Fellow Corvo EKG Pro Review: a fancy kettle that finally treats tea and coffee properly

I’ve been using the Fellow Corvo EKG Pro Matte White with the maple handle for a few weeks, and it’s very different from the usual $30 electric kettles I’ve burned through over the years. This one is clearly made for people who care about hitting 185°F for green tea or 205°F for a French press instead of just “boil and hope for the best.” It’s still just boiling water at the end of the day, but it does it with way more control than the basic stuff.

In daily use, I’ve been running it 3–6 times a day: morning coffee, mid-morning tea, afternoon top-up, and sometimes hot water for instant noodles or cooking. So I’ve had enough time to see the good parts and the annoying parts. I came from a basic stainless steel electric kettle with a single on/off switch, so going to this full-color screen, scheduling, and to-the-degree temperature setup felt like a big jump.

What surprised me most is how quickly it became part of my routine. I actually use the scheduled boil and hold temperature more than I expected. On the flip side, the price keeps bugging me in the back of my head. Every time I look at it, I think, “this is a lot of money for hot water,” even though it works well. So this isn’t going to be a gentle, glowing review—there’s a lot to like, but it’s not perfect.

If you’re wondering whether it’s worth paying this much versus a normal electric kettle, I’ll walk through what actually matters in real life: how fast it heats, how accurate the temperature feels, what the build is like, how annoying the Wi‑Fi and settings are, and whether the capacity and handle are practical for daily use. Short version: it’s a pretty solid tool if you care about precise drinks, but it’s definitely not the best choice for everyone.

This is where things get a bit mixed. Functionally, the Corvo EKG Pro is very good. It heats fast, it’s accurate, it’s pleasant to use, and it looks nice. But it also costs a lot more than a basic kettle that just boils water. So the real question is: do you actually need to-the-degree control, scheduling, hold mode, and a fancy screen, or do you just want hot water as cheaply as possible?

If you’re into coffee and tea and you actually care about brewing temps, I’d say the value is pretty solid. You’re paying for precision, a nicer interface, and a design that doesn’t look like a cheap plastic jug. Compared to other premium kettles with temperature control, it’s in the same ballpark price-wise, and it feels more thought-out than many of them. You also get small quality-of-life touches like the brew stopwatch, guide mode, and Wi‑Fi updates, which are not essential but do add up if you use them.

If you’re not picky and just drink black tea or instant coffee with boiling water, this is overkill. A $30–$50 stainless kettle will do the job just fine, and you’ll save a lot of money. In that case, you’re mainly paying here for design and the feeling of using a nicer object. Nothing wrong with that if you like nice things, but it’s not “good value” in the strict sense for basic use. It becomes more of a luxury kitchen item than a necessity.

So in terms of value-for-money: for a daily coffee/tea nerd who uses it multiple times a day and takes advantage of the precise temperature control and hold function, I’d rate it good but not cheap. For someone who just wants water to boil for pasta or occasional tea, it’s hard to justify. There’s better value out there at half the price if all you need is boiling water and you don’t care about the rest.

Design-wise, this kettle leans heavily into the minimal, modern look: matte white body, maple handle, simple black base with a color screen and one big knob. On the counter, it looks more like a piece of gear than a cheap appliance. People actually comment on it when they walk into the kitchen, which has never happened with any kettle I’ve owned before. If you care about how your kitchen looks, this is a big plus.

The layout is simple: wide spout, slightly squat body, handle that angles away from the kettle. It’s not a gooseneck like the Fellow Stagg; this is a wider spout meant more for general use—tea, coffee, instant meals, cooking. In practice, the pour is very controlled and smooth. No sudden gush, no weird dribbling down the side, which I’ve had with cheaper kettles. You can pour slowly for coffee or quickly to fill a pot of instant noodles, and it behaves well either way.

The base is compact and doesn’t feel cheap. The screen is bright enough to read easily, and the font and interface actually look thought-through, not like random budget electronics. One thing I like: when you put the kettle on the base, it immediately wakes up and shows the current water temperature. No guessing if the water is still hot enough for another cup. Also, the chime when it reaches temperature is there, but it’s pretty quiet even at max volume. If you’re in another room with background noise, you might miss it.

