Franke Maris Water Hub 3-in-1 Electronic

The electronic Maris is the same machine as the mechanical one with a different way of asking it for water. You press the control to wake it, turn it to the function you want and hold to pour. Press twice and it runs boiling water for 30 seconds on its own; press three times and it runs for a minute. On a tap that spends half its life filling pans, being able to walk away is worth more than it sounds.

The tank is identical to the mechanical version: 4 litres, energy class A, 1,650 W to heat, 14 W to hold, 15 minutes from cold and around 8 minutes to recover, with 2.5 to 2.7 litres of genuinely boiling water available in a run. Spout reach varies between 210 and 222 mm depending on which finish you pick, and the finish range is the broadest Franke offers on a boiling tap, from chrome and decor steel through matt black, anthracite, copper and gold. Franke also lists a 7-litre version of this tap in the UK for households that draw more in one go.

The reason to pay the extra over the mechanical model is the upgrade path. Franke sells a filtered water kit that adds a fourth function to the electronic control, turning the tap into a 4-in-1 with filtered cold drinking water on the left button. You cannot do that to the mechanical version, and you cannot do it to a tap you have already bought from another brand, so this is the model to pick if filtration is a maybe rather than a no. Guarantee is two years on tap, tank and filter housing, with proof of cartridge purchases required at claim time.