The Morphy Richards Meno 43916 ticks all of the boxes for a kettle. Whether the design is to your taste is subjective, but in the flesh it is a nice, well made, high quality piece of equipment. It's harder than it should be to select a kettle, you'd think it was a simple task wouldn't you? Just give me a kettle that boils water without the need for a trip to A&E or the complains department. If like me you've read reviews of other kettles you are probably getting exasperated by the whole process.
Let me put your mind at rest, this kettle works. The handle is sturdy and comfortable to hold. No steam leaks out to scald you and hence it can be operated is complete safety. It looks and is sturdy. It is designed to be filled through the spout and indeed the instructions recommend this, but just in case, the lid closes securely and the mechanism looks and feels as if it will last. There is a window on each side of the kettle and so even if you are one of these sinister left-handers you can still gauge the water level when filling. The scale is calibrated (randomly) in cups. I would have preferred litres but that's just being picky. The on/off switch works well enough but is plastic and feels the most flimsy part of the kettle. That said, it gives no cause for concern, I doubt it is in any danger of failing.
The Meno is designed to be quite and this works well. I can't say that this was an important element of my selection criteria and silent it isn't, but it has a job to do and it does it more quietly than any kettle I've owned.
The Meno is mettle as opposed to plastic) but it did infuse the water with a slightly unpleasant metallic taste for the first week or so. It took about 20 uses before the taste faded to nothing. We did wonder whether the taste would ever go but eventually it did.
The last two features of note are the blue light from two small LEDs on the base of the kettle. I suppose this makes it easier to see the level of water in the kettle but will be the first feature to fail I suspect (simple is better for a kettle me thinks). Lastly there is a peculiar whistle feature. This is an electronic whistle that starts when the kettle switches itself off. There is a switch on the base to disable it when (as it will) it eventually gets on your nerves.
So a considered four stars for the Meno. It's well made, looks really nice, well designed, quite and accommodates the left handed users amongst us. It loses a star for the metallic taste that in imbued each cup full of tea for the first week. A month in however and I'm very happy with my purchase.