Is a Dualit kettle really worth £85? We tested it against a £9 supermarket buy

Most of us reach for our kettle at least a couple of times a day, so is it worth investing £85 in a top-of-the range Dualit model, or should we just get a cheap £9 supermarket buy? We've tested budget, mid-range and high-end kettles to see which model boils quickest, plus which is easiest to fill and pour. You can watch the full test now in the latest episode of the Real Homes Show.

And if you want to buy one of the models we've tested, browse our best kettle buying guide.

The contenders

• Dualit Lite Jug Kettle, £85 direct (above left) – award-winning 1.5L kettle, available in six colours
• Russell Hobbs Inspire Kettle in Grey, £29.99 on Amazon (above centre) – 1.7L kettle, available in five colours with two metallic trims 
• George Home Kettle, £9 on Asda (above right) – 1.7L kettle, also available in white

The results

We tested each kettle to see how easy it was to fill; how quickly it boiled two cups of water; and how easy it was to pour.

1. Ease of filling

Popping the kettle on should be a simple task, so a lid that opens with one hand and allows you to pour water in easily is a must. The budget George Home model stumbled at the first hurdle here, as the hinged lid doesn't open wide enough to get the tap positioned in the right place to fill it. The Russell Hobbs kettle looks great but you have to completely remove the lid to fill it, meaning it's a two-handed job. The Dualit was super easy to use, with a large heatproof knob and hinged lid that opened right back for easy filling. Both the Dualit and George Home kettles have large dual windows, making it easy to see how far you've filled them, while the small, single window on the Russell Hobbs was difficult to read.

Winner = Dualit Lite Jug Kettle

2. Speed of boiling

Let's be honest, all we really want a kettle to do is boil ASAP when we're blurry eyed in the morning (or evening if we've had a few glasses of vino). All three kettles are powered by 3,000W, so there shouldn't have been much difference in the time they took to boil. The Russell Hobbs Inspire claims to boil one cup of water in 45 seconds and save up to 66 percent energy. It certainly performed the best in the test, boiling two cups in 50 seconds. The George Home bargain kettle came in a close second at 52 seconds to boil two cups, while the Dualit took 60 seconds.

Winner = Russell Hobbs Inspire

3. Pouring the perfect cuppa

Ever been a little over zealous with the kettle when pouring and flooded the worktop? Yep, us too. All three of these kettles claim to have anti-drip spouts that create a streamlined flow of water straight into your cup, and they delivered in our tests. The bargain George Home kettle did start to make a mess when we poured it at a sharp angle, but the others all poured a perfect, drip-free cuppa.

Winner = Dualit Lite Jug Kettle and Russell Hobbs Inspire

Which should you choose?

• As much as we love a bargain, the George Home kettle from Asda is really difficult to fill, so we'd only go for this if yours breaks just before payday or you're sending your teenager off to uni (it's more than up to the job of preparing a Pot Noodle).
• If you're impatient (and aren't we all these days?), then the Russell Hobbs Inspire is the kettle for you. It not only boils quickly, it also comes in the largest choice of colours and finishes to get the perfect match for your kitchen.
• Sometimes a product is worth paying that little bit more for, and that certainly rings true in the Dualit Lite Kettle's case. It's ergonomically designed, making it easy to fill and pour, and it boils quickly enough. Plus, if you work out the cost-per-use, it's almost a bargain. Almost.