Sunbeam Kyoto City Collection 4 Slice Toaster

The toaster itself never fails and does a great job. However the magnetic base is the worst design and is a safety hazard. As I was taking out of cupboard the base (crumb catcher) came off and hit my foot. It weighs 900grams so almost a kilogram hit… Read more

my big toe and crushed and broke it. I have had to go to ER for X-ray and treatment. I have been back twice to have toe drilled to drain for pain. I believe this is a real safety issue. I can’t afford such an expensive toaster again and would not recommend this toaster unless it is being kept on the counter and you don’t have kids or pets or oldies in the house. It can happen to anyone and has come off before without warning I called Sunbeam but no luck in a resolution. I have been loyal to sunbeam for over 10 years. Looks good works great but dangerous.

Love the way it looks and functions – Purchased this toaster and the matching kettle at the Myer Boxing Day sale this year$123.50 after the discount (usually $199). Seemed such a shame to waste the beautiful packaging, so I recycled what I was able when donating crockery things to the charity shop (they easily went into this lovely box), it's so strong & substantial. Our previous… Read more ·  1

toaster wasn't great looking but functioned well enough. We wanted to upgrade to something that looked smarter, offered versatility to allow thicker toast slices, four at a time when we have guests. The Kyoto is a simple, sleek design that sits on it's own crumb base (that was an issue with our previous toaster, crumbs went everywhere). The stunning gunmetal metallic colour/finish looks superb in our refreshed kitchen and meshes so well sitting near both our black & white appliances. It provides features we hadn't even contemplated. For example, there's a reheat setting (very handy), defrosting is another function of this toaster - although we haven't tried that as yet, it's great to know if you freeze your loaf you can toast it without having to re-toast many times to get it right. Teamed with the matching kettle we couldn't find anything negative to say except very occasionally, the slices can get caught in the wire rack as they come out of the toaster...not a big issue and certainly one we can live with. Almost perfect is particularly good these days, isn't it?

Very well suited to the frail aged, disabled and folk who appreciate fine quality alike – This toaster is a good one for all members of the community, I'm focusing more on suitability for the frail aged, movement reduced/restricted & disabled members of the community. I have no idea what price the kyoto collection toaster cost, it was provided to me for a cost free assessment, this means that I focus on the features without being… Read more ·  1

influenced by the price. The toaster I've reviewed is a four slice toaster, in the kyoto collection. There is also a 2 slice toaster in the range with the same features.

The format I'm following is to give the reader an introduction, then in the interests of saving a readers precious time I've given my ultimate conclusion next. Lastly comes the more in depth exploration of the features and reasons for my impressions.

Without any doubt this is an outstanding toaster. It warrants a full five from five stars rating, being well designed/constructed and is well suited for the elderly, frail aged and disabled members of the community. Of course there is room for improvement in the strive for perfection but this is a really, really, good product.

Using the plug as a beginning point, following it to the toaster and working my way from bottom to top. I'll give my impressions of the features that make this such a stand-out product and try not to sound like I'm parroting the blurb from the box.

*The wall plug isn't neutrally shaped. It doesn't come straight out from the powerpoint and perpendicular to the powerpoint but is a plug that directs the cord towards the right, hence plugging it into the right side of the powerpoint gives better access to both plugs installed into that powerpoint. *It's good for people whom have reduced dexterity/mobility in their hands from conditions such as arthritis, stroke's or parkinsons disease etc. *A contoured shape with finger shaped indents on either side of the plug provides for a more comfortable, positive grip and it's ergonomic design reduces the strain on arthritic hands etc to unplug from the wall. *It increases the sense of functionality and manoeuvrability and aids in independence.

*The kyoto collection toaster has a very easy to clear & clean, substantial, base tray for crumb collection. *It does have an aesthetically pleasing look & ergonomically pleasing feel. *It doesn't have a little, flat, crumb tray that slides into the toaster, nor does it have a crumb tray that's secured to the toaster with screws or clips. It's an actual tray that sits underneath the toaster, it's not attached to the toaster so one doesn't have to unplug & carry the toaster itself, to empty it of crumbs. *It is substantial in weight and construction. *Crumbs fall free of the toaster & onto the crumb tray with a significant amount of separation between the two; *Meaning that bread toasts without the smell/smoke from charring old crumbs. *6 rubber feet, spread around the crumb catching tray make the toaster grippy on a surface. *To empty the crumbs the user doesn't have to pick up the toaster and take it to sink or bin. Simply lift the toaster off the tray, take the tray & shake it into the sink or bin. *This also means that there should be less of a food source for mice and pests or doesn't discourage empting of toast crumbs.

*The first thing you notice about the toaster in use is an underglow lighting effect. For the hearing impaired this is also an indicator that the toaster is in use or has finished its toasting cycle. *This aids multi-tasking eg making a cuppa whilst toaster is in use. *This underglow effect is a distinctive, classy, groovy, way of smartening up the aesthetic appearance. It definitely makes it stand out from the crowd. An owner will definitely inspire envy amongst their peers.

*The Kyoto collection comes in a variety of colours, the toaster I have trialled was a soft white and has a soft white colour to its underflow. I think this underglow colour changes with the toaster's colour theme.

*The plastic casing has a soft feel, both from the plastic used and the lack of a sharp edged appearance in the overall toaster design. *It's a toaster, meaning that it will get hot in places and burn either tender young skin or old skin alike if you hold your hand against it but for a glancing touch, it should be fine. I have deliberately held my hand & fingers against it for a longer moment then most ordinary users would and it did get uncomfortably hot but it didn't burn. Yes, the plastic shell does mitigate the temperature a lot but it did still get hot. Not all of the toaster gets hot though, the plastic casing doesn't get anywhere near as hot as metal cases. *the moral to the story is that toasters get hot and hot things can burn, use it with a bit of common sense.

*the nature of the plastic is wipe clean but I think being a softer plastic it will not be as scratch resistant as a metal cased toaster, but looking at it objectively, anything that will scratch the plastic hard enough to leave a mark would also remove the paint from a metal cased, toaster.

*including the standard thaw and reheat settings the toaster probably has about 20 increments for varying degrees of toasting. *adjusting the degree of toasting setting is absolutely suited to hearing and sight impaired users as the adjuster has a subtle but distinct tactile click for each increment and the adjuster is a sliding mechanism, not a rotating knob, so it is suitable for the visually impaired as opposed to a rotating dial or knob.

*Something good about the toaster that's good for all users is that there are two seperate adjusters for toasting times, 1 adjuster per 2 toasting bays x 2 (4 slice toaster). *Finally there are the actual toast bays themselves, each bay has a really wide 35mm width, which accommodates huge slabs of bread, pop tarts, waffles or whatever. The internal sides of the toasting chamber close in simultaneously close in as the lever is lowered for uniform toasting.

Now is the time to try and address value for money. *There are two aspects in this consideration, the first part are the questions: *Is it the right tool for the job? Does it do all that's required of it? TICK THOSE BOXES, IT'S A RESOUNDING YES!!! Even the requirements of the aged, disabled, visually impaired and hard of hearing are met. *This is a quality unit, good for families with members whom have tender skin. You might set the two right bays for toasting fruit loaf and the two left bays for wholemeal toast etc as they have different toasting times. *The second part of the value for money equation is about price, this is subjective. How much are you prepared to pay for the right tool for the right job? Had you fully thought about what the full job requirements are? I believe that this is a quality tool that's fit for purpose and a tool that's better suited to more members of the community than many toasters out there. If your looking for a gift, who doesn't like obvious quality when they see it lol. For me, it's a no-brainer! THIS IS A GREAT TOASTER!

