Welcome to our expert guide on choosing the best handheld shower filter. In this article, we share the Top 5 Handheld Shower Head with Filter models of 2019 along with helpful tips. By the end of our guide, you’ll know for sure which model is the right choice for your home.
Since everyone’s water situation is different, we selected the top 5 models that have the ability to tackle a wide range of water contaminants. Whether you have iron-rich well water with that signature rotten egg smell or chlorinated municipal water, we’ve got you covered.
This month has been a busy one for us here at AWMS. We shifted all of our focus to shower filtration, and it’s led us to some interesting discoveries. We now have a complete understanding of every type of shower filter on the market. We’re also familiar with all types of shower filtration media.
We’re confident that our guide is the most accurate and easiest to understand. Let’s start by checking out the Top 5 Handheld Shower Head with Filter models before moving on to our buyer’s guide.
| Model | Features & Highlights |
| #1 Pelican Premium Shower Filter (PSF-1W & PSF-1WC)
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| #2 Aquasana Shower Filter w/ Handheld Wand (AQ-4105 & AQ-4105CHR)
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| #3 Sprite Handheld Shower Head Filter (HC5-CM-R & HR5-WH)
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| #4 Sonaki Vitamin C Hand Held Filtered Shower Head (SBH-104CR)
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| #5 Culligan Shower Filter w/ Handheld Wand + Head Option (S-H200-C & HSH-C135)
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Buyer’s Guide
In this section, we’ll explain how we chose our top 5 picks and help lead you to the best choice for your home.
Hand-Held Filtered Shower Head vs Handheld Shower Head with Filter
These terms are often interchanged, yet they mean two different things. There are shower filters with filters built into the head, and there are standalone shower filters with separate wand attachments.
For example, the photos below show the difference. The first photo is a standalone shower filter with a wand included while the Sprite handheld showerhead has a built-in filter:
Here are the key considerations to make before choosing which filter is better for your home:
- The standalone shower filter w/ included wand is universal, meaning you have the ability to connect any shower hose and head that you like. The advantage here is that you may want to customize the system to install any showerhead of your choice. Also, if there’s a problem with the showerhead and hose, you won’t have to replace the entire system like you would with a hand-held filtered shower head.
- Filters installed inside the showerhead are shallower than filters outside the head w/ separate housing. If you’re working with heavily chlorinated water, hard water, or iron-rich well water, it’s better to choose a thicker filter with separate housing for enhanced contaminant removal such as the PSF-1 or AQ-4100.
- Showerhead filters take up less space in your shower, and the filters can be easier to change depending on which model you choose.
- Built-in showerhead filters often have shorter lifespans than standalone handheld showerheads with filter combinations.
Below is an example of the Pelican Premium Shower Filter without a wand or head to demonstrate what I’m talking about. When you choose this type of filter, you have the option to install a regular showerhead or wand:
The key takeaway is you have more freedom with a standalone shower filter like the one pictured above compared to a showerhead filter.
Chloramines vs Chlorine
We recommend testing for chloramines or calling your local water utility to determine whether your water is treated with chloramines or chlorine only. If you’re dealing with chloramines, it’s important to reach for a shower filter that removes both chlorine and chloramines.
We recommend sticking with the Pelican and Sonaki filters pictured below for chloramine removal:
In case you’re wondering, Vitamin C shower filters are not voodoo science. They actually work. We did our research.
According to sfwater.org, Vitamin C completely removed chlorine when added to a bathtub full of municipal water, and it removes chloramines. However, do note that feedback is mixed for Vitamin C shower filters.
Sonaki is the brand we trust the most. Sonaki users either love the filter or don’t. We recommend reading through additional info before you buy or following the link to our Vitamin C shower filter guide (click here) to get a better understanding of how the filter works.
We saw one person combine the Pelican (PSF-1WC) with the Sonaki inline shower filter (SUF-100V), which we thought was brilliant. I actually got jealous when I saw her setup.
- Recommended Reading: Our Top-Rated Chloramine Shower Filters
Cautionary Words
Before we finish, we want you to be aware of several points before you buy. Here’s what we gathered about handheld shower head filters during our research:
- There are more problems with shower filters with handheld wands and handheld showerhead filters than traditional standalone shower filters.
- The Culligan HSH-C135 is top-heavy. We don’t recommend choosing this filter if you have children or prefer a lightweight showerhead filter.
- The Sprite hoses don’t always stand the test of time and can give out after a year. The good news is Sprite showerhead filter packages are the most affordable, and Sprite’s filtration technology is sound.
- The Sonaki shower filter is the most costly and annoying to keep up with since the cartridges have a shorter life than traditional filters. As we mentioned already, you may or may not love the filter.
Bottom Line
We’re confident that our top 5 best handheld shower filters and buyer’s guide have already led you to the best choice for your home. We’ve investigated just about every shower filter on the market, and these are the brands we trust the most.
We prefer to buy from companies with longer histories that comply with NSF/ANSI Standards. In the world of water filtration products, there are a lot of fly-by-night companies that don’t stand the test of time. While sometimes their products have glowing feedback, we prefer to buy from companies that have already stood the test of time.
Pelican, Aquasana, Sprite, and Culligan are all leaders in the water filtration market.
