From accessible designs to mood lighting, 18 best kettles, tried and tested

Score: 94/100

This kettle’s sleek stainless-steel design makes it a great addition to any kitchen. It features a 360-degree swivel base, an easy-viewing water level window, and an ergonomically designed handle that stays cool when boiling and is comfortable to hold when you’re pouring your cuppa.

It’s also lightweight and if speed is of the essence, it takes less than three-minutes to boil at its full one-and-a-half litre capacity, which makes it one of the quickest kettles we’ve tested. Yes, it is pricey, but this is a premium product.

Score: 94/100

This kettle proved itself a worthy (joint) winner across the board. As well as a stylish, minimalist design, it boasts seven variable temperatures, ranging from 50° to 100°C – perfect for fans of delicate teas who want to extract maximum flavour. There's also a handy ‘keep warm’ feature.

In our tests, it took an average of three minutes and 19 seconds to boil the full 1.7 litres, with a litre taking a speedy one minute and 54 seconds – so you won’t be waiting around for your cuppa. The deep-cupped, non-drip design means there’s no risk of any leaking or spitting from the spout either.

Other highlights include a rotating base, cord storage, an indicator light that shows when it’s boiled, and a limescale filter that’s easy to remove for fuss-free cleaning. Yes, it’s expensive and the outside was quite hot to the touch post-boiling (so be careful of your fingers), but otherwise, there isn’t much our testers didn’t love about this kettle.

Score: 91/100

One of the cheapest kettles we’ve tested, this model is fantastic value for money. We like that it’s easy to fill through the spout, pours accurately with no splashing or spitting, and is lightweight – weighing just 681g when empty and 2.4kg at full capacity.

The minimum quantity is 280ml, enough for a large cup of tea, and it takes a speedy 45 seconds to boil. The maximum 1.7-litre capacity is also quick to boil, taking just three-and-a-half minutes (only 10 seconds more than the winning kettle).

Score: 90/100

This kettle comes from Tefal’s new range, which prioritises inclusivity. It’s designed to ensure that making a cup of tea is accessible to all.

Large-print water level gauges on each side of the kettle make filling and portioning easier for those with impaired vision, while bigger power buttons and the one-touch opening system are there to help those with mobility issues. The kettle is lightweight too (although not the lightest we’ve tested), and testers could carry and pour it without any fuss or spillages.

Boiling a litre took just under three minutes, which isn’t the quickest on this list, but the more accessible features, easy pour spout, and cool-to-touch handle make it worthwhile.

Score: 90/100

This kettle is among the most compact we’ve tested and the wide, rounded spout allows it to be filled quickly and provides a clean and accurate pour. When boiling a full kettle, the external casing of the handle remained cool to touch. There wasn't much steam emitted from the spout after the boiling cycles were complete either.

Swan says this model is “rapid boil”, but we didn’t find it faster than the other models here. It took on average under two minutes to boil a litre of water and a little over a minute to boil half a litre (its minimum capacity).

Score: 90/100

This kettle has an anti-limescale filter, fills easily through the spout and pours cleanly with no dreaded dripping. It’s fast too – the minimum quantity of 250ml boils in under one minute and one litre boils in just over two. It's also light when empty and equipped with a comfortable handle, which makes it easy to use.

Unfortunately, the water gauge only goes down to 500ml, despite the minimum quantity being half that, and the outer casing can get quite hot, so you’ll need to pay attention when using it. It does have boil dry protection though, so if it’s empty, it won’t boil and become damaged.

Score: 90/100

Available in a choice of sunny yellow, pretty pink, and pistachio green (along with the tamer black and white colourways), the Eden kettle is the easiest way to add a pop of colour to your countertop.

But while we appreciate the brightness it brings to our mornings, we also loved the lightweight design, easy pour spout, comfortable handle, and the rubber feet on the base that mean it won’t slide around on the work surface.

It’s not the quickest to boil, taking three minutes and 39 seconds for its full 1.7-litre capacity but there was no spitting from the spout and the handle remained cool-to-the-touch throughout.

Score: 89/100

We found this geometric-patterned kettle sturdy and robust. Its compact design also means it won’t take up much space on your kitchen counter. It boils enough for a large cup of tea in under fifty seconds and one litre in just over two minutes. It takes three-and-a-half minutes to boil its full capacity.

At the end of each boiling cycle, the kettle clicks off immediately and the rolling boil comes to a stop after a couple of seconds. Two thing to note are that it emits a lot of steam and wobbles on its base towards the end of the boiling cycle.

Score: 89/100

With its sleek, lightweight design, smart black finish and ergonomic handle, this Haier kettle is suited to a modern kitchen. It’s speedy, too, taking just 42 seconds to boil its minimum capacity of 250ml – perfect for one cup. In fact, it boasts a specific setting for that exact purpose, making it a great choice for those who enjoy a soothing cuppa alone, or for any household wanting to conserve energy. It also has a ‘keep warm’ function and a 40°C setting, which can be used to warm water for a baby’s bottle.

