Philips 5000 Series Double Walled Kettle HD9395/90

Literally the only kettle I could find that was electric and all metal on the inside. All the others had plastic hinges. Works great and is the quietest kettle I've ever known.

I bought the Philips 5000 Series because, after looking at many kettles, it was the only model I found with a genuinely seamless stainless-steel interior. As far as I can see, there is no plastic, silicone, glue or other non-metal material in contact with the boiling water. From a health-conscious design perspective, this is exactly what I was looking for.

What surprises me is how little attention manufacturers seem to give to this aspect of kettle design. Many people are becoming increasingly conscious about unnecessary contact between hot water and plastics, silicone seals, adhesives or similar materials, yet this rarely seems to be treated as an important design feature.

The strange part is that Philips appears to have achieved an excellent solution with the 5000 Series, but then moved away from it in the 7000 Series. The 7000 model appears to have an internal probe or sensor penetrating the kettle wall, which requires some form of seal around it. To me, that is a step backwards from the beautifully simple seamless interior of the 5000.

It actually makes me wonder whether the health-conscious advantage of the 5000 Series was intentional at all, or simply a fortunate result of its particular design. If Philips recognised this as an important feature, I would have expected later models to preserve the seamless stainless-steel interior while improving things such as appearance, colours or other external features.

For people specifically looking for a kettle with the minimum possible amount of non-metal material in contact with boiling water, the Philips 5000 Series is an unusually good design. I hope Philips keeps producing it and, more importantly, recognises that there is a real market for appliances designed around this principle.