Side by Side Comparison of: DELTA FAUCET vs Apache vs xlshower

We bought a second one of these shower heads for another bathroom in our house, we liked it so much! It is a great compromise between the ridiculously expensive models and the cheapo models. I do not have $100 to spend on a shower head, but I do expect to find a unit that doesn't break after two months for less than that. I feel like I have found it with this model.

The issue I've had in the past with the lower-end detachable shower heads was the clip that holds the head into place has been super flimsy and eventually breaks. On the last model, I attempted to super glue the clip back into place the shower head actually came crashing down on my face, giving me a bruise. So, that is why having a quality clip is so important for me. The clip piece on this model is thick, reinforced double layer plastic that is very sturdy and feels like it will last a long time. So if you're looking for a shower head that isn't crazy expensive but that won't crash down and smash your face, I highly recommend this one.

I included a picture of the clip piece that I'm trying to describe. I base many of my purchases on Amazon after reading other buyer's reviews and I always try to take the time to leave thoughtful, honest reviews about the products I receive on Amazon. If you have found this review helpful, please click the "helpful" button below! Thanks for keeping Amazon an awesome shopping community!

When I tried this for the first time I was disappointed with the output of water. Inside the end of the handle is where the regulator is located that controls the output of water. I did not remove the complete regulator. I simply removed the small rubber O-ring which was right there and very easy to pick out. ( I included a picture of the O-ring ) This was more than enough to make me completely satisfied with the output of water from my new showerhead.
I like the various settings and I especially like the dribble setting. The dribble setting is as close to a pause feature you can get without adding an extra valve to the shower arm. It works great for saving water without changing the temperature of the water when switching back and forth.
I also like the extra height that is obtained from the way this is mounted.
Don't get too hung up on the reviews about the hose not being flexible. I almost did. It is a standard plastic hose that comes with all ordinary shower heads. I ran hot water through it then manually straightened some of the bends from shipping and let it hang for a while. Then when I hung it up I readjusted the hose on both ends so it lays against the wall and sprays in the right direction and it hasn't been a problem since. It softens up when you shower so when you remove it to use it bends like any other plastic hose and hangs back up the way it is supposed to. If you want a steel flexible hose you will have to purchase that separately or pay a much larger price for a showerhead that comes with one.
For the price this is a great shower head with a 6' hose.

UPDATE: My sprayer is almost 2 years old. It still sprays great with no clogs however I'm going to replace it with the exact same sprayer merely as a preventative in case there is any kind of bacteria or fungus building up in the head. I have no proof of such build up but I am getting frequent ear infections and I don't know the cause.
UPDATE: 16 months later. I still like this shower sprayer. Works as well as it did the first day.
I'm reviewing the Delta 75700WH Seven-Spray Hand Shower, White.
For years I've used Waterpik hand held shower massage devices. Eventually the minerals deposits clog up the head and its a pain to unclog the head. The positive reviews on this Delta shower head convinced me to switch to Delta. I'm glad I did.
The head on the Delta is smaller and lighter weight than the Waterpik. And its better balanced. The Delta has many water flow options most of which I don't care about. But it has one setting (2nd from the end) where the water gushes out stronger than my waterpik did. I really like this setting for rinsing, especially my thick hair. In between rinsing, to save water, I just lower the pressure on my shower faucet lever but keep it on just enough so the water doesn't lose its warm temperature. I never need to change the setting on the head. I leave it on 'gush mode' (my term) all the time.
The hose is plenty long. Almost too long but I got used to it. I will be happy if this head goes for a few years before getting clogged. I like to change my shower head every few years in order to minimize the chance of fungus or crud water sitting inside the head from getting in my ears.
At under $25 including shipping, I give it 5 stars.

The price really attracted me to this shower head. I just moved into a new apartment and the shower head is an abysmal chunk of metal. I was delighted to find so many inexpensive units on Amazon.For those who don't have the time for my video, here's a quick balance sheet.Pros:InexpensiveExcellent connections (quality washers)Multiple settingsDurable and good looking finishEasily accessible flow regulator.Cons:Feels 'cheap' (Clearly plastic head unit, base, and hose)The 'drizzle' setting is pretty worthless. Hardly any water drops out.Don't forget to pickup some plumbers tape(Lasco 11-1032 1/2-Inch by 260-Inch Double Density Teflon Tape, White) if you don't have any. It will reduce the risk of leaks.Convinced? If you choose to buy, please use the Amazon short link here. Thank you! http://amzn.to/1WPb14yUpdate 8/24/2015: Still running strong and looks great!

It's a spa-like experience without the price. I highly recommend purchasing this easy to install, multiple pulse, shower head. It made my drippy, drip shower into something I never thought would be possible.

Worked as promised to install shower head. No leaks so far,

This tape is great! It gives a great fit to certain things that need to be hand tight. Plus it gives me peace of mind knowing that hand tight is tight enough. Great price! Thank you guys for putting this out there, in case I wanted to order it, with the showerhead order. It's been awhile since I needed to use this and seeing it reminded me it was important to have.

Apache 99000322 1/2" x 260" Spool of Teflon Thread Seal Tape Works great for sealing shower head.

It's teflon tape... I mean what do you say. It works as it is supposed to. The container is sturdy so it doesn't look like it will crack in a tool box. And the price is right!

I bought it when I was replacing my show head, and it has held up now for about 4 or 5 months with no leaks or loosening.

Does exactly what Teflon Tape should do. Comes with enough product to last for a while if only used on pipes and other similar fittings.

