Appliances

Which Electric Water Purifier Is Worth Its $2,000 Price Tag?

Wells, Sterra, Novita, and Cuckoo are some of the best water purifiers – here’s where they stand in terms of design and functionality.

January 2, 2023

Water purifiers are all the rage right now. In HDB BTO Facebook groups and Telegram chats, “water purifier group buys” are some of the most over-subscribed homeware products.

And it’s for good reason. These water purifiers are all-in-one multi-purpose devices. They serve water at room temperature, cool, and hot – some even allow you to set the exact temperature you like. You also get five- to nine-step water purification systems, giving you the cleanest and purest water that’s presumably safer for you (and the kids!).

The biggest selling point of these thousand dollar water purifiers is the convenience and aesthetics of your kitchen. These all-in-one stylish devices mean you can get rid of the kettle, the thermal flask, and all those bottles of iced water in your fridge. And if you have a baby, you get perfectly warm-hot water for your baby or toddler’s formula milk.

Prices of these water purifiers do range quite widely from $200 upwards to $3,000. Here are four of the best water purifiers we’ve found – ranked according to their design, aesthetics, and functionality.

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Which Electric Water Purifier Is Worth Its $2,000 Price Tag?

Sterra

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You’ll definitely recognise this one. Sterra has been advertising aggressively on social media platforms and shopping malls in the past year.

Sterra is a homegrown Singaporean brand founded seven years ago by e-commerce parent company, .ZERO.

The company currently sells four types of home products, notably air purifiers and water purifiers, dehumidifiers, and mattresses.

They’re, however, best known for their water purifiers.

When shopping with Sterra, know that they have three main types of water purifiers:

Sterra S Tankless: You need to connect it to a main water supply pipe
Sterra X Tank Tabletop: You’ll need to top up the water tank within the device daily
Sterra X Tank Standing: It’s a tall standalone office-type water dispenser

The best of Sterra’s range has been consistently the Sterra S Tankless Water Purifier.

Sterra S Tankless Water Purifier, $2,199

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Sterra’s S Tankless Water Purifier ($2,199) has consistently been praised by users across social media and online forums.

Launched in August 2021, this Made In Korea water purifier measures 18cm wide x 50cm deep x 40cm height, making it pretty nifty and compact compared to the other water purifiers you see in stores. It comes in a clean, pure white shade and a sleek platinum steel tone – both suitable for the timeless white and black kitchen design and the super trendy all stainless steel kitchen design these days.

Design and aesthetics aside, it gives you water in 4°C, 25°C, 40°C, 87°C. By contrast, the perfect temperature for baby formula milk is 70°C, while the best temperature for drip coffee is 93°C.

You’ll never have to unplug all the pipes and dissect the water purifier. This water purifier comes with an internal self-clean system.

Finally, there’s a UV LED lamp at the nozzle, so your water is sterilised as it’s dispensed into your cup. Cool stuff.

Best For: Sleek design, self maintenance, UV sterilisation
Ranking: Best water purifier in Singapore!

Wells

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Here’s another Singaporean brand. Founded in 2002, Wells is actually a Singaporean brand retailing water and air purifiers. Like Sterra, Wells’ water purifiers are made in Korea as well.

Wells carries four main types of water purifier, namely the:

Wells Mini Water Purifier: Tankless, require main water pipe, not connected to electricity
Wells The One: Tankless, require main water supply pipe, have to drill hole through kitchen countertop, filtration system sits in cabinet
Wells True Tankless: Tankless, require main water pipe, filter system is within the device
Wells True Tankless UV+: Tankless, require main water pipe, UV LED sterilisation at nozzle

All in all, Wells is very similar to Sterra. The only difference between Sterra vs Wells is the design. Sterra is pretty compact as is, but Wells’ The One really takes all the clutter off your kitchen countertop.

