Sales Rank: 418


Features:

Stainless steel heating disk

Bell signal for boiling water

Pirouette center connector

10-cup capacity

Auto shutoff

Average Rating:
Rating: - A Must Have!
In looking for an electric kettle, this one had all the features I was looking for. Frankly, after burning through several electric coffee makers a year, I changed to instant coffee. Even expensive coffee makers just could not stand up to the demands of several coffee drinkers in my household. Leaving the stove on all day to keep water hot for coffee, just seemed expensive and impractical. I found just what I was looking for in the Phillips electric kettle. It boils water in seconds (an absolute MUST while waiting for that 1st cup in the morning). It really is ready with piping hot water BEFORE the bell dings, but best of all, it heats water faster AND hotter than the microwave. Perfect as well when needing boiling water for instant oatmeal and cooking. Alot of value for the money!

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Rating: - Great kettle - now some details
Pros:

- plastic body
- white (never looks dirty)
- swivel base
- automatically shuts off
- stainless steel enclosed element (stays clean)
- 1500 watts (heats quickly)
- cord wraps under base for storage

Cons:

- only comes in white (some people like black or chrome things)
- lid mechanism could be designed better (see review)
- lid needs to be shut for auto-off to work properly
- "cups" markings on the sides are not 8 oz. cups (4 cups is just past the number 6 on markings).

I got one for christmas - decided I needed a hot water kettle. This morning, I put water in it - hit the switch. By the time I had measured out the loose tea in the cup infuser, and poured out my oatmeal in a bowl (it's cold today!) .... *DING* - my 6 cups of water is ready.

I wanted a stainless kettle, but got this instead. All I can say is - I am glad of this mistake. This is a great kettle. The handle is designed so that you can grip it easily (not too narrow - easier to pour a full pot with control). The spout sticks out a bit from the body, making the pour nice and precise (some kettles have smaller spouts because they look nice, but the net effect is you have steam coming up too close to your hand). Not on this one!

The power button - has an internal light and will automatically shut off. AFter shutoff, you can try to turn it back on - there is a sensor when the LID IS CLOSED that senses how much steam is escaping. If the water is still hot enough, the button will shut right back off. It's NOT A timer.

Why is this good?

Right now - I am just about finished with my first cup of tea. Now, I want to do some manual drip coffee. All I am going to do is go downstairs, hit the button, and the water, which is pretty warm still, will be boiling again within 30-40 seconds. Not a timer - it knows when the water boils.

Now - there is no auto-shutoff feature when you remove the kettle from the base. Some manufacturers have this as a feature. My question is - why? When you remove the kettle from the base, there is no electrical connection, so the water won't heat anymore anyway. So who cares? If you were to put it right back on the base, it would continue to heat (it is still on) until it boils, and then it shuts itself off. With an auto-off feature, it would turn the switch off when removed from the base.... but why would you remove it before it is done anyway? And when you put it on the base initially, you hit the power button - so what if you hit it before or after you put it on the base? The kettle doesn't care either way.

THE LID - the mechanism to close it is a spring latch, with catches on both sides of the lid. The back of the lid is where it hinges to open, the front of the lid is the pour spout. So it catches on the sides. The latch and lid and body are all plastic - so when the lid shuts, it isn't a nice, metal CLICK. it's a wimpy plastic clack. Whatever. This could have been designed a little better to shut a little easier and not have the annoying plastic clack. The handle to open it is built into the top, is VERY easy to operate (not a button that would be hard to push for someone with joint problems or arthritis for example). You grasp the handle with several fingers, pull upward, and the lid opens. If you are REALLY picky about the plastic clack, or are afraid it might break (I don't see how it would) you can grasp the handle with one hand, lift it slightly and press the entire lid down with the other. Easy to do, shuts nice every time. I still think they could have designed it better - the rest of the pot is designed so well!

This, combined with the lighter weight of the plastic, the large button for power, and the larger ergonomic handle would make this a good pot for someone with hand problems (like people with arthritis as an example). The heating element in the pot doesn't make it too heavy, and you can fill it up with small amounts of water.

Also - as much as I thought I would hate plastic - I am glad it is - no burns (accidents happen to the best of us) - and it always looks clean.

NOTE ON CLEANING: most of these things are not dishwasher safe. You clean the outside with a non-abrasive cleaner (windex, formula 409, whatever) and if you have hard water problems, decalcify the inside with vinegar or something similar. The elements are enclosed, all you see is a plate at the bottom - so it won't really affect the performance, just the hard water scaling might bother some people - but that's the same for ANY device that heats hard water.... pots on the stove, coffee maker, etc.

ANNOYANCE: the markings on the side are not the 8oz cup markings like on other kettles.... so, for example, I fill up my braun to the full mark (just past 7 cups) - and pour that into the philips - it fills the philips to the full mark, which says something like 10 cups. But it's the same amount of water.... but, if you have EVER seen the movie "spinal tap", then THIS is the kettle that goes to 11!

Conclusion: is it better than a microwave? If you do more than a cup of water at a time, absolutely. If you do a single cup of water at a time, about the same - in this case decide if you don't mind another kitchen device, and is it worth the money to get something to perform a function the microwave already does satisfactorily. Making more than a cup at a time? Get one. Now. I like it because I can make a few cups of tea or manual drip coffee (you haven't LIVED until you do this!) then make some oatmeal. Or if you have guests, you can make a pot of manual drip coffee, or a pot of tea, or a combination of both - very quickly and cleanly.

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Rating: - excellent kettle - watch the oatmeal
Excellent kettle. After living in England where everyone has an electric kettle this is the most under appreciated kitchen gadget in the USA. Everyone that sees mine wants one.

You must realise that modern designs are meant to be filled via the spout not by opening the lid which has safety features designed to make them hard to open in most cases which is why some complain about difficult lids. Mottto - use the spout to fill.
Comfortable handle and easy to use base make this a well designed kettle. As for the cup measure after one or two uses you'll use your eye to judge how much up the scale is the right amount. Unless you're fixated with the idea of exact measuring by the cup - do what I do and just overestimate!
The only thing against it is when I tried using it to make oatmeal as suggested by some here - it took ages to clean the oatmeal off the inside and it was burnt on the heating disk - so be warned if you use it for oatmeal.