I’ve struggled with mobility and health for years, and while I’m doing okay right now, there was a time when climbing up from the sofa was a painful challenge.
A smart kettle isn’t yet smart enough to fill itself and deliver me a cup of tea or a strong kettle, but WeeKett can save me trips to the counter or waiting for the water to boil.
Based in Edinburgh, WeeKett was founded by Chunli Zhang who graduated from University here. The first wifi kettle was launched in 2020 and still feels pretty cutting edge.
My kettle was provided for review.
WeeKett introduction
I’m not going to lie; the WeeKett isn’t cheap, and Amazon has them for nearly £90.
I took my old kettle with me when I moved, splitting from my partner and fighting for belongings. The kettle was a victory, I got it, but it didn’t survive long. A gaze filter in front of the spout vent on the inside gave way, and I started to get bits of plastic floating in my tea.
Typical, sometimes the more you take something for granted, the more quickly you hasten its departure.
I replaced it with one based on aesthetics, going for a glass kettle I could see through. It did look cool but seemed to grow limescale, and when it boiled, it vomited steam in all directions. I think I paid about £30 for it.
In contrast, the WeeKett is about three times as expensive but feels at least three times better. I’ll talk more about that later.
To finish the introduction, I want to ensure we’re all on board with what I mean by a “smart kettle”. I can use a smartphone app or smart speakers to use the kettle. In this case, I mean turning it on, asking it to keep the water hot or changing the temperature I want the water to reach.
WeeKett quality
It’s not actually the wifi tech in the WeeKett that I want to laud first, and it’s the build quality.
This is a well-constructed kettle! It doesn’t let much steam escape during the boil, and what does come from the sprout.
The WeeKett feels robust and safe in my hands; this is important if you’ve mobility issues and might have weak wrists or fingers and drop things.
My fingers are sore; it can hurt to make a fist. I’m not going to say that moving a filled kettle, WeeKett or not, is easy, but I will say that I trust the WeeKett to behave, and the handle is as ergonomic as I could hope for.
We don’t yet have robots to handle water, so the WeeKett is as much as I can hope for.
The kettle boils quickly, holds plenty and is easy to fit back on the base.
The base design is also handy, with a coil away cable to reach the power point without trailing excess cord everywhere. There are physical buttons for 70, 80, 90, and 100 degrees and on/off and keep warm.
WiFi Kettle
With the WeeKett app, you can pick what temperature you want the water to go to, whether you’re using the kettle to warm a baby bottle, to keep the water warm and set a timer.
Also, WeeKett uses the Smart Life app. I imagine some people might be alarmed or cautious that a third-party piece of software is needed for the kettle, but I was pleased.
I recognise Smart Life as a trusted third-party app. In fact, I had it on my smartphone already, for my Luna Projector.
As it happens, I couldn’t connect my smartphone to the kettle in the default and quick mode. It’s a problem I’ve had on my 5ghz home wifi before, but I could connect via the backup mode. It took only a few minutes.
I’ve also connected my Google Home/Smart Assistant to the WeeKett without the faff.
I’m delighted to say, “Hey Google, pop the kettle on” is a command that works!
My smartphone buzzes when the kettle starts, enters keep warm mode or finishes. If I lived with someone else, I imagine it might be weird to track whenever the kettle is being used, but I don’t, so it isn’t.
High and low lights
I can get to the kettle easily these days, so the up/down from the sofa or trips into the kitchen aspect of the WeeKett isn’t as important to me these days. Sadly, my condition will get worse again, but at least I’ve got the smart kettle in my arsenal of preparation.
The second best feature of the WeeKett for me right now is to be able to turn the kettle on as I walk home, and I can have hot water waiting for me as I enter the flat. It makes a difference now, and I can only imagine how good that’ll be in the winter!
The best feature is the timer. By the time I get into the kitchen on busy mornings when I’m generally running behind schedule already, it’s fantastic to have hot water. I go for green tea in the morning, and that’s generally not best with 100-degree boiling water. It’s wonderful having a kettle that can do that.
The lows? I tend to keep the kettle full, so I know there’s water in it. I suspect this isn’t as good for the environment or my energy consumption as only boiling one cup at a time, but perhaps I save the difference by infrequently boiling all the way to 100 degrees?
I’ve also noticed the timer can be pretty hit or miss, sometimes minutes late, so I’ve moved it forward by minutes to compensate.
A review of the WeeKett WiFi kettle
I’m impressed.
I don’t think I would have paid £90 for a smart kettle. I’ve been given one for review, and I’m glad I have one. If the WeeKett lasts as long as I suspect it will, I’ll happily pay £90 for a replacement. My hunch is that I won’t need to replace it for a while, though!
I’m a geek, and I love my tech. Being able to pop the kettle on while playing games with friends, on Discord, or otherwise online is a plus; seeing how the water is with reading is excellent.
However, it’s the engineering of the WeeKett that I’m most impressed by. This kettle feels robust, trustworthy and like a good investment.
It’s also worth noting you can buy the WeeKett directly from the Edinburgh-based company and not Amazon.
WeeKett review
Summary
A kettle that can be easily configured to heat water precisely, remotely and then stays warm is really handy. A “smart kettle” sounds like a luxury and perhaps pointless item, but it really isn’t! I’ve found the WeeKett to be a handy timesaver, and I’ve not even had it winter yet.
Please note that my WeeKett was provided for review.
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