Smeg '50s Retro Style Variable Temperature Electric Kettle, Size One Size - Black

UPDATE - June 2024 - Still love the look of this Kettle HOWEVER the base is a HUGE LETDOWN. It is very light weight and while the cord does wrap around it there no ability to hold the cord underneath. I only require a minimum of cord and while the rest is under the kettle it falls onto the counter and is clearly visible. I have tried duck tape (does not last) and a small wedge (falls out). Poor Engineering for an expensive kettle. Original Review- January 2024- Beautiful Kettle. Good value as it was on Sale. Complements the red accents in my kitchen including the Passion Red Kitchenaid Range. Just received yesterday with ultra fast delivery so far boils faster than my gas stove. Only potential issue will be the base which is VERY light weight plastic with a silver ... MoreUPDATE - June 2024 - Still love the look of this Kettle HOWEVER the base is a HUGE LETDOWN. It is very light weight and while the cord does wrap around it there no ability to hold the cord underneath. I only require a minimum of cord and while the rest is under the kettle it falls onto the counter and is clearly visible. I have tried duck tape (does not last) and a small wedge (falls out). Poor Engineering for an expensive kettle. Original Review- January 2024- Beautiful Kettle. Good value as it was on Sale. Complements the red accents in my kitchen including the Passion Red Kitchenaid Range. Just received yesterday with ultra fast delivery so far boils faster than my gas stove. Only potential issue will be the base which is VERY light weight plastic with a silver finish- a big disappointment. Will update this review if the base fails to wear well or scratches orany issues. Fingers crossed!

Beautiful but Pricy

I love the look of this kettle, it’s very stylish on my new countertop.Having been an electric kettle user for over 20 years, I think I know what makes a good kettle. What I like about the kettle: functional and beautiful, very quiet when heating up, stainless steel interior, non-removable lid and a stainless steel mesh filter.What I’m not crazy about: the very heavy thick electric cord makes it cumbersome to move the kettle, the exterior is very hot to the touch when boiled and no interior light to see contents, forcing me to look at gauge on the outside.But my biggest issue is the smell! I have used the kettle twice to 3 times a day for over 2 weeks. It keeps emanating a burnt-like-plastic odor. I am hopeful this will go away but I am getting concerned. A ... MoreI love the look of this kettle, it’s very stylish on my new countertop.Having been an electric kettle user for over 20 years, I think I know what makes a good kettle. What I like about the kettle: functional and beautiful, very quiet when heating up, stainless steel interior, non-removable lid and a stainless steel mesh filter.What I’m not crazy about: the very heavy thick electric cord makes it cumbersome to move the kettle, the exterior is very hot to the touch when boiled and no interior light to see contents, forcing me to look at gauge on the outside.But my biggest issue is the smell! I have used the kettle twice to 3 times a day for over 2 weeks. It keeps emanating a burnt-like-plastic odor. I am hopeful this will go away but I am getting concerned. A $179 kettle should not stink!

Disapointed

I needed to return this electric kettle as soon as I received it. There were two issues. One had to do with the kettle itself, the other had to do with bed bath and beyond. What I didn't like about the kettle was that there was an area made out of plastic that the boiling water would be exposed to it was poured. Looking it up online I found information saying it's BPA free but there are so many other chemicals and plastic that could be dangerous if leaked. For such an expensive kettle I'm not sure why they couldn't just use stainless in that small area. The issue I had with the actual purchase was that I purchased a brand item at this price. When it arrived I noticed that it looked like it may have been a customer return. Then I found another customer's purchase ... MoreI needed to return this electric kettle as soon as I received it. There were two issues. One had to do with the kettle itself, the other had to do with bed bath and beyond. What I didn't like about the kettle was that there was an area made out of plastic that the boiling water would be exposed to it was poured. Looking it up online I found information saying it's BPA free but there are so many other chemicals and plastic that could be dangerous if leaked. For such an expensive kettle I'm not sure why they couldn't just use stainless in that small area. The issue I had with the actual purchase was that I purchased a brand item at this price. When it arrived I noticed that it looked like it may have been a customer return. Then I found another customer's purchase order along with mine in the box. If this has been sold as an open box product that would have been acceptable but it was sold as a brand new product at list price.

Great design, poor quality

2nd kettle broken in 3 years. At this price point I would expect a far longer life cycle and better quality from this company. The same problem happened on both kettles where the on/off switch broke off on both kettles in less than 2 years.The 1st one was replaced within warranty but the 2nd was 3 weeks out of warranty. This has not been excessively used either. Probably twice per day.I took the bottom off the 2nd broken kettle to find that the on/off switch is screwed into a very flimsy piece of plastic that was cracked so the screw was loose which caused the switch to fall out. The plastic piece is welded into the kettle so no way of replacing this piece. Very poor quality design. Will not be buying again.

