An Illuminating Kettle (Breville Spectra)

Member Name: Whizz11

Product:	Breville Spectra
Date:	04/11/09 (78 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Different colours, nice spout, easy to hold

Disadvantages: None

Last month our trusty kettle broke and so my husband was sent out to buy another one. Liking gadgets and gimmicks he came back with the Breville Spectra Keep Warm system kettle.

The number one gimmick with this kettle is that it changes colour whilst it is on standby, a soft ever changing illumination. To me this looks kind of cool and funky when it is on the kitchen shelf. The kettle has see through plastic on the spout, half of the handle and on a little button on the front that says Breville and this is where it changes colour. The colours are fairly bright and do light up the room if no lights are on. The colours change from orange, to red, to purple, to blue to green and to yellow and then follow the pattern again. I would say each colour lasts for about 5 seconds and then fades into the other colour so it changes quite rapidly.

The rest of the kettle surface has a chrome effect and to me feels a bit plasticy but the good thing with it being plastic is that it is quite light and also does not make the outside of the kettle really hot when it has just boiled.

The kettle has a 1.7 litre capacity and has cup markings on the side of the kettle to indicate how much water you should boil for the number of cups you want. This kettle goes up to 8 cups max. I really like the handle on this kettle as it has a really nice rubber grip on it which makes it really easy to pick up the kettle, fill it and then hold it when pouring. Even with the max amount of water in it the handle works well and allows easy pouring. I really like the spout too as it has quite a big opening and pours really nicely from the top. I have not experienced any spillage from the wide spout which is nice as this means no wiping up spilt water after you have made your tea. The spout features a filter inside of it so you are guaranteed no limescale. This filter is removeable making it very easy to wash and clean out.

The kettle sits on a round base and so has a concealed element. The plug and chord for this kettle wind into the base so you can position the base near a plug socket and not have nasty wires trailing out all over the place. This makes your kitchen look neat and tidy and also is a nice safety feature too. Of course, if you can't place the kettle near the plug this also gives you the option of lengthening the chord so it can reach.

The kettle does boil quite quickly, it says in the information regarding the kettle that it has a rapid boil and I do agree with this. It is also said to be quite a quiet boil. I can still hear the kettle, it is not silent by any means but it is probably a lot quieter than some kettles.

When the kettle boils it changes colour from blue to red, indicating that the water temperature is rising. What I also like about this kettle is that it has a keep warm system. Once the kettle has been boiled you can push a button on the top which will then illuminate red to tell you that it is keeping the water inside hot. I think this works well when you might need another cup of tea 10 minutes after you have firstly boiled the kettle. Even without this button I find that the kettle keeps the water quite warm anyway but this is a nice function.

Even though this kettle may look like just a bit of a gimmicky kettle with its illuminations I actually think it's a good functioning kettle, does the job it is meant to do (make my tea) and looks good in your kitchen. It costs £53.79 and we bought ours from Argos.

Summary: Breville Spectra Kettle

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