Customer Reviews

OXO Good Grips Uplift Teakettle, Brushed Stainless Steel

5 star:		(67)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(36)
1 star:		(39)

 

 

Lifting this teakettle by the handle opens the pour spout. No button to press or gadget to fiddle with to open the spout. Actually the angle you hold the pot at determines whethere the spout will open or not. It will always be open when in the "pour" position. In the more "level" carrying position just a tilt of the angle will change it from closed to open. It may sound kind of strange or uncontrollable, but it is very easy to manage.

It's made of sturdy stainless steel. It looks nice, though very sleek and modern compared to all those "cute" teakettles out there. Plus it has an additional larger opening for cleaning! (You cant get inside most other teakettles.)

One thing that you may not like about this teakettle: The "whistle" is a lower tone than traditional kettles, actually, it's more of a hum. Some people find it annoying. I personally think the sound is more "musical" than the older whistling types. (I find that old-style whistle far more annoying than the pleasant hum of my OXO).

If you are the type of person that wants everything as fast as possible, then there is one other negative . You cant put this kettle on high heat due to the rubber handle. I find it only takes a minute or two longer to bring it to heat, but if you are the harried sort who wants things pronto, this might annoy you.

I am disabled and have very limited use of my hands, but I have no problem using this product. Actually I use it with great ease. Until now, I have been able to use NO other teakettle. All the other teakettles I have seen (and tried) require more dexterity than I have. (I am a C5/6 incomplete quadriplegic, if you need to know). Also, my mother has arthritis in her hands and this product is much easier for her to use than her old standby.

For me it's a practically perfect product.

The uplift teakettle (I have the stainless steel two-quart variety) is designed so that when you lift the handle, the pouring spout automatically opens. Great idea - no messing with a little thingie that you have to pull while lifting. It helps to avoid cramping already-pained fingers. There's a comfy, thick handle designed to be easy on your fingers. The kettle is of decently thick metal, resulting in fairly even heating and strong construction. Best of all, the "whistle" is this low-pitched foghorn-like thing, that doesn't trigger my innate and inexplicable fear of alarms. So what's the problem?

The instructions for the kettle warned that if you leave water in it, it can rust - you need to be sure to empty it right away after using it. If you have housemates who don't bother to empty the kettle after using it, or guests who are used to kettles that they can leave full of water on the stove, this can get mildly frustrating.

If you happen to leave the kettle on the stove and someone fries something nearby, it is remarkably difficult to get the grease off.

The handle gets quite hot, unlike that of some other kettles I've used. I definitely need a hot pad in order to pick it up. The lid can also be a bit tough to remove, particularly if you have painful hands, which seems to defeat the purpose of having the easy-on-the-hands design.

If you have a housemate who fills up the kettle all the way to the lid a couple of times and boils the water as hard as possible, it'll do weird things to the lid seal, and you'll never get the kettle to whistle again. I once had a housemate who liked to do everything cooking-related in as extreme a manner as possible (burners on highest setting no matter what, stirring things so hard they sloshed all over the stove, and so on). Within a couple of weeks of his getting his hands on this thing - no more whistle. Very annoying. (Okay, so that might be more a function of him than of the kettle, but it still would have been nice to see a warning about not filling the kettle too full.)

We love this teapot. For years we had a prior oxo version of the teapot which finally wore out, this new one improves on the old one. The old one had plastic that was stylish, but ultimately carbonized after years of use. That's gone now. The best part is the handle, push down the spout opens, lift up and it closes. No burned hands. Has a large solid base and heats quickly.

I fell in love with the color and style of the Pretend Green tea kettle several months ago but hesitated purchasing it because of some of the negative comments about malfunctionative (<<< made up word) whistles.

I contacted Gretchen at Oxo...who told me that yes, many of the original whistles were defective but that Oxo has fixed the problem. She said that the new ones shipped out have a new-and-improved whistle that is loud and they would replace any that ceased to notify tea drinkers.

In fact, she even sent me one before I purchased the kettle, which is a good thing because I got an older style whistle that didn't work well. The new whistle (easily installed) works perfectly and is fun (as many noticed, it sounds like a train).

And the rest of the kettle is really cool, too (especially the style and color options).

