Kitchen Appliances
Electric kettles from a compact 0.85 L model to variable-temperature, glass and stainless steel designs, each matched to its exact Amazon.co.uk listing and checked against the manufacturer’s own pages. Look at the minimum fill as well as the capacity, then decide whether temperature control is worth having. Shopicks has not tested any of them.
Our editorial choice to illustrate this subcategory. Featured picks are not a ranking and are not the result of side-by-side testing.
A 1.7 L stainless steel kettle with seven temperature levels, a keep-warm function and a double-walled body, for people who brew tea and coffee at different temperatures.
Featured as the variable-temperature example because Bosch UK prints the usable volume, the minimum fill, the number of temperature levels, the lowest level and the cord length in one specification, which makes the capacity versus minimum-fill difference easy to see. It illustrates the type and is not a ranking.
May suit: People who brew green tea, herbal tea or coffee at below-boiling temperatures and want the temperature chosen from fixed levels.
Worth checking: The Amazon.co.uk title says Cool Touch Body, while Bosch UK says only reduced surface temperature, so we make no cool-touch claim. Bosch lists no level below 70 °C, so it does not cover drinks that need cooler water.
Checked against: Bosch UK (opens in a new tab)
Showing 10 of 10 products
A 1.7 L stainless steel kettle with seven temperature levels, a keep-warm function and a double-walled body, for people who brew tea and coffee at different temperatures.
A 1.7 L stainless steel retro kettle with a soft-opening lid and a lever switch, for people who want the kettle to be a design feature.
A 1.7 L polished stainless steel kettle with a heating element that Dualit says can be repaired or replaced, for people who want a repairable kettle.
A plastic 1.7 L kettle with a 3 kW element, cord storage and a clear water window, for a plain family kettle without extras.
A white textured-plastic 1.7 L kettle with stainless steel accents, 3000 W and a one-cup rapid boil zone, for a straightforward family kettle.
A compact 0.85 L plastic kettle that comes with two cups and spoons, for a quick cup or two in a small space.
A 1.7 L glass kettle with a chrome lid and hidden cord storage, for people who like to see the water as it heats.
A metal temperature select kettle with a countdown timer and suggested temperatures, for tea and coffee drinkers who want to choose the water temperature.
A brushed stainless steel 1.7 L kettle with a soft-opening lid and dual water windows, rated 2400 W, for people who want a stainless design at a lower rating.
A 1.5 L jug kettle with a 3 kW element, cup markings and built-in cord storage in a matt copper finish, for a smaller household.
Before you buy
Most kettles here are boil-only: you fill, switch on and it stops at 100 °C. The Bosch TWK7203GB and the Breville VKT159 add temperature selection, which Ideal Home’s kitchen appliances editor describes as useful for speciality tea or coffee at a chosen temperature but ‘far from an essential’. Bosch lists seven levels from 70 °C to boiling, and Breville’s manual gives suggested temperatures such as 80 °C for green tea.
Material is the other main choice. The Bosch, Smeg, Dualit and Sage kettles are listed with stainless steel, the Morphy Richards 108004 is glass, and the Russell Hobbs and Kenwood models are plastic. The Russell Hobbs travel kettle is the compact option at 0.85 L, against 1.5 to 1.7 L for the rest.
A kettle’s capacity is the most water it holds. The minimum fill is the least it needs to switch off properly, and the two are separate figures. Bosch prints a 300 ml minimum fill beside the 1.7 L usable volume of the TWK7203GB, and Breville’s manual says the VKT159 needs about 250 ml, or one teacup. Several makers, including Smeg, Dualit and Kenwood, print no minimum on the pages we read, so check the manual before assuming a single cup is fine.
Which? looks for a minimum fill of 300 ml or less, and the Energy Saving Trust’s tip is to boil only the amount of water you need. A 1.7 L kettle is not wasteful if you fill it for the number of cups you want, and a small maximum is not a guarantee of a small minimum.
