The Best Electric Kettles to Get the Water Going
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Any old Kettle can boil water. But the best electric kettles on this list are creatures of modern precision. They don't just boil water faster and more efficiently than a stovetop kettle, although this is also true. The new generation of electric kettles can stop at a dime at the precise temperature that brings out the best flavors in green or oolong tea, or a light-roast bean from one of our favorite coffee subscriptions. And because they’re meant to live on your counter, our favorites are also perhaps a little beautiful.
There are a lot of electric kettles out there. If you're looking for the best bang for your buck or one that's particularly great for coffee, we've done the hard work for you. We've been testing kettles for years to find the best electric kettles worthy of your countertop.
For more guides to kitchen devices, check out the Best Espresso Machines, Best Drip Coffee Makers, Best Coffee Grinders, the Best Latte & Cappuccino Makers, the Best Air Fryers.
Updated April 2025: We added the Fellow Stagg Pro and the Balmuda MoonKettle and removed the previous model of Fellow Stagg and a Wolf Gourmet True Temperature Kettle that's no longer available. We also rearranged, retested devices where relevant, and updated prices throughout. WIRED contributor Chris Haslam has also tested kettles for this guide.
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Stainless Steel vs. Glass
Our top-line electric kettle recommendations are mostly made of either stainless steel or glass. If you're wondering which to choose, there are pros and cons to both materials.
Glass electric kettles are easier to maintain. You can spot buildup in and around the kettle more clearly, though that might mean you'll be cleaning it more often. Glass kettles are less likely to get rusty over time too. Since they're see-through, they're easier to fill with water, and you can keep an eye on the boiling process. However, they are fragile—even if they're made of durable glass, you still have to be careful.
Stainless steel electric kettles tend to hide any kind of mucky buildup, but that doesn't mean they're a hassle to clean. They're more durable and often don't get as hot as glass kettles, so they're a little safer to hold. Generally, there are also more styles and colors to choose from. However, it's not as easy to check water levels since the body isn't see-through, and the exterior can often feel hot even if it has a double-walled body.
Don’t Forget to Descale Your Electric Kettle
It's important to maintain your electric kettle for a variety of reasons—it'll increase its longevity, let your tea and coffee taste fresh, and keep the kettle itself looking its best. But as with other kitchen appliances, you can't simply throw it in the dishwasher or scrub it with some soap and water. Below, we answer all the common questions that come with descaling an electric kettle.
Why do I need to descale my electric kettle?
Water contains natural minerals like calcium carbonate and magnesium. When boiling water, the heat causes those minerals to precipitate into a white, chalky deposit inside the kettle known as limescale buildup. Descaling your electric kettle removes that buildup. While limescale isn't dangerous to your health, it can damage the kettle and affect its efficiency—causing it to take longer to boil water. It can impact the taste of the water too.
How do you descale an electric kettle?
You can descale your kettle using a water and vinegar solution—the mild acidity helps to break down the buildup of minerals. Add equal parts water and vinegar to the kettle and bring it to a boil. If you don't have vinegar on hand, you can also use baking soda or lemon juice. When using baking soda, you should add one to two tablespoons to two cups of water and bring it to a boil. For lemon juice, you can either cut a lemon in half and squeeze the juice out or use a quarter cup of lemon juice. Then, add the juice to one cup of water, mix it, and bring it to a boil.
Depending on how much mineral buildup there is, or how long it's been since you've descaled your kettle, you can let your solution sit inside the kettle for as little as 15 to 20 minutes or as long as overnight. Then, pour the water out and wipe the inside with a sponge, soft cloth, or soft-bristle sponge. You can repeat the process if you still see limescale.
How often do I need to descale my electric kettle?
If you live in an area with hard water (which is water with a high mineral content), you should descale your kettle every three months. If you live in an area with soft water (which has a low mineral content), you can wait a little longer. However, you should also descale it if you notice mineral deposits in the kettle, your tea or coffee tastes somewhat off, or you see grainy sediment at the bottom of your mug.
Why Water Temperatures are Best for Different Teas?
While boiling water will certainly always brew coffee and tea, different compounds come out at different times, and different temperatures. Tea or coffee that's brewed too hot can unleash bitter astringency, detected as sharpness or even a kinda “burnt” note. Lame.
