Zeppoli Electric Kettle ZPL-KETTLE In-depth Review
Overall Verdict
The Zeppoli Electric Kettle ZPL-KETTLE is an all-round good performer with an exceptionally quiet boiling phase. It has a fast boiling speed, good heat retention, and consumes little energy—all in the top tier. To top it off, the kettle is affordable as well.
Its design is standard but has all the desirable features that make it easy to use and clean. If we’re being nitpicky, a round three-prong power cord would make it safer and easier to wrap.
Things We Like
- Fast boiling time
- Low energy consumption
- Extremely quiet boiling phase
- Good heat retention
- Affordable
- Light weight
- Easy to use and clean
Things We Don’t Like
- Flat two-prong cord
- Plastic lid interior
We bought the Zeppoli Electric Kettle ZPL-KETTLE on Amazon for $27.97 (at the time of writing), which was the average price tag for the product. The brand also has a model with a completely stainless steel exterior instead of partially like the one we chose.
It has a standard design so we just went straight to a first test run and got a pretty fast boiling time. Let’s see what else this kettle has!
8.4 Performance
The Zeppoli Electric Glass Kettle has higher scores than its competitors in terms of boiling time, energy consumption, keep warm, and most of all, noise level. This culminates to a top-tier performance score among our tested electric kettles.
8.2 Boiling Time
For the common electric kettles (not goosenecks) like the Zeppoli, we evaluate the time they take to boil 1.5 liters of water—a middle ground of their capacity. This kettle took 6 minutes and 51 seconds to bring 1.5 liters of room-temperature water (80°F/26.7°C) to boiling point (212°F/100°C).
This result is quite standard among kettles with 1500 W of power like this one. According to our data, it was relatively fast and worthy of a score of 8.2/10.
8.6 Energy Consumption
We used a power meter to measure the Zeppoli’s total energy consumption to bring 1.5 liters of room-temperature water to a rolling boil. The result was 147 Wh which was lower than many of its competitors and scored an 8.6/10.
9.5 Noise Level
During boiling, the Zeppoli’s noise level peaked at 64.7 dB while reaching a rolling simmer, which was significantly lower than the CDC-recommended 80 dB. This result was one of our most quiet and equated to a 9.5/10.
7.5 Keep Warm
Although the glass carafe of the Zeppoli isn’t the best for heat retention, the temperature only dropped from 212°F / 100°C to 203°F / 94.5°C after 5 minutes. This translated to a 7.5/10 in our Keep Warm test, quite good for a kettle that isn’t double-walled and doesn’t have the Keep Warm feature.
7.9 Design
The Zeppoli’s standard design doesn’t miss. It has all the desirable features, including a removable mesh filter, an LED ring, and water-level markings. Nonetheless, it could use a stainless steel lid interior.
In the Box
- One cordless kettle
- One corded power base
- One user manual
- Warranty: 1 year
The Zeppoli Electric Glass Kettle arrived between two foam pads—one for the top and bottom—inside a carton box. The instruction manual has information on safeguards, user instructions, kettle’s parts, cleaning and maintenance, troubleshooting, and a 1-year warranty that you’ll need to purchase and activate separately.
Dimensions
8.0 Carafe
The Zeppoli’s carafe is made of glass and has a capacity of 1.7 L (57.48 fl. oz) or 7 cups of water (+2). It has a wide lid opening, 3.94 inches in diameter, allowing you to comfortably pour in water from your tap or any container (+1). There are water level markings in the middle of the carafe (+1).
Its black plastic spout has a standard V shape. The limescale filter is positioned by the spout and is removable (+2).
Similar to many other cordless electric kettles, the Zeppoli’s heating element is positioned inside the bottom of the carafe. There’s a ring of blue LED around the bottom which will illuminate when the kettle’s running, making it easy to spot in the dark (+2).
7.0 Handle
The cool-touch handle is made of BPA-free plastic (+3). Its design is standard, without an ergonomic contour or anti-slip feature, but feels secure and comfortable on the wrist nonetheless (+4).
7.0 Lid
The Zeppoli has a hinged lid that pop-ups to a 80° angle with a single push of a button located on the handle (+4). That angle is good enough for the lid to move out of the way to get water in despite the attached limescale filter (+2).
The lid has a stainless steel exterior but plastic interior which means some contact between plastic and hot water is unavoidable. Nonetheless, we noticed no odd odor during the first boil.
Unlike some other electric kettles we’ve tested, this one doesn’t have a silicone band around the circumference. Regardless, the lid still closes tightly (+1). It’s not cool-touch though, so be careful when the water’s still hot.
9.0 Base
The Zeppoli has a standard BPA-free plastic 360° swivel base that’s sturdy and fits the carafe well enough (+5). At the bottom of the base is the cord storage in addition to three small anti-slip rubber pads (+4).
Power Cord
The Zeppoli has a 32.28 inch flat power cord, which should be more than enough for household use. The cord uses a two-pronged plug which is typically considered not as safe as a three-pronged one. Nonetheless, it should be safe since the power base doesn’t have a metal casing but a plastic one.
7.5 Usability
The Zeppoli Electric Glass Kettle has all the features that makes it easy to use and clean. It could even be better with a round three-prong power cord like the Peach Street PE-1300 though.
7.0 User Control
The Zeppoli has a standard one-touch switch with no digital display or temperature control (+1). The power switch is made of clear plastic and is positioned near the bottom of the carafe along the handle. However, it doesn’t have an indicator light inside like with many other kettles.
The kettle also doesn’t have any indicator light on its body like many others. Thankfully, the carafe still has a blue LED ring to let you know the kettle is running (+2).
Like most other kettles, it has an automatic shutoff feature which activates when the thermal fuse detects that the ambient temperature is 100°C (+2). Keep in mind that this feature will not kick in if you leave the lid open. If you do, however, you still don’t have to worry about overheating because the kettle’s boil-dry protection feature will turn off the kettle when no water is present (+2).
8.0 Ease of Use
The Zeppoli is extremely simple to use, with only two distinctive buttons—one for power and one for opening the lid (+2).
The unobstructed and large opening of 3.94 inches allowed us to comfortably pour in water from the tap or any container (+1). The water level markings are in the middle of the carafe for easy viewing and precise decanting (+1).
The handle felt good in the hand and seemed sturdy when we picked the kettle up when filled with water to the max (+2). The nice angle between the arm and the kettle made pouring effortless (+1).
The power base fits firmly below its carafe so there is no wobbling around during boiling (+1). The flat shape of the cord made it impossible for us to wrap it tightly around its storage (+0). On the bright side, after wrapping, only the plug sticks out by 2.56 inches (6.5 cm).
7.0 Cleaning
Cleaning the Zeppoli is very simple and effortless (+2). Its lid doesn’t get in the way and the opening is large enough for an adult hand to fit through and wipe the interior when necessary (+3).
The limescale filter is removable for frequent cleaning and maintenance as well (+2). To remove the limescale, we simply boil a mixture of vinegar and water with the kettle and rinse it afterward.