the centre that shares heat with both slots, hence the fact that one side toasts more than the other. That ability to pop up and review without stopping the timer means we can flip the toast around half way through, so the lighter side now faces the stronger side element. The result is really evenly cooked great toast.

This replaced an expensive Dualit that was sent away & repaired once and lasted under 3 years in total. Not what's expected for so much money. That replaced an expensive s/s Russell Hobbs (5 years) which was supposed to be repairable but wasn't really. So, this is my 6th kettle since 2010 and I've gone back to 'disposable', sadly.Everything is good so far, though it is early days - very light weight, easy to fill, quick boiling, not too noisy. Most of all, it was cheap & cheerful and I'm happy to just get another cheapo when it dies (not too soon I hope).

I did a lot of research in my price range, and this is perhaps a mid-to low-priced kettle, but it looks more expensive. In cream, with the silver trim, I think it's really chic.Downsides: as others have said, it's not the quietest kettle I've ever had, but it's a kettle and I don't boil much each time, so I'm not too fussed. (It's full up in the pic I've attached because I was doing the initial cleaning thing.) Another possible downside, and I am not 100% sure if this is a fact yet, but I'm not sure the water stays as hot as with a metal kettle. Not a huge deal though. I boil, I pour. It's also very light - which is a pro and a con as it perhaps 'feels' a little cheaper than it looks when you pick it up... But a minor thing again though.Upsides: the look of course, it's not too heavy even when full, the water gauge is super clear and on both sides, lid is pull-off, so easy to fill, it's got a lot of good reliability/longevity reviews as a brand/model, it's REALLY QUICK - and did I mention it looks great!? :) But honestly, it really is QUICK to boil. One mug is under a minute! Just over the 2-cup line was about a minute (and that's more than a mug's worth).A BIG UPSIDE for me: you know that horrible chemical smell thing that kettles can have for ages? Well not with this one. It didn't smell much even with the first couple of boils you do (I did 3) and the taste is really clear and clean.As mentioned, it is a pull-off lid, not on a button, but it comes off easily enough with one hand (ie you don't need one to hold the kettle and one to pull).As for me, it goes so well with my Nespresso machine. (also in cream) and the lines match the lines on the front of the Nespresso machine too. So I am so far, very happy with it and would recommend it.

This is great, I've had this for about 16 months and still going strong. This looks quote nice as well, I would definitely recommend for the price.

It comes with an English plug which needs to be changed for Australia.

Kettle is as described, however totally useless in australia as it comes with an english style power plug. This is not currently described in the sales description.

Had to send it back as it didnt have an AU plug... very disappointing as it looked great and exactly what we were looking for.

If you decide to order this product make sure you specify that it is supplied with and Australian power plug