Great! but not perfect, brace for a very detailed review...

Beautiful in white, great kettle, but some good/bad things to highlight;Good:Much quieter than our older kettle. Beautiful design. Really easy to hold with a very comfortable handle, the white indicator light when boiling is very elegant and looks great in the day or night (there's a slight animation to it that looks great as well... when boiling it's a very subtle flicker/wave - very good attention to detail/design) The flicker switch is very satisfying and also very silent (nearly mute) when it pops up (unlike our older kettle) The chrome design looks great, and the push button to open the lid is great - when you press the button it slowly opens so it won't flick any hot water at you, and it's a very wide opening for cleaning/adding water. It has a metal ... MoreBeautiful in white, great kettle, but some good/bad things to highlight;Good:Much quieter than our older kettle. Beautiful design. Really easy to hold with a very comfortable handle, the white indicator light when boiling is very elegant and looks great in the day or night (there's a slight animation to it that looks great as well... when boiling it's a very subtle flicker/wave - very good attention to detail/design) The flicker switch is very satisfying and also very silent (nearly mute) when it pops up (unlike our older kettle) The chrome design looks great, and the push button to open the lid is great - when you press the button it slowly opens so it won't flick any hot water at you, and it's a very wide opening for cleaning/adding water. It has a metal removable filter (other kettles are typically a plastic mesh that you'd have to replace, and most manufactures don't sell the filter so you'd have to get a whole new kettle if you just wanted the filter. The spout is fantastic, incredibly easy to poor. The base/stand for the kettle is lovely and makes the kettle sit above the table slightly due to the feet of the base, and there's a lovely spring/suspension when you put the kettle on it, which has a nice cushion feeling.Bad:The window for looking at the water levels could be bigger, or they could have put in a nice feature, like a button to press to light up the window temporarily, because most of the time you have to wiggle the kettle to see where the water level is/or just get really close to it. The kettle squeaks a little when you pick up and squeeze the handle. I think this is because the handle is a chrome plastic, but I also think that's more a design flaw by having 2 sides of plastic fused into 1 rather than just having 1 plastic piece fit to the unit. The weight is slightly heavy (this is a battle between durability/design & function, because you might want metal strong parts, which the unit has... however this will make it heavier, whereas more plastic parts would make it lighter, but this may appear to have less quality - altho maybe a bit more metal or better plastic design would be nice on the handle so it didn't squeak, which our older cheaper plastic kettle didn't)Extra info:The cable is whitish/grey, but this could be just for the white/light colour models. You can get so many replacements parts including the SMEG letters if they were to fall off, or the filter, and even parts for lid etc from the main SMEG website.

Lasted Five Years

I bought this kettle again yesterday, as the one I had owned previously blew up after 5 years of moderate to heavy use. (I boil it AT LEAST 4 times a day) I previously had the pure stainless steel one and it was a nightmare to keep clean, so was kind of happy to pick a new one yesterday despite having to pay for one again! I chose the slate grey. Here's what I love about this kettle; so aesthetically pleasing, feels solid and high quality to hold, very easy to get on and off the swivel base, handle is super ergonomic and comfortable to hold, it is quiet when it's boiling, and pours really smoothly and in an easy to control way. The only things that went wrong with my old one after several years were discolouring in the handle top that connects to the kettle itself ... MoreI bought this kettle again yesterday, as the one I had owned previously blew up after 5 years of moderate to heavy use. (I boil it AT LEAST 4 times a day) I previously had the pure stainless steel one and it was a nightmare to keep clean, so was kind of happy to pick a new one yesterday despite having to pay for one again! I chose the slate grey. Here's what I love about this kettle; so aesthetically pleasing, feels solid and high quality to hold, very easy to get on and off the swivel base, handle is super ergonomic and comfortable to hold, it is quiet when it's boiling, and pours really smoothly and in an easy to control way. The only things that went wrong with my old one after several years were discolouring in the handle top that connects to the kettle itself (a very small part of the kettle) and the button on the lid got more and more stubborn as it got older. Needless to say I loved it enough to buy another - and I thought 5 years wasn't bad as a lifespan for a kettle. The slate grey looks stunning in my kitchen. I like to "mismatch" my smeg, so I have it with a white toaster - looks great.

