Zwilling Enfinigy 2 Short Slots Toaster Review
The Zwilling Enfinigy 2 Short Slots is a decent toaster, but it suffers from uneven browning. I was impressed by its build quality and restrained looks, and it really does help you avoid burning your toast. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t toast well enough at this price. Introduction Zwilling’s Enfinigy 2 Short Slots is a conventional […]
Verdict
The Zwilling Enfinigy 2 Short Slots is a decent toaster, but it suffers from uneven browning. I was impressed by its build quality and restrained looks, and it really does help you avoid burning your toast. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t toast well enough at this price.
Pros
- Satisfying build quality
- Designed to avoid burning
- Good looks
Cons
- Uneven toasting
- Gets very hot
- No single-side mode
Availability
- UKRRP: £90
- USAunavailable
- Europeunavailable
- Canadaunavailable
- Australiaunavailable
Key Features
- ToastingHas two deep slots for tackling two bits of bread at once.
- SettingsToasting amount, bagel, defrost and reheat options.
Introduction
Zwilling’s Enfinigy 2 Short Slots is a conventional parallel slot toaster, available in black or silver, with a modern, unfussy design.
It’s smart to look at and feels beautifully made, but it’s not without its drawbacks.
Design and Features
- Minimal, stylish design
- Useful features
- Quality feel
The Enfinigy 2 Short Slots isn’t perhaps a beautiful toaster, but it’s certainly unfussy and smart. In the flesh, this black version that I reviewed has an extremely dark and very matte finish, and it matches the black Zwilling Enfinigy Electric Kettle Pro.
There’s no pattern on the sides of the toaster, and no obvious breaks in the panels – just a few controls and a toasting lever. The latter moves with a damped, expensive feel, and there’s a similar quality to the crumb tray with its push-release catch.
As its name hints at, the 2 Short Slots toaster isn’t the only toaster in the Enfinigy series. There’s a four-slot version, plus another two-slot toaster with longer slots. All feature defrost and reheat settings along with a baguette/bagel control. Browning control is via a seven-level dial that moves with a precision feel and is easy to read, except when looking at it straight on.
Interestingly, Zwilling says this toaster is configured so that it should never burn toast. Even at its highest setting, your toast won’t go beyond dark brown. Like some other toasters I’ve tested, the Enfinigy 2 Short Slots automatically shortens toasting time after the first cycle finishes, to adjust for residual heat in the appliance.
This toaster has a heavily damped basket, meaning that toast emerges slowly when it’s finished. There’s no bell, though, so it’s comparatively easy to miss if you’re not paying attention. Like with most toasters, there’s no single-slot mode, so you’re still heating both slots even if you’re only toasting one slice.
While the Enfinigy Electric Kettle Pro stays cool thanks to its double-walled design, there’s no such protection here. It’s not safe to touch this toaster’s matte black sides during or immediately after use. Many metal toasters get hot in this way, but some don’t, and at this price, I’d expect slightly better protection.
Performance
- Decent toast
- It really is hard to burn anything
Given the Enfinigy 2 Short Slots’ nice design and obviously high build quality, I was expecting better results. Each side of the bread was browned quite evenly, but I found throughout my tests that the outer sides were browned significantly more than the insides. This might not be a problem with bagels, where you usually want the cut side toasted more than the other side anyway, but it wasn’t perfect for regular toast.
It’s a shame because this toaster has pretty big slots. At 120mm, they’re not overly deep, but they’re about 145mm long – comfortably large enough to accommodate taller breads, provided you lay them on their long side. The Enfinigy 2 Short Slots also toasts well right up to the edges of slices.
When it comes to its browning range, this is one of the best toasters I’ve used. True to Zwilling’s claims, you can turn it up fully and it’ll deliver well-browned – but not burnt – toast. It’s hard to imagine you’d want anything darker, meaning you can use the toaster’s full range to get exactly the shade you want.
In use, this toaster draws just over 1kW of power. When toasting white bread, it consumed 0.04kWh, while it used just slightly less when toasting a bagel. Cook one bagel and a round of toast every day, and you’ll pay around £10 for a year’s use – assuming you’re on the 34p per kWh price cap that applies until October 2024.
Using the Enfinigy 2 Short Slots toaster alongside the Dualit 4 Slot Domus Toaster really underlined how hot the former’s side panels get. It’s safe to move the Dualit toaster immediately after use, but you need to take real care with the Zwilling.
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Should you buy it?
This toaster looks and feels a cut above the norm.
At this price, I’d expect more even toasting.
Final Thoughts
I wanted to love the Zwilling Enfinigy 2 Short Slots Toaster. It’s great in many ways: it looks classy, and all of its controls feel precise. I do love its browning control, calibrated so that you can’t really burn your bread. But it’s disappointing that – at least in my tests – the toast turned out darker on one side than the other. It’s also a shame this toaster gets so hot, particularly when the matching Zwilling Enfinigy kettle doesn’t. Check out alternatives in our guide to the best toasters.
How we test
Unlike other sites, we test every toaster we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy.
Used as our main toaster for the review period
We test with different sized bread, and see how well the toaster toasts one bit of bread. We follow up with a second slice immediately after to see if the toaster burns the second slice.
We test other cooking features where available: sandwich presses, grilling, etc.
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FAQs
This model has two slots for two bits of bread, but there is a four-slot version, too.
This toaster has defrost, reheat and bagel controls.
Full specs
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