A well designed Premium toaster – We received the Sunbeam Kyoto City Collection toaster (and a matching kettle - separate review) in blue (seems more like a grey) as part of the Product Review Ambassador Program. The toaster arrived in a nice well packaged box, it was easy to setup. Our first impressions, we were surprised by the base plate, what a great idea! The quality of the… Read more ·  1

design; the attention to detail and thought that went in to all aspects; from toaster stiing lever clicks, button to buttons, weight / materials used and, cleanability. Having used the toaster once a day for a month, my wife are impressed overall. This is a premium product that we would consider for my kitchen.

What we liked: • The quality and attention to detail in the design, the brushed metal is a nice finish, not gregarious but a good balance which Audi makes cleaning easier • The base tray is great feature, it is easy to clean and minimises build up, our previous toaster (premium oaster by a competitor) caused our RCD to trip a few times and is frustrating! Hopefully this resolves the issue. • The toaster is easy to operate • Evenly toasts on both sides • I liked the aesthetics; however, my wife wasn't so keen, I guess this is subjective! • We like the subtle light that glows at the bottom when on, a good after thought and the LEDs on the buttons. • We tend to put our toaster away when not being used it its relatively light weight • Easy to clean • The cord length can be adjusted • Hi lift is a good feature • Different settings for both sides (an expectation for a premium toaster) • There a lot of colour options available, we received a blue colour, which suits us best.

What we didn't like: • We often put the toaster away after being used and we need to make sure it stays in the tray or everything has fallen in to the tray otherwise we have more cleaning to do, it is also a little bulky with the tray • My wife wasn't so keen on the aesthetics; however, I liked it, I guess this is subjective!

I am not sure about the durability, I guess time will tell.

Ultimately, the toaster does what it needs to very well and the positives by far outweigh the few negatives making it a good competitor in the premium market.

I'd give it 9/10, which round to 5 stars here

Beauty and Function collide – The unboxing of this toaster was a treat, it was beautifully and thoughtfully packaged and set the tone for what was inside. I’m a big fan of the smeg range for their delicious curves and bold design and I was not disappointed in this toaster. I got the white finish and love the pared back, minimalist designer look. Paired with the kettle it… Read more ·  1

looks lush on my benchtop. It’s neat, not plasticy and has wonderful curves. The top metal is rounded and has a luxe look about it. And I just adore the cute ring light around the base when it’s operating. It just looks so good with the matt white finish.

Looks and packaging aside, it operates beautifully. First off, I love the tray that the toaster sits on. It extends the footprint of the toaster to catch all the crumbs. I can easily lift the toaster and clean the tray - no more fiddling and fighting with latches spreading crumbs everywhere. The openings are wide enough for the thickest slices and you can customise the desired browning of a pair of toast slices - darker for two and lighter for two - at the same time. You can also lift the toast whilst operating to check the bread.

There’s no aggressive explosion of the bread when it pops up and the outside seems to remain much cooler than my old toaster. The surface of the toaster doesn’t hold fingerprints and it’s super easy to clean.

If you are looking for an aesthetically pleasing toaster that also works wonderfully I have no hesitation recommending this toaster. Due to the packaging and overall luxe vibe, I think it would make a lovely present for a housewarming, engagement or special event. I can’t fault this little beauty.

Raise a toast – We received this product in a set as part of the Product Review Ambassador program. It arrived with a kettle, and the pair making a striking addition to the kitchen bench. The toaster while quite large, has a particular feature I really like, and perhaps one that other manufacturers will eventually mimic. The toaster sits on a stylish base that… Read more

is also its crumb tray. Lift the toaster off, wipe the base - genius we think.

My partner loves the look - we received the metal grey - and we both particularly think the all-round light on the base when toasting is a nice touch. It fits sandwich bread comfortably and is wide enough to toast a ciabatta sliced horizontally.

It's also handy to have the two toasting zones - she likes hers a little darker than I do, and four slices at a time is certainly enough for us.

For people who are really picky (like me), they will appreciate the 'clicking' mechanism of the toasting level switch. This means you can lock in a toasting level such as 3.5 or 5.5. This means you get exactly the level of toasting you want. All toasters I've ever owned simply have sliders, so a clicking slider is an excellent touch!

The toaster performs as you would expect, and the REHEAT and DEFROST mode are handy (though I confess I don't freeze bread so the DEFROST remains untested) but the toaster's most appealing feature is its good looks. Sunbeam designers have outdone themselves. It comes in a nice array of colours so if you're wanting to add appliance accents to your kitchen, maybe the Kyoto set is the one for you.

Stylish and Efficient but Bulky 4 slice Toaster – Form: This is a very large appliance, and requires a lot of space on the bench. Smooth and modestly stylish combination of plastic and matt stainless. Nice quality, although the moulding of the plastic top section is a poor fit with the bottom section - the two sections overhang in several areas. It sits on a huge and heavy tray (a bit like a… Read more

griddle plate), which has the sole function of catching the crumbs - something done in other toasters by a neat slide-out tray. Looking down on the top view, the amount of total area compared to the area of the toasting apertures is vast. This is not an appliance for putting away when not in use. Function: Toasts bread well... nice and even. Very easy to use with a quality action, and a clever feature of being able to lift the toast up for viewing without it switching off. The toasting setting switches are graduated up to 9, but at 3 is bordering on overdone, so the toasting range is actually limited to the bottom of the slides. The other buttons for cancel, reheat and defrost are easy to use and nicely integrated. All controls are duplicated, so it is like two 2-slice toasters. At around $200, it works as well as your average $40 toaster, and it is suitable only for large kitchens. I would expect people looking in this price range would be tempted to consider some of the well-know classic makes.

A great looking appliance – Upon receiving my toaster I was immediately surprised by the box - yes the box. The packaging is nice, much better than you would expect for a basic kitchen appliance, it's bright and colourful and just makes you think it's probably better than a $15 toaster from your local appliance place. If you're the sort of gift buyer who goes the appliance… Read more ·  1

route this is a good option, Its almost self gift wrapped.

I unwrapped the unit, popped the separate base on the counter and popped the toaster on top. The base is the crumb tray and magnetically locates to the toaster so a little force is required to dislodge the two.

The toaster I have is Navy, don't expect it to be traditional boring dark blue rather it's a subtle satin finish with a mid blue colour and it looks brilliant. The top is brushed stainless, the switch gear all feels very tactile, there are detents on the sliders - all very classy and it does feel better than a generic toaster. The base has an LED glow ring which I actually quite liked.

The toaster has physical buttons for reheat, cancel and defrost. It has 9 positions for time/darkness and two traditional slide levers for pushing down to start toasting. This toaster is BIG. Not big for a toaster, it's just massive. I haven't checked dimensions but it's footprint is on par with my big coffee machine, this may be an issue if like us your home has a modest kitchen. Looking at the design it appears much of its size is stylistic and not functional or due to engineering constraints.

In use the toaster does as it should, it toasts bread. We tried a few different styles, I mostly toast frozen light rye the other users from fresh white bread. It won't accept wide slices or some specialty breads. The results are good, the toast is a little darker on the "common side" where the 2 pieces face each other but acceptable. Looking at its size you do wonder if it would toast more evenly with greater separation of the slots and less empty space around the sides.

A handy feature is whilst toasting you can actually pull the slide levers up to show the progress without stopping the toasting. On the downside the levers have a really heavy spring in them and require you to push quite hard down to get them to lock and start toasting often flipping the toaster off its base. Speaking of the base, for me the magnetic function is more inconvenient than functional, I would prefer that it just sit on the base with no magnet and that the push levers have a much softer operation so there is no need for the additional complexity and constant flipping over.

