We've had this kettle for about two years and it's still going strong. It was bought on the strength of the design - my other half has an affection for all things with sparkly twinkly lights on and the blue-lit water volume gauge was an instant hit. The shiny futuristic steel appealed to me as well.

The kettle follows the tried-and-tested procedure for heating water. Cold water (usually from a tap) is poured into the kettle through the spout or through the hatch and then electricity is harnessed to warm a filament at the bottom of the kettle to heat the water. Here the design of this kettle actually proves ergonomic, as the slanted top of the kettle means it's easy to get under the tap, even when there's a full bowl of washing up below. The bottom of the kettle and the powered housing unit are waterproofed and there have been no mishaps despite the bottom of the kettle being damp.

The VKJ160 heats up small volumes of water in about a minute, larger volumes (over 5 cups) take a few seconds longer.

The only drawback of this kettle is that it requires slightly more attention when cleaning as it is made of metal and the limescale or hard water scaling shows up on the outside of the kettle more obviously than a white or black model.