Best showerheads of 2020 – CNET

A hot shower can heal a lot of things that hurt me. I can relax or wake up after exercise and recharge energy when I’m drowsy in the morning. A bad shower tends to have the opposite effect. If the water pressure feels weak or the spray pattern doesn’t cover my body, I tend to get out of the shower more moody than at the beginning.

A good shower head can make the difference, but choosing a new one can be a daunting task. You can find Dozens from Options in hardware stores and online retailers. Most look similar and many offer the same general combination of functions – a full “rain” setting and a narrower, more intense stream, often referred to as “massage”.

The price, finish, and materials can vary widely, and you can also look for a shower head with a lower gpm rating (gallons per minute) if you want to save water. Some showers have a hand attachment, others have a wider selection of spray pattern settings.

Continue reading: The best intelligent scales for 2020

To help you choose, I have tested a variety of shower heads over the past few weeks. All of them are easy to install and non-invasive – which was important for my rental apartment. All are priced between $ 50 and $ 200. All are relatively efficient with water – with nominal values ​​between 1.5 and 2.5 gpm. Otherwise, all of the shower heads I tested are highly valued in terms of both customer and industry ratings.

If you’re looking for an affordable shower head to install yourself, here is my selection of the best options you can find. Once you’ve made your purchase, you’ll find instructions on how to install a shower head and how to do it here Keep your shower head clean.

Andrew Gebhart / CNET

The affordable High Sierra Classic Plus shower head for $ 50 has it all. It sprays in a wide pattern with great opacity and a lot of strength. I like a relaxing beam on my body and a firm spray on my face and hair. The Classic Plus does not offer alternative settings for the spray pattern, but the most important setting balances both requirements well. If you tend to find a good standard and stick to it, look no further.

The Classic Plus has a simple and elegant design. It is one of the cheapest shower heads on this list and also saves water with a rating of 1.5 g / min. The default setting for the cover provides as much coverage and speed as shower heads that consume a full gallon more. This speed is not overwhelming. I was able to relax while showering, but it was firm enough to quickly process soap and dirt on days when I needed to get clean quickly.

If you’re looking for something special with a variety of settings, I have plenty of alternative options below, but this is the Amazon Echo Dot of shower heads. It’s simple, affordable, and elegant. If you’re not interested in extras and just want something to do your job well, opt for the water-saving High Sierra Classic Plus for $ 50.

Continue reading: This new bath tap is also a water fountain and that’s awesome

Andrew Gebhart / CNET

The $ 85 Aquadance 7 “Premium Shower Head is a good choice if you are looking for a multi-function shower head. It includes a hand wand that sits behind the shower head. Both offer full coverage, an intense massage setting, one that mixes the two , and a fog.

Setting the full coverage of both the main shower and handheld felt great. It balances firmness with wide coverage and still feels relaxing. The intense massage was a great way to mix it up when I really wanted to feel the pressure. In the end, I left the main shower with full coverage and held the handheld on the massage setting when I wanted that extra intensity.

You can stop the flow of both if you want to save water while you foam. You can operate both shower heads simultaneously with the same or different settings. This way you lose some water pressure so you can switch back and forth just as easily. You can change the settings by turning a dial or use the splitter to easily switch between the main shower head and your handheld.

However you want your shower to feel, this Aquadance has an option for you. If you are the type who likes options and wants to change settings based on your mood, this is the best shower head for you.

Continue reading: Yes, you can use your Amazon Echo in the bathroom. Here’s how

Andrew Gebhart / CNET

The $ 152 Moen S6320 looks like a high-end shower with a diameter of 8 inches and a polished chrome surface. The full main cover setting again strikes the right balance between relaxing cover and firmness. In addition, the S6320 changes to an intense massage setting that also feels great. Many of the massage settings I tested were too narrow to be useful outside of spot cleaning. Moen’s is still wide enough to ensure actual coverage while providing a nice boost in intensity.

You can also simply switch back and forth with a handle on the side of the shower head. It’s easy enough to control that I could find it and change the setting while my eyes were closed after I foamed my face.