That's why our favorite electric kettles aren't generally just boiling machines. They're the ones that allow you to brew to more precise temperatures, offering you the flexibility to discover the best flavors for yourself by varying your water temp with the same tea leaves or coffee beans, for that matter.
Just note that the below recommendations are general ranges, but that the best temperature and time will be different for each leaf, each bean, and each person's tastebuds. It's a rabbithole, if you let it be. (Or you can just declare it all way too complicated, boil the hell out of everything, refuese to set a timer, and then slurp it up. You do you.)
Brewing temperature for coffee: The rule of thumb laid down by the international Specialty Coffee Association is that the best coffee makers should be able to brew within the range of 194 degrees and 204 degrees Fahrenheit. Lighter roasts may need temperatures on the higher end of this spectrum to extract the same amount of flavor in the same time. But brewing technique matters: For pour-over coffee, you'll want to pour at a higher temperature off the kettle, to account for heat loss. For French press, just pour at your ideal brew temp.
Brewing temperature for tea: There are a few general guidelines laid down by most teamakers and experts. Delicate white and green tea leaves like lower temperatures, and can be scalded by boiling water. Black teas can take higher temperatures. The larger the leaf, according to the Tea Association of the USA, the lower the temperature you'll want to use. The older or more aged the tea, the higher temperature you'd like to coax out the flavors.
Here's a loose range of ideal brewing temps:
Black tea: Black teas like Earl Grey or English breakfast are generally brewable off the boil, but many like to lower the temp closer to 200 degrees.
Pu'erh tea: Aged pu'erh can also take a brew right off the boil, in order to reveal its most interesting secrets. That said, most sources say to lower the temp for younger pu'erh, maybe to 190 or 195 degrees Fahrenheit. Some go even lower.
Oolongs and white teas: The Tea Association likes a starting range here between 180 and 190 degrees Fahrenheit, cautioning you'll need to adjust your steeping times and temps for each leaf. Though note that the world is full of those who won't brew a delicate white tea above 170 degrees.
Green tea: Green teas like matcha and sencha are delicate, and might best take temperatures between 165 and 185 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the Tea Association. Many sources hew to the low side of this range. If your kettle doesn't have temperature control, try waiting ten minutes after it boils before pouring.
Best Versatile Kettle
For two years, this Breville IQ has been the reliable, personable workhorse of WIRED contributor Chris Haslam's UK test kitchen, besting all other contenders available globally. When I wrote to ask if this was still the case, he replied that he was boiling that “beautiful kettle” at that very moment.
Why does this device best KitchenAid, Hay, Wolf, and other estimable contenders? The capacity is large, the pour is consistently easy and smooth. It feels good, looks good, works well, boils quickly, and has kept working for years and still “purrs.” And for those who don't want to have to ask Google the right temperature, this Breville will teach you the correct temperature to brew better-tasting drinks, with five presets for green tea, white tea, oolong, coffee, and black tea. Yes, there are loads of buttons as a result, but all of them make sense. Consider the IQ a beautiful and reliable generalist.
For those who prefer the clarity and easy cleaning of a glass kettle, and trust themselves with its higher fragility, the Breville IQ Pure, made with German Schott glass, is a lovely contender as well. —Matthew Korfhage
Specs Capacity: 1.8 liters Materials: Brushed stainless steel Features: Auto shut-off, boil-dry protection, keep warm button, preset buttons, soft-open lid Weight: 3.4 pounds Wattage: 1,500 watts Best for Elegant Precision and Pour-Over Coffee
The Stagg EKG is the beautiful device that first made Fellow's name in the craft coffee world. Years later, it's still a proud achievement—an elegant trophy of a kettle that offers precision to within a half degree Celsius and calibration to your local altitude. The elegant gooseneck spout offers similar precision in the volume and direction of your pour. The newest Pro version of the Stagg allows you to schedule your kettle to heat water to any temperature you like before you wake up each morning, then hold it there an hour while waiting for you to blearily join it. And in a move so rare in the modern age I don't know many precedents, Fellow reduced the price of the Stagg by $30 in March after finding some manufacturing efficiencies. Wow.