I have used my OXO uplift kettle for over two years and it performs perfectly...In fact, it is the best kettle I have ever owned, and as much as I use it I expected the bottom to have burned out by now, the way all of my previous "bargain" kettles did.
I have seen a number of reviews here downgrading my favorite kettle because of problems with the whistle... I decided to look into that because I thought it was very unusual. I called the customer service number and found that the whistle on one small batch of production was not correctly assembled. The good news is that it has been fixed and all subsequent kettles have the redesigned whistle. The best news is that all OXO products are guaranteed unconditionally with no time limit. Had the unhappy owners simply called the OXO company, they would have received a brand new kettle FREE!
Sometimes American consumers would rather complain and badmouth a product rather than taking the steps to let the manufacturer make it right. In the case of OXO, they have a great reputation in the housewares industry for standing behind their products and making every customer happy.
Yes I am a fan of OXO products, I have most every one of their user-friendly kitchen products in my kitchen and I often give their products as gifts. The kettle is outstanding but I wouldn't hesitate to call the company and ask for a replacement if it did not perform as advertised.
Got to go now, my OXO Uplift Kettle is whistling...

Another Amazon[.com] reviewer praised this kettle for being so easy to use in spite of her arthritis and I bought the kettle on this recommendation. I was not disappointed--the kettle is easy to fill, hold, and pour, because of the clever mechanism that opens the spout as soon as the kettle is tipped. The handle is soft and gently curved and the kettle does not slip when I pick it up. The end of the handle also doesn't dig into my wrist the way other kettles' handles do.

The steam seal is tight, too, so there's on change of being burnt by steam as you pour. I virtually never remove the lid--I refill the kettle through the spout.

A few others reviewers criticized the whistle. I have to disagree--this whistle is a gentle but loud two-toned hum and is easy to hear. Depending on how much water is in the kettle, it emits a loud, low hum or simultaneously two hums of different pitches. It's simply not the high-pitched screech of most kettles, and so it takes some getting used to listening out for.

The kettle is also easy to clean--there are no tight corners or small parts that are out of the way and so get dirty easily.

We just had a number of things in our home tested for lead another other heavy metals and this teakettle tested positive for very high levels of cadmium (a known carcinogen). Yuck. Not cool.
Our teakettle is orange and it's possible that there is less (or no) cadmium in the unglazed or other (not red or orange) colors. But who knows.
You might want to stay away from this one --or ask OXO for confirmation that other colors are free of heavy metals: [...]

I dont like reading reviews from people who have *just* received an item because I feel they haven't really given it a fair 'test drive.' I've had my OXO Teakettle for nearly two years and love it. Having returned to the US after living abroad for nearly 20 years, I found the selection of electric teakettles to be very limited. My husband bought me a couple but I didnt like them -- finally, I gave in and purchased a stove-top kettle, the OXO. I like the sleek design and how, with a slight bit of pressure with your hand or tilt, the spout top opens with ease. I've seen on other reviews that some people have had problems with the whistle, but in two years, I've experienced no problems at all.

I was personally smitten by the tea way of life during a two year stint in Britain in the mid 1980s, and love to have my morning cup while I get ready for work. Recently I decided to replace the long-suffering kettle I had with something shiny and new, based on the remodeling of the kitchen and the fact that the old one was getting a little ragged around the edges. My interst was piqued by this model, for it combines good looks with a lot of basic fnctionality, something the average Brit would appreciate. This then, would be a good choice.

That much said, this kettle has a lot of quality built into it. The "Uplift teakettle" really does the job well; the spout opens when the nonslip, heat-resistant handle is lifted, which serves to keeping your fingers and hands safely out of range from potential burns. It has a removable lid, which is wide enough to be able to empty and fill easily. It aslo facilitates regular cleaning. It has a 2-quart capacity, and is ergonomically designed to fit one's palm comfortably. The handles are slip-proof--wet or dry--as well as dishwasher-safe. All i all, this is a great tea kettle, and one I am sure will meet your needs for years to come.

This kettle has a number of problems, the most significant being that it doesn't whistle consistently. I wanted to purchase a whistling teakettle because, from time to time, I have put the kettle on and forgotten about it. This kettle's whistle worked less than 25 percent of the time, which renders that feature quite useless. I found the "uplift" handle to be awkward. It makes the kettle less stable when handling it, as the handle moves up and down to open the spout and this can happen at times when you aren't expecting it. I will say that I did get somewhat used to this, but I still never liked it. The bottom of this kettle is THIN! It did not appear to be sturdy at all. And, ironically, this thinness didn't help it heat water any faster. I replaced this kettle with the Chantal teakettle (I got mine from Amazon before they quit carrying it, but you can find it at Williams-Sonoma). It cost twice as much, but it is more than twice the quality. And the whistle always works!