All in all I like this toaster, more than my previous "premium" toaster but I think it's mostly the colour, finish and feel that's selling me on it. From a functionality perspective I don't think it's a long way ahead of many competitor units and in some ways even behind which at its price point is probably not entirely acceptable.

I've included the video of this time, this is my first attempt at putting a video component in one of my reviews so you'll have to bear with the awkwardness of the delivery but it may give you a better idea of some of the items I've written about.

Gorgeous minimalist design but is it worth the price? – The Kyoto City Collection 4 slice toaster is certainly not at the budget end of the toaster world, with a recommended retail price of $199 (though can be purchased for less if you shop around). The premium price tag is reflected in both the packaging and visual styling and features of the product. The exterior packaging is beautiful featuring… Read more

camellia flower decoration, making opening the product a pleasant experience. The amusing message on the bottom of the box "stop looking at my bottom" brought a smile to my face. The toaster itself is minimalist, featuring matte plastic base and brushed silver top. While the Kyoto City Collection 4 slice toaster comes in five colour choices, black, white, orange, cream and blue, I opted for the white which was more off-white than white.

A word of caution, if you have a smaller kitchen like me, the Kyoto City Collection 4 slice toaster is not a small or delicate unit. It is hefty both in terms of dimensions and weight (just under 3.4 kilos), taking up a lot of bench space. This posed a bit of a dilemma for me because the Kyoto City Collection 4 slice toaster was too gorgeous to store in a cupboard between uses.

FEATURES:

Crumb catch tray ➡ By far the best feature of the Kyoto City Collection 4 slice toaster was the crumb catch tray which is removable and magnetic. I was thrilled with this feature as crumbs just drop straight through the toaster onto the tray, which can be removed easily for cleaning. No messy slider or shaking the toaster upside down to release the crumbs. All toasters should have this feature!!

Quick check mechanism ➡ Super handy feature allowing the toast to be lifted while toasting so progress can be checked without disrupting the toasting process. I use this feature a lot.

Hi lift ➡ In addition to the previous features I've mentioned, the hi lift feature is something I wish all toasters had. I always had issues with previous toasters I've owned when I toast a smaller piece of bread and cannot get it safely out of the toaster. The hi lift feature boosts the height of the release mechanism so all sized toast can be removed easily.

Reheat and defrost ➡ The reheat feature warms previously toasted bread for an additional 30 seconds, while the defrost function allows toasting of frozen bread.

Browning control settings ➡ I was pretty impressed with the browning control settings of the Kyoto City Collection 4 slice toaster. Sunbeam state that there are 9 settings, 1 being the lightest and 9 the darkest, though it was possible for me to use half settings too. I really appreciated the click feedback when changing settings, confirming that I had in fact changed setting (see video). I found I never needed to go above setting 5 for anything I toasted in preparing for this review. Setting 4 to 4.5 was perfect for most of the breads I tried. An issue I had was that the toaster doesn't really brown evenly. In all cases I found one side of the toast browned at least a setting darker than the other, which is fine if you adjust the settings and are willing to accept uneven toasting in a toaster that costs as much as the Kyoto City Collection 4 slice toaster does. Maybe it was just my unit, I have no way of knowing.

Self-centring bread slots ➡ Whether the bread is thick and thin, the self-centring mechanism held the bread in place to ensure more even toasting.

Two toasting zones ➡ The Kyoto City Collection 4 slice toaster has two toasting zones each with its own controls. Perfect for households with differing opinions of what the optimal level of browning is. Though it should be noted, when toasting one slice only, use a lower browning setting to prevent burning. It toasts a little hotter when not fully loaded.

Wide toasting slots ➡ The Kyoto City Collection 4 slice toaster had the widest toasting slots I've ever had in a toaster. I found it was possible to toast crumpets and have them not stick to the interior of the toaster. No need to mount a recovery operation after toasting.

White LED illumination ➡ The Kyoto City Collection 4 slice toaster has a pretty white LED light that lights up when the toaster is in operation. It's a nice feature but to get the full effect you’d need to be toasting in the dark, not something I tend to do. I guess it could be seen as a safety feature as it shows people the toaster is in use and may be hot.

The Kyoto City Collection 4 slice toaster comes with a 12 month replacement or repair guarantee and a 5 page user manual, providing operation and safety information, cleaning instructions and toasting tips.

As I am fairly energy efficient, I plugged the toaster into an electrical meter to test for phantom draw (the amount of energy electrical devices use when they’re plugged in, but not turned on). The Kyoto City Collection 4 slice toaster did not draw any power when on standby.

The only issues I have with the Kyoto City Collection 4 slice toaster is the cost and the uneven toasting. It is by far the most expensive toaster I've ever owned, and while there are definitely features that I love and appreciate, at the end of the day it's a toaster that browns unevenly. For this reason I am giving the Kyoto City Collection 4 slice toaster 4 stars out of 5.

A good looking toaster for those that value aesthetics – The Sunbeam Kototo collection is not a budget buyers first choice as you can buy a fully functional toaster for significantly less. Not having thought too much about toasters before I was asked to test this one, I set out to find what might justify the price. I was surprised how much I learned about toasters in the process. The Koyoto range… Read more

says it styles itself off "Japanese and scandinese" minimalist influences. Styling is obviously subjective. However the finish is actually high quality and has a nice feel to it.

My previous toaster was a Delonghi 4 slice. So the first thing I noted was the slickly integrated crumb tray the Sunbeam toaster sits on. The Delonghi used to accumulate its crumbs and require regular messy cleanouts. While not a big deal, this aspect for me was the neatest piece of design. So easy just to remove the catch tray and ditch most of the crumbs.

Again, the design is a personal choice. But the Sunbeam takes up less bench space than the Delonghi, and due to its minimalist design, is less noticeable in the corner of the benchtop. Its something I hadn't considered before, but really Id prefer a toaster to be as unobtrusive as possible. So I also like that aspect.

Minimalist design also caused me to miss the fact there are defrost and reheat buttons neatly integrated into the bottom of the main body. Again this is also something I quite like, on the general topic of unobtrusive.

Given the insides of the toaster look the same as any toaster (wire wrapped around a holder running down both sides of the toast slots), I expected toasters to all perform the same. Perhaps it’s the settings I used, but the Sunbeam produced perfect toast from frozen significantly faster than the Delonghi. But with the Delonghi I found I have to use two goes to do toast from frozen, or it either over or under cooks it. With the sunbeam I used a single high setting and it came out perfect, in less time than it took to cook my eggs (this is my non scientific time test for toasters, as the Delonghi took longer than it takes to poach two eggs). In time I'll be able to report back more on how well it cooks a variety of breads on various settings.

But the best bit is the "quick peak" function where you can raise the toast to take a good look at how your bread is coming along. This is an excellent feature, one I used to mimic with the Delonghi by cancelling the toasting process, only to have to start it again.

And on a similar topic, the pop up function to get your toast is also an excellent idea. Although I became quite adept at flicking the toast up and catching two slices at once with the Delonghi, not everyone was able to manage that which lead to some questionable hygiene.

As a last nod to the thought that has gone into aesthetics, the crumb tray lights up when the toaster is in use. While you wouldn't buy a toaster just for this, it looks kind of neat in my opinion. Its something you probably cant witness in the shops, so a pic is attached,

I find it hard to level any criticisms at this toaster, unless of course you don’t like the design or want a budget toaster. So rather than make something up, Ill continue to use the toaster and update this review if I find anything.

