It’s our lot in life to poop. We eat stuff, digest it, after which the waste should be expelled. That’s simply the best way it’s, which implies we’re destined to spend a not-insignificant portion of our time sitting on the porcelain throne. So why not make that as nice an expertise as potential? And in case your bathroom seat could make the expertise higher, cleaner, and extra snug, then does it not deserve its personal throne?
Behold the Brondell Swash Thinline T44, the most effective bidet seat I’ve ever sat on. And for $700, it had higher be.
The Thinline T44 is a bidet bathroom seat. These types of issues have been round since 1980, when the Toto Washlet debuted in Japan, and so they’re much more handy than the outdated standalone bidets they’ve roughly changed. At its most elementary, the bidet bathroom seat suits in your bathroom bowl, connects to the water provide line, and washes your butt. They are often as low cost and easy as one thing that blasts you with chilly water if you open a valve. The Thinline T44, from San Francisco-based firm Brondell, is on the opposite finish of the spectrum.
I’m not a bidet rookie right here. I reviewed one (truly from Brondell) 13 years in the past, and I’ve been a convert ever since. I additionally simply spent three weeks touring round Japan, the place practically each bathroom (together with these on high-speed trains) has a bidet seat hooked up. Practically all of them are made by Toto, and so they vary from essentially the most fundamental water sprayers to full bathrooms with built-in bidets.
The T44 has a heated seat, immediately heated water (temperature adjustable) to wash your bottom, a separate jet to wash your entrance facet (a function not generally recommended by medical professionals), and a sizzling air dryer, so that you want little or no bathroom paper. The jets will also be repositioned or set to oscillate, and you may alter the extent of water stress, too. It encompasses a nightlight (three totally different colours), a deodorizing air filter, and self-cleaning jets. All of that is managed through a modern distant management, with a cradle you possibly can keep on with the wall inside straightforward arm’s attain.
None of these options might sound novel if you happen to’re accustomed to bidet bathroom seats. The distinction is that they work higher than any I’ve tried up to now, together with items from Bio Bidet, Kohler, Tushy, Brondell, and, in fact, Toto.
The T44 has a variety of stress settings, from very mild to stronger than most of us would (or ought to) select. The cleansing may be very thorough. The seat heats rapidly and extra evenly, with fewer hotspots in comparison with older items I’ve tried from Brondell and others. The water temperature stays extra constant than different fashions I’ve used, too, which often hit you with a cold stream. The new air dryer’s fan is stronger and does a greater, focused job of drying your bum (although it’s nonetheless a far cry from a Dyson Airblade hand-dryer, and the hairy-butted amongst us will in all probability want two or three dry periods and nonetheless require a little bit of TP). After I was touring via Japan, I used to be stunned to search out that the overwhelming majority of bidet seats don’t have air dryers in any respect, which I believe is a necessary function. They have been solely included on some extraordinarily high-end items, and even on these, the dryers lacked horsepower.
The factor that actually stands out concerning the T44, although, is how little it stands out. Whereas it nonetheless appears to be like like a cyber-toilet from outer house, it’s a lot thinner than your typical bidet bathroom seat at simply 3.9 inches excessive. That’s so much taller than your customary bathroom seat, however a lot lower-profile than most bidet seats. For instance, Toto’s best-selling Washlet C5 is almost 6 inches tall on the again. This makes the T44 look extra like a contemporary, luxurious bathroom seat than a chunk of medical tools. It’s additionally extra snug to sit down on.
Putting in the Swash Thinline T44 is less complicated than you’ll count on. Merely take away your outdated seat and shut the water provide valve. Flush the bathroom to empty the tank after which disconnect the water provide line. Set up the included hose with the T-connector between the valve and the tank. Mount the seat on the bathroom, join the hose to the bidet, flip the water again on, examine for drips, plug within the energy, and also you’re good to go. Really, that’s one factor to think about: not all bogs have energy retailers, mine included. My bathroom and bathe are separated from the sink and vainness, the place the retailers are. I needed to get a really skinny extension twine and use some guides to maintain it tightly pressed to the doorjamb, in any other case my door wouldn’t shut. Even with that, I think about the set up easy and value it.
There may be room for enchancment. Whereas I really like that it has two user-preset buttons, setting these modes requires you to make use of a secret collection of button presses you possibly can solely discover within the handbook. Very unintuitive. You want an much more elaborate collection of button presses to alter the default drying length. That is the place a Bluetooth radio and a easy telephone app can be helpful, if just for adjusting settings.
There are additionally a pair bizarre little bugs and quirks. For instance, if you choose your person profile, it should wash you with all your desired settings. However if you need just a little extra washin’, and also you hit that button mixture once more, one thing will get misplaced and it’ll neglect to incorporate oscillation or one thing. I additionally had some points whereas utilizing the T44 with my ft on a Squatty Potty sort factor (sure, I do know, what number of bathroom equipment can one man have? Depart me alone!) One thing concerning the angle of my legs or weight distribution would generally journey up the occupancy sensor, so I couldn’t get it to clean me till I stood up for a minute or so to permit it to reset. I went forwards and backwards with Brondell’s wonderful technical assist workforce, however we by no means obtained to the underside of it. The assist workforce couldn’t replicate it of their testing, so it’d simply be my bizarre physique or one thing. The difficulty turned very uncommon once I moved the mounting bracket ahead so the seat was a bit extra flush with the bowl’s rim, however it’s one thing to think about.
What number of bathroom equipment can one man have? Depart me alone!
I hope Brondell steals a number of the bidet seat options I attempted in Japan for the following era. As an illustration, a lid that mechanically opens if you step into the toilet. Having the ability to elevate or decrease the seat with a push of a button on the distant management. Some have been even linked to the flush mechanism; the bathroom would flush, and the lid would shut if you push a button on the distant. Are these necessary options? No, however they’re good to have.
These minor gripes apart, I completely love this factor. It’s a lot extra snug to make use of than bathroom paper, and you are feeling a lot, a lot cleaner. To not point out that it’s largely a hands-free expertise, so when you push the button on the distant, you’re free to proceed doom-scrolling in your telephone. Whereas that’s true of most bidet seats, the additional highly effective jets make this one work so much higher than some other unit I’ve examined, and it’s simply the best-looking and most snug to sit down on. Positive, I want they might turbo-charge the air dryer to cut back my bathroom paper utilization much more, however, finally, the Swash Thinline T44 is the most effective your butt can get.