The Best Electric Kettles of 2023

This is one of the most expensive kettles of the lot, but it’s easy to see why—it pulled ahead of the pack in every one of our tests. Technically, it edged out the top-rated Cuisinart by one-one thousandth of a point, but that wasn’t enough to make up for the price difference between them. It has the most ergonomic raise-lid button, and instead of springing open, the lid has a slow, controlled raise.

The kettle is intuitive to use, with five clearly marked brew and programmable temperature settings, plus a 20-minute keep-warm feature. It was also one of the fastest boilers (taking just over 5 minutes to reach a boil) and we like the way it beeps to alert you that your water is ready, rather than quietly shutting off like most of the kettles we tested.

If you're serious about tea, this is a great pick. However, the Cuisinart earned our top spot because it’s substantially cheaper while still having all the same bells and whistles.

This Smeg Mini Kettle is about as simple as a product can be—no temperature settings, no sound alerts, no LCD screen—but it outperformed other more high-tech options on this list. It was a delight to use and looks adorable on a kitchen counter.

In terms of boil times, it’s the fastest kettle we’ve tested, coming in with a time of 4 minutes and 19 seconds.

Aside from surface-level aesthetics, the physical design of the kettle is also noteworthy. It has quite a large spout that we assumed would cause splashing, but the Smeg poured as neatly into a tiny teacup as it did a wide-mouthed mug. It’s also lightweight and takes up minimal countertop space.

While there’s only one simple on/off switch that turns off once water has boiled and there is no Keep Warm functionality, its speed and design are impressive enough to make up for it if you’re looking for a simple, display-worthy machine.

If you want a glass kettle that offers quick results, this may be your best pick. This OXO kettle placed high in our boil test, bringing a liter of water to a rapid boil in just a hair over 5 minutes.

There is just one temperature setting (on/boil), though if you want more control, there is an adjustable temperature model available. This kettle is over 1 foot tall, making it one of the tallest we tested, so be sure you have enough cabinet space to stow this one.

The Cosori was one of our favorites to test. Not only does it work well, clocking in at about 5-and-a-half minutes to boil, it looks beautiful while doing it. A blue light illuminates the base of the kettle as it starts to bubble and boil. Sitting on my desk, it almost felt like a mini light show.

The rest is pretty basic. There is no temperature dial on this model, it’s either on or off, but the glass allows you to make a judgment call if you want to turn it off sooner. I tended to turn it off once I started seeing bigger bubbles so that I could pour and sip almost immediately, without having to wait for it to cool off. Or, if you do want to wait for a boil, just wait for the kettle to turn off on its own.

If you wanted to buy an electric kettle on aesthetics alone, you can’t go wrong with the matte black Fellow Stagg. Full disclosure: I bought one in white last year. The matte, gooseneck design looks beautiful on my kitchen counter—and it actually works very well. Considering I first noticed it on a Kardashian Instagram post, I was pleasantly surprised.

I’ve used mine twice daily for about a year now and it looks and works the same as the day I opened the box. In our official testing, however, it did lose a few points for boiling speed, taking 7-and-a-half minutes to bring 55°F water to 212°F, the longest boil time of any kettle we tested. It also doesn’t sound any beep or alarm when your desired temperature is achieved, but it holds it at that temperature for a full hour should you forget.

Its weighted, ergonomic handle makes for easy pouring (wrap your thumb around the notch), which is especially helpful with a gooseneck kettle, since the water pours out slower by design. The knob is easy to control as you set your desired temperature in either Fahrenheit or Celsius, and it doubles as a timer.

Bonus: The tiny LCD screen can also be used to play Wormy, a game similar to Snake on an old cell phone. Does this make it work better? No, but it’s fun.

This curvy, teapot-reminiscent kettle is one of the most attractive and space-efficient of the lot, but does it stack up in usability? It boils water extremely quickly, but there is only one setting and the light that indicates that the kettle is preheating or on is difficult to see.

