In 2020, some of Delta’s new showerheads will have an internal design called UltraSoak. Delta says that UltraSoak shapes water droplets in a way that feels like a “dense downpour.” The heavy spray of the H2OKinetic UltraSoak 52460 was excellent, but there isn’t enough of it. When taking a shower, the whole, strong raindrops from the overhead shower rail feel like you’re biting into the hollow end of an ice cream cone. As a $100 showerhead, the handle that changed settings was shockingly weak. Even though we were disappointed, if Delta could find a way to make UltraSoak feel as strong from every hole, it could be a real threat to our favorite fixed-mount option.
Our previous upgrade choice, the Delta In2ition 58480, did poorly in our tests for 2019, 2020, and 2021 compared to similar models. The fixed head made a too-light halo and didn’t look good, and the other settings didn’t seem strong enough. Most likely, it’s because of the problems we had with the showerhead in 2019: No matter how much Teflon tape we wrapped around the threads or how hard we squeezed the head, the connection point still leaked. We looked at many different showerheads, but only this one had this problem. Since our last test of a new 58480, the ratings for this showerhead have gone down. The most common problems are leaks and low water pressure. But recent reviews are more optimistic, even though the most recent model we tested did better than our top picks (for all the same reasons, we initially removed the Delta 58480 from our list). On the plus side, this time, there were no leaks.
The Delta In2ition 58620-25-PK doesn’t have the usual circular attachment. Instead, it has a wand-shaped handle that can be taken off. You can make a soothing waterfall effect to wash a baby’s head with its long and narrow shape. (It was also pretty comfortable for us.) The Delta 58480’s problems are also present in this model, which is a shame. Keeping water out of a baby’s eyes during a bath can be done just as well with a well-placed hand as with a feature made just for kids. We immediately got rid of a third Delta In2ition model because the plastic connection nut and backing on the 75583CSN made it look cheap.
We thought this two-handled model had a lot of potential because the part that stays in place tilts, which lets you better direct the spray above. It was doomed from the start because it didn’t flow well. Because of this, the face of the handheld has been cut at a sharp angle toward the handle, making it impossible to clean. We didn’t find this problem with any other handheld we looked at, so it’s a bizarre design flaw.
High Sierra now has a portable low-flow alternative, but we found it heavy and hard to use. Because it only comes with one option, the much higher price isn’t worth it.
The Nebia by Moen N214R0 spa shower is a cheaper option that doesn’t come with a hand shower. We turned off the hand shower on the one we looked at to see how it felt, and we found that we liked the dual option better.
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So, we got the Speakman Signature Icon Anystream’s 1.75 GPM S-2252 from Amazon, which has a lot of good reviews from users. We found it easy to use because of how heavy it was and how good the metal lever was (which smoothly glides between three settings instead of clicking from one to the next, as most showerheads do). But none of the available feeds had a comprehensive enough range of content to please everyone.