Kettle boiled 1.5l water in 6 minutes. Stayed cool to the touch (double walled), easy to clean, and the inside was all stainless steel. No water guage but who cares, open it up and look inside. Unlike other reviews I found nothing wrong with the lid. If your going to pour hot liquid at a 70 degree angle like your emptying a garbage then yes, the water is going to pour out irregularly all over the place. The instructions actually say to open the lid to the first position when pouring (naturally some reviewers forgot to read that part). I found with a decent pour rate there was nothing wrong with the kettle and had no problems even with the lid closed. The kettle was a steal for the price. Awesome buy.