[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] The heating elements and finish of the materials are very good. The pull down mechanism on the right side does not function well. The depth of the toaster is too shallow. Bagels and larger bread do not get fully toasted.

Just bought this and tried it twice. It's going right back to the store. It is not designed to hold and toast a Pop Tart. The Pop Tart is too skinny to fit in the holder which won't close and therefore won't turn on to start the toasting process. It's wide enough supposedly to toast bagels, which I haven't tried. Worked fine on bread, but honestly how hard is that? Bottom line....if your household wants to toast more than bread and bagels, like Pop Tarts, this is definitely NOT the toaster for you.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] The toaster looks great. We received as a wedding present and it sticks out from the wall WAAAY more than our original toaster. It has a 4 inch lip that extends from the toaster slots to the knobs. I've used it a few times and it works well, although I'm still figuring out the settings. I tried it on "4" the other day and the bread ended up pretty burnt - more burnt than I think most people would enjoy (especially considering there's an even higher "5" setting!), so you may need to experiment to find your perfect setting. I also wish it had a setting for frozen items.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] We have used this for a couple of months and find that it does a great job. The detentes for the shade settings are a great feature. Gets the bagels and English muffins exactly the way I like without burning them!

I can't figure out how long we've had the first one of this model, but it has been at least 10 years - probably more. It has had HEAVY usage with toast loving kids and parents. We have an empty nest and it is time to replace the old one. The heating elements were slowly failing until my husband's setting crept up from a 1 to a 2! (He likes warm, limp bread.) I still was able to get decent medium-toasted bread, but brownness could only be obtained at the tip top of the bread. We love the loud beep when the toast pops up. Our family had gotten used to calling out "TOAST'S UP!!" with the toaster before this brand, and it became a running joke to still do that even with the new notification. Yes, it is loud, but we have a big house near a busy road. You can't miss that your bread is done and let it get cold unless you are REALLY immersed in something. I did my research and discovered that this was still being manufactured (which speaks to its popularity, doesn't it?) and was a decent price point for a quality product. There are always people who end up with a defective lemon product, but that was across the board of different brands of toasters. I chose to stick with what I knew had worked for many hardworking years! Now, it is time to test drive the new beast and go make some lunch!

Didn't want to rush to judgement, but after a few months owning this toaster, the verdict is in. The shade levels are whack. Level 1 is usually blackened toast and while I can't imagine using it, 5 is probably a setting for toast cremation. We have many other KitchenAid items, but this one doesn't seem to meet brand standards except maybe for the exterior look.

I bought this model nearly six years ago and it has had regular use without any trouble. It is not the fastest toaster, but it’s everything comes out evenly toasted. I use the bagel button frequently with not only bagels but also hamburger buns and it doesn’t crush the bun unlike the previous toaster it replaced. Overall it’s a solid anpplia and looks good on my counter top.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] So far I am not happy with this unit has it is not calibrated or toast evenly. It still has has this odor from one side which is the side that is not calibrated and will burn the toast if you put it on level 3.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] This is a well made and good looking toaster. The audible signal when the toast is done is a plus. I would only request the toaster slots be a little longer, to fit rye bread inside, since those loafs are usually a bit wider than normal. They still toast, but at an angle.

I have had this toaster for about 2 weeks and it works great for toast but every time I try to toast a bagel the outside toasts but the inside is not! I would have thought this toaster would have worked better than the cheap off brands but sadly it is worse.