If you are looking for a shower head that looks high-quality and still maintains a simple elegance, the Moen S6320 is the right choice for you. It doesn’t have many functions, but the two settings are both fantastic and switching between them is so easy that you can do it with your eyes closed – literally.

Continue reading: Do you love singing in the shower? Kohler has the shower head for you

Andrew Gebhart / CNET

Showering with the American Standard Spectra eTouch actually feels like standing under a gentle stream or being outside in warm summer rain. It is super relaxing. The Spectra eTouch is pretty expensive at $ 197, but economical with water at a rate of 1.8 g / min.

The Spectra includes a remote control that you can attach to your shower wall to switch between spray patterns, or you can just touch the edge of the shower head to do the same. It feels high tech without adding complexity.

The different settings include a fine mist and two types of an intense massage spray – although I found both to be too narrow to provide coverage. The rain setting was also a little too gentle for my face, so the Spectra doesn’t have a single setting that strikes the perfect balance between a firm feel and full coverage.

Nevertheless, it has a massage setting for stain cleaning. So if you mainly want your shower to feel like a relaxing creek, this is a good choice and works fine at a certain angle. Most rain showers have to be directly over the head and many have to be specially installed. This works with your existing equipment and still feels great.

Recognitions

Kohler Forte 22169 – Kohler’s $ 75 shower head provides good coverage. The main setting creates the necessary balance between firm and relaxing feeling. You can easily switch to a concentrated massage mode or a fine mist. Overall, it’s a solid, balanced option that you should consider if you like the look or the brand. It even saves water with a rating of 1.75 gpm. It’s just not as noticeable as the ones mentioned above, and the concentrated massage flow is too narrow to be useful.

Delta In2ition two-in-one – This $ 133 delta shower head has a clever design with a hand shower embedded in the main shower head. The main shower offers the full coverage option and the handheld offers a more intense flow. You can also run both at the same time, although the water pressure is expected to drop slightly. The handheld is easy to detach or you can leave it in place for a stationary massage flow. All settings are functional, but the main cover option is a little too weak for my taste. The main shower head is also a little difficult to swivel. This is definitely a little fool. This is a competent shower that is worth considering, but the minor drawbacks have just been eliminated to prevent it from ranking higher for me.

Continue reading: Here’s why you should put a smart plug in your bathroom

Not recommended

Speaker S-2252-E175 – None of the showers I’ve tested were absolutely bad, but this Speakman $ 85 model doesn’t have enough power for my taste. The main mode is fine, if not convincing. The alternative setting basically only allows water to flow out directly without additional pressure.

Culligan WSH-C125 – This affordable $ 36 Culligan model includes a filter and a number of different settings. Switching between settings is a pain. The main shower works well enough, but none of the alternative modes are inspiring. This is also a competent shower, but you have many better options.

Continue reading: This intelligent toilet recognizes your butt and analyzes feces for diseases

Testing and cleaning

I have showered a lot in the past few weeks. When testing shower heads, I consider many factors: the diameter of the face, the gallons per minute, the number of settings, the materials, the design and much more. We also do an anecdotal test of the power of the spray pattern with dried egg yolk. Most of all, I took a shower and noticed how everyone felt.

I leave each model installed for a few days so I can take different showers. During the first shower with a new shower head, I pay close attention to each spray pattern and how they feel, but I also want to shower if I don’t think about it too much. With each model, I shower when I’m light-headed in the morning and after the workout to reduce the cooldown.

After every shower I take notes about the experience. Was it firm, relaxing, or both? Was it intense enough to quickly remove soap and shampoo or did I have to change the settings? Is it easy to change settings?

For the egg test I brushed egg yolk on a chopping board and let it dry for 24 hours. Then I held the board 20 inches from the shower head while it was running for ten seconds and noticed how much egg yolk was removed. I did this test for every setting on every shower head. Most only removed a little, if any, egg yolk, but some settings turned out to be weaker or stronger than the others.

Different showers activate different boxes, but at the end of the day the actual showering was most important to me. None of the models I tested were terrible, but some stood out from the others and cleaned up the competition.