Hamilton Beach 1.7 Liter Temperature Control Electric Kettle: This kettle has an almost identical design to the Cuisinart PerfectTemp kettle, and it can hold 1.7 L of water. It had accurate readings and took 6 minutes and 45 seconds for an entire carafe of water to reach 212 degrees Fahrenheit. Although it isn’t as stylish as our top picks and it was louder than others when it reached a boil, it’s still a solid kettle for the price, especially if you’re looking for a large-capacity option.
Ninja Precision Temperature Electric Kettle: This kettle is another large-capacity option that offers a decent number of features. However, during our temperature readings, it was off by a degree or two. I also wish it were available in more colors since the stainless steel finish was easy to dirty with fingerprints. However, this one frequently goes on sale during Amazon events, which makes it a steal at those times.
Haden Dorset Black & Copper Electric Kettle: While this one has a unique design, it was a bit more bulky and awkwardly shaped than other electric kettles, so it’s not the best option if you have limited space. However, it did heat up fairly quickly for its size, and it comes with a replacement mesh filter.
Alessi Plissé Electric Kettle: This was the only kettle I tested made entirely of plastic. While it’s “thermoplastic resin,” I wasn’t sold on microplastics not leaching into my boiling water. Although it’s listed at $150 and has a unique design, it feels like it should be much cheaper than that.
BALMUDA The Kettle: Before the MoonKettle, there was simply The Kettle. It has a somewhat similar design to the Stagg EKG Pro Electric Pour-Over Kettle, but for the price, I’d want it to have temperature control too.
Beautiful 1.0L Electric Gooseneck Kettle: While it still gets the job done, this kettle took a bit longer to boil water than the other gooseneck kettles we tested. It also had a small drip when I was boiling water and felt flimsy. However, for less than $40, it’s hard to complain.
Kettles that were tested in the past at CNET
Chefman Electric Kettle: This is a fantastic value at less than $30. A pour-through lid makes it quick and easy to fill, but it doesn’t have temperature control nor keeps the water hot after it reaches a boil. It was also one of the slower kettles. If you just want to boil water without bells and whistles, this is the one for you.
Hamilton Beach Cool Touch Kettle: This kettle is a nice option for tea drinkers. It has five preset temperature settings, a cool-touch exterior, a fast boil time and a reasonable price. It can hold your set temperature for up to 30 minutes.
Bodum Melior Gooseneck Electric Kettle: At around $40, this is one of the cheapest gooseneck kettle options we tested. If that’s the only feature you need, the price makes the Bodum an attractive pick, but it lacks distinguishing features and is relatively slow to boil compared to other, higher-wattage options.
Zwilling Enfinigy: This was a favorite right out of the box purely from an aesthetic perspective, and this kettle performed at a high level during our tests, too. The build is solid, and I dug the minimalist one-button design. At just over 2 pounds, it isn’t overly bulky and has a cool-touch exterior for finger safety. There’s also a similar-looking, equally-sized Pro model now.
The Zwilling Enfinigy performed well, and we loved the minimalist design.
Oxo Brew Adjustable Gooseneck Kettle: Its gooseneck spout is a particularly appealing kettle for pour-over or other manual coffee-making setups that require a steady, controlled pour. It’s still a great pick, but Cosori’s gooseneck kettle offers comparable features and performance while costing a few bucks less.
Oxo Brew Cordless Glass Kettle: In 2021, this was the fastest and most consistent kettle from our boil tests. It features a sleek and sturdy build and would fit nicely with any kitchen motif, especially if you’d prefer an electric kettle with a glass carafe.
Smarter iKettle: This is currently unavailable in the US, but it performed well in our tests in the past, and we loved the sturdy stainless steel build. It’s the only app-controlled kettle we’ve tested, which proved both a blessing and a curse. Specifically, it boiled water wholly and quickly when controlled through the app, but it shut off before coming to a complete boil when I tried to boil water the old-fashioned way, using the button on the side of the kettle. If you’re app-addicted, it is convenient to see how much water is in your kettle and to start boiling it remotely.
Smeg Electric Kettle: This is another high-octane kettle with a solid build and a ton of retro charm to boot. My main beef with it is that it gets extremely hot to the touch. It’s also quite expensive, especially considering there are no special features other than boiling water. You won’t be disappointed if you like the look, but we feel the Mini offers a bit more value.
The Smeg gets style points and boiled water in a jiff, but it’s a little pricey for what it does.
Cuisinart PerfectTemp: Its performance is not commensurate with its $100 price (though it can often be found on sale). As CNET’s former writer, Megan Wollerton, reported in her initial round of testing for CNET, PerfectTemp has received customer feedback and Amazon reviews stating that its auto-shut-off feature is defective and poses a potential fire hazard. Cuisinart did not respond to a request for comment.
Ovente Victoria Series: These are affordable options that boil water quickly and are easy to use, but neither particularly stood out in testing, and they felt a bit cheaply made.
