Which Kangen Machine Should You Buy? (NONE)

Kangen Water Ionizer machines are made by Enagic. You might recognize the name, but can you trust it? If you’re buying a water ionizer, which Kangen machine should you buy?

To help you make that important decision - which Kangen machine you should buy – we’ve rounded up the facts that will help you buy the best water ionizer for your home.

Are Kangen Machines Still Contenders?

First, we want to acknowledge that Enagic was one of the first companies off the blocks, decades ago, to help bring water ionizers into people’s homes. A recognized medical device in Japan for decades, Enagic was one of the early companies to make the leap from accessing ionized water in a medical or therapeutic setting, to being able to enjoy it at home.

Genuine kudos for that, but are Kangen machines still at the leading edge of water ionizer technology?

Do Looks Matter?

When deciding which Kangen machine you should buy, we’re going to kick off with the easy stuff – what does the water ionizer of your dreams look like? It’s fair to say that Kangen’s water ionizer range isn’t designed for style mavens, but looks aren’t everything, right? Modern tastes in kitchen design tend to lean towards chrome, chic metallics and stainless-steel appliances. Kangen machines don’t reflect this. The range is more suited to the kitchens that our parents or even our grandparents might once have aspired to; with bright, white plastic casing for all but one of the Kangen machines. 

We’re not knocking white plastic appliances, but when you’re deciding which Kangen machine you should buy, the way it will look in your existing kitchen is worth bearing in mind.

And finally on the design aesthetic of Kangen machines, seeing a chunky and unsophisticated LED rectangle set into that white plastic, in these days of Smartphone touchscreens might be a retro step too far for many people!

How Powerful are Kangen Plates?

So that’s how a Kangen machine looks, but of course, how a water ionizer machine performs is far more important. When considering which Kangen machine should you buy, there are several important things to bear in mind, all of which relate ultimately to how the machine performs.

First up, plates.

The importance of the construction and power of plates in a water ionizer cannot be overstated. Water ionization occurs when your source water flows over and around the plates. The more powerful the plates, the better the water in your glass, for these reasons:

• Increased plate power = faster flow rate
• Increased plate power = superior and more rapid electrolysis
• Increased plate power = superior pH levels and -ORP potential

In short, plates matter, a lot. Which is why it's so baffling that Kangen machines don’t seem to prioritize them. Water ionizer plates need to have as much surface area as possible, while still being compact enough to suit the average kitchen. However, surface area must NOT come at the cost of the strength of the plates. For example, when the Tyent engineers looked at maximizing plate power, they went back to the drawing board to design a plate that had the biggest possible available surface area for electrolysis while still being durable. The result - Tyent’s Solid/Mesh Hybrid Plate – is constructed from titanium and dipped in platinum multiple times for strength and astonishing performance.

So back to Kangen. Plates are definitely one of the main points to consider when deciding which Kangen machine to buy. So why does Kangen perform badly? It’s simple - Kangen machines only contain solid plates. That means that each one has far less surface area, and as we explain above, that results in slower, weaker electrolysis. And that’s not all. Not only are Kangen water ionizer plates badly designed, but there are also too few of them!

Kangen machines feature between 4 and 7 water ionizer plates, with the exception of its ‘flagship’ model, which has 8 plates. We’re going to put a hand up here and state the obvious – it's just not enough. Anyone mulling over which Kangen machine should you buy might want to let this point land: if you buy a water ionizer with so few, solid water ionizer plates, then your machine will not be able to produce the antioxidant-rich, pH balanced, alkaline water that you’re hoping for.

How Good Are Kangen Machine Filters?

Next up, the other big issue for anyone wondering which Kangen machine should you buy, is filters. Filtration is vital – there are deadly contaminants in America’s water, and one of the most important jobs that a water ionizer needs to do is filter them out. So, how does a Kangen machine manage that? Crucially, water filters need to be a little flex, in that the water contaminants in your area might be less of an immediate issue in the next city. Water ionizer filters should address YOUR filtration needs - it’s not a generic thing.

