REASONS TO BUY
Compact
Great all-around cooking performance
Great temperature accuracy
REASONS TO AVOID
Smaller capacity
Breville Mini Smart Oven Review
A perfect oven for those that want high performance but don't have much counter space
Credit: Breville
RELATED: Best Toaster Ovens of 2023
Our Verdict
The Breville Mini Smart Oven packs all of the high performance you'd expect from a Breville product into a tiny toaster oven package. In our testing, it excelled in every aspect of cooking, making a delicious cake, drumsticks, pizzas, and bagels. The small size also lets this oven get up to temperature much faster than any of the full-sized models we tested. If you're cooking for just one or two, this is the best and most versatile option and seems to excel at almost everything. This little beast is a great addition to any kitchen appliance lineup.
Editor's Note: This review was updated on January 28, 2022, with more information on which ovens are our favorite.
Compare to Similar Products
 This Product
Breville Mini Smart Oven | |||||
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| Awards |  |  |  | ||
| Price | $180 List | $230 List $149.99 at Amazon | $230 List $199.95 at Amazon | Check Price at Amazon | $90 List $70.99 at Amazon |
Overall Score  |
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| Star Rating | |||||
| Pros | Compact, great all-around cooking performance, great temperature accuracy | Great baking performance, great temperature accuracy, can also air fry and dehydrate, flips on its end when not in use to save space | Easy to use, accurate temperatures, well-built, very versatile | Inexpensive, easy to clean, small footprint, consistent performance | Makes great frozen pizza, easy to clean, convection mode, great toast |
| Cons | Smaller capacity | Somewhat expensive | Pricey, somewhat large, heavy, tendency to slightly overcook | Small size limits portions, cooks on the cool side | Mediocre temperature accuracy, only average baking performance |
| Bottom Line | A perfect oven for those that want high performance but don't have much counter space | One of the best multi-function cooking devices on the market | This multipurpose oven is sleek, easy to use, and performs well across the board, but definitely takes a bite out of the wallet and your counter space | Compact, consistent, and budget-friendly are the defining characteristics of this easy-to-use oven | A convenient and reliable budget option with reasonable performance at a great price |
| Rating Categories | Breville Mini Smart... | Ninja Foodi Digital... | Cuisinart TOA-60 | Hamilton Beach Easy... | Black+Decker TO3250XSB |
| Baking (30%) | |||||
| Ease of Use (25%) | |||||
| Temperature Accuracy (20%) | |||||
| Frozen Food (15%) | |||||
| Toasting (10%) | |||||
| Specs | Breville Mini Smart... | Ninja Foodi Digital... | Cuisinart TOA-60 | Hamilton Beach Easy... | Black+Decker TO3250XSB |
| Outer Dimensions | 15.5" x 14" x 8.8" | 19.7" x 7.6" x 15" | 15.5" x 16" x 14" | 11.9" x 16.1" x 9" | 14.5" x 22" x 11.5" |
| Maximum Pizza Diameter | 11" | 13" | 12" | 9" | 13" |
| Accessories | Baking pan | Wire rack, air fry basket, sheet pan | Oven rack, baking pan, air fryer basket | Bake pan, oven rack, slide-out crumb tray | Baking pan, wire rack |
| Power Consumption (W) | 1800 | 1800 | 1800 | 1200 | 1500 |
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Our Analysis and Test Results
Below, we discuss how the Mini Smart Oven performed in our toaster oven tests.
Performance Comparison
The Mini Smart Oven provides nearly the same performance as the full-size Breville ovens but in a more compact and space-saving design.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Baking
The Breville Mini Smart Oven earned a high score in our baking tests, putting it just behind the top performers.
The Mini Smart Oven made delicious, crunchy cookies and fluffy, golden cake in our testing. It also produced chicken drumsticks with crispy skins and tender meat. Its baked offerings were nearly as good as those that came from the top-scoring model, which happened to be the full-sized Breville Smart Oven. However, the Mini Smart Oven had a slightly harder time retaining moisture than its big sibling. None of the food we made in the Mini Smart Oven came out dry, but it just wasn't quite on the same level of the moist delectableness served up by the full-sized Smart Oven or other kitchen aplliances.