Ratings here run from 1000 W for the Russell Hobbs travel kettle to 3000 W for the Bosch, Smeg, Dualit, Kenwood and Russell Hobbs Inspire, with the Sage at 2400 W. Watts are the rate at which a kettle draws power, not the energy a boil uses, and Which? says kettles with similar power levels do not always boil at the same speed.
Because of that, the cards compare no boil times and no running costs. Where a maker states a boil time, as Russell Hobbs does for the Inspire, it is the maker’s own claim, and we say so.
Check how you fill and clean it. A limescale filter is listed for the Bosch, and a removable one for the Smeg, Dualit, Kenwood and Morphy Richards 100742, and Which? suggests checking that the filter fits snugly in the spout. The Smeg and Sage lids open softly to release steam gradually, and the Kenwood and Morphy Richards 100742 lids are removable.
Do not assume the outside stays cool. Bosch says the double-walled housing of the TWK7203GB gives a reduced surface temperature, which is a different claim from staying cool, and Electrical Safety First warns that the outside of a kettle can get extremely hot.
Electrical Safety First says electric kettles must be fitted with a UK 3-pin plug and fuse, and advises buying from a reputable retailer, not a third-party seller of unknown origin. Of the pages we read, only Smeg prints a plug type, a UK (G) plug. For the others, check the plug on arrival: a kettle that does not arrive with a UK 3-pin plug does not meet that advice, so contact the seller.
Keep the kettle away from the sink, wipe it only when unplugged, descale it with a product made for kettles, and never fill it above the MAX mark: Breville’s manual warns that boiling water may be ejected. Electrical Safety First also says a kettle should have automatic shut-off or boil-dry protection.
We chose kettles that show different choices, not different colours of one model, and left out any whose exact Amazon.co.uk listing or manufacturer specification we could not confirm. Several candidates were dropped because the manufacturer’s UK page for the exact code could not be read, or the listing pointed to a different regional variant. Russell Hobbs’s UK site refuses automated access, so those two pages were read from archived copies.
The list is not a ranking and makes no claim about sales or value. One card is marked as a featured example to illustrate the page, and the card says why. Prices, stock, star ratings and review counts are not shown because Amazon only permits them from its own site, so each button takes you to Amazon.co.uk to check the current price and availability.
UK 3-pin plug and fuse, buying from reputable retailers, automatic shut-off and boil-dry protection, hot outer surfaces, cleaning, registration and RCD protection.
Minimum fill of 300 ml or less, filter fit, typical 1.7 L capacity, power ranges and the finding that similar power levels do not always boil at the same speed. Test results are behind a paywall and are not used.
Read through an Internet Archive copy captured on 4 January 2026 because the live page blocked automated access. We cite only its advice to boil the amount of water you need, not its cost figure.
An editor’s view of what temperature control is for and why it is not essential.
Each card’s source links are recorded in the Kitchen Appliances evidence dataset; two Russell Hobbs pages were read from Internet Archive copies and Breville’s manual through a PDF text extractor.
Buying guide
A research-based UK electric kettle guide covering capacity and minimum fill, variable temperature, power ratings, materials, limescale and plug safety, with five examples checked against manufacturer pages.
That depends on the kettle. Bosch prints a 300 ml minimum fill for the TWK7203GB and Breville’s manual says about 250 ml for the VKT159, while several makers print no minimum on the pages we read. Check the manual and the markings on the kettle you buy.
It depends on what you drink. Ideal Home’s kitchen appliances editor calls them far from an essential but a worthwhile upgrade for speciality tea or coffee, and a boil-only kettle is enough if you only make ordinary tea. The buying guide sets out what the presets do and do not do.
Not every Amazon.co.uk listing states the plug type. We only list models where the UK manufacturer’s page and the Amazon.co.uk model code agree, but of the pages we read only Smeg prints a plug type, so check the plug when it arrives.
No. The cards are based on each manufacturer’s own product page or manual, matched to the Amazon.co.uk listing. We do not describe boil times, noise or limescale performance we have not measured.