Best cheap kettles - 8 best kettles under £60

2022-06-25 03:16:57 By : Mr. Bruce Jiang

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Here are the best budget-friendly kettles that don't compromise on quality

Whether you’re brewing a comforting cup of tea, filling up a hot water bottle, or boiling water to cook pasta, a kettle is a kitchen essential.

You don’t have to splash out, though, to find one that will bubble beautifully. In fact, we’ve found plenty of top performers under £60. Our winning eight are:

We’ve tested top-scoring kettles ranging from a pocket-friendly £10 all the way up to a whopping £200, so what exactly are you paying for?

Often, it’s a question of aesthetics. Some of the bigger brands use high-quality materials with a more luxurious finish, and in a rainbow of colours, while the cheaper own-brands often have plastic exteriors and perhaps only one or two colour choices.

Splashing out on a kettle can buy you smart features, variable temperature settings and cool-touch walls, but these fancy details definitely aren’t essential.

They have a crucial job in our kitchens, but there’s a lot more to kettles than meets the eye, so we’ve broken down the different things to consider when you’re shopping for your next one.

When you’re in need of a morning cup of tea or coffee, you don’t want to be waiting around long. A power element of 3kW is generally the best for a quick boil and all of our top-scoring kettles have this wattage.

Want to know how many cups of tea you can get from your kettle? Most hold between 1.5 and 1.7 litres of water. An average cup of tea is 250ml, which means you should be able to boil enough for six to seven cups at a time. If you normally brew one cup at a time, then double-check the minimum capacity of your kettle – most have a minimum level clearly marked and any with 300ml or less are the ones to look out for.

For a co-ordinated kitchen, look for a kettle that has a matching toaster. Most do and they can often be bought separately, coming in a range of styles, colours and prices. We’ve highlighted where a matching toaster is available for the kettles in this roundup below.

It’s also worth taking a moment to consider which design details and features are most important to you. They are often things we can take for granted, but can make all the difference when it comes to having a long-lasting kettle that’s great to use. Here are a few things you may want to prioritise.

Being able to see the water marker is crucial if you want to be precise with the amount of water you’re boiling. Most kettles have this clearly visible on the exterior, but some are more awkwardly placed behind the handle.

To avoid having a kettle that’s too heavy when full, look for a model that weighs no more than one kilogram when empty. This is because for every millilitre of water you add to your kettle, you add an extra gram to its weight, so it can add up quickly!

It's also worth checking the position and shape of the handle, which may affect the balance when pouring and filling. Some handles have a soft, rubberised area to make it more comfortable.

If you’re looking for the best kettle for hard water, make sure the one you buy has a removable, washable anti-scale water filter. These sit at the base of the spout and collect pieces of limescale from the water to prevent them from being poured into your drink. They also stop scum forming on the surface.

This feature will make your kettle last longer as it automatically switches off if there isn't enough water inside, reducing the risk of it burning dry and causing damage. It’s also important to check the water gauge to make sure your kettle hasn’t been overfilled, which could boil over and become a safety hazard.

With some kettles, the outer casing gets extremely hot – this is worth thinking about if you have little ones in your kitchen. Often, those with a brushed stainless steel exterior reach hotter temperatures than other materials, while kettles with an auto shut-off feature will automatically stop when water begins to boil or if the kettle is lifted from its base.

If you’re looking for a greener kettle, keep an eye out for "quick boil", "one cup" or eco-friendly models. These can boil a cup's worth of water in less than a minute and use up to 50% less energy. Kettles with auto shut-off features also limit electricity wastage.

Our kettle testing is thirsty work. Over the years, we’ve put 182 kettles to the test, boiling enough water to brew 5460 cups of tea.

We do more than simply unwind with a cuppa, though. In our kettle tests, we check everything from the accuracy of filling each one from a tap to the pouring precision into a hot water bottle, checking for splashing and spillages.

Next, we measure how long it takes to boil each kettle at different capacities. We also take the temperature of the external casing when water is freshly boiled and we look at how easy the kettle is to use based on how clear the water level gauge is to see, if the filter is easy to remove for cleaning and refit, and how comfortable the kettle is to hold.

Finally, we take into account the overall design, as well as how clear and concise the instructions are.

This model is fantastic value for money and our top budget buy. We found that it can easily be filled through the spout, it pours accurately, with no splashing or spitting, and it’s also lightweight - weighing just 680g when empty and 2.4kg at full capacity. 

