Best Countertop Water Filter 2021: Reviews + Buying Guide

Even though tap water is often drinkable, it doesn’t necessarily taste or smell good. A lot of places, even in the mainland United States, only do the bare minimum to actually filter the tap water that they give to people. This can often result in tap water that is barely drinkable.

This is why home water filters are still a very good purchase for many homes. One of the best types of filtration systems out there is the countertop water filter and we plan to use this article to explain why.

We are also going to be doing some in-depth reviews of some of the better countertop options that you can currently buy. Those of you who are seeking a quick purchase will want to get the Brondell H630 H2O+ Cypress Countertop Water Filter.

A Spotlight On Some of The Best Countertop Water Filter 2021:

 

Apex Countertop Drinking Water Filter

To start our review list, we wanted to take a look at the Apex Countertop Drinking Water Filter. This is a fairly simple, moderately priced countertop filter and unlike a few of the other entries that we will be reviewing on this list, this one is quite simple overall, which is why it is a good candidate to ease you into the article.

Alkaline filters aren’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination (they have one serious flaw that we will mention a bit later on), they do a very good job at actually filtering water.

While this isn’t a multi-stage filter, the filter is varied enough to catch a pretty wide array of contaminants, including all the most important ones that you want to get out of your water supply (like chlorine, calcium, etc.). As a sign of the quality that this brand brings to the table, keep in mind that we will be reviewing other entries from them on this review list, which goes to show you how reliable of a brand they are.

While the Apex Countertop Drinking Water Filter may look complicated, it is anything but that. It has a very simple installation process and getting it hooked up to your sink’s water line couldn’t be easier. If you are having issues, it also comes with a very handy guide, so you should eventually be able to figure it out all on your own.

While this alkaline filter does very good work, we do have to tell you that these types of filters don’t tend to last that long.

It is hard for us to give an exact estimate as to exactly how much use you can expect to get out of each individual filter before you have to replace it (since everyone has different usage rates), but what we can tell you is that you should expect to get about 6 months of use (roughly speaking) out of the filter before it needs to be replaced.

This may sound like a lot, but as you will see from the many other options that we will be reviewing on this list, it isn’t uncommon to find filters that can last upwards of a year before requiring replacement.

Brondell H630 H2O+ Cypress Countertop Water Filter

For this next review on our best countertop water filter list, we want to take a look at the Brondell H630 H2O+ Cypress Countertop Water Filter.

The reason why we want to do an in-depth look at this water filter is because it is an extremely high-quality option (in fact, as you saw from our intro, this is our personal pick for best countertop water filter) and we want to quickly show people that countertop water filters can pack a serious punch because as we will explain later on, a lot of people wrongly assume that these types of filters simply aren’t powerful enough.

What really sets the Brondell apart is that it does something that very few countertop filters can pull off, which is offering multi-stage filtration. See, multi-stage filtration is the best type of water filtration as it gets the most contaminants out of the water.

Most countertop filters aren’t big enough to support this sort of filtration, but the Brondell is. So, the end result is that you get a lot cleaner, tastier water. That alone helps to justify the complexity and price of this filtration system, which is higher than average (more on this in a moment).

There are two potential issues that we want to caution you about when it comes to the Brondell H630 H2O+ Cypress Countertop Water Filter. The first thing has to do with the complexity of this water filter. This is a very intricate and complex filtration option.

So, be aware that getting it set up may be a bit trickier than usual. The second thing to consider is that in terms of price, this is the most expensive countertop water filter that is going to be appearing on our review list.

The price isn’t outrageous or anything like that (in general, countertop filters aren’t that expensive) but with a price tag that nears $150, budget conscious buyers may want to look at some of the other filtration options on our list.

Apex Exprt MR-2050 Dual Countertop Water Filtration System

For this next product review, we are once again going to looking at a filtration system from Apex. Most of you will no doubt recall that the very first entry on our review list was from them and in that review, we actually said that we would be coming back to review some more of their products later on.

Well, that time has come, and we are going to be taking a look at the Apex Exprt MR-2050 Dual Countertop Water Filtration System. This is the second Apex filtration system that we are going to be reviewing and rest assured that if you liked the first one, then you will almost certainly like what you read about this one because it is basically an upgrade in almost every aspect.

The most immediate upgrade that you will notice when it comes to this water filtration system is the fact that it isn’t just a single filter. As you can see from the name of this particular filter, the Apex Exprt MR-2050 Dual Countertop Water Filtration System offers 2 different stages of filtration. So, right off the bat you are going to be getting better tasting, smelling, and looking water.

The filter does an extremely good job of catching both solids and smaller contaminants. Perhaps even more impressive however, is the fact that the Apex manages to achieve this great level of filtration without causing much, if any, slowdown in your faucet’s water flow.

The one area where this particular Apex filtration system does represent a bit of a downgrade is when it comes to how easy the unit is to install. As you might imagine, given the fact that this particular Apex model is a 2 stage filter, it is a bit trickier to install.