Or it shouldn’t be. You might be surprised to learn that Kangen water ionizers come with a single standard filter, with no adjustability. Kangen has been selling water ionizers for long enough to know that when it comes to filters, one size does not fit all. But hey, what if that one filter was doing an amazingly thorough job? What if that filter was the best filter ever? Over to Kangen on this, for exactly what you can expect from a Kangen filter: “The internal High Grade Filter filters chlorine, unpleasant taste and odor, and reduces sediments up to 5 micrometers to produce Clean Water.”

Um. That’s it? Chlorine, taste/odor and sediment? What about lead, which cannot be smelled, seen or tasted, and is in the drinking water of millions of homes? In fact, all the dangerous toxins that our senses cannot identify? What about Chromium-6, the ‘Erin Brockovich’ chemical? What about Radon? The EPA estimates that about 168 cancer deaths per year are caused by Radon in drinking water. This only scratches the surface. It’s plausible to assume that if Kangen filters removed any of these deadly toxins, it would be writ large on their website. It’s reasonable to think that the fact that there is precious little information about Kangen filters tells its own story.

Guess What Dangerous Chemical Enagic ADDS to Make Kangen Water?

So far, so problematic for Kangen. Worryingly, there’s more, and if you’re thinking about which Kangen machine should you buy, then you should also bear in mind the dangerous chemical that Kangen machines require to boost the ionization process, in the absence of powerful plates.

What? You need to ADD chemicals to the water ionizer? Isn’t that the exact opposite of what a water ionizer is supposed to do? Yes, quite. However, those solid, too-few Kangen ionizer plates aren’t powerful enough to produce the ‘strong’ acidic water that Enagic likes to boast about. The company therefore suggests pouring some ‘Electrolysis Enhancer’ inside the machine itself. What’s in the ‘Electrolysis Enhancer?’ Sodium hypochlorite, otherwise known as bleach. Yes, in order for a Kangen machine to produce Kangen Water, you need to add bleach. There really is something wrong here, isn’t there? And yet it’s all right there, in the user manual.

The Nitty-Gritty: How Much is a Kangen Machine & is it Worth It?

We're presenting a precis of the facts, drawn from Kangen’s own website and literature, and as such, one of the factors that is hugely influential when it comes to which Kangen machine you should buy is the price.

If Kangen machines were an absolute steal, then maybe you could overlook the white plastic casing and pouring bleach into the machine to make it work, but they’re not. All of the water ionizer machines are priced around the $3000 mark and rise to around $3660.

The Dreaded Multi-Level Marketing...

Why on earth do Kangen machines swing a top-of-the-range price tag when the machines leave so much to be desired? Well, the way that Enagic sells water ionizers answers that question. Enagic operates a Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) business model. Prices are therefore kept artificially high in order to fund the MLM beneficiaries. This kind of selling model hardly ever benefits the customer, and Enagic is no exception.

Can Enagic Change for the Better?

There’s more, but this is already enough to help you decide which Kangen machine you should buy: none. Honestly? All of this is surmountable for Kangen. They have the benefit of years of experience, and a name that is still among the most recognizable in the industry. But these problems are not new – Enagic shows no sign of upgrading its technology, designs or selling model.

Healthy competition is a good thing. Believe it or not, we like our competitors to aim high – it keeps everyone in the industry striving for even brighter horizons. When everyone is firing on all cylinders, new, amazing things can happen. Enagic could have sorted out its fundamental issues and taken its place back on the cutting edge of water ionizer technology. Now, it’s possible that the industry has already moved on too far for Kangen machines to catch up.

So, let’s answer that question: which Kangen machine should you buy? The writing’s on the wall: none.

 

Tyent Water Ionizers offer the most advanced engineering in the industry and the most innovative and user-friendly water ionizers on the market today. Our water ionizer machines are unbeatable – and that includes our prices. Speak with our team to find out more.