How to read our recommendations: comparisons use published specifications, listed prices and editorial assessments. Scores are not measured performance results. Our
lab section publishes protocols; it currently has no completed test results. Prices and availability can change after the check date shown.
Research and scoring method ·
Affiliate disclosure.
Above ₹25,000, purification performance largely plateaus — a ₹16,000 KENT and a ₹34,000 AO Smith both reduce TDS effectively. What you are actually buying is one of four specific things, and the premium is only justified if you need at least one of them.
Hot water on tap, which genuinely changes your daily routine. A stainless-steel tank with automatic UV sterilisation, which is a real hygiene upgrade in humid cities. A higher input-TDS rating — 3,000 ppm rather than 2,000 — which matters in Jodhpur, Bikaner, Agra and coastal Tamil Nadu. Or materially better water recovery, which shows up on your tanker bill.
If none of those describe you, buy a ₹16,000 purifier and put the difference somewhere it does more good. That is not a fashionable thing for a review site to say, but it is true.