The gooseneck Stagg is a longtime favorite of the WIRED Gear team: The previous-generation EKG+ (8/10 WIRED Recommends) was the first argument we'd ever seen for a Wi-Fi–connected kettle. The Pro continues this tradition with a series of tiny tweaks and firmware updates that include the ability to schedule your kettle to wake up at a set time in perpetuity each morning. (The Fellow has dry-pot sensor protection, but make sure you always keep water in your kettle if you do this.) A decade since its birth, the Stagg remains my favorite kettle for to single-serving coffee or tea and the one that now sits prettily on my counter with a walnut-accented handle. The slower, precision-pour spout nonetheless makes this a somewhat specialized device. For those who’d prefer a wider, faster-pouring spout for French press or cooking, we heartily suggest the Corvo EKG Pro. —Matthew Korfhage
Specs Capacity: 0.9 liters Materials: Stainless steel Features: Gooseneck spout, LCD display, precise temperature control knob, up to 60-minute hold mode, scheduled boil, altitude adjustments Weight: 2.75 pounds (includes base) Wattage: 1,200 watts
Advanced Features at a Lower Cost
The Beautiful Electric Kettle has every feature we look for in an electric kettle. It has an insulated, double-walled body (to keep you from accidentally burning yourself), four preset programs for various teas, auto shutoff, a “keep warm” mode, and a charming aesthetic (with a matte finish available in fun colors like sage green and cornflower blue)—all at an affordable price.
We particularly love the touch-activated display, which only appears when the kettle is in use. With zero buttons or knobs, the kettle is unobtrusive and blends in nicely with the rest of the appliances on my countertop. Tap on a preset program or manually set a specific temperature using the plus and minus buttons. It lets out a few short beeps when it's done, but it also displays the exact temperature in real time as it heats. The company says it can boil a full pot in under seven minutes; we heard it beep after five and a half. —Brenda Stolyar
Specs Capacity: 1.7 liters Materials: Aluminum and plastic Features: Double-walled stainless steel, auto shut-off, boil-dry protection, keep warm mode, touch-activated display with presets, temperature control Weight: 4.3 pounds Wattage: 1,500 watts Best Beautiful Splurge
- Photograph: Balmuda
- Photograph: Matthew Korfhage
- Photograph: Matthew Korfhage
- Photograph: Balmuda
The stainless steel MoonKettle (8/10, WIRED Recommends), from the Japanese company Balmuda, is an elegant intersection of extremes: a hair-precise and quite modern digital electric kettle whose moony, loop-handled form looks nonetheless decidedly ancient, inspired by the old kettles of both Japan and China.
Like the Fellow Stagg, our favorite gooseneck, the Balmuda offers modern features to back up its elegant design. It can heat and hold water to any temperature from 122 to 212 degrees Fahrenheit, controllable by a dial. The LCD screen shows both target and current temperature, and the device can be set to silent or any of three sound profiles that include the plinking of what sounds like a zitherlike gu zheng. Anything meant to stay on your counter should inspire affection, maybe even love. It's this mix of hypermodern technical sophistication and ancient-seeming elegance that makes the MoonKettle so difficult to dislodge from my kitchen. —Matthew Korfhage
Specs Capacity: 0.9 liter Materials: Stainless steel Features: LCD screen, real-time temperature display, temperature set within one degree, 30-minute hold function, boil-dry safety, cool-touch handle Weight: 3.2 pounds, including base Wattage: 1,200 watts
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Best Kid-Proof Kettle
If you have kids who love to touch everything on the kitchen countertop, I recommend the Enfinigy Cool Touch Kettle Pro for peace of mind. It has a heat-insulated double-walled body—the water stays hot inside while the kettle remains cool outside. You won't burn your prints off by touching the stainless steel kettle. The dock you place the kettle on has a touchscreen display with six presets you can cycle through, including specific temperatures for tea and coffee from 140 degrees to 212 degrees Fahrenheit. There's also a dedicated button for baby formula, which heats water to a specific temperature safe to pour into the formula, and another button keeps the water warm for up to 30 minutes. It's quick to boil and quiet—letting out a few short beeps when done.