Plastic inside kettle not BPA free - smells of chemicals

I bought this kettle and was very excited when it got delivered. I love the design and it did a good job boiling the water in a quick time and there were no drips from the spout but it has a strong plastic chemical smell every time I use it, so much so that I had to open the window in the kitchen every time I used it. It didn't go away even after 10 cycles. I then contacted SMEG UK and asked about the plastic used inside the kettle (under the lid and the encasing of the filter) and they couldn't confirm that it's BPA free. It doesn't state it anywhere on their website nor on the box the kettle came in. The kettle is made in China and my guess is they used cheap plastic and the thought of drinking water that has been sitting in plastic can't be healthy. They clearly ... MoreI bought this kettle and was very excited when it got delivered. I love the design and it did a good job boiling the water in a quick time and there were no drips from the spout but it has a strong plastic chemical smell every time I use it, so much so that I had to open the window in the kitchen every time I used it. It didn't go away even after 10 cycles. I then contacted SMEG UK and asked about the plastic used inside the kettle (under the lid and the encasing of the filter) and they couldn't confirm that it's BPA free. It doesn't state it anywhere on their website nor on the box the kettle came in. The kettle is made in China and my guess is they used cheap plastic and the thought of drinking water that has been sitting in plastic can't be healthy. They clearly state what plastic is used in some of their other products but nowhere does it say that their kettles are made of BPA free plastic. If you value your health I wouldn't buy this kettle, it's completely overpriced and a potential health risk.

Smeg disappoints & fails, Myer service excellent.

This Smeg kettle lid failed to work properly. Yes it has a metal body but includes plastic components inside the kettle. As many other kettles do. But unlike others, the Smeg kettle continued to emit a toxic plastic smell when boiling it, due to the kind of plastics used for the lining it, & water gauge and inner lid mechanism inside the kettle, it seems. This did not lessen much over use. We wanted to love it, but functionally terrible, sorry to say. This is the second Smeg kitchen appliance we have bought, that did not work well and failed. By contrast, Myers services and Myers product range is wonderful. Smegs kettle style & design is let down by poor manufacturing, materials & testing standards, Smeg kettles quality unreliable & not good.

Used

I ordered the red color in this and received it today. Excited, I opened the shipping box and immediately noticed the manufacturer box inside it was partly torn and smashed. It was well taped all around, I guess to keep it together. After opening that box, I noticed the kettle didn’t have the manufacturer’s original packaging, it was in a plastic bag. The plate that’s connected to the plug was just thrown in box. The kettle and the plate had water spots and fingerprints on them and the plug was dirty with black marks. If this wasn’t enough to indicate I was sold a used item, the instructions manual had dirty fingerprints on the front and back. I’m very disappointed and disgusted that Bloomingdale’s sells returned/used items on their website as new. I’m also ... MoreI ordered the red color in this and received it today. Excited, I opened the shipping box and immediately noticed the manufacturer box inside it was partly torn and smashed. It was well taped all around, I guess to keep it together. After opening that box, I noticed the kettle didn’t have the manufacturer’s original packaging, it was in a plastic bag. The plate that’s connected to the plug was just thrown in box. The kettle and the plate had water spots and fingerprints on them and the plug was dirty with black marks. If this wasn’t enough to indicate I was sold a used item, the instructions manual had dirty fingerprints on the front and back. I’m very disappointed and disgusted that Bloomingdale’s sells returned/used items on their website as new. I’m also disappointed at the quality of the products and customer service that Bloomingdale's is providing. It doesn’t appear they have quality control on the products being shipped. This is unacceptable so I contacted customer service and will be returning it for a replacement. Hopefully I will receive a brand new kettle in an unopened box otherwise I’m done with online shopping at Bloomingdale’s, because this is not the first such experience.

Very aesthetic but defective

I gave this kettle as a bridal shower gift. The bride did not open the box until she moved into her new apartment almost 2 months after gifting it to her. Upon unboxing it, the kettle had a very big air bubble underneath the paint and the bride immediately contacted me . The 30 day return policy has passed but Crate & Barrel customer service did a great job and still offered a refund for the product once returned back to them. For the price of the item, I feel it absurd that it comes defected. This is a Smeg issue, not Crate & Barrel's fault. Very disappointed in the quality of something so expensive. I expected more from Smeg. I would leave 1 star but Crate & Barrel has great customer service so I added that extra star. Makes me wonder, where is Smeg's quality ... MoreI gave this kettle as a bridal shower gift. The bride did not open the box until she moved into her new apartment almost 2 months after gifting it to her. Upon unboxing it, the kettle had a very big air bubble underneath the paint and the bride immediately contacted me . The 30 day return policy has passed but Crate & Barrel customer service did a great job and still offered a refund for the product once returned back to them. For the price of the item, I feel it absurd that it comes defected. This is a Smeg issue, not Crate & Barrel's fault. Very disappointed in the quality of something so expensive. I expected more from Smeg. I would leave 1 star but Crate & Barrel has great customer service so I added that extra star. Makes me wonder, where is Smeg's quality control? How did Smeg miss that? I would think for the price tag, they would at least have quality control. I will not be purchasing Smeg products in the future. Very disappointed.