The Best Electric Kettles in 2024 Tested & Reviewed
Electric kettles are still the most efficient appliance for making any hot beverage or getting hot water quickly when you need it. Our trusty electric kettle at Shouldit has been on the ready for rehydrating dried mushrooms, softening noodles, or reconstituting stock cubes—so we know how important its job is.
Most of all, electric kettles are handy for their rapid boiling time in ratio to water volume—faster than a stovetop kettle or even an induction cooktop. An electric kettle trumps a water boiler too because it pours faster, easier, and cordless kettles can be carried to any point.
How We Test
Hands-on testing has given our team at Shouldit insights and perspectives that we could never anticipate.
We evaluate an electric kettle’s performance based on its boiling time, energy consumption, noise level, and ability to keep warm.
For the kettle’s design, we check the material, construction, and the features on its carafe, handle, lid, and base.
The design features will dictate how high the kettle’s usability is. We assess how easy the user control is, as well as how easy it is to fill, lift, pour, and clean.
You can read in more detail how we test and score electric kettles.
How We Picked
Choosing and ranking the best electric kettles incorporates a number of things. First and foremost is our hands-on experience combined with expert technical knowledge from our test design team. In addition, we also scour user reviews to find out what matters most to people and we use this to devise our scoring table.
The highest scoring kettle is, therefore, the best electric kettle in every aspect. According to our results so far, the Cuisinart CPK-17P1 has the ideal balance of performance to design and usability—which are our three scoring criteria.
Our Top Picks
The best electric kettle to buy is our pick of the best all-rounder. Other selections will suit different preferences from materials, to design, accessories, and also price.
1. Best Overall: Cuisinart Electric Kettle 6 Presets CPK-17P1
Things We Like
- Stainless steel carafe
- 5 preset temperatures
- Keep Warm function
- Relatively lightweight
- Top performance
- Intuitive to use
Things We Don’t Like
- Pricey
- Narrow lid opening
The Cuisinart Stainless Steel Electric Kettle CPK-17P1 PerfecTemp with 6 preset temperatures is our supreme champion. Its most outstanding feature is its excellent ability to keep the water as hot as 209°F / 98.5°C for up to 30 minutes after switching off.
In addition, it had the fastest boiling speed in our tests, less than 7 minutes to bring 1.5 liters of room-temperature water (80°F) to a full rolling boil. It was more energy efficient than most, consuming only 148 Wh for the task.
The stainless steel carafe is not only excellent for keeping the water hot, but also for dampening noise during boiling, resulting in just over 70 dB. It’s also surprisingly light and the handle is textured which makes pouring easy.
The Cuisinart has all the desirable features such as an indicator light, water level markings, and a removable mesh filter—all high quality too. Its distinctive control panel has 6 temperature presets from 160°F to 212°F, making the price well worth it.
We thought, however, a couple of improvements could be a wider carafe opening and a stainless steel underside to the lid instead of plastic.
Read our full Cuisinart Electric Kettle 6 Presets CPK-17P1 in-depth review
2. Best Glass: Peach Street Electric Kettle PE-1300
Things We Like
- Low price tag
- Fast boiling time
- Quiet boiling phase
- Light weight
- Easy to use
- Large capacity
Things We Don’t Like
- Slightly high energy consumption
- Plastic lid
The Peach Street Electric Kettle PE-1300 is our best glass option, notably for its performance and attractive price tag. Moreover, it has all the design features you’d want in an electric kettle, all of which are high quality.
We were pleasantly surprised with the performance of the Peach Street across all four of our tests. Compared to many of its competitors, it had a faster boiling time than the average 8 minutes, was much quieter than the usual 75 dB, and consumed just slightly more energy than the common 150 Wh. Also, it could retain considerable heat for up to 5 minutes, maintaining 203°F / 95.5°C.
The Peach Street is well-constructed with all desirable features including a mesh filter, an LED ring, water-level markings, and more. Its performance surprised us since everything was pretty standard.
The Peach Street is simply straightforward to use. We had no problem with the controls, filling or pouring water.
Read our full Peach Street Electric Kettle PE-1300 in-depth review
3. Best Stainless Steel: Secura Electric Kettle SWK-1701DA
Things We Like
- Cool-touch exterior
- Double-walled heat retention
- No plastic contact to water
- Rapid boiling speed
- Affordable
- Large lid opening
Things We Don’t Like
- Energy consumption
- No water-level markings
In terms of having a stainless steel body, the Secura Kettle SWK-1701DA is even better than the Cuisinart. Its double-wall construction keeps the water hot and prevents accidental burns.
There is also no contact between water and plastic parts, which we know some people really appreciate. On top of everything, it only costs a little more than its glass competitors.