In summary, aesthetics are a big part of this toaster. It’s a personal choice but a slick and minimalist design I quite like. But the toaster also has some very worthwhile design additions, which I also rate highly. At the end of the day it’s a personal choice to balance all of that against the price. But you certainly cannot compare combined functionality and pleasing aesthetics with those of a budget toaster. They are two different things, and only you can decide if the price justifies the up-market Sunbeam.

WORKS WELL WITH ALL TYPES OF BREAD – I have never used a 4 slice toaster before so this was a first for me. I found the toaster performs well although as the manual says you need to change settings for different types of bread. I used setting 4 for Light Rye bread the thin sort and in between 3/4 for Wholemeal both thick or thin. The thicker one was freshly baked and it didn't seem… Read more

to make any difference to the colour of the bread when toasted. I used all slots and found at least 2 toasted differently, lighter on one side but using the reheat function seemed to colour it a bit more and it was also handy when getting distracted and the toast has popped a while. The toaster is heavier than I thought it would be and the crumb tray comes separately and must be placed under the toaster to collect crumbs. I found it collected a lot more than I expected so cleaned it weekly. The manual that comes with this toaster is very comprehensive in fact it is the first time I have known a manufacturer to actually explain the need off using different settings for different types of bread. The toaster has a light under it to let you know it is working and looks really good at night as does the kettle that you can buy at the same time if you wish to.

Works alright, but it comes with 2 cons – That toaster does the job, even though the product could be improved. But first let me say that I liked the humor on the packaging where it says underneath: Stop looking at my bottom... ;) I attached 2 pictures of the toaster in operation - it shows that the 2 inner heated surfaces on each side are less heated than the outer surfaces. This… Read more

results is that the two sides of the toast are not being heated and toasted evenly, but slightly differently.

The advantage of toasting a slice of bread in my opinion is that you get something warm to eat the easy way. Thus, you would want to eat the slice of bread as soon as the toaster throws it out. The problem is that I really do not want to spend my time standing in front of the toaster until it is done... - thus I do something else meanwhile on the computer (which is in the kitchen). But most of the time I miss out on the warm slice of bread, because the faint noise the toaster makes, when throwing out the bread, is something I do not realize when concentration on something else... Normally it is nice to have a device that does not make noise - but in this case you would want to have some audible feedback when the toast is ready. I thought already of a low tech solution for this: Come next X-mas I'll get myself some little jingle-bells and I'll tie them around those 2 levers... Until then I select the toasting time a bit lower than required, so that I can heat it up briefly a second time when I finally remember the toast again.

I used sliced soft mixed grain for the toaster and normal sourdough bread from a German baker. Both work fine in the toaster. As long as you do not use "squashed" soft bread slices in the toaster, it does not get "jammed" in there - and here a nice segway - ...the"jam" comes later...:

As spreads I used "jam" or Nutella or ham or cheese or best both of the latter. This makes for a nice quick snack.

Initially I was annoyed that the toaster simply slides away from me when I attempt to press one of those buttons, but that was only, because I used that tray underneath the wrong way round - an easy mistake to make as the wrong side up has 4 perfect impression to fit the 4 feet of the toaster. I have no idea why, but that side with the 4-feet-impressions is the underside and then the toaster does not move away anymore. Also, it is easy to clean the tray out under the toaster.

I guess that I should also mention that the first Kyoto-toaster I received did not work at all (a serious fault inside), which does not really speak for QC (Quality Control) in China (where the toaster is made), thus I received replacement. I did not factor this in into the star-rating,

This toaster comes with space for 4 slices at the same time. Sunbeam also offers the exact same toaster with only space for 2 slices. Before you buy one, consider what it is that you need and remember that a 4 slot toaster takes away more space and if you are toasting during the day using your own solar power it would probably be advisable to toast only 2 slices at any one time anyway (if possible), as using one double-slot requires 900W and both double-slots at the same time use 1800W, and the latter could exceed the power generated by the sun, which you are not currently using, when wanting to toast.

The white LED illumination at the bottom is a nice optical feature.

So all in all an OK toaster (apart from slightly uneven heating and a lack of really audible feedback when the toast is ready) and I give it 4 stars (more like 3.7)...

Uneven, in more ways than one – << Ambassador Review >> The Sunbeam Kyoto Collection toaster was sent as the companion piece to the kettle, which I also reviewed as part of the Product Review Ambassador program. The toaster was subject to a longer test as there's only two people in our household, and we could not compromise our diets to hasten the process. Enough has been… Read more

noted, and I'll start once again with presentation.

Fantastic, lovely packaging conveying beauty and humour. Ideal gift and possible keepsake for the box. The manual is a fine eight page affair, with black and white photos covering the four and two slice models. Reviewed is the four slice model TAM8004. There is a 12 month Sunbeam replacement guarantee, and websites with toll-free contact numbers for AU/NZ.

Generally, it's an attractive unit, and one must decide if it's worth the fairly high RRP. As appearances are subjective, this will be down to personal choice. Design follows a theme, with the main toaster unit featuring a gloss plastic bottom third (45mm), and metal upper two-thirds (125mm) in a matte finish. As with the kettle, they are mismatched, and in the case of our review unit, there's fitment issues where the two elements marry (see photos). Few areas sit flush, with an under or overbite at various points around the perimeter. It's not unlike a bumper line being askew relative to an adjacent car body panel. Thankfully, the 10mm stainless top plate has a neater fit, but again not perfect.

Featuring an LED lighting arrangement, so if your kitchen wasn't lit to your requirements beforehand, you will have a pleasant glow while toasting with this unit. For us, this was nothing more than a gimmick, but others may appreciate it.

The browning level adjusters are linear resistors, mounted vertically and numbered 1-9. There are 16 audible clicks as you slide from either extremity, so these will account for the halves. From the very bottom (1), three clicks should be 2.5. Knob indicator alignment to printed gauge is reasonably accurate. You should consider whether a rotary or strip style adjuster is preferable. We're still on the fence: she prefers rotary, I prefer strip, but it may still be novelty value for me. They both work!

Toasting 800 gram wholemeal or multigrain flat-top sliced bread (sandwich and toast thickness) the slices fit easily, however the top-most crust edge sits just above the top plate of the toaster. They were toasted on completion, however. With each side set to a medium of "5", they popped within 1/10th of a second of each other, and we had browner-than-normal-for-us toast. On this setting, two slices, I'll refer to them from slots 1 and 4, had some unevenness on one side of each, where there was a darker corner from slot 1 and a darker strip from slot 4. These were done by the inner elements for each slot.

When subsequently toasting at level 4, the lighter setting yielded more even browning. We tried white muffins on this setting, and they were darker than desired all-round, with no detectable darker areas. For us, 2.5-3 is ideal for muffins. Square shaped crumpets were under-done on level 4, with 5-5.5 our preference there.

If you find it's not brown enough, there's a reheat button for each side that effectively gives "a bit more" and we used this feature several times, it's a welcome feature.

Did we try anything at level 9? No, I'm saving that for a Spın̈al Tap parody. There may be smoke involved.

Adjacent to the Reheat button is a Cancel button, and this was tested once for each side, and worked as expected. The manual cautions when toasting one slice, to do so at a lower setting to prevent burning. I kept it at 4 and just canceled, thanks to the QuickCheck feature, being able to check progress while toasting.

