Toasters with a bagel setting concentrate the heat on the cut side of the bagel (which is presumed to be the inside), a toaster oven can do this even better by setting at toast to heat up, then using the broil setting for the actual toaster.

This gets three textures going: the crump stays chewy and dense, the crust isn't burned (very important if it has any allium topping, fairly important for seeds, still not great for plain), and a nice crumbly toast layer.

Which holds up under schmear and butter excellently. I agree that a fresh bagel should be tasty direct from the bag, but I'm still going to be eating them with toppings for the most part.