Whereas the first Apex model that we reviewed was extremely easy to get hooked up to your main water line, this one could be a bit more problematic, especially if you don’t know what you are doing.

Aquasana AQ-4000W Countertop Water Filter System

In this next product review, we are going to be taking a look at the Aquasana AQ-4000W Countertop Water Filter System. This is yet another thorough, in-depth filtration system that uses multiple stages of filtration to remove a wide array of impurities from your drinking water. There are two things that really help to set this filter apart from the many others that we have reviewed.

To start, this filtration system is protected by very convenient plastic housing that helps to keep the filters safe. Secondly, this filtration system is also quite inexpensive all things considered.

Something that we could imagine having a mixed reception is the fact that the Aquasana AQ-4000W doesn’t technically remove all the solids from the water. While it still removes harmful solids like rust, the filtration system leaves in minerals that are deemed to be “helpful,” such as calcium and potassium.

The reason why we say that this could be contentious is because we know that some of you out there prefer their drinking water to be completely pure with no additives, while some others prefer to just get impurities out of their drinking water. Depending on which category that you fall into, this filter may not be for you.

The thing that we want to caution you about when it comes to this water filter is with regards to how much space it takes up. Typically, countertop water filters don’t take up a lot of counter space, but that doesn’t end up being the case with the Aquasana AQ-4000W. The reason for this is that the filters are contained in a sort of plastic housing. The housing helps to keep the filters safe, but at the cost of making the whole unit take up much more space near your sink.

Spring CKC1C Countertop Water Filtration System

To finish off our best countertop water filter list, we decided to round out the list by reviewing the one type of filtration system that we felt was missing from our article, which is something budget friendly.

Countertop filters aren’t too expensive in general, but even among these relatively cheap products, there are options that manage to be a bit cheaper than average, while still providing filtration that is roughly equivalent to what the others offer. In this case the affordable filtration system that we want to review is the Spring CKC1C Countertop Water Filtration System.

When it comes to price this is definitely the cheapest filtration system that we have reviewed by far. The entire unit ends up costing just about $40, which is about $25 cheaper than the other inexpensive unit on this list.

While the low price of the Spring CKC1C Countertop Water Filtration System and the fact that it offers decent performance for said price help to make this quite appealing, you should be aware that this filtration system is not a particularly long lasting one.

Sadly, each individual filter will only give about 3 months of use before needing to be replaced and since you only get one filter, that does end up working out to a lot of replacement needing to be done.

Countertop Countertop Water Filter Buying Guide

If you scroll back up to our introduction you will see that we talked about using this article to explain a bit more about home water filters and why you need them in the first place.

Well, this part of our article is going to be where we go over various informational bits about water filters that we think are important for potential buyers to know before they decide to buy a filter (or those who may be on a fence about buying a water filter).

Why Countertop Models Are The Best

The first thing that we need to cover is why you should go with a countertop model when there are admittedly many different types of water filtration out there. Countertop models are the best because for a lot of reasons, but the strongest one by far is the fact that they filter drinking water and only drinking water.

A lot of other filtration purify all the water that comes out of a sink or even all the water for an entire household. However, we think that most people won’t really care if the water that they use for their shower or their dishwashing isn’t filtered.

Countertop filters just give you clean drinking water and that’s it, which saves you water and keeps the filter in good shape. Plus, they are the easiest type of water filtration to install. Under the sink and whole house water filters often require specialized help and tools to get installed while countertop models don’t require much of anything.

Do You Need A Filter

The next question that we want to address is whether you even need a filter in the first place. While you may live in an area with pretty good drinking water we think that everyone can benefit from a filter like this because as we mentioned before, even in areas with good water, the water testing only covers the basics. This means that even in clean water, there are a lot of potentially nasty things still floating around tap water that appears clean to the naked eye.

It should also be noted that filtered water just does better in every single category. It not only tastes a lot better, but it also looks and smells better too.

Single Stage Vs Multiple Stage Filtration

When buying any type of water filter, one of the main things that you need to decide is whether you want to go for a system that offers only a single, comprehensive stage of filtration or for a system that offers multiple stages of specialized filtration. Both types were reviewed on our list and which one you should go for comes down to what you are looking for in a filtration system.

Single stage filtration is cheaper and results in less slowdown (although this is heavily dependent on the filtration system itself as well) but the water doesn’t get as filtered as it could be. On the other hand, systems that use multiple stages of filtration cost more and take longer to work, but the quality of water that you end up getting is hard to beat.

Ultimately, what we would recommend is to evaluate your water quality and go from there. Those with fairy clean water already can probably just stick with single stage filtration, while those with serious water issues (heavy chemical presence and/or a lot of solids) will want to invest in a system with multiple stages of filtration.

Conclusion

If you want to leave us some questions or comments, we have put a comment section below. We would welcome any comments from anyone who read our best countertop filter article.