The minimum quantity of 280ml is enough for a large mug of tea, and it only takes 45 seconds to boil. The maximum 1.7 litre capacity is also quick to boil, taking just three-and-a-half minutes. This kettle comes at a superb price and with the matching toaster (sold separately), you can complete the set.

Key specifications Maximum capacity: 1.7 litres Minimum capacity: 280ml Weight when empty: 681g Colours available: Black and white Matching toaster: Yes (available here) 

This sleek kettle boils a cup of tea’s worth of water in 40 seconds and at 817g when empty, it’s lightweight too. It fills easily through the spout and pours cleanly, without dripping all over your kitchen. The handle is comfortable and it has boil dry protection for added peace of mind.

One thing to watch out for is the outer casing near the handle – it reached 57C when boiling during testing. It’s also not the quickest at boiling its full capacity, taking just over three and a half minutes. That aside, it’s an easy-to-use kettle that’ll look good in most kitchens. 

Key specifications Maximum capacity: 1.7 litres Minimum capacity: 250ml Weight when empty: 817g Colours available: Cream, black, blue Matching toaster: Yes (available here)

This brightly coloured kettle is great value for money based on its performance. Boiling its full capacity takes just over three minutes, and you can boil enough for one cup in 45 seconds. 

We also found it much quieter than several other models we’ve tested. The exterior does get very hot (63C) though, so take care when pouring. It's lightweight, too.

Key specifications Maximum capacity: 1.7 litres Minimum capacity: 300ml  Weight when empty: 850g Colours available: Black, red, white Matching toaster: Yes (available here) 

This kettle is among the most compact we’ve tested and the wide, rounded spout makes for fast filling and an accurate and clean pour. When boiling a full kettle, the external casing temperature remained cool to touch. 

While Swan says it's a "rapid boil" model, we didn’t find it faster than others here. It took on average under two minutes to boil one litre of water and a little over a minute to boil half a litre.

Key specifications Maximum capacity: 1.7 litres Minimum capacity: 500ml  Weight when empty: 725g Colours available: Black, white Matching toaster: Yes (available here) 

While it wasn’t the fastest in our tests, this attractively designed kettle performed well, boiling 1.7 litres - its maximum capacity - in under four minutes. While the minimum capacity of 500ml is about double that of other kettles here, it heated up rapidly in just over a minute, giving you the right amount of water for two cups of tea. 

The handle is comfortable to hold and it poured without dripping or spitting. You can also open the flip-top lid easily with the same hand you’re using to hold the handle when refilling. It’s fairly light to lift even when at maximum capacity, too. 

Key specifications Maximum capacity: 1.7 litres Minimum capacity: 500ml  Weight when empty: 715g Colours available: Stone, cream, grey Matching toaster: Yes (available here) 

This Russell Hobbs kettle is easy to fill through the spout and is also lightweight, at under 1kg when empty. It boils one cup of water in under 45 seconds, so it’s ideal for people who usually only make one hot drink at a time. 

We found that it pours cleanly and accurately with no splashing, too. The water gauge is behind the handle, which means you can’t see it well while you’re filling the kettle. But, overall, it's a reliable kettle at a reasonable price – and it comes in three colours.

Key Specifications Maximum capacity: 1.7 litres Minimum capacity: 235ml Weight when empty: 935g Colours available: Black, white, red Matching toaster: Yes (available here) 

Here's another great-value Russell Hobbs model that comes in a good range of colours. This one also has an illuminated water level gauge that lights up when it's boiling and switches off when it’s ready. We found it fast too, taking a speedy 46 seconds to boil 240ml. At full capacity, though, it took almost four minutes to boil. 

It has markers for one, two and three cups on the inside, which are helpful if you want to boil specific amounts. It's worth noting that while the handle remained cool, the kettle's exterior reached 63C, so you should take care when handling it.

Key specifications Maximum capacity: 1.7 litres Minimum capacity: 240ml  Weight when empty: 650g Colours available: Black, grey, white, cream Matching toaster: Yes (available here) 

If you like your appliances to sparkle, the glitzy finish on this design will please. To make it into our round-up, however, its performance was important too, and this is undoubtedly a rapid-boil kettle – one litre takes a tad over two minutes.

You can boil just one cup of water in 44 seconds too, which is ideal if you’re after an energy-saving design. It’s lightweight, but we found that the casing became very hot during use. The handle kept its cool though, and if sparkle’s what you want, you can’t go far wrong with this statement kettle!

Key specifications Maximum capacity: 1.7 litres Minimum capacity: 250ml Weight when empty: 766g Colours available: Pink, black Matching toaster: Yes (available here)