Why does it seem that manufacturers have such a problem trying to design a kettle that works properly? I recently reviewed one where the lid broke off in less than two month's use. It just shoddy design: the hinge was far too thin and was just a disaster waiting to happen.

We replaced it with a Morphy Richards Accents kettle which cost about £30, pretty much the same as the one it replaced so, again, not cheap. You would expect it to work though, and it is, so far. The design, though, leaves a lot to be desired.

It looks just like the one in the picture above with the exception that ours is brushed steel rather than anodised. It is rated at up to 3KWs and so boils water at pretty much the same speed as the one it replaced. Like that one it is the sort of kettle that sits on a base that is plugged into a convenient socket rather than having its own tethered power cord. The On switch is at the rear of the kettle, below the handle, and automatically cuts out once the water has reached boiling.

On this kettle there is a water gauge on both sides but once again it isn't a direct window into the kettle itself; these gauges also fill from a small inlet from the main compartment and, as with all others of this sort, show no water at all until in one go the water surges up the gauge and shows that you have poured too much water in! Worse though, the Morphy Richards has only a minimum marking of "2 Cups" and you see nothing until it has reached this level. Even the "2 Cups" designation is inaccurate: two thimbles maybe!

But the worst part of the design is, once again, the lid. It is released by pressing a button at the top of the handle. In the closed position it slopes downwards towards the spout at about 40 degrees from the horizontal. In the open position it slopes upwards by about the same amount. So, at no point is it possible to place the kettle under a water spout to fill it; the lid is always in the way. To fill it from the tap you have to insert the spout into the kettle, if you can, and tip the kettle backwards. This way there is no way of being sure about the amount of water!

In our case we fill the kettle from a jug; we have a water filter spout in the utility room, from which we fill the jug for the kitchen. The jug doesn't have a spout like a tap does so we have to tip the kettle backwards with one hand whilst trying to fill the kettle with the other; not easy if the jug is full.

I must admit I'm tempted to take it back and claim a refund, purely based on the poor design. If you're looking for a new kettle I suggest you look elsewhere.