Breville Launches $400 Eye Q Toaster With Sensor That Scans Bread 10 Times a Second
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Sep 12
Breville Launches $400 Eye Q Toaster With Sensor That Scans Bread 10 Times a Second
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Sep 12
Summary
Breville’s new Eye Q toaster replaces timer-based toasting with a heat-resistant optical sensor that checks browning 10 times per second and stops when the bread reaches the chosen shade.
The system is designed to handle different breads without separate tweaks for thickness or frozen slices, because it measures color change rather than elapsed time.
In hands-on testing, the $400 four-slice model browned dark rye, cinnamon raisin bread and frozen sourdough well, and its bagel mode warmed one side while toasting the cut face more deeply.
Shade control was less consistent across the seven settings: some lower levels browned less than adjacent ones, suggesting the toaster nails overall doneness better than precise step-by-step gradation.
Breville says the project took 10 years, and the review suggests the same visual-doneness technology could spread beyond toasters into ovens and other cooking appliances.