Hands-On: Deerma DH206 – foldable travel kettle for $35.99

Although the Chinese cook with normal water, their kettles play in a completely different league. After the Xiaomi Bluetooth kettle, the foldable Deerma DH206 kettle has caught our eye. But why is it necessary to fold a kettle?

• Deerma DH206 foldable kettle
  • at AliExpress for $35.99 | GearVita for $43.05 (Coupon: RODMDH207)
• Deerma DH206 foldable kettle (without display)
  • at AliExpress for $28.77

Scope of delivery of the kettle in Xiaomi look

The cylindrical design comes in three different elements. The plastic base has a diameter of 18 cm and a height of 2 cm. A touch screen is located above the base, which is used for the entire operation of the kettle.

The centre piece makes the kettle foldable and is made of silicone. The “lid” offers space for the spout as well as a removable handle. The colour combination of white, grey and red reminds us visually of other products from the Xiaomi universe – such as the RoboRock S6 or JIMMY JV51.

The great advantage of this design is that the Deerma DH206 kettle is foldable. It can be easily compressed, the silicone gives way and the base and lid collide. So of course the question arises why you have to fold a kettle? What is the advantage?

It increases portability: in the “normal” state, the kettle measures 19.4 cm in height. When folded, the volume is halved by an estimated 50% to 9.4 cm in height. So it fits better into a rucksack or a suitcase for longer journeys. For transport, a carrying bag is included, which makes the transport cleaner and the kettle is not dirty by surrounding dust.

Attention: The power cable is delivered with a Chinese plug. You can buy a new cable or of course an adapter. Both are available for a few dollars on Amazon or you order the full package with adapter from AliExpress.

Design and performance

In order to use the kettle, you need a power connection like with a normal kettle. Finally the foldable Deerma DH206 kettle can heat 600 ml up to 100°C. This process should take 7 minutes, so it is not a pressure cooker. By the way, there is no CE marking, only the well-known CCC from China.

The next problem is heating. At exactly 600 ml and 99 °C the hot water runs out of the spout. If there was a hand under it, this would definitely not be an advantage. It also happens that hot water shoots out of the spout when you fold the kettle (yes, we tried that too).

So: maybe fill in a little less than 600 ml. Even if it is even more disadvantageous, because 600 ml is not much in itself.

Operating the Deerma electric kettle

On the touch screen there are two buttons for operation. On the one hand, to switch through the three modes. These are for heating, descaling and keeping warm. The operation is a bit more complicated. The manual is only in Chinese and does not make it any easier to understand the operation.

If you press the right button, you switch on the kettle. Then you switch through the three modes with the right button. The different modes are indicated on the display by a different LED.

The left button is used to set the desired degree to which the water is to be heated. Then you can set how many degrees you want to keep the water warm.

This saves time when heating, as the kettle takes a little longer than a conventional kettle.

Using the foldable kettle

What do you need a kettle for? Yes, we just had that question. But it’s not just about foldability itself, it’s also about what’s behind it and what it does.

To boil water on the way in the car or in the train? Mainly in places outside his own four walls. You need a socket or a power source that can handle 850 watts, but then you can heat your water.

Assessment and conclusion

Especially when you are on the road, especially over a longer period of time, you usually have to pack a lot. So it’s convenient that the Deerma DH206 is so handy. This is also an advantage for campers, as the foldable kettle is quickly stowed away. The fact that it is even equipped with a touch screen is a smart addition that you don’t necessarily get with normal kettles.

But for that you also have to lose a lot of power, after all, commercially available kettles are usually cheaper and more powerful. Moreover, the application areas are relatively limited and the capacity of 0.6 l is really quite small. Considering that hot water can escape, it is better to take less.

What would be more important to you: The foldable design or more power and capacity?