Revolution 180 Connect Plus Toaster Review

Design and features

• Sleek design
• Presets for dozens of bread types
• User-friendly touchscreen panel

The Revolution R180 Connect Plus Toaster arrived securely packaged to prevent any damage during the shipping process. The large box includes the toaster in a smaller box, and the 2 optional accessories: Toastie Press, and Warming Rack. There’s also an instruction manual for the toaster (and also separate manuals inside of the Toastie Press and Warming Rack packages).

The toaster has a sleek, modern stainless-steel design with generous slots that accept breads up to 1-inch thick.

The pull-out crumb tray at the bottom is removable for easy cleaning.

However, it’s the touchscreen that makes the toaster so impressive. After scanning the QR code on the bottom of the toaster, I pressed the gear button, and then selected Wi-Fi. Using the auto-detect features, the touchscreen panel displays my location, along with the weather and time. Note: connecting the toaster is not mandatory.  There’s an option to manually set the time and date (although weather isn’t available without Wi-Fi).

Another neat feature: the toaster’s screensaver can display the date/time/weather on three fun toaster photos instead of the black background. There’s also an option to upload up to 24 of your own images to the wallpaper gallery. 

The toast selections are almost endless: white bread, bagel, large bagel, waffle, English muffin, frosted pastry, plain pastry, toaster strudel, whole wheat, multigrain, sourdough, cinnamon swirl, artisan bread, Texas toast, brioche, pancake, protein waffle, thick waffle, sandwich thin, hamburger bun, corn cakes, French toast sticks – and the Toastie Press, and Warming Rack. 

After making a selection, I can choose from Fresh, Frozen, or Reheat. There are 7 browning/shading settings to choose from. Yet another cool feature is a picture of each shade level, so I can see exactly how light or dark the bread will turn out. 

Under Settings, there are plenty of customization features. For example, there is where I set the time and date, location, choose to display the weather, adjust the volume and brightness, and also choose from the 3 images provided, and upload photos to the photo frame.

There are two accessories. One is the Toastie Press. In addition to being used with the Revolution R180 Connect Plus Toaster, the company states that it can be used with any toaster – but recommends checking to see if it fits in the slot of your existing toaster (for example, if you have a 4-slice toaster, it’s not going to fit). The company also states that you may need to toast food twice if you’re using a regular toaster.

The other accessory is a Warming Rack, which is designed to only fit Revolution Toasters. 

Performance

• InstaGLOW technology toasts perfectly
• Toasts quickly
• Slices pop up high

Somehow, I never pay attention to how important it is to have that perfect shade of toasted bread until I can’t achieve it. And I’ve used plenty of toasters that were not able to deliver the perfectly-browned shade that I desired. However, the Revolution R180 Connect Plus Toaster is nearly perfect in this respect.

The toaster uses InstaGLO Technology to heat quickly, sear the bread and lock in flavor, so toast doesn’t dry out. Based on what I’m toasting, the toaster calculates the optimal time. After I press Start, there’s a ring of dots that function as a clock, and the dots turn darker to indicate the heating progress.

The toaster is also quick. For example, on the four-shade setting, two slices of wheat bread toasted in less than two minutes (around one minute and 45 seconds). When there’s 10 seconds left in the toast cycle, the toaster’s countdown timer is displayed. 

Most of the time, when I put items in the toaster, they lean to the side; however, when I press the start button, the bread is lowered perfectly into the toaster. And when the cycle is complete, the bread is placed in a raised position, so I don’t have to worry about burning my fingers when I take it out.

My first test was toasting English muffins. I actually performed this test twice. The first time, I dropped the whole muffins into the toaster (instead of splitting them open), so I could see they would turn out. 

The bread was toasted on the outside, and hot on the inside. Afterwards, I split both muffins open so you can see how the inside and the outside look. I liked the soft, warm result.

The second time, I split an English Muffin open before inserting it in the toaster (as advised for bagels and English muffins), and then inserted the slices so that the cut sides were facing inward, as advised. 

You can see that the inside has a more browned appearance, and it was also crunchier. The English muffin was delicious – but honestly, I’m not sure which one was better. For just a nice, hot English muffin, I would leave it closed. But for a crunchier texture, I would split it up before toasting.