Wells The One, $3,000+

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Best of range is the distinctly curvy-shaped Wells The One, priced approximately from $3,188 to $4,001 according to BTO Telegram group chats. The price increases if you buy more filters and longer warranty periods.

Online users who reviewed Wells The One water purifier mostly praised it for its compact size, user-friendliness, and easy interface. The design is pretty intuitive – not many buttons, just a small touch screen that allows you to choose your water’s temperature and volume to be dispensed.

That’s all, you don’t need to do more, or know more.

Its ultra-small design and user interface aside, Wells offers you a whopping nine-step nano water filtration – a far cry from the usual three- or five-step water filtration. This removes heavy metals and a bunch of harmful microorganisms from your usual tap water.

Best For: Ultra-small design, signature 9 step nano-filtration technology
Bad For: No price transparency, no standard pricing
Ranking: Good product, although pricing is unclear

Novita

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Novita is another local water purifier company founded 23 years ago. They’re perhaps, best known for their stores in heartland malls and their star-studded advertisements featuring homegrown singers, JJ Lin and Kit Chan.

Novita’s product offering is a little confusing, honestly. They carry a water ioniser, four water dispensers (comes with filters), one water purifier, a water purifier faucet attachment, and a water purifier jug.

You’ll also be able to find those old school ‘90s tap water fountain-like filter systems from Novita too.

However, we’re only reviewing their tankless water dispenser (with filters) for hot and cold water.

Novita W1 Instant Hot Cold Water Dispenser, $2,089

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Best of range is Novita W1 Instant Hot Cold Water Dispenser (priced at $2,089). It is the only Novita water purifier/ dispenser that checks all the boxes:

Tankless
Water pipe in
Water filter system
Self-cleaning
Hot water: 85 to 90°C
Warm water: 40 to 45°C
Room temperature water: 25 to 32°C
Cold water: 6 to 8°C

The water purifying system is quite run-off-the-mill at five-steps, removing chlorine, bacteria, and excess particles and sediments.

Prices for the water filter replacements are very transparent as well, racking up $300 per replacement set. At least Novita is the most transparent about their replacement pack prices. They list it up front for you to stock up on when you purchase your water dispenser. That’s super convenient.

Best For: Self maintenance, 5 stage filtration
Ranking: A decent, standard water purifier that does its job. Aesthetically weaker than its counterparts.

Cuckoo

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A little less known is this actual South Korean water dispenser brand called Cuckoo. Headquartered in Yang-san province (a land-locked province above Busan), Cuckoo has been around since 1978. It’s a pretty massive home appliances company best known for their signature water dispensers.

Dispensers aside, they do sell pressure cookers, rice cookers, and humidifiers.

Cuckoo has the largest range of water purifiers, namely:

Icon: Electro sterilisation
King Top: Tabletop hot and cold water
Marvel: Tankless
Queen: Standalone office hot and cold dispenser
Titan
Xcel
Prince Top
Fusion Top

The best of range is the Cuckoo Titan.

Cuckoo Titan, $2,899

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While the Titan does not look as swanky and futuristic as the Marvel, King Top, or Queen, this domestic-looking water dispenser tops Cuckoo’s range of water purifiers.

Priced at $2,899, Cuckoo Titan is the only water purifier in our list that gives you instant access to 100°C boiling water. It’s a cool function to have, but most of our daily food and beverages do not actually require such hot, boiling water. In fact, it could pose a burn risk to adults and children alike.

If you do need the boiling water for special baking purposes, you’ll be glad to know that the Titan gives you water in 50°C, 60°C, 70°C, 80°C as well. There’s an internal water sterilisation system as well, although not UV LED.

The plus point that brought Cuckoo to this list is the English or Malay voice navigation. Now, all makciks can enjoy a Korean-made device speaking funny Malay.

Best For: Instant 100°C Extra Hot Function, Multiple Hot Water Temperature Settings
Ranking: Good for boiling hot water and Malay voiceover.

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