The Tower Renaissance kettle is, a stylish model from Tower. But is it any good? We put it to the test in another of our in-depth reviews. Read on to find out what our experts thought of it!
Related: Top 10 Best Buy Kettles
Design & build
A kettle is a kettle. The main difference between most models is their design- so let's start by talking about that. The Tower Renaissance kettle is certainly a very stylish model. Available in either grey or black, both have distinctive chrome accents. It's got a bit of a retro flair to it, but the matte casing means it doesn't feel dated- and makes it really easy to clean, too!
The most striking thing about the Renaissance kettle, though, has to be the large temperature gauge on the front. On the matching toaster, the equivalent dial is used to set the browning level. Here, it's just decorative- it's not like some other kettles where you can set the temperature. However, we still thought that it was a nice touch, as it lets you see how close the water is to boiling, and brings a nice analogue touch to our increasingly digital world.
In terms of its build, the Tower Renaissance is nice and sturdy, without being too heavy. That would make it a solid choice for older users who may struggle to lift weightier kettles. The handle on the top makes it suitable for both left- and right-handed users as well.
The Tower Renaissance kettle also comes with a "perfect pour" spout. This promises no spillages while pouring, and in practice we found this worked really well. The actual kettle itself is sort of midway between a traditional dome kettle and a jug kettle. This meant that it can be a little bit fiddly to get water in through the lid, which isn't the easiest to remove. It's easy enough to fill from the spout, though. As there's no built-in limescale filter in there, it's very quick to fill through the spout.
Finally, the Renaissance kettle comes with a one-year warranty as standard. However, you can extend that to three years by registering your purchase with Tower directly.
Performance
On the whole, the Tower Renaissance kettle performed really well in our testing process. It has a rapid boil zone on its base, which means it can boil enough water for one cup of tea in just under a minute. That means it won't eat into your tea break if you're just making a brew for yourself. Like most "full-size" kettles, it has a total capacity of 1.7 litres. In practise, that's enough water for about seven or eight hot drinks (depending on the size of your mugs, of course). Naturally, it's not quite so quick to boil when at full capacity. However, we were still impressed with how it performed, reaching boiling point in little over three minutes.
Like quite a few kettles around this price point, the Renaissance promises a "quiet boil" function. In practise, we've found that this generally doesn't mean much. With the Renaissance, though, our experts did think it was reasonably quiet.
Tower Renaissance Kettle: The Verdict
The Tower Renaissance kettle is a stylish, effective model, and one that does credit to Tower's good name. With premium build quality at an affordable price, we highly recommend it.
