Welcome to our Kube Advanced Water Filtration System Review. Kube is one of many under sink water filtration systems built for convenience, but is it worth it? That’s one of a handful of key questions we answer in our review and guide below.
You may also be debating whether Kube is better than an RO system, so we’ll also compare the Kube Water Filter vs Reverse Osmosis later in the review.
Let’s start by going over the key features of the Kube, then move on to comparing the system to reverse osmosis.
| Model | Features & Highlights |
| Kinetico Kube Water Filtration System
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What to expect?
For each water filtration product we review, we do a deep dive into current info to identify the pros and cons of owning the system. We then pass along our findings to you to help you save time and get a better understanding of the benefits and problems before you buy.
Here’s what we concluded after investigating the Kube Water Filtration System:
- Depending on the strength of your incoming water pressure, you may experience a significant drop in cold water pressure (up to 40%). You do have the option to use the bypass valve when you want to boost cold water pressure, but you may not be fond of the idea of going beneath the sink each time you want to boost pressure.
- Installation is certainly easy for everyone, and the Kube installation guide is very helpful.
- Tips: Take a photo of the bottom of the unit after unboxing it to record the serial number and other info. Do not cut the included water tubing; it can lead to leaks and make it more difficult to service the unit later.
- You’ll most likely enjoy the taste of Kube filtered water. Carbon filtration does a great job of removing chlorine odor & taste along with other foul municipal water flavors while leaving essential minerals intact. This leads to refreshing, crisp-tasting water that hasn’t been made acidic through demineralization.
- The space-saving design of the Kube
- If you’re a renter, the Kube is an excellent under-sink water filtration system option since it requires no permanent alterations to existing plumbing or your sink.
- You may find that the filter indicator does not indicate that it’s time to change the filter before one year has passed. Kube recommends changing the filter annually, despite what the indicator says.
- Kinetico customer service has mostly high marks.
Kube Water Filter vs Reverse Osmosis
What’s the difference between the Kube water filter and a reverse osmosis system? Here are the key differences between these two systems:
- Reverse Osmosis removes everything from your tap water, including essential minerals and fluoride. The Kube water filter does a great job of removing chlorine, lead, mercury, and other common water contaminants, but it’s not nearly as powerful as a RO system.
- Reverse osmosis systems have more filters: a sediment pre-filter, multiple carbon pre-filters, the reverse osmosis membrane, a post carbon filter, and a remineralization cartridge in an alkaline reverse osmosis system. The Kube system is dual-filter carbon filtration only.
- Reverse osmosis systems create wastewater and typically require a dedicated faucet. The Kube system allows for a higher filtered water flow rate and does not require a dedicated faucet.
- A reverse osmosis system requires more frequent filter changes, and the filters have varying lifespans. In other words, more maintenance with an RO system.
- An RO system requires more space under your sink mainly because of the filtered water tank.
Which system is better?
- If you have heavily-chlorinated tap water or tap water with chloramines, the RO system is the clear winner.
- If you have high TDS well water that’s iron-rich with a sulfur odor, an RO system is your best bet. Keep in mind, a lot of bottled water is reverse osmosis water with minerals added to it for taste. That’s why we’re huge fans of RO systems with remineralization.
- If your tap water isn’t all that bad, the Kube filter is an excellent choice for chlorine removal. It’s WQA certified to NSF/ANSI Standards for contaminant removal, which is the ultimate trust badge in the water filtration industry.
Our Kube Water Filter Review
Now it’s time for our two cents. Is the Kube Water Filter worth it? After reading through the current Kube Water Filter info and inspecting the guts of this system, we’re confident that we’ll lead you to the best final decision.
Dislikes
- In all honesty, the Kube space-saving design is great, but it’s actually kind of big compared to other single-filter under sink water filtration systems. For example, the Cuzn UC-200 and Woder 10k-Gen3 systems do an excellent job of filtering water. They too connect directly to your cold water line to supply your main faucet. The Cuzn and Woder filters also last a lot longer, and the units are both more affordable. We recommend checking out those two systems as well as the Frizzlife under-sink system because you may like them better.
- We do not believe the Kube water filter removes chloramines. About 15-20% of households have chloramine-treated municipal tap water. We recommend testing for chloramines or calling your local water utility before you buy the Kube to determine whether you have chloramines. If you do, the WaterChef U9000 is a better under-sink system for chloramine removal.
- The drop in cold water pressure (although not all users were concerned about it)
- We prefer buying water filters from companies that tell consumers exactly what’s in their filters. Kube does not state what exactly is in its “Specialty Carbon Media Composite.”
- If you desire fluoride removal, the Kube does not remove fluoride. We recommend our list of best fluoride water filters for better options.
Likes
- The easy installation and ease of use are two of Kube’s greatest selling points.
- We like the bypass valve option for switching between filtered and unfiltered water. This option isn’t available in the Cuzn and Woder systems.
- Good taste
- The twist-and-lock filter design is a nice touch.
- Most water filtrations systems are not directly WQA certified to NSF Standards. In our opinion, this is the Kube Advanced Water Filtration System’s ultimate selling point. When you invest in a system that’s WQA certified to meet NSF Standards, you know for sure that it does what it says it does. The Kube system removes 99% of chlorine and up to 99% of lead. It also removes up to 95% of mercury. The filter is certainly an excellent choice for removing the most common water contaminants and improving the taste of your water.
Final Score: 7/10
Kube Water Filter Installation Video
Before we wrap up our review, we want to show you how to install the Kube Water Filter. The video below demonstrates how it’s done:
Bottom Line
After analyzing the current Kinetico Kube Water Filtration System info and inspecting this system ourselves, we recommend it to people who value convenience in a water filtration system. The Kube is easy to install and maintain. Plus, it has the convenience of a bypass valve, which is not always available in under-sink systems.
Outside of convenience, the WQA certifications are excellent to see. We believe the Kube system is good, just don’t expect it to perform at the level that a quality reverse osmosis system does. With the right expectations, the Kube is a worthwhile system for most people with chlorine-treated municipal water.
