We tested the Kohler PureWash E930 and the Kohler PureWash E860, both at the upper end of Kohler’s offerings. They’re very nice and have all of the features expected in a high end bidet, The E860, in particular, sprays the front wash from the front of the seat and not the back, like on all other bidets. The downside is that the remote controls are difficult to use. Temperature, position, and pressure are each done on a five position scale, yet the remote indicates the individual settings with only three lights, so it’s difficult to know exactly where you are in the scale. In addition, the controls operate in a circular fashion and not the common +/- style, so if you overshoot the mark (too hot, too forward, or too much pressure), you can’t simply go back one setting. You have to cycle through to the end of the setting and then go back and try to find where you were—an unforced error and a routine frustration in testing.
Brondell Swash Thinline T44 Luxury Bidet Toilet Seat is a previous pick, and it’s among the thinnest bidets we’ve used. We like it a lot, but we prefer the simplicity of the Toto S5’s remote.
The cold water Brondell FreshSpa Thinline has an interesting roller dial for the pressure control and a three button set-up for the various washes. It’s nice and it works well, but we ultimately prefer the clean look of the Bio Bidet Slim Edge.
At around $300, the American Standard Advanced Clean 2.0 Electric SpaLet Bidet Seat is on the inexpensive side, about the same price as the Brondell LE99 that we recommend. Compared to the Brondell, it’s bulkier and an inch taller in the rear.
Overall, we liked the Coway BidetMega 200N, but it’s priced in the same arena as the Toto S2, which is more streamlined, even if it does have the side panel. It also has “Coway Bidetmega” printed prominently on the seat, which we think draws way too much attention.
The Coway BidetMega 500S has a wide spray mode and the ability to route the power cord out of either side of the bidet. The downside is that the remote control has the spray activation on one side and some of the spray settings on the other. This led to a lot of unnecessary handling of the remote. The Coway BidetMega 400S is similar but without a few features.
Functionally, the Tushy Aura, a full-featured warm-water model, worked fine. But none of our testers cared for the remote. The buttons are so sensitive that it seemed like every time we handled it, some button would be accidentally activated.
The Tushy Oasis is a non-electric warm-water model, so the bidet’s water line needs to be attached to the hot-water plumbing at the sink. This requires the toilet and sink to be in close proximity and works best with the exposed plumbing of a pedestal sink; otherwise, you need to drill a hole through the side of your vanity. Depending on the distance between your bathroom and the hot water heater, there may be a considerable delay in getting hot water to your bidet (a problem that can be solved by running the hot water at the sink each time before using the bidet). Bidets like this may be a good fit for some, but given the constraints on installation and the hot water delay, we prefer the models we recommend above.
The Tushy Wave is a cold-water model, similar to the Brondell EcoSeat S101. It’s nice, but we didn’t see anything significant that set it apart from the EcoSeat S101 and justified the $200 price tag, which is more than double what the EcoSeat S101 usually costs.
The EcoNova Bidet is a deluxe warm-water model. It has a nice look, and the remote could have been designed by Apple, but it doesn’t compare to the Toto S5 in overall features and customization.
The Saintly Clean Butt Kit isn’t a bidet, but it’s bidet-adjacent. It’s a dispenser of cleansing foam that is used to turn any old piece of toilet paper into, basically, a wet wipe. We much preferred using a bidet (any bidet), and given that a two-bathroom starter kit with a three-month subscription of refills costs about $100, it’s not exactly an economical choice.
We tested the SmartBidet SB1000WE and SB3000WE, and neither were comparable to others in their price ranges. Both models are considerably taller than the other bidets we tested.
The Bio Bidet Bliss BB2000 has so many features that it veers toward being excessive. The remote is extremely busy, filled with what look like bathroom hieroglyphics.
The Bio Bidet Discovery DLS is a premium bidet with great features, including a lid that opens automatically as you approach. The remote has a clean look, but its layout forces you to flip it around from front to back (unless you have user presets programmed). The cord and supply line are on opposite sides — a miss for a bidet in the $500-plus range.
We once recommended the Tushy Classic 3.0 and the Brondell SimpleSpa Thinline Bidet Attachment. These are nice, but the Bio Bidet SlimEdge Bidet Attachment has a much more refined look for about the same functionality.
The Brondell FreshSpa Thinline and Brondell SimpleSpa Eco are almost identical (the Eco is made with recycled plastics). They’re basic and they work fine, but we appreciated the Bio Bidet SlimEdge’s aesthetics more.
The American Standard AquaWash Slim is like the Brondell EcoSeat S101 in that it’s a cold-water sprayer integrated into a seat. We preferred the minimalist dial of the EcoSeat S101 over the AquaWash’s lever handle.
The Brondell Swash SE600 and Brondell Swash SE400 have nice features, but the electrical cord sticks straight out the left side of the seat (as you’re sitting).
The controls on the Brondell Swash 1400 are scrolled, rather than on a +/- scale. So if you shift to a temperature or pressure that’s higher than you like, you need to go through the entire cycle to get back to where you’re comfortable.
The Kohler K-4108-0 and the Kohler K-8298-CR-0 were both very nice, but the remotes weren’t as intuitive as that of the Toto S5.
The Kohler C3-155 K-8298-0 is comparable to our runner-up, but we preferred the Toto S2’s control panel.
Many other cold-water models are available, like the Luxe Bidet Neo 120, but none of them offer any noticeable advantages over the nice-looking Bio Bidet SlimEdge.
The seat on the Kohler K-5724-0 PureWash M250 Bidet Toilet Seat felt cheap, and it flexed under almost any weight. It also made a loud creaking noise every time one of our testers sat down or shifted their weight.
We left travel bidets out of our research and testing. Such devices are handheld and offer neither the luxury nor the physical assistance of a standard bidet. If you are an absolute bidet fanatic and want to try one, you might want to check out the Toto Travel Washlet or the Brondell GoSpa.
This article was edited by Harry Sawyers, Kyle Fitzgerald, and Ben Frumin.
