The 10 Best Handheld Shower Heads
Special Honors
Grohe As market leaders in bathroom innovation and technology, Grohe's smart control thermostatic valves are brimming with features that will enhance your showering experience. Switch between or combine different spray patterns, select your desired spray source and adjust the water volume, and even add invigorating body jets. grohe.us
Editor's Notes
October 13, 2020:
Due to the significant changes in modern showerhead designs, simply upgrading to a new model could vastly improve the quality of your shower, especially on low-pressure systems. An older showerhead's interior is usually a hollow cavity that fills with water and is then forced through tiny nozzles, meaning the individual nozzles have very little pressure. A newer showerhead has individual channels that feed the nozzles, increasing the ability to deliver water pressure. It is important to check your flow rate before purchasing a new showerhead as they are usually designed specifically for a low or high-pressure system, and installing the wrong type will often result in failure. In this ranking, we selected a range of different styles, suitable for both systems, and with a variety of features such as massage jets and water softening filters. They are available in a range of finishes to match your existing shower valve, faucets, and hardware.
Most showerheads nowadays offer a variety of spray patterns. The effectiveness of these is related to the supply pressure, and even with today's modern designs, it is difficult to get a powerful massage from a low-pressure system. With this in mind, neither the Methven Aio nor the Delta Faucet H2Okinetic feature adjustable spray patterns, rather they focus on providing the best possible coverage with the amount of water available. The Nemo Korea and the Amazing Force Massage Spa are also designed to be used on low-pressure systems, and do have different spray settings, however, as mentioned the effectiveness is not guaranteed. The Kohler Flipside has an innovative design that allows the head to rotate on an axis with each face giving a different type of spray function, and is available in three models and four finishes, for low, medium, and high-pressure systems.
When it comes to spray types there are also plenty of choices. The Delta Faucet 75700 is designed specifically for high pressure and boasts seven different patterns. The Oziral Adjustable has just three but features an angle-adjustable head that swivels 360 degrees, making it easier to clean hard to reach places. The Hotel Spa Notilus has six spray patterns and features nozzles made from an antimicrobial rubber that prevents the build-up of mold, mildew, and bacteria. For those looking for something novel, The innovative DreamSpa Color Changing has integrated LED lighting that shines blue, green, and red to indicate the water temperature. Impressively it doesn't need batteries for this, but rather it generates power from the running water.