Philips Toaster HD2647 review

The Philips Toaster HD2647 (or the 4 slot 2 function Metal square Toaster to give its full name) is a no-nonsense, four-slice design. The design has no flourishes, no retro appeal, no colour options, no pretensions whatsoever. Thankfully it’s not only business-like to look at, it’s also the business when it comes to toasting bread.

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The design is eminently practical and everything feels well made, especially so given the reasonable price of just £40. The crumb tray is at the front for much easier access. It pops out with a click when you press it in, inside it’s actually divided into two trays. The toast slots have no bottom section so crumbs are free to fall straight through to the tray, meaning this is one toaster that should stay free of detritus.

Above the crumb is a typical dual control setup with two browning knobs, which click pleasingly as you turn them, and buttons for cancel, reheat and defrost – with the latter two glowing blue when engaged. You can also cancel toasting by simply lifting the lever, which is handier than reaching for a button. There’s no bagel mode here, so if you love a bagel or two then do yourself a favour and look elsewhere, toasting bagels on both sides is simply wrong.

The dimensions of the slots are better than average. The 38mm width should contain all but the most ridiculous doorstop slices, while a length of 138mm is the second biggest we’ve seen, meaning that any sliced loaf, and even most hand cut slices, should be able to lie down in the slot for even toasting. This makes the relatively shallow depth of 113mm a bit of a secondary consideration. It’s easy to get your toast out too with 75mm of it exposed when the additional lift on the levers is engaged.

The best things about the Philips Toaster HD2647 is how fast and efficient it is. It toasted our slices in a very respectable two minutes and 15 seconds, and used just 0.030kWh of electricity doing so. Consistency across each side was good, getting close to the very corners, plus both sides of each slice were very similarly done. Overall it’s an excellent result, with toast that was more evenly done than that from some more expensive models.

The Philips Toaster HD2647 is an excellent buy, it may not be as stylish as some, but it’s good at making toast and is cheaper than most. It’s our Best Buy award-winning toaster and only bagel fans need look elsewhere. Buy Now from Amazon.