The 5 Best Electric Kettles of 2023 – CNET [CNET]

Make hot water for coffee, tea and noodles in an instant. We tested the best electric kettles to help you find the perfect pot.

To start, here’s a list of the eight models we tested in this latest round to find the best electric kettle:

Chefman Easy Fill Electric Kettle: This is a fantastic value at less than $19. A pour-through lid makes it quick and easy to fill. It doesn’t have temperature control, nor does it keep the water hot after it reaches a boil. It was one of the slower kettles, taking six minutes to reach a boil. But if you just want to boil water and don’t need any bells and whistles, this is the one for you.

Hamilton Beach Cool Touch Kettle: With five preset temperature settings, a cool-touch exterior, fast boil time, and reasonable $50 price point, this is a nice option for tea drinkers. It can hold your set temperature for up to 30 minutes.

Beautiful by Drew Barrymore One-Touch Kettle: Our overall winner is a great value with a host of features, and it brought water to a boil as fast as any electric kettle we’ve tested. It has four preset temperatures, but you can dial them up or down in five-degree increments. This attractive kettle will keep your water at your chosen temperature for up to 60 minutes, and the cool-touch exterior makes it a safer option.

KitchenAid KEK1222 Electric Kettle: This has an unusual look for an electric kettle in that it looks like a traditional one. It’s compact and cute and comes in a bunch of color options, making it one of our top picks. You might even match it to your other KitchenAid appliances, such as a stand mixer. It includes a mesh filter to trap scale for cleaner water, but otherwise doesn’t offer any fancy features.

Aromaster Electric Gooseneck Kettle: The gooseneck spout and built-in analog thermometer are the star features of this $70 kettle. A gooseneck spout is a must for pour-over coffee, and knowing the exact temperature is important, too, since you don’t want water at a full boil for brewing coffee. You can’t set or hold a certain temperature, but at least you can see it on this kettle. 

Bodum Melior Gooseneck Electric Kettle: At $36, this is the cheapest gooseneck kettle option I tested. If that’s the only feature you need, the price point makes the Bodum an attractive pick, but it lacks distinguishing features and was relatively slow to boil compared with other, higher-wattage options.

Cosori Electric Gooseneck Kettle: If you want a reasonably-priced gooseneck kettle with five temperature presets for tea and coffee, plus a 60-minute temperature hold, this is your kettle at about $70. Clearly marked buttons on the base make it simple to use.

Stagg EKG Electric Kettle: Looking to impress your guests with the best pour-over coffee? With a retail price ranging between $165 and $195 depending on the finish this one’s a splurge, but it has the best features for coffee aficionados. The Stagg has the gooseneck spout you want for a controlled pour, and you’ll be able to dial up the exact temperature you desire, then hold it there for 60 minutes. Plus, it’s a downright gorgeous addition to any kitchen, something you’ll be proud to display.

For comparison, here’s a more detailed overview of each model’s key specs:

Electric kettle specs

	Chefman Easy Fill Electric Kettle	Hamilton Beach Cool Touch Kettle	Beautiful by Drew Barrymore One-Touch Kettle	KitchenAid KEK1222 Electric Kettle	Aromaster Electric Gooseneck Kettle	Bodum Melior Gooseneck Electric Kettle	Cosori Electric Gooseneck Kettle	Stagg EKG Electric Kettle
Model number	RJ11-17-GM-EF	41033	19135	KEK1222	YK-139T	11883-259US	CO108-NK	EEO1AA1A
Color	Matte Black, Clear	Black	Black, Cornflower Blue, Merlot, Oyster Grey, Sage Green, White Icing	Black Matte, Onyx Black, Brushed Stainless Steel, Empire Red, Pistachio	Black	Matte Black	Stainless Steel	Matte Black, Matte White, Polished Steel, Polished Copper, Stone Blue, Warm Pink (multiple wood accents available)
Capacity	57.48 oz. (1.7 L)	57.48 oz. (1.7 L)	57.48 oz. (1.7 L)	42.27 oz. (1.25 L)	27 oz. (0.8 L)	27 oz. (0.8 L)	27 oz. (0.8 L)	30.43 oz. (0.9 L)
Dimensions (HxWxD, in inches)	9.5 x 6.1 x 8.3	9.5 x 6.0 x 8.4	10.5 x 6.4 x 9.2	10.3 x 7.0 x 8.9	7.1 x 6.5 x 11.6	6.3 x 8.3 x 11.8	9.0 x 7.7 x 11.6	8.0 x 6.8 x 11.5
Weight (in pounds, including base)	2.0	2.4	3.1	2.6	2.3	1.9	2.7	2.8
Cool-touch exterior	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Set temperature feature	No	Yes (5 options)	Yes (4 options)	No	No	No	Yes (5 options)	Yes (to the exact degree)
Hold temperature feature	No	Yes (automatically holds for 30 minutes)	Yes (automatically holds for 60 minutes)	No	No	No	Yes (for 60 min, can be turned on and off)	Yes (for 60 min)
Thermometer	No	Yes (digital)	Yes (digital)	No	Yes (analog)	No	No	Yes (digital)
Wattage	1,100W	1,500W	1,500W	1,500W	1,200W	1,000W	1,200W	1,200W
Boil time	6:00	4:12	4:10	4:13	4:59	6:42	4:34	4:34
Retail price	$19	$50	$50	$80	$70	$49.50	$70	$195

Finally, here are the testing notes from previous years’ tests.

