After having bought and returned the stylish but overpriced Breville (which did have a bad odor as other reviewers have noted), I have owned this for seven months now and give it a very high recommendation. It gets heavy daily use in our house and functions perfectly. Yes, it is a bit noisy like all electric kettles, and it is warm/hot to the touch as it contains boiling water. Some have complained that the sight tube is under the handle and hard to read, but it's easy to get used to and it's in a protected location. I like the fact that almost all of the material which the water contacts is stainless steel (the sight tube is plastic). If this one were to wear out, I would buy another.