On another specific test for single slices, I set both sides to 2 and put a slice in slot 1 and 4. They were both darker from the inner elements than the outers, notably so. I repeated the test, same result. Photos show toast from slot 1 and the side-to-side difference can be clearly seen. Finally, a defrost button rounds out the three button cluster for each side, and works as expected.

We almost always use the high-lift lever, as it gives you more space to safely grab your toast with less chance of hot contact with the top plate. Note I didn't write "burn", as you'd need to be really committed to that goal. The top plate gets hot for sure, but nowhere near a home oven rack at 180C. The metal front and sides remain slightly cooler.

The toaster sits on a separate tray piece, which happens to be the crumb tray. It locates easily within a tolerance of a few millimetres whilst retaining functionality. There's well-judged (weak) magnetism that allows lifting the main unit without bringing the tray up with it. We used a scrap piece of paper under the toaster while the crumb tray was easily cleaned at the bin. The main toaster unit should be shaken out over a bin or sink, as the manual suggests. The manual also warns that the toaster will not function if it's not located on the tray, however I did not test this. Aside from the illumination, I feel the crumb tray is the best practical feature of the product.

Judged on its merits, the sample I received is a bit worse for browning baked goods than my $50 Kenwood K-mix toaster, purchased in 2013. I suspect that beneath the fancy exterior, Sunbeam has specced a pretty basic unit. They haven't quite pulled it off, as if you're going to try a silk purse job, at least ensure the assembly matches the design ambition. As it stands, given the RRP, the Sunbeam Kyoto toaster is like a Trojan horse: contained within are ambivalence, mild disappointment and a feeling you were taken for a ride.

A touch of Japan in the kitchen (video preview) – This is the first time a toaster made both my wife and I say, "ooooohhh”, and “aaahhhh". Is that weird? No! It's an experience, and that's what sets this toaster ahead of the competition. So why is it so special? Firstly, unboxing - You go from the conservative imagery on the box, to the thoughtful display of Japanese cherry blossom decal on the… Read more

inside with a small note from Sunbeam on how they derived inspiration from Kyoto city, and of course, pictures of their matching applicances, should you want to pimp out your kitchen.

The look – I got the white set (kettle reviewed separately), and like all Japanese designed things, the toaster is simple, elegant and sleek, that really impresses when you pop the toast down, illuminating the entire base with an ambient white light during toasting, giving a premium look and feel to the appliance.

Differentiator - All other manufacturers need to follow suit here. Sunbeam has built the base completely separate from the main toaster body, allowing all the crumbs to fall through into the base, for super easy cleaning! Such a simple but amazing design concept! The base is magnetised too, so you can move the whole unit as one, when needed. Lastly, the entire top of the toaster is a single, super flat piece of brushed stainless steel, which again, makes cleaning it from top to bottom, super easy.

Features - It comes with all the convenient options, ‘reheat’, ‘defrost’, timer up to 9 minutes (dunno why you’d cook anything in there that long), a ‘quick-check’ feature, allowing you to raise the toast for a peek without stopping the elements, and a ‘hi-lift’ option, to lift toast higher if needed, an underrated and convenient feature.

What about toasting?? Has no issues toasting bread, English muffins, bagels, and banana bread, but admittedly, I burnt my first set of toast, as I'd assumed setting it to halfway (setting ‘5’) would be about right. Nope, this toaster cooks very hot, and setting 3 is enough to get an even toasting on sliced bread. I’d noted, you don’t get those typical toast lines. The toasting is even across the whole surface.

As this is a four-slice toaster, I have the left side set to ‘3’ for sliced bread, and the right-side set to ‘5’ for brekkie muffins.

To conclude, I’m super happy with this toaster and would highly recommend anyone to buy it.

A breeze to clean – This toaster is part of the Kyoto breakfast collection - a matching kettle can be purchased separately. Impressions at unboxing - The presentation of the product is superior to other comparable products on the market. The box the toaster arrived in is aesthetically pleasing and made from sturdy cardboard. The packaging can be turned inside out… Read more

and converted to a gift box that can be reused as a storage box (see photo 1) This may appeal to consumers who are irked by wasteful packaging.

Impressions after using the product for 1 week+

PROS I particularly like the design of this toaster because of its ease of cleaning. It has a separate crumb catching base (see photo 2). Toast crumbs fall straight through the bottom of the toaster onto the base. The base is magnetic so the toaster nestles securely onto the base. The magnetic base is super easy to clean. It's less fiddly than struggling with a pull out crumb tray or upending a toaster to clean out the crumbs.

From an energy saving perspective, the toaster is also a good investment. There is a "make four pieces of toast" option if you're making toast for the family. But if you're home alone you can select the "make two pieces of toast" option. This heats only half the toaster, thereby reducing your electricity consumption.

There are nine heat settings for toasting - 1 being lightest and 9 being darkest. Setting 4 toasts muffins perfectly. Setting 4 is also ideal for Baker's Delight multigrain bread and Mias white bread.

CONS This product worked as expected. The ease of cleaning exceeded my expectations. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was because of its price tag.

The zeitgeist has changed consumers buying habits and their ideas about value for money. Before the mandates, the majority of consumers enjoyed splurging on colour coordinated luxuries and it was acceptable to spend $300 on a toaster/kettle combo (see photo 3). Present day consumers are more pragmatic about how they spend their money. A growing number of people are more likely to splurge on a non electric campfire kettle and toaster set, so that they have an alternative way to prepare tea and toast during a prolonged blackout or when the SHTF...

Glowing Toaster, Stunning Appliance to have on show. Does the job, with minor limitations – I received this toaster and matching Jug from Product Review.com, to review as part of their Ambassador program. I have reviewed the Jug separately. This Kyoto Collection by Sunbeam is inspired by minimalism and Stylish Japanese design. Receiving the boxed appliances alone peaked my interest, as they are the most beautiful appliance boxes… Read more

i've ever seen... Think, these could be lovely gifts...if an appliance was a gift candidate.

I received the Matt white, and brushed silver option, they look like a custom design appliance stunning in my kitchen, matching brilliantly with my soft white kitchen and brushed silver. These are appliances that, if you have the space you can leave displayed on your bench.

With the toaster, it comes with a separate tray that the toaster sits on that collects the crumbs, unlike other toasters that have those skinny inbuilt slide out trays. If you need to store this toaster the downside is you will need to shake off the tray and store it with the toaster in a cupboard. It isn't a tray to leave on display.

Reviewing this 4 slice toaster, I was able to make a functional comparison with my current 4 slice toaster of another brand, which is some nearly 10 years old.

PROS: As a 4 slice toaster, it is quite compact, and takes up less space than my current 4 slice toaster on my bench. My toaster is in the Butler's Pantry, so always on display. Love the look of the Kyoto toaster!

The illuminated base functions when toaster is operating, looks great.

I like the removeable crumb tray. It is suggested that you shake it off after each use. You just need to ensure as you lift the toaster off, you give it a gentle shake over the tray, to get the last of the crumbs to fall on to the tray. You really need a clear space then, to set the toaster on the bench while you shake the crumb tray over the sink/bin. I found if you don't shake the toaster before removing, there are residue crumbs that fall on to the bench where you set the toaster down.

There is an illumnated 'cancel' button, that you can quickly locate and easily press to stop toasting if required... ie.. toast burning!

The 4 slots are wide and can accommodate various toast widths and crumpets. Nothing I toasted got stuck in the slots.

The 'Lift and Look' function is incorporated in the slide down cooking function lever. It works well.

The reheat function works well.

I had to use the defrost function twice to get my frozen homemade bread thawed, this bread is very dense, so not as easy to thaw as a store bought 'lighter' bread. It wasn't a problem to use this function twice.