On the downside, this is clearly designed more for style-conscious people than for maximum capacity or family use. The 0.9L size (in reality, you’ll use slightly less than that if you don’t want to fill to the brim) is fine for 2–3 big mugs or 4 small cups. If you’re used to 1.7L kettles that can handle a whole family’s tea round in one go, this will feel small. It looks good, but you trade volume for that compact, clean design.

In terms of comfort, this kettle is genuinely nice to use. The handle sits at a good angle and is easy to grab, even when the kettle is full. It’s lighter than some larger 1.7L kettles simply because it’s smaller, so if you have wrist issues or just hate heavy, sloshy kettles, this is easier to manage. I never felt like I was fighting the weight, even when pouring slowly for coffee.

The wide spout gives you good control. You can pour slowly for brewing or quickly for filling a pot, and it doesn’t spit or dribble down the sides. That sounds minor, but if you’ve used a kettle that randomly dumps water or leaks around the spout, you know how annoying that is. The lid pulls off easily and doesn’t get stuck, and the opening is wide enough to fill under a tap without weird angles.

Using the controls daily is also straightforward. Turn the dial to set the temperature, press to start. Long press or menu presses get you into the settings, but you don’t need that for everyday use. Once you’ve set your hold time and sound preferences once, you mostly forget about them. The screen is clean and not cluttered, which makes it easy to glance at and see what’s going on. You can also schedule a boil time, which sounds fancy, but basically means you can have the water ready when you wake up. I used that a few times on workdays, and it’s actually pretty handy.

The only comfort downside for me is capacity. For one or two people, it’s fine. For more than that, you’re refilling. If I’m making tea for three or four people with big mugs, I usually need to boil twice. It heats fast enough that it’s not a disaster, but it’s still an extra step. So comfort is great for small households or serious solo tea/coffee drinkers, but not as great for big families who want to do one big boil and be done with it.

The kettle body is 304 18/8 stainless steel, which is the standard good-quality food-grade stainless you see in decent cookware. Inside, it looks clean and simple—no exposed heating coil, no weird plastic lining. The external parts that you touch (handle, knob, lid pull) are plastic and wood (in this version), but the company is clear that the silicone and plastics don’t touch the water. If you’re trying to avoid hot water sitting on plastic, this setup is reassuring.

The matte white finish feels nice and doesn’t look cheap, but it does show stains and splashes more than a brushed steel kettle. After a week, I noticed a few light marks from drips and fingerprints that needed a quick wipe. Not a big deal, but if you hate cleaning or you have messy housemates, a darker color might be more forgiving. The maple handle looks good and feels comfortable, but I do wonder how it will look after a year of greasy kitchen air and constant grabbing with wet hands. So far, no issues, but it’s something to keep in mind.

The base feels sturdy, not hollow or flimsy. The knob has a definite click and some resistance, which makes adjusting temperature and settings feel controlled, not wobbly. The cable is normal length—not super long, not annoyingly short. Underneath the kettle, the contact with the base feels solid, and I haven’t had any weird connection drops or random shut-offs so far.

One thing you do have to deal with is mineral buildup on the inside bottom if you have hard water. That’s normal for all kettles, but here it shows as light stains on the stainless. The brand tells you to descale regularly, and yeah, you should. I did a basic vinegar/water boil after about 10 days and it cleaned up fine. It’s not dishwasher safe, so you’re stuck with hand washing and descaling. If you’re lazy with maintenance, the inside will probably get ugly over time, though it should still function. Overall, the materials feel like they’re built to last, but you do need to put in a bit of care if you want it to keep looking nice.

I haven’t had this kettle for years obviously, but after a few weeks of pretty heavy daily use, I can at least talk about how it feels and what I expect. Nothing about it feels flimsy. The lid still fits tight, the handle has no wiggle, and the base hasn’t shown any weird behavior like random resets or connection issues. The stainless interior looks solid, and the only visible wear so far is normal mineral spotting that goes away with descaling.