It is on the more expensive side and the volume markings are on the inside of the handle, making it tricky to fill to the desired capacity. However, if you love bells and whistles – including seven highly accurate temperature settings and an accompanying app with a range of tea recipes – this is a great buy.

We've also tested the newer Series 7 kettle, which features double vacuum-insulated walls to help retain heat for up to 12 hours after boiling. On test, it used 75% less energy to boil a litre of water after the 12 hour period so it's definitely effective. Overall, the Series 7 kettle scored 78/100, losing marks for how long it takes to boil a litre of water and for its wide spout, which was awkward to pour from.

Score: 87/100

This De’Longhi kettle took under a minute to boil the minimum water quantity of 300ml (about one mug), so you can heat exactly what you need. It took an impressive three minutes and twenty seconds for the maximum capacity of 1.5 litres to reach boiling point, but we noticed it made a lot of steam in the process.

The detachable lid made it easy to fill up and empty and the non-slip hand was comfortable to hold, too. We loved the sculptured resin finish and it’s available in distinctive colours, including bronze and metallic blue.

Score: 87/100

At under 1kg when empty, this Russell Hobbs model is a good weight. It boils one cup of water in under 45 seconds, so it’s ideal for people who usually only make one hot drink at a time. We found that it poured cleanly and accurately with no splashing, too.

It’s a bit annoying that the water gauge is behind the handle, so you can’t see it while filling, but this is a good kettle at a reasonable price – and it comes in a choice of five colours.

Score: 87/100

This kettle has a handy illuminated water level gauge, which lights up when it's boiling and switches off when it’s ready. We found it fast to boil too, taking a speedy 46 seconds to heat 240ml. At full capacity though, it took almost four minutes.

It has markers for one, two and three cups on the inside, which are helpful if you want to boil specific amounts. It's worth noting that while the handle remained cool, the kettle's exterior reached 63C (very hot!).

Score: 87/100

This modern Salter kettle stood out for its ease of use – it boasts a removable limescale filter, a swivel base and a boil-dry sensor. Testers noted how quick it was to boil, taking an average of 58 seconds at minimum capacity and under three-and-a-half minutes at its maximum capacity of 1.7 litres.

Filling through the spout resulted in a little spilling and splashing so we’d recommend filling through the hole instead, and its exterior got quite hot during boiling, but those were our only niggles.

Score: 87/100

Another Salter model and with its simple, compact design, this kettle won’t take up much space on your countertop. It also includes several handy safety features, including an auto shut-off function and a boil-dry sensor.

Note that its minimum capacity of 600ml means it can’t be used for boiling a single cup, making it better suited to medium to large households.

Score: 86/100

This premium kettle certainly looks the part with its curvaceous retro design, and we love the range of nine colours. The extra bells and whistles are genuinely useful too – variable temperatures for different drinks, a temperature gauge dial and a ‘temperature hold’ mode to keep the water warm – all of which worked impressively well.

Compared to its taller 1.7 L sister (our joint winner), the Artisan version mostly lost points on boiling speed, taking 30 seconds longer to boil a litre at two minutes and 25 seconds. It’s also significantly heavier at 2.6 kg, due to the insulating double wall. However, this kettle was still a very strong performer, and combined with the matching toaster, would be the gem of any kitchen.

Score: 85/100

With no exposed heating element and a seamless, stainless-steel lining, this kettle makes cleaning and maintenance a breeze.

The spout is wide and shallow, so filling it is a little tricky, but the rest of the design was well-thought out with an easy-access button for the lid and a 360-degree swivel base.

At minimum capacity, it took an average of a minute and a half to boil, while full capacity took four minutes and 40 seconds, and it was quite heavy to carry when full. The ergonomic handle helped though, and testers were impressed with how cool both the handle and body of the kettle remained throughout use.

Score: 78/100

The Laura Ashley floral print on this kettle will bring a touch of country chic to any kitchen. It was easy to use in testing with a 360 degree swivel base, clear indicator lights and a fairly lightweight design that made pouring and filling a breeze.

It fell short slightly on its boiling times, taking just under four minutes to boil a full 1.7 litres and around two minutes for its minimum of 0.75 litres. The outside of the kettle exceeded 65 degrees just under the handle, too, which isn’t ideal, but it was quite quiet when boiling. Note, we've also tested the Laura Ashley mixer as part of our best hand mixers roundup if you want to coordinate your appliances.

Score: 76/100

Making a cup of tea can provide the perfect opportunity to take a breath and de-stress, and this stylish kettle takes that idea to the next level. Let us explain…

This kettle comes with a range of mood lighting and plays soothing sounds to help you relax – plus, it doesn’t even need to be boiling for you to use these functions, which means you can use it to create a moment of calm whenever you need.

All that aside, in test, it wasn’t overly quick, taking over two and a half minutes to boil a litre of water (a reason for its lower score), but, on the plus side, this does give you more time to enjoy the calming lights. Just be careful not to touch the outside during and after boiling as the casing reached very high temperatures.