The 4 toasting compartments act as 2 separate toasters. So two slots can be cooking toast at say level 5, and the second two slots could be cooking crumpets at level 7. Each 'toaster' within the appliance operates independently.

CONS: There are 10 levels of cooking/browning- on a very small sliding scale, hard to read if you need glasses, so I found, that it's more just a slide the lever half way, or closer to the top for darker toast. The incremental slide movements are very small to adjust according to the numbers, I feel the numbers are more for show, than practical use. I had to peer closely at the numbers, to record them for my testing. yes, I wear glasses, had to, or I couldnt read the digits.

My current toaster has 5 cooking levels, clearly readable, and they illuminate in a downwards countdown as the toast cooks, so you can judge how far the cooking process has gone. I find this feature way better than the tiny numbers and cooking slide on the Kyoto. If the cooking function had a progress illumination, as the base does, I would give extra cudos for that function.

Cooking both sides evenly - Not really. Plese see my photos. Now, I find this toaster is not alone. I've yet to use a double element toaster that can cook a crumpet evenly on both sides at the same time. The slots are adequate, but the back rim of crumpet burns, while the front remains white. I rotated the crumpets to recook the white side, as I feel one element is stronger than the other. I come to this conclusion, as when I toasted regular shop bread, it also cooked unevenly. Not so much a problem as the crumpet, as I found using the slide at half way, bread was very dark one side, then lighter on the other side, but fine to eat. Not burnt, nor too undercooked, but not even.

OVERALL: The width of the slots is approximately a touch over 3cm my current toaster slots are 4 cm wide, that nearly 1 cm extra makes the difference for toasting extra thick slices. I guess the slot size is possibly why the Kyoto toaster is a little more compact than my current 4 slice.

The white walls of the toaster are warm to touch when in use, however the top silver section, as expected is hot to touch, and normal I feel for an appliance that is cooking.

I think this is a good toaster, albeit heavy on the price point for what it does. This toaster would suit anyone, who wants to choose a colour to match in with their kitchen decor, and have a decorative toaster on display, it is stunning.

It's functions are adequate and it toasts like most other toasters. I would hope that it has longevity for the price. Of course I cannot comment on that at this early stage, but I feel the price indicates that the toaster should satisfy for many years. Thankyou Sunbeam for sending this toaster to review.

Stylish non performance – Being more of a ‘designer’ toaster, the packaging scores a pretty floral and food motif design on internal areas to make your unboxing more special and once you open the top flap your greeted with, ‘Welcome to Kyoto City Collection’. It’s all recyclable cardboard except for two plastic bags that contain the crumb tray and toaster. The design… Read more

is undoubtedly attractive, with a matte, sleek, minimalist look highlighted by the silver brushed metal upper and base trim and gently curving sides. The toasting and doneness levers are executed with the same simplicity. The body coloured centre of the toasting lever is a rubberised/silicone material. The controls themselves feel like most toasters in operation, cheap. While the doneness lever offers some resistance in action to create a more solid feel, it makes a very cheap sounding click. The matching kettle’s on/off lever is metal and I could be wrong, but the the control touch points of the toaster seem to made of plastic, which is disappointing given the price (RRP $199) and market positioning. These criticisms aren’t directed at Sunbeam as it seems to be the case with most brands. The overall feel is solid though. One big difference is the the crumb tray is an actual tray that the toaster body sits on. The hefty and sturdy tray magnetically attaches and the toaster will not function with the tray not in place. It all works very well and is less messy and easier to compared to the traditional method. It has handy indents to make it easier to lift off the bench. It does add to the toaster’s bulk though. I received the navy colour which is more steel blue and not at all navy to me. It can even look grey in certain light.

During toasting LEDs illuminate around the edge of the toaster base, emitting a glow where the tray meets the body which some may find cool. According to the marketing copy the glow created is, “reminiscent of the delicate floating lanterns shining throughout the Old City”. The body is mostly metal except the lower quarter which is plastic. Within this area you’ll find additional controls - cancel, reheat and defrost. These also have a cheap sounding ‘click’ when pressed. No better than a Kmart $19 toaster. There is no onboard cord storage for the shortish cord, though a silicone cord tidy is attached to the cord for any excess.

Performance is a let down. While toasting is even across one side, the other side differs in doneness markedly. See photos, one slice from the left slot of each toaster pair. With thicker bread the result wasn’t as bad as the sandwich loaf used in the pictures. Operating the toaster empty you can clearly see that the left and right side elements of the one slot are at different intensities. Don’t manufacturers test these things? Cooking times are fine though a better quality element unit is needed at this price. Depth wise the slots comfortably fit standard sandwich loaf slices with little extra room. So If you use larger high top loaves, your tops may potentially stick out. Like most toasters, various widths of bread are accommodated by the self centering slots. High lift aids removal of smaller items. The Quick Check is a must for any toaster and lets you raise the toasting lever to its highest position during toasting to inspect the current doneness. You can then cancel ( an LED within the button is activated during toasting making it clearly visible) if needed or increase doneness on the fly. This is an essential feature for any toaster and is much like Breville’s Lift and Look which I had on their Ikon 2 slice in the late 00s. I don’t eat crumpets, but for a toaster at this price a crumpet setting was noticeable in its absence. Although uneven, the resulting toast is acceptable, I mean, it’s toast. It’s nicely toasted as in not dried out or burnt edges. The reheat function worked well. As mentioned the unique crumb tray design works very well for cleaning and is definitely better than the usual type. Note it can only be wiped clean and cannot be washed. The matte finish resists fingerprints and the flush fitting body parts means a wipe over is a breeze.

A stylish toaster let down by uneven toasting performance. It still produces acceptable toast to me as I’m not that fussy with toast. Based on performance it’s hard to recommend to others and there is question mark over value as I would expect a crumpet setting at this price point and higher quality feel of controls. Shame as I have the matching kettle which is very good.

Fancy-schmancy comes at a price – If you, like many nowadays, delight in having a kettle and toaster set that's made-to-match in style, then sure, Sunbeam's Kyoto City Collection may well be a stylish addition to your kitchen. Sunbeam's marketing patter boasts "Exuding a ‘Scandinese’ feel, the range borrows the best elements of both the Scandinavian and Japanese aesthetic,… Read more

distilling them into two beautiful, minimal, perfectly designed breakfast appliances. Matte colours have been carefully curated to mirror the textiles, temples and tastes of Japan’s historic capital, transporting you instantly to this magical Japanese city."

It's hard to say exactly which "elements" (possibly the toasting elements?) borrow from Kyoto, and which borrow from some unspecified Scandinavian city, but what I can tell you is that subtly lit from below, the premium illumination is reminiscent of the delicate floating lanterns shining throughout the Old City. Oh wait, no - that was also from Sunbeam's over-caffeinated marketing department...

What I can tell you is that it toasts bread reasonably well - well, as long as you don't mind toast that's not the same colour on both sides, that is. More on that below.

The Kyoto toaster is NOT cool to the touch - unlike toasters with insulating plastic sides like Sunbeam's Quantum series (which I've been using since 2005 - one *hopes* for similar longevity from today's Sunbeam products). The front and sides do get quite hot, the back gets very hot, and the silver top gets much too hot to touch, as you might expect.

