Breville SK500XL IT HAS ISSUES!

Author's Rating:

Pros: Well made ( except that cordless feature is a poor design). Quick to boil water.

Cons: Cordless feature did not hold up to daily use.

The Bottom Line: 
Purchase extended warranty if you buy this kettle. Otherwise, buy a well made stove top stainless kettle.
I give the kettle high marks for design and quality (aside from problems noted).

Author's Review
I purchased this kettle about 2 years ago from a department store for about $80.00 Canadian. It lasted about 18 months. I chose it over others because of its functionality, that it was stainless as apposed to my previous plastic kettle and the fact that after close examination it appeared well made compared to the competition on display that day.

Unfortunately I no longer have the kettle. The main problem was the cordless feature. On post mortem examination (I like to disassemble things to find out what failed, broke etc) the electrical connections on the base had become worn out from constant up down motion. I noticed where sparking had occurred on the copper electrical contacts and pitting of the contact surface. This in turn created a so called dead electrical spot on the sleeve of the post that the kettle sits on. Because of this, it was soon necessary to twist the kettle ever so slightly on the base to receive proper electrical contact. Before I became aware of this problem I would plug the kettle in only to discover that it had not boiled. I did look into getting a replacement base but the cost did not justify the replacement. Also, I was concerned that after replacing the base that the connections in the kettle would have been in poor shape due to the problem that caused the base to fail.

Since most manufactures have similar designs, it may be difficult to choose a product that may or may not have similar problems that the Breville has.