To help us provide you with free impartial advice, we may earn a commission if you buy through links on our site. Learn more
- Affordable
- Stylish, with an attractive choice of colours
- Lightweight
- 500ml minimum fill
- Lid doesn’t fit tightly
- Fill lines could be more accurate
If you’re shopping for a kettle on a budget, you may find yourself overwhelmed by a sea of boring designs. However, Daewoo’s Cascade 1.7l kettle should give you pause for thought. It’s available in three colours: Black, Sage, and a striking deep Ruby (which I reviewed). All have a sleek textured exterior and metallic details that give no hint of its modest price tag.
Everything you’d expect from some of the best kettles is here too: two large water windows, a removable, washable limescale filter, wide mouth for filling, smoothly pouring spout and a subtly illuminated on/off lever. There’s also a 3kW element, making sure that it’s no slouch when it comes to boiling either.
Plus, for those who prefer coordinating toaster and kettle sets, there are matching Cascade toasters in both two and four-slice models.
Daewoo Cascade 1.7l jug kettle: What do you get for the money?
While it might not feature much in the way of bells and whistles, the Daewoo Cascade easily lives up to the spec of models at twice the price. There’s a comparable capacity at 1.7l, 3kW element and a pair of well-marked water windows at either side of the jug (with fill lines displayed in litres only). The spout is wide, and when the pull-off lid is removed, it’s got a generous mouth for easy filling from the tap. There’s a removable mesh filter to keep limescale out of your drink too – although it’s worth noting that the mesh is plastic, not metal, so it may not last well over time.
More importantly for some, it looks great out on the worktop. It’s made entirely of plastic but its tactile gently ribbed exterior, silver detailing, and matt finish in a choice of subtle colours ensure it’ll suit almost any style of kitchen. The lever illuminates while boiling, which is a nice touch, and switches on with a satisfying click.
It’s also fairly lightweight to lift when empty: the jug by itself is just 662g, while the whole kettle – measuring 15.7×22.3×25.8cm (WDH) – is less than a kilo at 910g. Plus, there’s an extended three-year warranty (if you register online).
What’s good about it?
Good looks aside, the Cascade performed excellently in testing. Boiling a litre of water from cold took two minutes, 39 seconds – about average for a model equipped with a 3kW/3,000W element – and retained its temperature well thereafter.
Five minutes after boiling, I measured a water temperature of 92.6°C, which dropped to only 87°C after a further five: still hot enough for drinks. And while the exterior grew hot – 66.9°C at boiling, dropping to 64°C after five minutes – it was not as hot as others I’ve tested (the Russell Hobbs Calm Kettle, for instance, reached an exterior temperature of 82.1°C). The kettle’s wide spout also ensured that it poured smoothly without any drips.
Power consumption was a little higher than other 3kW kettles tested though not excessively so. Heating a litre of water from cold used 0.121kWh, which would cost 3p at a rate of 25p per unit. It was a little noisy from starting the boil, but didn’t register much more in dB overall than comparable models. Measuring from one metre away, I noted a maximum output of 54dB while boiling a litre of water. Boiling 500ml was a little noisier at 54.7dB.
What could be better?
Overall, the Daewoo Cascade is a good-value, fuss-free kettle, but there are a few things that could be improved. The first is its lid: there are three small sprung pieces that keep it in place but it’s not a completely snug fit. This means that when a full kettle is tipped too quickly, hot water can dribble out from around the lid’s edge.
Another issue is the minimum boil amount, which is quite high at 500ml. If you regularly make drinks just for yourself, you’ll often be heating up more water than you need. Another thing that made me doubt the Cascade’s efficiency was that, even after the water had reached 100°C, the kettle kept boiling for several seconds longer. While this might be marginal, issues such as these could result in higher energy bills over the long term.
I also found the water window marks weren’t always accurate. While I found that 500ml of water was marked accurately on the kettle, one litre of measured water came short of the litre mark on the windows.
Should you buy the Daewoo Cascade 1.7l jug kettle?
Proving that timeless style doesn’t mean compromising on practicality or spending big, the Daewoo’s Cascade 1.7L jug kettle has plenty that makes it appealing. It boils just as fast as pricier rivals, has the same capacity and is just as easy to fill.
For the price, it’s easy to forgive the minor issues that could be improved – although the 500ml minimum boil amount means that it’ll always be less economical for solo households than kettles with a lower minimum fill. If you’re usually just making tea or coffee for one, a kettle that can boil one cup at a time, such as the Tefal Includeo, would be a more energy efficient buy.
However, if you’re a larger household looking for a good all-rounder that’s better than basic, the Cascade is an attractive and affordable option.