4-SLOT FORM FACTOR I'm not overly keen on the '4 x short-slot' form factor, as it's not as useful as the '2 x long-slot' design of the Quantum series. So you'll have to cut long slices of sourdough in half to fit them into the Kyoto. Plus, it occupies a bigger footprint on the benchtop. Those are the two disadvantages... and I'm still scratching my head trying to think of any advantages at all (other than Sunbeam hasn't yet introduced a 2 x long-slot design with individual browning controls for each slot).

THE MONSTER TRUCK OF TOASTERS? A word of warning - this is a very heavy piece of kit - I measured it's weight at 3.375 kg! A quarter of that weight is taken up by the very solid crumb tray, which the toaster sits atop, and which has non-slip rubber feet. So as well as being heavy to lift, the combined pair is also cumbersome to drag along the kitchen benchtop. I do need to drag it out each time I want to use it and push it back afterwards, otherwise it just takes up far too much space on the benchtop - and frankly, to have to do this each morning is quite a... well... drag!

CLEANING Heaviness notwithstanding, with the crumb tray as a base (rather than as an insert as is more usual) cleaning is a breeze - no sliding the tray in and out - just lift the toaster off, then dust the tray over the bin, sink or garden. The toaster is held steady on the tray by magnets, so that it can't slip off too easily. But having said that - there were a couple of times when I applied just that little bit too much pressure on the levers when I was pushing the toast down, and the whole toaster flipped forward despite the magnets. So just remember, all you need is a light touch on those levers!

And by the way - the instructions say that it's okay to turn the toaster upside down over the sink, and in fact it says to do this regularly. I'm crusty enough (see what I did there?) to remember the days of yore when toaster instructions warned not to do this, lest one should gum up the works with crumbs.

BUILD QUALITY? My toaster came complete with a broken prong in the lifting mechanism (circled in photo below). While this affects nothing but appearance, it indicates that the manufacturing and inspection processes are sub-par for a toaster with an RRP of $199 (spotted online for $184 in June 2022).

HIS'n'HERS TOAST! No-one likes arguments over breakfast, so having individually selectable brownness sliders for the left slots and the right slots is a real boon, as you can make toast exactly the way each of you likes at the same time. Although...

THE CURIOUS CASE OF THE COLOURBLIND TOASTER ...Having said that, there may still be some arguments - not with each other, but with the toaster itself - as none of the four slots EVER produces toast that's the same colour on both sides (see photos below).

In moments of quiet contemplation, I like to imagine that in an ideal breakfast universe, the primary job of a toaster that's not too shy of the $200 mark is to actually toast bread evenly on both sides. I know... madness, right?

I do like the browning control sliders though - there are 16 detents that you can feel (and hear) as you move the slider, so this means that in theory there are 16 different shades of toast that you can make - even though the shade on both sides will never be the same :-(

Oddly, the printed numbers next to each slider only go from 1 to 9 rather than from 1 to 16 (and in fact Sunbeam is only claiming 9 browning settings, not 16). Confusing!

I found that right in the middle made the best toast to my liking for regular white bread; and sourdough required a much higher setting.

TO DEFROST, OR NOT TO DEFROST, THAT IS THE QUESTION If this were the existential question Hamlet had contemplated, his answer would have come much more easily: "NOT to defrost! For ye olde Defrost button is naught but a gimmick that is of nay practical value."

I ran twelve toast cycles of varying lengths, timing with a stopwatch how much extra time was added to the cycle by using Defrost. I did this scientifically by running one side with Defrost and the other without, at the same time. The extra time was between 2 and 36 seconds - and there was little consistency in the results, when repeated!

Most curiously, the lowest 2" and the highest 36" times were both on the maximum setting - very odd. If we exclude those spurious results, then the extra time added for Defrost was between 4 and 15 seconds - not enough to make any practical difference to the colour of the toast.

What was fairly consistent is that the toast cycle decreased in time, the longer the toaster had been in use. So your second piece of toast will toast faster than your first; your third will toast faster again, etc. I don't know if this is normal for toasters or not. And as this testing was done without bread (hey, I'm not a millionaire) I cannot say what effect, if any, this would have on the colour of successive pieces of toast.

In my testing with actual bread, I concluded that it made absolutely no difference to the colour of the toast whether Defrost was used or not - so my advice is not to bother with it - your frozen bread will toast just fine without it.

OK, SO HOW LONG DOES IT ACTUALLY TAKE TO MAKE TOAST THEN? Here are my accurate timings for various brownness levels, without using Defrost. The successive times are for four consecutive toast cycles, starting from a dead cold toaster: Brownness #1 (very light toast): 1'19", 1'03", 0'54", 0'50" Brownness # 4 1/2 (mid-scale): 2'59", 2'33", 2'22", 2"20" Brownness #9 (very dark toast): 4'40", 4'05", 3'41", 3'51"

'QUICKCHECK' FEATURE As with many toasters, you can lift the toast up with the levers to check on it while it's toasting, and these ones do lift it up nice and high, too. Sadly, this is more than just a convenience feature - since the Kyoto toaster never toasts bread evenly on both sides, if you like toast that's the same colour on both sides, you'll need to flip the bread half-way through. The QuickCheck feature lets you do this without cancelling the toast cycle.

It's almost as though the thoughtful designers at Sunbeam thought "okay, since we can't make it toast evenly, I guess the least we can do it make it easy for 'em to flip it!"

'HI LIFT' FEATURE Sunbeam markets this as a separate feature to 'QuickCheck', but it's actually exactly the same feature, re-labelled. It is a useful function though - because as noted above, it lets you lift the toast up nice and high with the levers, which, as well as checking on the colour during toasting, also makes it easy to remove toast without scalding your fingers.

REHEAT This button limits the toast cycle to 25-30 seconds. It's handy that you don't have to rush to press the button either, because the timing is 'backdated' from when you pushed down the toast lever. But it's not long enough to adequately reheat toast that's been sitting there a couple of minutes, so I've taken to reheating twice.

THE FANCY SCHMANCY LIGHTS AROUND ITS BOTTOM "Subtly lit from below, the premium illumination is reminiscent of the delicate floating lanterns shining throughout the Old City" ... hrmph, nuff sed, and I'm sure all the other reviewers will gush at this gimmick anyway...

SO, WILL I CONTINUE TO USE IT? Sadly, no. I gave it a red hot go (boy, I'm on fire tonight, folks!) for several weeks but unfortunately the Kyoto toaster is just so big and bulky that it's inconvenient to use in my kitchen. If I had oodles of bench space and the toaster had its own spot where it could sit, that would be different. But I have a nook where I keep my toaster, kettle and juicer, and whenever I use one of these, I need to move it out of the nook a little. This is no issue with lightweight appliances - but the Kyoto toaster is a real heavyweight, requiring two hands and more effort to drag or lift than I can be bothered with each morning. By comparison, my old Sunbeam Quantum toaster can be moved easily with one hand and no effort at all. I will miss the slider controls for brownness setting, which are much easier to read than the Quantum's rotary knob.

VALUE FOR MONEY? ‘Scandinese’ with reminiscences of delicate floating lanterns comes at a very premium price. You can get a Sunbeam Chic Collection 4 Slice Toaster - which is arguably just as stylish - and has every feature of the Kyoto Collection 4 Slice toaster except the floating lantern LEDs, and only 7 browning settings. It has a RRP of $79.95, so why anyone would pay two-and-a-half times as much ($199!) for the Kyoto City Collection toaster is entirely beyond me.

Honestly, you'd have to be so smitten by its design that you'd pay ANY money for it - "and that, folks, has 'Kyoto be' a sheer triumph of form over function".

Thank you, you've been a wonderful audience, good night...