On one occasion, I toasted wholewheat bread (I don’t eat white bread) on the four-shade level, and it came out really dark. However, I’d just finished warming up a cookie using the cookie rack (that test is further down in the article), so maybe it hadn’t cooled off. 

On the other hand, since whole wheat bread is denser and contains more fiber, it may brown faster – although I would have expected the “wheat bread” setting to account for this.

Anyway, I toasted some more wheat bread on the two shade level, and it was much closer to what I was expecting.

I also toasted some wheat bread on the six-shade level. It certainly looks burnt, but I must note that’s exactly how the image on the screen showed that it would look.

Next, I toasted bagels. The Revolution R180 Connect Plus distinguishes between pre-packaged, store-bought bagels and the larger, bakery-style bagels – and there’s a separate setting for large bagels. For both bagels and English muffins, the instructions are to insert the slices so the cut sides are facing inward. I split the bagel open, selected Bagels, and when I pushed start, the bagel half on the right side went down, but I had to gently push down the half on the left side.

When testing the bagel, I observed that the heating elements turn off and then turn back on. However, Revolution says this allows the toaster to focus on cooking the inside (cut) side and just slightly warm the outside – instead of overcooking it. Anyway, the bagel was delicious; it was browned on the inside and soft and warm on the outside. I topped it off with some cream cheese for a delicious breakfast.

I love Pop Tarts, and was eager to try the unfrosted strawberry PopTarts in the Revolution R180 Connect Plus. Selecting Plain Pastry, and the 4 shade level, it browned pretty well on the back side, although I would have preferred a slightly browner texture on the front side. Nonetheless, it was hot and delicious.

One day when I was out shopping, I came across some St. Pierre Belgian waffles. These are room temperature waffles, smaller than the frozen variety that I usually get, so I wanted to see how they would fare. 

Although short in height, they were thick, and barely fit in the toaster. I selected Thick Waffle, Fresh, and the four-shade setting. The waffles came out burnt and I chose to toss them away.

The following tests involve the Toastie Press and the Warming Rack – but keep in mind that you can purchase the Revolution R180 Connect Plus Toaster without these accessories.

Using the Toastie Press was quite easy. I assembled a sandwich using wheat bread, honey roasted turkey sandwich meat, and Mozzarella cheese, and put it in the Toastie Press. Honestly, I was concerned that when the cheese started melting, it would drip down into the toaster. However, the toaster is designed so the bottom part is completely solid and contains any drips. The Toastie Press also has a nonstick coating that wipes clean, and the grill slots provide heat dispersion (as well as those grill marks that make everything look and taste better).

Then I closed the Toastie Press, latched it with the stainless-steel clasp and magnetic snaps, and placed it in the toaster’s right slot with the handles facing out.

On the touchscreen, I selected Panini mode, and then Medium (the company recommends a medium to high level of toastyness). 

When it finished, I removed the Toastie Press by the stay-cool silicone handles, and then separated the handles to open it. After the device cooled, I used a spatula to remove the sandwich. The cheese melted enough to be gooey, and the sandwich was quite tasty – and the grill marks made it taste even better.

I used the Warming Rack to warm up a brownie from Whataburger. I placed the rack on top of the toaster so it fit securely in place, and then put the brownie on the warming rack. Then I selected Warm Rack on the touchscreen, and four as the shade setting. 

The brownie was rather crunchy on the bottom, and soft on the inside, and the chocolate chips were melty – in other words, it was delicious. 

For another test of the Warming Rack, I headed up a large chocolate chip cookie. It was also slightly crunchy underneath, hot and soft, and the chocolate chips are slightly melted. 

Maintenance

• Crumb tray reminder
• Dishwasher safe accessories

Maintenance is quite easy. I remove, empty, and clean the crumb tray after every use. However, the toaster will also provide a reminder when it’s actually time to clean the crumb tray. Also, the toaster’s exterior can be wiped with a slightly damp cloth and then dried.

Both the Toastie Press and the Warming Rack can be wiped with a soft cloth after each use. When they need a deeper clean, both are dishwasher safe, or they can be hand washed in the sink. 

Should you buy it?