My only gripe? The touchscreen display can be finicky; occasionally I had to tap it a few times to wake it up. That's easy to forgive because this is arguably the sleekest-looking electric kettle I've tested. I tested it at my parents’ house, where my mom tends to stash away appliances she deems unattractive. This one remained on the countertop. She liked it so much that she bought a matching toaster that now sits next to the kettle in the kitchen. —Brenda Stolyar
Specs Capacity: 1.5 liters Materials: Stainless steel Features: Double-walled body, keep warm function, six presets, temperature control Weight: 5.3 pounds Wattage: 1,500 watts For Loose-Leaf Lovers
Breville's Tea Maker is a great option for anyone who prefers loose-leaf tea instead of tea bags. As someone new to the world of loose-leaf, though, I was very intimidated when I first unboxed the Tea Maker—mainly because of all the buttons on its base. There are buttons denoting auto-start, keep warm, “basket,” hot water, and tea, along with a built-in display with up and down arrows on both sides and two additional unmarked buttons. But I quickly learned this is a perfect choice for beginners because it's foolproof. (I suggest reading through the manual first.) With the ability to customize your settings (choosing the temperature, strength, and time), it's a great choice for experienced tea lovers as well. It's expensive, but worth the price for the extensive functionality.
Simply remove the basket, fill the kettle with water, fill the basket with your loose-leaf tea using the included tea scoop (Breville suggests one scoop of tea leaves per cup), clip it back to the inside of the kettle (it attaches magnetically), and click through the preset tea settings on the base. On the left, you can use the button to cycle through green, herbal, black, oolong, white tea, or a custom setting. On the right, you can choose the strength: strong, medium, mild, or custom. That way, you don't have to second-guess whether you're boiling it at the right temperature and for the correct amount of time. There's also a dedicated “basket” cycle button that you can press to increase the infusion rate for stronger tea. Because of the display and included buttons, the base is larger than the ones I've tested on other electric kettles. So you may have to designate some extra counter space for it. —Brenda Stolyar
Specs Capacity: 1.5 liters Materials: Stainless steel Features: Keep warm function, five pre-programmed settings, auto shut-off, boil dry protection, LCD display, precise temperature control, automated tea basket, strength button Weight: 5.22 pounds Wattage: 1,500 watts
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A Budget Glass Kettle
The Cosori kettle is affordable, easy to use, and durable. Its borosilicate glass resists shattering, and can withstand high temperatures. While it's heavier than the stainless steel kettles we've tested, the rounded handle offers a sturdy hold even for smaller hands. Though it costs very little, it still looks reasonable on a kitchen counter.
That said, this is pretty much just a boiling machine. Like most 1,500-watt kettles, this Cosori will boil a liter in four minutes. An LED light turns on when it's heating up. The LED, and the heat, turn off when the water boils. If you're not worried about coaxing the right flavors from coffee or tea, and you'd just like 7 cups of water at a nice rolling boil, here you go. —Matthew Korfhage
Specs Capacity: 1.7 liters Materials: Stainless steel, borosilicate glass Features: Auto shut-off, boil-dry protection, non-drip spout, rapid boil, and LED base Weight: 2.6 pounds Wattage: 1,500 watts Best Buy-It-for-Life
Here we have 3.5 pounds of all-metal, super quiet water boiling from one of the UK's longest-running small-appliance brands. Dualit has been hand-making toasters since 1945, and this modern kettle is still made in Britain. It’s expensive and lacks some convenience features, like adjustable temperature settings, a pop-up lid, and keep-warm functions, but it is repairable. If the heating element breaks, the company can easily swap another one in for you, extending the kettle's life far beyond its rivals. Dualit even sells a range of refurbished appliances at discounted prices.
The Dualit boils quickly and is much quieter than most—it has even been awarded a Quiet Mark from the UK-based Noise Abatement Society. The spout is angled in such a way that you don’t have to lift it too high to get it pouring, and it rarely drips. I also like the double windows, with one side showing cups and the other liter increments. Yes, it'll run you a couple hundred bucks, but you won't find a better-made or longer-lasting kettle. —Chris Haslam
Specs Capacity: 1.7 liters Materials: Stainless steel Features: Dual water level indicators, auto shutoff, whisper boil, non-drip spout Weight: 4.6 pounds Wattage: 1,500 watts
For the Dorm
This kettle, which appears in our guide to the Best Dash Appliances, is the lowest-priced option on this list. It's plastic, it's lightweight, and its feature set largely consists of an on-switch. But for this, its handle is cool to the touch, the water level is visible, and it's both unlikely to break if you knock it over and kinda expendable anyway. “Dash,” alas, does not extend to the device's speed. It's lower-wattage and thus slower to boil, 10 minutes for a full 1.7-liter kettle. Consider it a foolproof, no-frills, low-cost gift for the dorm-dweller or day-tripper in your life. —Matthew Korfhage
Specs Capacity: 1.7 liters Materials: BPA-free plastic Features: Easy view window, boil-dry safety, one-touch boil, cool-touch handle Weight: 2.68 pounds Wattage: 1,200 watts
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More Good Kettles
We've tested dozens of kettles, but not every model deserves a top spot above. Here are a few others that work well, but aren't standouts.