Stylish, Modern, and Functional – If you want a good-looking toaster from a proven manufacturer this is worth considering. We have been using one for about 2 weeks now and we are impressed. The Sunbeam Kyoto City Toaster is stylish and functional. With its unique glow lighting at the base to indicate that it is in use, and modern matte colours and clean and simple design it will… Read more ·  1

enhance any kitchen benchtop. It has a functional but elegant appearance. This is a 4-slice toaster in parallel formation, and operates as 2 separate compartments with 2 self-centering standard size toasting slots each, and the two compartments have their own individual toaster settings. The benefit of this is to allow for example 2 pieces of ordinary bread to be toasted in the slots in one compartment while crumpets are being toasted in the other compartment. The two compartments have their own individual graduated heat settings on a scale from 1 to 9 – 1 being the least heat and 9 being maximum heat. With these individual settings it is possible to toast 2 slices of bread in one compartment to a desired setting, and simultaneously toast for example crumpets or banana bread in the other compartment where a much higher heat setting is needed, and to do so with precision. The wide range of heat settings is functional and should suit the fussiest user. The walls of the toaster do not become hot during toasting. The two compartments have their own ‘Hi Lift’ or ‘Quick Check’ lever at the front of the appliance to allow the user to inspect the toast during toasting, and to make it easier to extract toast after toasting where the toast is for example small and is difficult to extract. Another important feature of the toaster is that it senses when only one set of slots is being used so that only the toasting elements in those 2 slots heat up. The other 2 slots remain dormant at this time saving on energy use. The toaster is slightly larger than a competitor brand toaster we have been using in that it measures 320 mm x 260 mm x 190 mm. Because it has a slightly larger footprint it seems to have better ‘stability’ or ‘firmness’ when being used. On the bottom front corner of each of the two compartments are 3 buttons labelled ‘Reheat/ Cancel/Defrost’. The ‘Cancel’ button is illuminated while the toaster is in use and this makes it easy to locate – it serves the purpose of immediately cancelling the toasting operation in that compartment. The ‘Reheat’ button, when depressed will reheat for example a piece of toast that has gone cold. The ‘Defrost’ button is used to defrost frozen bread etc. before toasting. In my experience they work exactly as the manufacturer claims and are functional. There is a removable crumb tray. This works excellently as it is 100% effective in capturing all crumbs that fall to the base during toasting, and it is easy to clean. In our experience slide in crumb trays that we have used are not as effective as usually there is some crumb spill when removing the tray. There is however a possible negative for some people with the Sunbeam tray. To remove the tray, it is necessary to lift the toaster body away from the tray and set it down, and that’s simple and easy where there is clear bench space immediately adjacent to the toaster. If there is not adjacent bench space the body has to be unplugged and placed somewhere else so that the tray can be accessed. I don’t see this as a significant concern and I like the 100% effectiveness of the tray. The appliance draws 1800 watts, and has a cord 800 mm long which is good because short cords can be annoying. The Sunbeam cord has a plastic strap so that it can be coiled for shortening. The whole appliance gives me the impression that even though it is an elegant and stylish design it is also robust. Whether it is reliable and high quality in terms of materials, technical design and manufacture will only become evident over time, however it does have a 12 months manufacturers replacement guarantee. That is important. Note that as Sunbeam has sold household toasters into the Australian market for many years it should be at the leading edge in terms of providing consumers with a quality leading edge reliable toaster. The Kyoto City Toaster seems to be taking Sunbeams design standards to the next level and so any potential buyer should feel confident about purchasing one of these. The colour of the appliance we have is described as ‘Navy’. It is an attractive matte colour very similar to a gun metal or battleship grey and we like it. Highly recommended.

Lights up my life to delicious crumpets and toast! – I love this toaster and thank you to Product Review and Sunbeam in this opportunity to review it within the Ambassadors program. What makes this toaster special, is that the design of the toaster, having a very fancy décor, from the design of the build and the led lighting just made the toaster something special. One of the best features I seen… Read more

is the tray being on the bottom, was unique as never seen that before, its a lot easier than just a pull out tray and the anti slip grips were great. Applauds to Sunbeam for the design of the Kyoto toaster.

In functionality, its a toaster and works quite well, specifically on the settings as in what you are toasting and how dark or light you want it, was very accurate. I tried all the settings, just to test it out, combination of breads, from Rye, dark, multigrain, white and crumpets, using brand names and just generic supermarket breads and it handled the toasting very well to the settings. It toasts and that its function and should expect it to function well, especially upon the price of the unit that it sells for. It has style, it functioned well and the led light and the tray being the actual stand I thought it was great, my father noticed the tray part prior to even using the Kyoto Toaster and was excited about it saying that was a good idea.

This toaster worked brilliantly, there were no faults at all, I remember many of times with toasters in the past where you cook crumpets and they would become stuck and the Kyoto Toaster by Sunbeam had no problems, all breads toasted and no problems with the toaster at all. When the toast finished the mechanism ejecting the bread works well and was fun to watch too be honest, seeing the ejections of the bread or crumpet, majorly springy action

Personal recommendations in regards to using this toaster - to gain the best results (each persons preference is their own but found for myself) level 7 for crumpets - it comes out firm not undercooked and just the desired amount I like, not burnt or overcooked level 5 for Tip Top Wonder White level 4 for supermarket brand level 5 for rye and other brand names other than white bread

Do I recommend this toaster, yes, if you want something that is specially unique to enhance your kitchen while having the functionality of a toaster, this is perfect.

Reliable, particularly high quality at an upper mid range price – It seems Sunbeam have kept their product reliablity and longevity with this toaster after all these years and have added a "premium", line to their product range. It's certainly a premium product. There are some notable premium branded (European) kitchenware and whitegoods brands that look excellent, but perform terribly. But Sunbeam has… Read more

managed to make it's products look good as well as have high functionality. At the end of the day it's just a toaster but it ticks the following boxes:

- Very firm stirdy build. Does not seem cheap or flimsy to touch. - Wide slots that can fit muffins and wide bits of bread with ease. - It allows you to lift and check to see how well the toast is going to see if it needs more. - 4 slices obviously makes toast more quickly. - A nice illumination to let you know the toast is cooking. - The base is attached to a separate base plate to collect crumbs. When the toaster is placed on the base plate it appears to magnetize to it, particularly when the toaster is activated. If the toaster is lifted off the base plate during the cooking process as a safety mechanism the cooking stops and the toast pops up. Likely a safety feature.

This base plate system is unique to Sunbeam and is an excellent hygiene idea. After each time you cook toast (if you choose to), you can simply lift off the toaster and shake the base plate over the sink getting rid of all the crumbs.

This range of products is obviously designed for people who seek to have their products kept "out on the bench", for ease of use, rather than those who put them away and as such have designed them with an aesthetic look in mind.

There's other 'luxury brand', European toasters and kettles that do not perform anywhere near as reliably as this and have a tendency to break down, whereas this is probably half the price of them and still looks good and actually has full reliability and functionality. It retails for around $200 so isn't cheap, but still is cheaper than luxury brands while giving off the same aesthetic.

When reviewing products I always start with 5 stars and remove stars for product issues I can find wrong with it. It's honestly tough for me to find something wrong with this toaster it to warrant a removal of a star. But potentially I think it's slightly overpriced, I think the price point should have been around 30% lower, however, like most kitchenware many people will see a discount or buy it while it's on sale and will likely get that discount anyway.

In short, this is a very good premium 4 slice toaster with a luxury brand sturdy feel to it, for a upper mid range price. If you want something that looks and lasts a little bit better than the regular, then it's well worth the extra $$.