If you're shopping for a faucet you've probably seen all the negative reviews talking about cheap components that fail and flood your kitchen. This is the only faucet I could find that didn't have a one or two star negative review on Amazon. I think that's because of the quality components that are used as well as the much more simple design. For instance this hose that stays above the counter is a much better design than hoses that go down into the counter. It eliminates wear and tear and is much easier to use.
The first thing you'll notice when unboxing the faucet is the weight. Because of the premium materials used the faucet is heavier than most. Included in the packaging are two braided hoses and a cover plate in case you have a three hole sink.
The faucet is turned on by pulling outward on the handle. The sprayer is activated by a toggle on the side of the sprayer itself. Adjusting the temperature is very fluid and smooth using the handle. The vertical position is cold and horizontal is hot. You can also adjust the rate of flow by moving the handle in or out. The sprayer easily detaches from the metal latch and is held in place by a fairly strong magnet. You'll notice that when you turn the faucet off in spray mode it automatically returns to regular mode. This is a personal preference that will vary, but I prefer this design. Having it return to normal mode automatically after each use is a great idea. It effortlessly switches as the water is turned off. Only time will tell if this continues to work so well in the months and years to come.
The magnetic latch is a breeze to use but the sprayer won't automatically latch if you just drop it after use. Thankfully though, if you get the sprayer close to the latch it easily snaps in place.
The spray arm has a great range of motion. In fact it can spin a full 360°. And because of the fittings inside of the faucet the braided pipes underneath the cabinet stay put regardless of how you spin the spray arm up top.
The spring holding the extra hose is fairly stiff. You can easily bring the sprayer down to the top of sink, but going much lower than that requires more force than I'd be comfortable putting on this on a regular basis. However the fitting on the end of the hose appears to be really well connected and should be able to withstand that amount of force.
Some of the online reviews I read expressed concern over which portions of the faucet were metal. There's no metal colored plastic here. With the exception of the hose and the internals of the sprayer, everything is real metal.
Even the sprayer which is mostly plastic inside, is still housed in metal. And while we're talking about the sprayer, it easily removes to allow you to flush debris and sediment from within.
The faucet isn't commercial in design only but it is in quality as well. The all metal design should last a lifetime. But if you do have any problems with it Kraus backs it by a limited lifetime warranty. That means as long as the faucet stays in this location in this house and you're still the homeowner, should you have any problems with it, they'll repair or replace it no questions asked.
Like the larger commercial faucets that this was designed after, this faucet has plenty of water pressure. Whether on spray or normal mode, there is plenty of pressure for blasting off food from your dishes. It's also great for agitating the water to create lots of soapy bubbles.
You'll want to be mindful of that water pressure when rinsing your dishes. You can easily splash water all over your counters if you're not careful. Holding the dishes down low in the sink certainly helps. You can also dial down the water volume to help with this as well.
You can also go a step farther and dial back your water supply lines by closing the valves on each line slightly. Even just the slightest amount will greatly help with water not splashing everywhere. Doing this has seemed to cause the sprayer not to switch back from spray to normal mode as easily though. Keep working with it until you find the best compromise to suit your needs.
All the marketing pictures show the faucet mounted with the handle off to the side. Thankfully it's very flexible and can be mounted in any direction. I chose to mount it facing forward to make it easier to reach for my kids and so the water from your hands would fall back in the sink and not onto the counter when turning the water off.
If you're looking for a faucet built to last and don't mind the commercial design then I highly recommend this model by Kraus. If you have any questions that I didn't cover in this review then please feel free to leave those in the comments.