AIBU to spend £162 on a kettle? Are Smeg products worth it?

[Canadianskates]

Thinking of buying a Smeg kettle but are they really worth the price? £162 for a kettle?! They look really beautiful but are they worth it?

AIBU to buy one????

Slightly off topic but the SMEG toaster is great.

No the paint flakes off them and they leak :( had two now.
had the blender as well but that’s packed up. Toaster is still okay but the black coating on that has gone ‘weird’.

Big generalisation, but the only one I have used was in a holiday house, and was leaking when in use, although not clear where from. It's unlikely that one make would have greatly longer life or function than another, I suspect.

They are not worth the money.

Ive had 2 in 5 years. Pretty but not value for money. Currently using a cheap £25 kettle whilst I decide whether I'll go Dualit or kitchennaid next time. My cheapo has made me realise how damn heavy the Smeg was.

Here's the full Which? report. It's rare that they're so damning about a product.

ETA sorry, the screenshots have appeared in reverse order, I think

They are. I love mine. Not so keen on my Dualit toaster - it’s very slow.

Yes, I have read lots of Which reports on appliances and this one is awful. I am always prepared to pay over the odds for quality but this is not.

I love our Dualit kettle and toaster. Had both about 5 years and no problems so far. I do descale it regularly as we are in a very hard water area. Had a Smeg kettle in a holiday place once, it played an annoying little jingle when you switched it on.

I have one and I don’t think I’d buy it again. The lid is annoying to open, and in the end it’s judt a kettle.

If you are really hung up on the look of it then I guess it’s worth it to you. You won’t get a better kettle in terms of durability and reliability than you would if you paid £30-40. You are literally just paying for the name and the design. If you can afford it and it makes you happy just do it. I live with a design freak. Our house is a mix of design classics, ikea stuff, bits from Homebase etc.

Frankly it looks like something out of a magazine (when it’s clean and tidy)
Never something I would have achieved as not my thing but other-half has a real talent for knowing what will look right in a room and it has nothing to do with branding/cost etc

you can tell houses where it’s all been done to a price point/brand. Can range from tacky/flashy to ‘a bit John Lewis’ - apparently the ultimate sin :-)
He should have been a designer but that sort of thing wasn’t encouraged in working class homes in the 70’s.

I’m happy that I never have to make decisions about things like that and can enjoy the results.

My mum got one on offer for £99 (and a matching toaster also £99) they are beautiful BUT she had to return the kettle 5 times before the 6th one she got actually worked reliably. She stuck with it about 5 years or so (no problems in that time) and when it was time to replace it, she went with a cheap and cheerful £20 kettle.
I have a Delonghi set (£100-£150 per kettle/toaster usual price) I wait until they’re on offer and got my recent set for £50 per appliance and they’re great. Never had an issue and this is my second set. First set lasted 9 years and I only replaced due to some ware and tear, they functioned perfectly well still.

(I have talked about the Delonghi ones on another recent thread, no I do not work for or sell them 🤣 I just really like my kettle 🫣)

I Just looked at a smeg kettle online . Very ugly! You are paying a premium to advertise their brand for them.

Not really! My Kenwood kettle from when I was a student in 1990 is still on the go!! 💪

Ninja kettles are great, especially if you like different temperatures for coffee or flavoured teas.

Just remembered another thing I love about our Dualit kettle! It measures in cups like a normal kettle, but then also does ml on the other side.

Oh, come on. You can say what you like about them but they are not ugly.

I bought a beautiful metallic copper SMEG kettle and toaster 2 years ago. They came to near £400 but we just had a new kitchen fitted and they look stunning. 2 years on, they are working well and look like new. I love them and enjoy boiling the kettle!

I bought a Dualit classic today. It's the only kettle that can be repaired. We WFH and have upwards of 12 drinks a day we get through a kettle every 12 weeks or so. This should pay for itself in two years

We've had a Smeg fridge, decades ago, a Smeg oven and a toaster. The fridge was the pretty much the most annoying we've ever had, the oven was okay and looked great, and the toaster was fairly annoying as well.

I probably think now that Smeg is style over performance, in the main, and tbh, I'm not crazy about the whole pastel retro thing in the same way I was years ago.

Every 12 weeks?!

Fraid so,the switch burns out. Apparently from my research they are designed to be boiled 3 or 4 times a day, and ours is 15 on on average. My sec9nd cheapy this year showed signs of dying this morning so I bit the bullet and went for a good one

OP, I have a relative who had a Smeg. Heavy, and didn’t last long at all(retirees so kettle in heavy use). Also it was really hard to see the water gauge due to the design of the handle.
It got replaced by one of those spouty coffee pot style Kitchenaid ones,
which dribbles and leaks from the stupid, long spout the instant you lift it so is equally pointless. You’re either spilling or scalded wth every cuppa.

😮

I really like my Ninja kettle. It boils quickly, you can set which temperature you want it to heat to, and you can also 'hold' the temperature at whichever temperature you choose.