There is no boil notification beyond the kettle switching off and it lacks an easy-press button to pop the lid, meaning it takes more effort to remove. Unfortunately, the steam from pouring hot water makes the lid hot and slippery, which can make removing it precarious.

Aside from the fact that one has a gooseneck for pour-over coffee, the Fellow Stagg and Corvo are pretty identical. The Corvo is just as simple to use as the Stagg, and it features the same easy-pour ergonomic handle and LCD screen for temperature control and the Wormy game.

Unfortunately, the Fellow Corvo clocked in with our slowest boiling time, taking a whopping 7 minutes, 42 seconds to reach 212°F. That’s still faster than it would take a kettle to boil on most stovetops, but the competition was tight here. If you’re looking for a beautiful kettle for your countertop, rest assured this is still a solid option.

This kettle is cheap—and you can tell. You need to futz with the cord a bit to help feed it out through the side, and the base is borderline flimsy. It’s so lightweight that it doesn’t sit quite flat on its own, which means it is bound to pop up and out of place every time you lift the kettle to pour. It’s nothing too off-putting, but it’s bound to get annoying if you’re using the kettle every day.

But as far as boiling water, the kettle performs well. It has a window on the side to see water level and a simple on/off switch with an auto-shut off feature. It also was among some of the fastest to do so, only taking 5 minutes, 23 seconds.

This model is an Amazon best-seller, andhas curbside appeal for its fun color options. Unfortunately, it's also slow to heat, and simply shuts off when the water reaches a boil. Additionally, there is a screen at the opening that sticks out at an awkward angle, making the kettle tough to fill in the sink. While we don't hate this model, it's nothing special.

There’s plenty to like about the manual GE Cool Touch Kettle. First, it lives up to its name, with its double-walled design keeping the exterior from getting too hot to handle. Its stainless steel finish resists fingerprints, and its large 1.7-liter capacity is pretty manageable in the tall, slender design. It’s easy to see the maximum and minimum fill lines inside, and it turns itself off once it reaches a boil.

However, we found a few design elements to be cumbersome. Push the lid’s center button and it pops up so you can use it as a sort of handle, though its small size is awkward to grab and lift, making the lid a bit precarious to remove. The spout is also much wider than it needs to be, which makes for quick pouring, but also requires extra attention when pouring into small vessels like teacups.

While we like the look of this Brewista—and its handle and spout design make it easy to pour—its overall performance doesn’t quite earn it counter space in our kitchen. First, the controls are tricky to figure out, even when reading the manual. We accidentally turned off the machine several times while trying to set the temperature.

As for that temperature, the Brewista allows you to set it down to the degree, in either Fahrenheit or Celsius. Doing so, however, is more cumbersome than it needs to be—you must continually tap the plus or minus button, which doesn’t always respond as quickly as you’d like. A knob might be more effective here.

There is a “Fast Boil” button, but it does not actually boil your water faster. It merely allows you to set the kettle to 212°F without fiddling with the temperature settings. Both the “regular” and “fast” boils clocked in at 6-and-a-half minutes.

Once the water is boiled, the Brewista has a 60-minute Keep Warm function. But be forewarned: the kettle will make a clicking noise every few minutes during that time, and it’s loud enough to make you want to hurry up and pour your cup to get it to stop.

This is one of the most attractive kettles we tested, but upon picking it up, we were surprised at how light it was. The stainless lid feels chintzy and scrapes in a nails-on-a-chalkboard way when placed and removed. The kettle only holds 1 liter of water and only has one measurement marking for max fill.

Sure, it offers the ability to set an exact temperature and you can watch the temperature climb in real time, but despite it being the smallest kettle we tested, it took ages to boil. It also lacked a clear notification when it did so; it finally, confusingly turned off after 6-and-a-half minutes. And while you may think the narrow gooseneck spout would make it easier to pour, the design actually makes the stream harder to control: This was the only time we missed our teacup in testing.

In this case, beauty does not outweigh functionality. Skip this kettle—you won’t regret it.