At $90, the Zwilling Enfinigy 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 it has a cool-touch exterior for finger safety. The model we tested seems to be out of stock at Bed Bath & Beyond, though, and replaced with a similar-looking, equally sized model that costs about $30 more than before.

Another top pick from previous years is the Oxo Brew Adjustable Gooseneck Kettle. With its gooseneck spout, it’s 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 at $105, but Cosori’s gooseneck kettle offers comparable features and performance while costing $35 less.

Meanwhile, the Oxo Brew Cordless Glass Kettle was actually the fastest and most consistent kettle from our 2021 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. At a list price of $84, it’s a bit expensive, but still well worth considering.

The Smarter iKettle performed well in our tests, too, and I 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 quickly and completely 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 be able to see how much water is in your kettle and to start it boiling remotely from your device. Whether or not that’s worth paying a little more than you would for a standard electric kettle is up to you.

The pricey Smeg Electric Kettle was another high-octane kettle with a solid build and a ton of retro charm to boot. My main beef with it is that it got extremely hot to the touch. It’s also awfully expensive at $190, especially considering there are no special features other than simply boiling water. If you like the look you won’t be disappointed, but it doesn’t offer much bang for the buck.

The Cuisinart PerfectTemp also did well in testing but its performance is not commensurate with the $100 price tag. If you’re looking to snag one from that brand, I’d recommend this slightly basic model for $70, which has fewer presets but a more reasonable price. As my colleague, Megan Wollerton, reported in her initial round of testing for CNET, the 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.

Both of the Ovente electric kettles I tested — the $34 Ovente Illumination and the $48 Ovente Victoria Series — are affordable options that boiled water quickly and were easy to use. That said, neither one stood out in testing and they felt a bit cheaply made. Also, both had lids that were unnecessarily detached from the kettle, which means you could misplace them. Knowing myself, I probably would.

To test our latest batch of eight electric kettles, I used a four-channel K thermometer SD logger. The thermocouple measured two things: how quickly each kettle boiled four cups of water — and how well each model with a hold-temperature function held the water temperature over a 10-minute period. 

For the boil test, I started with cold tap water and watched the thermocouple display until the sensor tracking the temperature inside each kettle reached 209 degrees Fahrenheit. Yes, water boils at 212 degrees F, but we use 209 because the boiling point for water can vary based on variables such as altitude or barometric pressure. In most of our testing areas, 209 F is a target temp that should not be affected by such variables.

Electric kettle test results

	Chefman Easy Fill Electric Kettle	Hamilton Beach Cool Touch Kettle	Beautiful by Drew Barrymore One-Touch Kettle	KitchenAid KEK1222 Electric Kettle	Aromaster Electric Gooseneck Kettle	Bodum Melior Gooseneck Electric Kettle	Cosori Electric Gooseneck Kettle	Stagg EKG Electric Kettle
Boil time	6:00	4:12	4:10	4:13	4:59	6:42	4:34	4:34
Maximum temperature during 10-minute temp hold	n/a	211.7	211.2	n/a	n/a	n/a	216.0	233.2
Minimum temperature during 10-minute temp hold	n/a	203.3	207.1	n/a	n/a	n/a	185.1	187.0

For the hold temperature test, I used the thermocouple thermometer to measure the minimum and maximum temperatures during the 10-minute hold period. Keep in mind that the thermocouple readings aren’t exact and that there will be slight variation based on placement during testing. That said, I did my best to place the thermocouples midway down in the water, in the center of each kettle.

If you’re going to use your kettle for pour-over coffee” target=”_blank and you care about brewing it correctly, you’ll definitely want a gooseneck spout and a built-in thermometer for precision brewing. If you’re into tea” target=”_blank, you don’t need the gooseneck spout, but the built-in thermometer is still handy to make sure you’re brewing each type of tea correctly to get that perfect cuppa.

While you can certainly use a gooseneck for any hot water need, it’s not the ideal one-size-fits-all style. While it heats water just fine, it pours quite slowly. This is by design, because it brings out the best flavor in coffee by allowing it to bloom properly. But it’s not necessary for tea and other applications, and can be frustratingly slow to pour. If you try to rush it, like I did, boiling water will leak out around the lid. Also, the gooseneck spout isn’t quite at the bottom of the kettle, so you’ll have to tip the kettle several times to pour all of the water out. 

Consider which features are important for your own hot water scenarios. If you’ll be brewing various teas, and you want to bring water to the correct temperatures for each kind of tea, you’ll want to choose a kettle with a built-in thermometer and preferably preset buttons so you can set it and forget it. If you want to keep your water hot for a while, choose one with a temperature hold feature. If you’re concerned about children (or yourself) touching the outside of the kettle, you’ll want to choose one with a stay-cool exterior. 

You’ll also want to consider the capacity you need, which varies widely between models. Another point of consideration is wattage; generally the higher-wattage kettles heat the water faster.

I was actually pretty impressed by all of the electric kettles that I tested. There wasn’t a dud in the bunch. If you don’t need bells and whistles and just want a quick and safe way to boil water, the least expensive one in the roundup will do you just fine. Just choose your price range, the look you want and the feature set you need.