There's a huge problem with user generated reviews in general that makes it very hard to go by top rating. Some peple will give 5 stars to a mediocre product, some will give 2 stars for a perfect product just because they wish it was something else (example: the # of people complaining that the Breville is made of plastic, at least the us verson gets that complaint a lot). At the last office I worked at we had the Breville kettle for a few years. Everyone in the office drank tea, so it was in use nonstop. It lated longer there than I did. I'd say it performed admirably, and if I was going to buy a plastic kettle in that range, I'd buy that one. I'd rather not be boiling water in a plastic container, but I'm not going to reduce the rating for it, unfortunately many other people will, so stars don't necessicarily have a strong correlation to quality/durability.

I happen to have this kettle and like it, so for me this is very reassuring :D

I also think it's weird that they like Breville rather than Zojirushi. Maybe a UK thing?