Frankly, as long as it can boil some water I don't care what my kettle looks like and I live in a kettle-killer area; very very hard water. So I always go for cheap and cheerful as I know I'll need a new one every year or so.

These can be picked up at Asda for around £5 I think these days and are a great budget option for those who favour function over form. I just don't see the point in spending a large amount of money on something that hides in the kitchen and gets used for a few minutes a day for my morning and bedtime cuppa.

It's a standard white plastic kettle with a clear pale blue insert so you can check the water level inside, with recommended minimum and maximum level markings. The on/off switch lights up when it's on so there's no doubt about when it's in use.

It's a cordless design so it's flexible and you can use it all round the kitchen. The cord for the base unit is a decent length too, which is handy for me as my kitchen plug points are in a bit of an awkward spot.

I have found that this kettle does develop damage around the spout area after a couple of years dealing with our very limescaley water. I'm on kettle number two now, as the last one ended up with spout area just sort of crumbling away in the end, and this one is starting to look a bit dodgy now.

Funny fact: did you know electric kettles are virtually unknown in the USA?

Update: It's still going strong two year's later.