We've had a Hamilton Beach electric kettle for several years with no issues and wanted to upgrade to one with variable temp. This one does the job, but was poorly designed - the fill window is behind the handle and hard to see, and the switch to open the lid is directly on top near the spout, which seems like an easy way to get scalded if you're not careful. We like our older kettle better for intuitive design but have no real complaints about the functionality of this one.