Rowenta Prelude Illumination Kettle, Stainless Steel, 1.7 Litres (Kitchen & Home)

Funky but flawed The kettle is a nice design and has a reasonable footprint (many of the kettles currently on the market are "quite fat"). The green illumination is absolutely lovely and very funky - it also makes a great change from the majority which are blue. However it does have a couple of flaws: firstly it's incredibly noisy and sounds like it's boiling from the moment you hit the switch; secondly the lid doesn't open completely it only pivots in the centre which makes cleaning it out, and even filling it unnecessarily fiddly.

Rubbish! We are on our second kettle in 8 months. The first one was fine for about 5 months then one morning i filled the kettle to make up my babys feed only to discover that the kettle had developed a hole overnight (from the see through window), the water went everywhere and i was left without a kettle to make up the formula! Amazon replaced the product with no fuss at all (thank you Amazon). We hoped that we were unlucky with the first one and that it would be a one off however here i am, less than 3 months down the line with kettle number 2 only to discover this one too has developed a leak (from the spout this time) and not only that, the kettle has gone rusty around the lid - not very attractive! I understand that the kettle gets a lot of use, what with us making up baby milk 4 times a day, but i expect a kettle to have a longer life than just three months!!

Just what I was looking for! Im obviously a fussy kettle buyer because I saw loads of kettles I didnt like before choosing this one. So why this one? Firstly, it looks smart with a nicely balanced shape. The finish is easy to rub clean with a dry cloth. It pours beautifully with no drips. The lid opens by pressing a button. And for a little gimmick, the kettle lights up when you switch it on. And to show Im not shallow and just impressed by looks, it boils a cupful of water faster than I can find a clean cup and put a teabag in it. Oh,and an important factor for me, compared with other similar steel kettles, this one weighs so much less. What more could you ask for?

Vacuum flask boiler I have very hard water, and my old Rowenta kettle took its regular descalings on the chin, giving me years of faithful service before finally leaking too heavily from its viewing window for me to ignore the signs. (It was probably stuck together with limescale and courage by the time I got rid of it.) So I opted for this new Rowenta Prelude in the hope that it'll also do me proud. I boiled it several times before using it and haven't experienced any problems with aftertaste. This kettle is quite an unusually large shape and size: it reminds me strongly of a family-size vacuum flask. It's 9.5 inches tall (a fair bit taller than the usual squat designs) and 6.5" in diameter. Its large capacity of 1.7 litres is great if you often need a fair quantity of boiling water. It handles well: it feels very well-balanced, solid but not heavy, with a comfortable handle and accurate pouring. It's also ultra-easy to replace on its base. There are enormous viewing windows on either side so it's easy to see how far you've filled it, particularly when it's turned on and the internal green light comes on. One quibble is that the fill indicator marks on the viewing windows (0.5L, 1 Litre, 1.7L max) are a bit small and I can't read them properly. It boils half a litre (enough for 2 mugs of coffee) in under a minute, and switches off precisely. The flat lid flips vertically when you press the opening button on the top of the handle, so that the lid hangs vertically, half-way in and half-way out of the kettle. This takes some getting used to, but it does provide enough space to get the tap in to fill the kettle. The more I use it, the more I like it, although returning from holiday I couldn't remember how to open the thing! The button opening is very convenient if you want to re-fill immediately after boiling, as you completely avoid prising open the lid and possibly scalding yourself on the escaping steam. Also the spout is large enough to fill from the tap too. The on/off lever is tucked away at the base of the handle, which I personally find a minor fiddle trying to locate in my bleary-eyed mornings, but no doubt I'll get used to that in time. Living with constant limescale, I'm impressed with the manufacturer's recommendation to descale regularly using simple white vinegar, as this seems to be doing a good job and will save me from buying the specialist descaler stuff! The lid comes off completely so you can access the whole of the inside when cleaning (the diagram for how to remove the lid is stamped on its underside). The mesh filter in the spout is a bit delicate and fiddly to unclip, but can be wiped clean in situ if necessary. The brushed stainless steel body disguises water marks fairly well, and a brisk rub with a damp cloth is recommended to take off any stains. Personally I use white vinegar on a kitchen towel to rub down the outsides, then a damp cloth to remove the smell and buff it dry, and this works better with my limescale problem. All in all, when I first got this kettle I was a bit shocked and disappointed at its size and quirky features, but I've quickly grown to like it - quite a lot, actually.

Really pleased My husband chose this kettle as he liked the design, shape and green light element, as ever delivery with amazon was swift and we are really pleased with our choice. As with other reviews the kettle does seem noisier than our previous kettle but this doesnt bother us so I wouldnt class it as a negative. There is a measure guide on both sides of the kettle so it doesnt matter if you have the handle to the left or the right the kettle looks the same and the green light when its boiling is a really nice feature. The lid opens at the touch of a button which makes it easy to fill and it boils really quickly which is a real positive. We boiled the kettle 3 times just to be on the safe side before using and havent noticed any unpleasant metalic taste at all. Overall a great product for the price, would recommend.