Today we’re going to take a look at a device that had every chance of earning us the title of “perfect kettle according to our own guide to choosing kettles “. But did not receive. Why? Read on, there must be some intrigue;)
Characteristics
Manufacturer | Redmond |
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Model | RK-G1308D |
Type | Electric kettle |
Country of Origin | China |
Warranty | 1 year |
Declared power | 1200-1500W |
A heating element | ten, closed |
Housing material | metal, plastic |
Flask material | glass |
Spout filter | No |
Declared volume | 1.7 l |
Control | touch buttons on the base |
Heating to temperature | 40, 60, 80, 90, 95, 100°C |
Temperature maintenance | up to 2 hours |
Auto power off | lack of water, boiling, removal from the stand |
Additionally | contact group Strix, mesh for tea leaves, sound indication |
The weight | stand with cord: 225 g, kettle: 1105 g |
Dimensions | 25×26×19 cm |
Cord length | 80 cm |
average price | 4-5 thousand rubles at the time of publication of the review |
Equipment
Opening the box, inside we found:
- kettle with a mesh for tea leaves and a lid;
- base;
- manual;
- service book.
At first sight
We immediately noticed several signs that, in our opinion , are signs of the “right” device: a completely removable cover of the simplest design, a glass flask (an ideal water level indicator that does not require any indicators at all), a lot of neat touch buttons on the base.
Those elements of the handle that are responsible for the load are made of metal, painted black. Decorative overlays — plastic. However, it should be noted that it was our first glance that the designers managed to deceive: we almost believed that they were wooden. Careful inspection from a close distance sowed the first doubts, inspection of the texture through a magnifying glass confirmed them, but a neat saw cut with a needle file in an inconspicuous place finally put everything in its place: plastic. But the imitation is very worthy, a less sophisticated person can be deceived.
The cover is completely removed, and nothing will break in it, because there is nothing to break. The lining on the handle of the lid is made of the same imitation wood as on the handle of the teapot.
The Strix contact group looks reliable, as, indeed, everything that this manufacturer makes.
At the bottom of the base there is a compartment for excess cord.
Steel grade is indicated at the bottom of the flask, closer to the handle you can see the protruding pin of the temperature sensor.
The brewing mesh with tea poured into it is hooked to the bottom of the lid and fixed there by turning. It is worthwhile to handle the mesh carefully: the steel is quite thin, you can crush it with your hand without even making much effort.
Instruction
As always with Redmond, the instruction is small and trilingual: Russian, Ukrainian, Kazakh.
Printed recipes are not offered this time, but the box mentions the “Cooking with Redmond” app, which does not ignore tea.
Control
The control panel is located on the base and consists of a touch-sensitive power button and six touch-sensitive buttons with different temperatures.
Despite the touch, we would call the buttons quite “tight”: if you just accidentally swipe your finger on the button, absolutely nothing will happen – you need to press your finger against the surface of the base with a fairly noticeable effort in the right place for the sensor to work.
In theory, everything is very simple: the power button turns on the kettle (the red LED lights up), then the temperature selection button starts the process. However, it was not so easy…
Exploitation
The main surprise awaited us when, having read the instructions, we started using the kettle, still secretly hoping that some kind of mistake had crept into the instructions. But no.
The fact is that the buttons, next to which the corresponding temperatures are written, work somewhat differently than usual: they are declared not as temperature selection buttons, but as buttons for maintaining it. Therefore, when you press any button (except 100 ° C), the kettle first boils water, and then turns on the mode of maintaining a certain temperature for 2 hours. We see several paradoxical consequences of such an algorithm at once, and, frankly speaking, not a single one pleases.
- By pressing the button with the specified temperature value, you do not get water of the specified temperature as a result – you always get boiling water.
- To get water of the specified temperature, you need to let the boiling water cool down to it. Not only can it be quite long, but it is also extremely difficult to catch when it happens. Is it possible to sit in front of the kettle and watch when the heating indicator lights up for the first time.
- The 40 ° C button turns out to be completely meaningless: the heating works for a maximum of 2 hours, and in 2 hours at room temperature the water in the kettle cools down to only 51 ° C.
There are a lot of hypotheses about the reason for such a strange choice, but one looks the most realistic: the person who developed this algorithm had no idea at all why kettles have temperature selection buttons, who uses them and how. Unfortunately, “I just didn’t think” is perhaps the most common engineering mistake of the 21st century…
Brewing tea with a teapot didn’t come with any surprises, as expected, but it’s generally hard for us to imagine anything going wrong in such a simple process. There are a lot of holes in the mesh, so brewing is quite fast.
Care
The kettle and base can be cleaned with a soft, damp cloth. For descaling, it is recommended to use any household descaling agent in accordance with its instructions.
Our measurements
Useful volume | 1.7 l |
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A full kettle (1.7 l) of water at 20 °C is brought to a boil in | 8 minutes 37 seconds |
What is the amount of electricity used for? | 0.18 kWh |
1 liter of water at a temperature of 20 ° C is brought to a boil for | 5 minutes 15 seconds |
What is the amount of electricity used for? | 0.11 kWh |
Kettle body temperature 3 minutes after boiling | 99°C |
Maximum power consumption at mains voltage 220 V | 1308 W |
Idle consumption | 0.1W |
Electricity consumption for maintaining the temperature of 80 °C for 1 hour | 0.08 kWh |
The temperature of the water in the kettle 1 hour after boiling | 69°C |
The temperature of the water in the kettle 2 hours after boiling | 51°C |
The temperature of the water in the kettle 3 hours after boiling | 43°C |
Time of pouring out the full volume of water in a regular way | 15 seconds |
We did not investigate the accuracy of heating up to the specified temperature, because, as we already explained above, the kettle does not actually heat water up to the specified temperature . There is no thermal insulation of the flask, so even after an hour, boiling water is no longer boiling water at all. But the temperature of the outer surface of the body after boiling is almost equal to the temperature of the water – getting burned on this kettle is easy.
findings
The Redmond RK-G1308D could have been a great kettle, one of the best we’ve tested, but one elementary mistake robbed it of that title. Of course, no one prevents you from using it in the mode of a regular “one-button” kettle, designed exclusively for boiling.
Then you can console yourself with the fact that he is just beautiful;)
pros
- excellent ergonomics and design
- fully removable lid
- mesh for tea
Minuses
- temperature selection buttons in fact they are not