The Mini Smart Oven made nice, crispy cookies, but some of our testers wished the centers could be a bit more moist and gooey.
Credit: Steven Tata
Ease of Use
The Mini Smart Oven earned an average score in our ease of use testing.
Despite its small size, the Mini Smart Oven still allows you to place the rack at three different heights, allowing you to optimize its position for broiling, toasting, and baking. It has a single knob that allows you to cycle through its eight different cooking modes, including cookies, reheat, pizza, bagel, toast, bake, broil, and roast. Once a cooking mode is selected, temperature and duration can be adjusted by pressing the temp and time buttons and then using a set of arrow buttons to increase or decrease. All information is presented on a clear LCD display.
We would have preferred for these arrow buttons to be more knobs, as jumping from 250 to 450 in 5-degree increments can feel a bit tedious using a button. However, the Mini Smart Oven remembers the last settings you entered for each cooking mode, so there is no need to enter your preferred pizza cooking temperature each time. There is also a defrost button that adds some additional time for frozen goods and a bit more button that adds more cooking time if your food isn't looking quite finished. The amount of time added by pressing the bit more button depends on which cooking mode you're using. The crumb tray is sturdy and deep, allowing for easy crumb disposal and cleaning.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Possibly the most convenient thing about the Mini Smart Oven is its size. It is almost half the size of most standard-sized toaster ovens. This makes it the best toaster oven for cramped apartments or dorm rooms.
Temperature Accuracy
The Mini Smart Oven lives up to the legacy set by the full-sized Smart Oven, as both models shared the top score in our temperature accuracy testing.
Not only did the Mini Smart Oven always stay within 10˚ of its set temperature in our testing, but it also got to that temperature much faster than other ovens. Where most ovens took 12-15 minutes to get up to 450˚, the Mini Smart Oven could get there in under 10.
Frozen Food
The Mini Smart Oven's performance in our frozen food testing garnered a respectable score.
Tater tots came out delightfully crispy on the outside, with insides that were just a bit moister and a tad less fluffy than what we would consider perfect. Frozen pizzas also came out great, if anything lacking just a little bit of crispiness in the crust. The Mini Smart Oven can handle up to an 11-inch pizza. However, most pre-prepared frozen pizzas come in 9 and 12-inch varieties, so functionally, this means you can make a 9-inch frozen pizza.
We loved the frozen pizzas that came out of the Mini Smart Oven, but those that like their crust extra crispy may be a bit disappointed.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Toasting
The Mini Smart Oven excelled at toasting, sharing the top score in our toasting metric and performing as well as some of the top-ranked toasters.
In our testing, the Mini Smart Oven made toast with a degree of evenness and consistency not seen in most toaster ovens. We did see some cool spots towards the edge of the toast map, but nothing major. Despite not having a bagel function, bagels made in this machine were exceptional, with evenly toasted faces and chewy backsides.
The Mini Smart Oven's toast map: very even with just a bit of a cool spot on the edge.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Should You Buy the Mini Smart Oven?
The Breville Mini Smart Oven is a versatile, high-performing solution for those that want a good toaster oven but don't have much space to spare on their countertop. The Mini Smart Oven is certainly not the cheapest toaster oven out there. However, if you value compactness, you won't find a more versatile cooking device. This makes it a great value for those with limited counter space.
What Other Toaster Oven Should You Consider?
If space is at a premium, then it's hard to find a better choice. However, if your goal is the very best toaster oven or you want more features, then the Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro give you more for your money with a food dehydrator, air fryer, toaster, and more. If the price of this option has you balking, we also like the Ninja Foodi Digital Oven which is only about $50 more than the Mini but gives you so much more versatility.
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Max Mutter and Steven Tata
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