Cuisinart PerfecTemp Cordless for $100: This Cuisinart is reliable, efficient, durable, and a long-time favorite of former WIRED director Jeffrey Van Camp. It's a good kettle, and it's been lauded by a number of sources over the years. But its features haven't kept up with the best newer kettles on this list, nor the Beautiful kettle in a similar price range. And the alarm when it reaches temperature is, well, alarming. As in it's loud and long, and you have to take the kettle apart to disable it, which you probably shouldn't do.
Kitchen-Aid 1.5L Pro Line for $200: This retro-kettle looks fabulous in candy red with its old-school analog temperature gauge, and a temp dial that's pretty much just a lever. The kettle's dual-layer construction means it boils quietly and stays quite cool. But Fahrenheit isn't an option and neither is precision. And though it's priced high, the kettle's retro styling extends to the lack of modern features.
Smeg Retro Kettle for $190: Looks matter, and if you want a stylish kettle in your kitchen, look no further than Smeg. But while we liked the fun, bright pop of Smeg's colors, this kettle is a bit on the heavier side, and at its price range it offers fewer options than other modern electric kettles, such as precise temperature sets and alerts when it's reached temp. It's just a cute, spendy, and reliable electric kettle. There is a slightly pricier Smeg ($220) with some of those features, including preset temperature settings and a keep-warm function, but we haven't tested it yet.
Aarke Stainless Steel Electric Kettle for $250: This kettle is fancy. It comes with an Aarke-branded microfiber cloth. Like other Aarke coffee gear, its crisp, modernist, stainless-steel design looks like something you'd see in Architectural Digest. But at its price, the features are a bit bare bones and fiddly, with a single button rotating through temperature settings. It also gets a bit hot toward its top. That said, it's quiet and it's beautiful.
Art and Cook Electric Glass Kettle for $43: When I first unboxed Art and Cook's electric glass kettle, there was one red flag: typos on both the box and the instruction manual. That made me a little hesitant, but my experience over the past six months has been perfectly fine. There's no LED light as on the Cosori to indicate when it's boiling, but it holds slightly more water (1.8 liters as opposed to 1.7). It has an automatic shutoff feature, but overall, I found it a little slower to boil.
Bonavita Digital for $130: This kettle is similar to the Stagg EKG I tested but slightly less expensive. It has a gooseneck spout for precise pouring, a temperature dial, a display, and a 0.9-liter capacity. You'll have the option to program up to five presets for your most-used temps.
The Bistro Tile x Haden 1.7 Liter Electric Kettle for $128: This kettle is gorgeous, with two options of tile-style exterior that makes it feel like you’re in a Parisian coffee shop. There’s a single power switch and a temperature gauge on the front to let you know how hot the water is. You can’t control it as much as other electric kettles, and it doesn’t retain heat as well as double-walled options, but it’s very design-forward. —Nena Farrell
Try These Tea Accessories
Oxo Brew Tea Infuser Basket for $15: This is our go-to accessory for brewing loose-leaf tea. The stainless steel is durable and doesn't impart any flavor to the brewing process, and the hole pattern does a solid job of keeping most of the tiny particles out of the hot water. We particularly love that the lid not only retains heat but also doubles as a drip tray.
Kotubuki Matcha Tea Whisk for $24: If you're a fan of matcha, this is a great whisk to have on hand. Equipped with 80 bamboo bristles, it'll help to create a nice froth that brings out all the bright, grassy notes for a delicious cup of matcha.
East Fork the Mug for $44: These mugs are expensive, but they're consciously crafted. WIRED product reviewer Jaina Grey says they “feel sturdy, with a gently sloping grip that's big enough for most hands and feels smooth and balanced when you pick it up.” They also come in various fun colors (seasonal options included). You can buy a single mug or a four-pack for $150.
The Tea Spot Sipping Cup Tea Subscription for $20 (Monthly): This is a great subscription for new tea drinkers. Each box includes whole leaf teas harvested from tea estates around the world.
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