Swan Nordic Kettle review

On first appearances, the Swan Nordic kettle is a stylish contender. Its sleek Scandinavian design would blend in nicely on most kitchen countertops and the wooden-effect handle gives it a traditional finish most kettles lack. This kettle feels as good as it looks too, with a rubberized coating and a soft-grip handle — in fact no handle was as comfortable to grip as this one. 

Its performance was admittedly a little hit-and-miss for a single-temperature kettle; it was average in terms of speed to boil, noise and energy usage, plus the exterior is a scalding hazard. However, as you will see in our Swan Nordic kettle review, it comes at a very reasonable price, looks great and will get the job done, which is why it’s one of the best kettles. 

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Swan Nordic Kettle review: Price and availability

The Swan Nordic Kettle is available to buy from Amazon for $107 and Salton for $99.99. It’s available in white and green. It’s also available to buy in the UK from Amazon from £41.43 and Swan for £49.99. In the UK it also comes in blue and grey colorways.  

Swan Nordic Kettle review: Design

The Swan Nordic Kettle can hold between 850ml to 1.7 liters of water. This is a huge minimum capacity, and not ideal if you only want to boil enough water for one cup, but the maximum capacity is a decent size. There’s a water gauge under the handle marked in cup increments; it’s generally easy to read as you fill it up, but the minimum mark is tricky to see because of the handle placement. This kettle also comes with a lift-out lid, the handle of which you can hook your fingers under to remove. It clicks into place nicely and has a premium feel with the Swan logo etched on top.

This kettle has a great feel to it. The body is made up of stainless steel, covered in rubberized paint, making it feel soft to the touch. The wood-effect handle is also rubberized, with no sharp edges or nooks to catch your fingers on. This finish makes it the most comfortable handle of all the kettles we tested. It’s a tall kettle, but doesn’t have too wide a footprint, measuring 10 x 6.3 x 8.7 inches. It’s average in terms of weight, weighing 2.06 pounds when empty and 5.9 pounds when full.

It’s clear when this single-temperature kettle is switched on because the power switch illuminates a bright, blue light. It has a sufficiently long 28-inch cable, and there’s cord storage in the base if you need to hide the excess. The base has an attractive chrome finish and feels of premium build, but it does show fingerprints quite easily.

Swan Nordic Kettle review: Performance

The Swan Nordic Kettle needed two minutes and 11 seconds to boil one liter of water, which is slightly faster than the average speed. And during this time it emitted 75.4 dB of noise, which is about average again. However, the exterior reached temperatures of 86°F, which is a scalding hazard for any curious hands. So, it’s not the best kettle to have if you’ve got small children or pets running around. The handle remained at room temperature throughout. Energy use was about average too, at 0.1125 kWh. 

At full capacity, it didn’t spit or leak and needed three minutes 36 seconds to boil — which is fairly slow compared to others we tested. We got similar readings for noise and temperature, at 75.7 dB and 193.6°F respectfully (average for noise, but too hot to touch). To test its insulation, we measured the temperature of the freshly-boiled water after a full hour in the kettle. The water measured 153.1°F, which was about average compared to the other kettles we tested. The flow of water is easy to control as you pour from this kettle, but it can dribble down itself if you recede slowly.

We did notice a small spot of condensation on the base each time we boiled the kettle. This didn’t affect the performance, but the body of the kettle was clearly not as well-sealed as it could be. Overall, the performance was mostly middle-of-the-pack, but the external temperature of the casing and condensation on the base were areas of concern.

Swan Nordic Kettle review: Ease of use and manual

You need to have small fingers to hook out the limescale filter from this kettle, and it’s fairly tough to remove. It also feels like it might break as you refit it, because of the force required. The lid is quick to remove and replace, as it has a large handle that’s easy to grip. If you fill this kettle up through the spout, you must do so slowly, because otherwise it will flood over the lid. However, you can easily fill this kettle through the lid. The water level is easy to read as you fill it. 

The manual provides adequate safety advice and step-by-step guidance. Cleaning and maintenance tips are provided, but there aren’t any diagrams and no mention of how often to clean the limescale filter. The manufacturer’s contact details are given, along with warranty information, but there’s no troubleshooting advice.

Swan Nordic Kettle review: Verdict

Ultimately, the Swan Nordic Kettle’s performance isn’t anything to write home about — it was fairly average across the board with the exception of its scalding exterior. However, the appearance and feel of the design, for such a reasonable price, is impressive. Compared to the Russell Hobbs and Emma Bridgewater Polka Dot Kettle, the Swan is noisier, but uses less energy. Otherwise the results were almost identical, so the final choice comes down to appearance preferences. 

The design feels and looks good, but again there’s room for improvement. For instance, it was a little worrying that a small spot of condensation leaked onto the base each time it boiled. Compared to our winning kettle, the Bosch Sky Kettle, the Swan Nordic Kettle was slower to boil, hotter to touch and was less energy efficient. Having said that, it was quieter, and if you’re shopping on a budget and care about the appearance and feel above all, it’s still worth considering.