When it comes to kitchen updates that can affect your everyday life, how do you know if you are choosing the right faucet for your kitchen, no matter your budget? Most of you will choose a new kitchen faucet based on how it looks its style, its color, and its shape or size. But according to renovation experts, there’s more to selecting and investing in a proper kitchen faucet than meets the eye.

And if you who have ever chosen kitchen faucets based on that criteria might already know that it doesn’t always work out for the best in the long run by going on looks alone while forgoing functionality. Kitchen faucets are worth taking some time to properly explore as they are something you will use almost every single day, multiple times at that. So they are worth doing some research on and spending a bit more time considering than say, an everyday decorative item. To help you better understand, here is the low down on the different types of kitchen faucets to consider, along with some of the best ones to buy, including a selection of quality kitchen sinks to go with them.

Kitchen Faucets: Types

1.    Pull Down: a pull-down faucet has a spray wand directed straight into the sink, which you can pull down and use to easily wash your dishes and vegetables, enabling you to directly spray whatever is on hand.

2.    Pull Out: a pull-out faucet is pulled directly towards you and can be used in the same way to directly spray everything. They are smaller than pull-down kitchen faucets, making them perfect for smaller spaces.

3.    Single Handle: a faucet like this uses a level that you can position to trigger warmer or cooler water. They’re pretty common so you’ve probably come across these classic kitchen faucets before. 

4.    Dual-Handle: one of the most commonly used traditional kitchen faucets design, this one boasts two handles. One to control the flow of hot water and one to control the flow of cold water. They are less common in kitchens now as they are harder to control separately.

5.    Commercial Style: this has a longer and much more flexible design and the idea for pull-down and pull-out faucets come from these. They’re great if you have a lot of dishes to wash, but they aren’t always the most stylish kitchen faucets.

6.    Separate Spray: this is where you have a normal faucet, say a single or dual handle option, but you have it paired with a separate spray function. They’re great if you want the best of both worlds.

7.    Motion Detector: a faucet with a motion detector allows you to turn the water on and off without touching it – great if you have messy hands or you are germ conscious. Motion detectors often appear on more modern kitchen faucets, like the pull-down and pull-out options.

Top Kitchen Faucets

Delta Faucet 9178t-Ar-Dst Kitchen Sink Faucet

This Delta design is impressive when it comes to modern kitchen faucets design. It’s made out of solid steel and designed quite elegantly, considering all of the functions. It’s also available in multiple finishing options. to use it, you touch to turn it on and off, so you can nudge the faucet with your arm to get the water flowing (great if you have greasy hands from cooking). It’s also clever enough to know if you are touching to adjust the direction of flow or the temperature.

It will switch off after running for 4 minutes to save water, which is a godsend if you have kids, or are simply in a rush. The color of the LED light will change with the water temperature to let you know what it’s currently at and it also has a simple battery notification once power is running low. The best thing about these kitchen faucets is that you can easily adjust between stream and spray functions and it comes with splatter reduction technology, to make washing dishes less of a chore and a mess. They are, however, one of the more expensive kitchen faucets on the market.

Moen Arbor Motionsense Pulldown Kitchen Faucet

This faucet is one of the best touchless kitchen faucets out there. It’s simply designed and elegant and we like that the motion sensors aren’t too obvious, keeping the design sleek. This faucet boasts two motion sensors, one near the base and one at the highest point, making it easy for anyone of any height to activate the flow of water.

You can adjust the water temperature as well as the direction of flow. There is a long pull-out hose, enabling you to easily wash whatever you have in your sink. There is also an aerated stream of water for your everyday use and a more powerful mode for when you need it.

Kraus Kpf-1650ss Commercial Style Kitchen Faucet

If you want something powerful which will clean your dishes like you are in a professional or commercial kitchen, then this is the one to go for. It’s tall and it’s graceful and it’s best teamed with a larger and deeper sink, as with a smaller sink, you’re going to encounter water spillage. It doesn’t do anything particularly flashy, but it works perfectly for what it is.

There are two different spray modes that you can use to adjust temperature and flow, as well as being able to swivel it 360 degrees, which is the stand-out feature on kitchen faucets like this. As kitchen faucets go, this one is pretty inexpensive for what it is, making it a great buy.

Moen 7294srs Arbor Pullout Kitchen Faucet

The go-to kitchen faucets brand Moen is back again with another standout pull-out option. Pull-out kitchen faucets make for some of the best modern kitchen faucets on the market at the moment. They take up less space, so if you’re trying to outfit a small kitchen, they are a life-saver as they enable you to have all of the features of a larger tap in a compact option.

It’s well-designed and sleek in appeal, which is impressive, considering how small it is. It’s got a long hose which self-retracts, so it will work for you even if you have a larger sink. Again, it has two spray options and you can easily adjust the temperature. There’s no motion sensor on this kitchen faucet, but you normally have to let go of certain features when you reduce the size of the sink you have to work with.

Delta Faucet 21996lf-Ob Windemere Kitchen Faucet

If you want the function of a traditional tap as well as a pull-out spray feature, then choose one of these kitchen faucets. They’ve got a traditional faucet with handles on each side to control temperature and flow of the hot and cold water. You then have the additional sprayer to use on your greasy pans or to fill a container.

The great thing about this faucet is the price, its affordable and provides you with decent quality and proper functionality – perfect if you can’t stretch your budget for one of the more expensive kitchen faucets featured here.