Boiling water seems like such a menial task, and yet is can be annoying when you want hot water and have to stand there waiting for it. Whether you have a kettle on the stove or a cup of water in the microwave, it seems like it just drains precious minutes out of your day. Sure, you could put a kettle on the stove and walk away to do something else, but you still have to be on stand-bye to run and shut it off when it starts to boil/whistle. The answer; use an electric water kettle, which will boil water in just minutes and will shut off automatically. However, after trying several different makes and models of electric kettles, it just seems like they are built of cheap quality materials. Sometimes they would not shut off when the water boiled. The paddle-style power switch broke right off of a few models. Most required that you add at least 2 or 3 cups of water or else the heating element would not be covered. And most of them gave a slightly tainted flavor to the water, adding a hint of plastic taste to my coffee and tea. We decided that we had to stop buying the inexpensive kettles and began searching for something that was quality built and would last.

Enter the Braun WK200 series AquaExpress Electric Water Kettle. I didn't even know that Braun made electric water kettles until finding this model here on Amazon. I read a plethora of rave reviews for this kettle and decided to give it a try. Sure, it had a rather high price tag but most folks seemed to feel that it was worth the money.

I had our new Braun WK200 kettle setup in less than 5 minutes. The power base has built-in cord storage clips, so you only need to pull out as much cord as you need to reach the nearest outlet. Even fully extended the cord is rather short and extremely stiff. After cleaning out the kettle with warm, soapy water, I filled it to its maximum 7-cup mark, placed it on the base and hit the power switch. Within seconds the kettle started to make a hissing sound that indicated the water was heating up. Within just a few minutes the water was boiling and the kettle promptly shut itself off. The wide spout provides easy, splash-free pouring. The spout even has a small filter in it, to remove impurities from your water. After pouring out all of the water I was pleased to see that the heating element is fully concealed, which makes cleaning this kettle a snap. The element plate is also very low, which means you only have to put in a little over a cup of water in order to cover it. There is a handy water level window on both sides of the kettle, which makes it easy to see just how much water is in the device. There is also a red pilot light on both sides of the kettle, close to the base, which lets you know when the unit is heating water. There are two buttons atop the handle; one which is the power switch and the other is to pop open the top for filling the kettle. One of the handiest features is that the kettle can be placed on the base with the handle in any direction. That's right, you don't have to line anything up. There is a little nub in the center of the base unit that just pops into the center of the kettle underside, allowing the kettle to rotate a full 360 degrees. And of course the kettle has a 4-way shutoff feature, which powers the unit off when the water boils, if the unit is out of water, when the lid is opened, and when the kettle is lifted off from the base unit. This makes the Braun WK200 series AquaExpress one of the safest kettles on the market today. The unit is well balanced, even when full of water, and I have noticed that the water remains very hot inside the kettle for quite some time, well after the unit has shut itself off.

Although I have already mentioned some of these, here is a summary of features for the Braun WK200 AquaExpress Electric Water Kettle:

- 1500 watts
- 7 cup/1.6L Capacity
- Easy-Read Water Level Indicator Windows (both sides)
- On/Off Pilot Light (both sides)
- Easy Water Filling Through Spout
- Fully Concealed Internal Heating Element
- Four-Way Safety Switch Off (when dry, when boiling, when lid is opened, when lifted off base)
- Handy Cord Storage Under Base
- Washable Filter In Spout
- Extremely Easy To Clean
- Rated Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.6 x 11.4

My only real complaints about this model are with the power cord. It is very short (only 24 inches) and extremely thick and stiff. A slightly longer, much more flexible power cord would have made this electric kettle perfect in every way. One other thing to note is that the exterior of this kettle becomes very warm to the touch when water is fully heated. It will certainly not burn anyone but it is warmer than I expected from a non-metal type product like this. Still, all of these imperfections are minor compared to the high build quality, fast performance, wonderful safety features, and stylish looks of this great product. Braun is known throughout the world as a manufacturer of high quality products, and the WK200B electric water kettle is no exception. I highly recommend this product to anyone that is looking for a safe, easy to use electric kettle that will save you the time and frustration of waiting for water to boil. Now you can just push a button and go about any other task, knowing that the kettle will safely shut itself off when the water begins to boil. I am definitely glad that I stopped buying those cheap quality $20 kettles and bought my family the Braun WK200B. It was a wise investment and worth every penny.

Recommended: Yes