The electronics are usually the weak point on smart-ish appliances, and that’s what I’m most curious about long term. The screen and firmware features all worked as expected for me: no freezes, no weird glitches, no incorrect temperatures. The fact that it can get firmware updates is actually a plus here, because if there are bugs, they can be fixed. On the flip side, it also means this thing is more complex than a basic on/off kettle, so there’s more that could break over several years.

They offer a 2-year limited warranty, plus an extra year if you register in the US. That’s not lifetime coverage or anything, but it’s better than a lot of cheap kettles that are basically disposable. Considering the price, the warranty is decent but not mind-blowing. If I’m paying this much, I’d like to see it last at least 4–5 years with daily use. Based on the build and feel, I think that’s realistic, but obviously time will tell.

The finish and maple handle are the wildcards. The matte white will show more scuffs and kitchen grime than a basic stainless finish, and wood can dry, discolor, or stain over time. If you’re gentle with your gear and wipe it down now and then, you’ll probably keep it looking nice. If you’re rough on appliances, toss them around, and never clean, it’ll age faster. So far, durability looks promising, but I wouldn’t call it bombproof. It’s more of a well-built, slightly techy kettle that should last if you treat it decently.

On performance, this kettle is strong. It heats water fast and hits specific temperatures reliably. From room temperature water to boiling, you’re looking at roughly 3–4 minutes for a full kettle in my tests, which is on par or slightly faster than my older 1L stainless kettle. The difference is that here you can set it to, say, 180°F or 200°F, and it will stop right there and hold it. For green tea at 175–185°F and pour-over coffee at 200–205°F, that precision is actually useful, not just a gimmick.

The temperature reading seems accurate enough for home use. I checked it against a separate thermometer a few times: when the kettle said 200°F, my thermometer was within a couple degrees. That’s good enough for any normal brewing. The hold function is also handy. You can set how long it keeps the water at the target temperature—15 minutes works well for me. If you get distracted after it beeps, you still have hot water ready instead of coming back to lukewarm water.

The “Guide Mode” is a nice touch if you don’t want to remember ideal temperatures. You can scroll through presets for different tea types and coffee styles. I used it a bit at first, then mostly started dialing in my own temps, but for guests or someone new to specialty coffee/tea, it’s pretty useful. There’s also a brew stopwatch built in, which is handy if you’re timing your pour-over or tea steep. It’s not essential, but it’s one less thing to use your phone for.

Noise-wise, it’s fairly quiet. You hear the usual heating sound, but it’s not aggressive. No loud clicks or rattles. The only real complaint I have on performance is the chime volume—it’s on the quiet side even at max. If you’re in the same room, you’ll hear it. If you’re in another room with music or TV on, you might not. Overall, though, the day-to-day performance is very solid: fast enough, accurate, and consistent. If what you care about is getting the right temperature quickly and reliably, it does that well.

Out of the box, the Corvo EKG Pro is pretty straightforward: you get the kettle, the base with the color screen and knob, and the lid. No random plastic measuring spoon or cheap extras, which honestly I prefer. The product feels like it’s trying to be a serious tool rather than a gadget bundle. The base is compact, so it doesn’t eat up half the counter like some big plastic kettles with chunky docks.

Setup is simple at first: plug in the base, put the kettle on, fill it with water, and turn the dial. The screen shows current temperature and target temperature, and you can press the knob to start heating. If you never touch any advanced settings, it works like a normal kettle with extra precision. If you want to dig deeper, there’s a menu where you can adjust stuff like hold time, sound volume, temperature units, scheduling, and even altitude. The menu is not complicated, but it’s not totally obvious until you play with it for a few minutes.

There’s also Wi‑Fi firmware update stuff through their app, which is both nice and slightly annoying. Nice because they can fix bugs or add small features over time. Annoying because it feels weird to have to think about updates for a kettle. In practice, I connected it once, updated the firmware, and then ignored the app. It’s not like a smartwatch where you’re constantly syncing it; it just quietly sits there.

Overall, the first impression is: this feels premium and more like a small appliance than a disposable kitchen gadget. But also: you instantly understand why it costs more than a basic kettle. There’s clearly more tech inside and more thought in the interface. Whether that’s actually useful or just nice-to-have depends on how picky you are about your drinks. If you just want boiling water and never think about it again, a lot of these features will feel like overkill.