The carafe’s large lid opening also makes it extremely easy to fill water and also to clean. However, a silicone band around the lid for tighter seal, a mesh filter, and a water-level window would be nice extras.
Our performance tests confirmed product claims that the double-wall stainless steel helps to boil water faster and retains heat for longer. It took just over 7 minutes to boil 1.5 liters of water and remained at 205°F / 96.5°C after 5 minutes.
As a bonus, the kettle was quiet when boiling, reaching just under 75 dB. However, it consumed 155 Wh, slightly more energy than others.
Read our full Secura Electric Kettle SWK-1701DA in-depth review
4. Best Value: Comfee Electric Kettle CEKG003
Things We Like
- Low price tag
- Quiet when boiling
- Easy to use
- Light weight
- Large capacity
- Fast boiling time
- Long cord
Things We Don’t Like
- High energy consumption
- Cord doesn’t fit storage
The kettle has a standard design and is easy to use, carry, pour, and clean. Even more, it still has all the nice extras such as a mesh filter, a blue LED ring, a large opening, and a pop-up lid—all high quality.
It does, however, consume 161 Wh—quite a bit more energy compared to other kettles—and its heat retention isn’t anything to write home about either. Also, the cord didn’t wrap neatly around its storage.
Read our full Comfee Electric Kettle CEKG003 in-depth review
5. Best with Tea Infuser: Chefman Electric Kettle with 5 Presets
Things We Like
- 5 different presets
- Removable tea infuser
- Low price tag
- Quite when boiling
- Removable mesh filter
Things We Don’t Like
- Slow boiling time
- Small opening
- Awkward handle
The Chefman Electric Kettle with 5 Presets RJ11-17-CTI-RL earned its place on our list for its excellent value at a low price. This included a tea infuser and 5 temperature presets (rare enough) plus a well-designed carafe, pop-up lid, control panel, and power base.
Truth be told, however, the kettle’s performance was average at best. Quiet boiling (only 69 dB) was the key to its acceptable performance score. Other than that, it was slow—over 9 minutes to boil 1.5 liters of water—with mid-range energy consumption and heat retention.
Its value propositions might be enough to convince you, but the handle was awkward to hold and the cord storage didn’t wrap well. Also, the lid opening is a little narrow therefore making it difficult to clean inside.
Read our full Chefman Electric Kettle with 5 Presets in-depth review
Close Competitors
- The Zeppoli ZPL-KETTLE is an all-round good performer with an exceptionally quiet boiling phase of 64.7 dB. However, it could be improved with a round three-prong power cord.
- The Mueller Ultra M99S is another glass pick that closely matches up to the Zeppoli. Unfortunately, its uniquely shaped handle was quite a hindrance.
- The Bella 14745 is all about great aesthetics. We chose to feature this kettle for its eye-catching ceramic carafe and practical gooseneck spout.Good looks aside, it was slow to boil.
Things to Consider When Buying
Over the course of us testing different electric kettles, we’ve identified a number of key desirable qualities regarding their performance, design, usability, and lastly, price.
- Aim for 1500 W or above.
- Stainless is best.
- Ideal volume is 1.7 L.
- Temperature control and presets.
- Mesh filter and wide opening.
- Round power cords work best.
- Check the safety features.
Why Trust Us?
Simply put, we independently buy and test kitchen products. Our specialized team designs tests and evaluations that prioritize user experience. Furthermore, we don’t just say we test products. We provide all the evidence and data including details on our test methodologies and evaluation criteria.
Tests are all videotaped for authenticity and our expert photographers show you details of products and testing procedures.
After testing, the best electric kettles from our selection are deployed in the Healthy Recipes 101 kitchen for long term user evaluation. In this way, we maintain a constant flow of feedback on quality and performance.
Our Expertise
Alan Nguyen is a consumer researcher and writer for Shouldit. Working together with the ResearchTesting and Review team (RTR), he began his quest for the best electric kettles by researching countless options before narrowing the race down to 20 distinctive models. We literally boiled over a hundred liters of water in our testing and evaluation of 20 of the best electric kettles so you will know which is the one for you.
FAQ
Boiling water is one of the most efficient purification methods when you don’t have access to drinkable water or in the case of a service breakdown. And, electric kettles are our number one recommendation for the job. Read more on reasons for using an electric kettle.
Depending on the kettle’s capacity and wattage, it can take from 5 to 9 minutes, with 8 minutes being the average.
To clean the limescale build-up in a kettle, simply boil a mixture of vinegar and water, let it sit for 2 hours, then rinse afterward.
Unless your kettle has an infuser, don’t boil tea directly in it. The proper way to make tea is to put your tea leaves or tea bag in a container like a teapot and make sure you select the right water temperature from our quick guide.