I really like this shower wand. My husband and I rent a house and when the metal hose of the shower wand that was already there rusted, broke, and punctured the tubing we ran out to target to get a replacement. It was a waterpik model and was also nice but soooo lightweight! Way too lightweight for the pressure of the spray, i.e. you can't set it down because it will spray itself up and over. Considering I use the wand mainly to wash our dogs in the tub that was a big problem, and so we bought this one. I'm so glad we did. Out of the package it took between 10 and 15 minutes to install and was up and running in no time. The weight is perfect, not light enough to flip around but not too heavy that it fatigues your hand when trying to clean up the pups. It lost one star because even though it has 7 settings there isn't a good massage one like the previous ones we had (our older dog is 10y/o and has arthritis and it's the one part about the bath that she really likes!). It has what I call a "karate chop" setting because that's the best analogy i've come up with to describe the quick strong spurts but it just doesn't quite work the same as a traditional massage setting. All of the other settings however are great, the spray is strong enough to get the soap out of super thick hair (or fur!) quickly and isn't so powerful that it stings. Overall I'd highly recommend this product to anyone looking for a dependable shower wand that is easy to install and lasts.

PROS: Easy to install, dependable, good weight, good water pressure/flow, great quality for the price
CONS: No real massage setting for old joints or sore muscles

*** Did you find this review helpful? I hope so! Let me know if you have questions by using the comments section below ***

As a removable shower head this will do the job. It's got enough settings to not overpower you or if you need a trickle of water it has that option too. I knocked off a star b/c the cable itself is a cheap joke. It can bend and hold shape, but it retains that shape. Every time you move it a certain way after adjusting it, it will bang off your shower wall. It gets annoying after awhile and that and the plastic connector both appear very cheap. I haven't had a problem with the plastic connector yet, but it did screw in easily and securely from the get go so hopefully that holds up.

The shower head as a whole will work and offer enough different settings to work. I was hoping the hardest setting (most powerful) would be indeed powerful but it was just a normal pressure. Other than that I've got no complaints and am happy to have a removable shower head at a fair price with various settings.

This is an excellent showerhead, however keep in mind that the smallest bit of any particle that gets stuck in the internal filter will severely decrease pressure. Here's what happened:

We installed it and it worked great for a week until my wife heard a loud thud and it lost a ton of pressure. I ended up taking it apart and there was a tiny piece (and I mean tiny) of black rubber (from another part of the grommet/bushing?) in the filter/strainer. I cleaned it out and it worked better but not great. I had to open it back up and get some tiny tiny pieces of the white faucet tape (not sure of it's technical name) out of the strainer/filter as well to get it back to normal.

The shower head itself is pretty great. The different flow settings are fine. I usually just use the same setting every time.

The hose is a bit stiff. The plastic/metalish combo isn't as nice as the purely metal hoses.

For the price I highly recommend.

I bought this because I needed a large enough spray pattern to rinse my longer curly hair, but I also needed a true water saver function built into the shower head as well (we have a very shallow well). The water saver on this comes as close to a true pause as I have been able to find in the modern shower heads available in this price range. The water can be almost stopped completely with just a small trickle of water still coming out. The water pressure is just slightly less than my older Speakman shower head, but I find it to be fine depending on what water patter I choose. I also wanted the satin nickel finish, so I was happy to see this become available in this particular shower head. I am very pleased with my purchase, and I ended up purchasing a second one for the guest bath, which my mom then loved using as well.

It works fine for me, not sure if there are a lot of differences with other seal tapes. :)

This tape was easy to put on and therefore made the job better. Great stuff

works as it should

Arrived promptly. Easy to apply to fixtures around sink and shower head and so far no leaks!

I ordered this extra item to have once I received the AKDY 10" shower head. This item was better quality then the free one enclosed with the shower head. Sealed the pipe connection great so I did not have any water leaks.

Used this plumber tape to seal a leak in the male end of a garden sprayer. Worked perfectly and the price was right.

Average shower head...the "Seven-Spray" feature has a lever that has no positions indicated...it is a continuous movement lever without defined stops. It blends several different patterns of spray that results in a "gentle rain shower" to a "pressure washer". I don't know what they mean by a "champagne spray" because I didn't get no champagne with mine! If you're expecting a pulsing spray, you will be disappointed...there is none. I don't know where the "massage" comes from unless the manufacturer is counting the higher pressure from the narrow beam spray (pressure washer) as a "massage". I could feel a pulse from my old one without putting it on "jet" spray.
I'm not using the "shower arm mount" because it is plastic...I have a metal wall mount one that has lasted for several shower head replacements. Likewise, I am not using the hose because it is not long enough...a 6 foot hose isn't long enough to run out the window and shower nude in the moonlight. Guess that would be called the "shower moon"?

Well, the good news is that it's a whole lot better than the horrible WaterPik showerhead it was replacing (which felt like I was getting spit on in the shower; it was almost impossible to rinse my hair). For one thing, the adjustable tilt is far better, it's very smooth and easy to adjust. It also has 2.5 gpm, which is more powerful than the WaterPik's puny 2.0gpm, and I took out the flow restrictor or filter in the handle as well, which helped a little more. The spray patterns are a bit better, too, and I can actually rinse my hair now. I only gave 3 stars because the spray patterns are still not optimal (the full spray is very narrow, and two of the pattern positions are indistinguishable from one another), but it's not bad. It's just unfortunate that it's so difficult to get an unrestricted showerhead that just sprays water at the pressure it comes from the tap.

I just received and used this shower today. It's O.K., but really needs to be upgraded by company. I'd rather pay $30 for a cheap shower that works, than $23 for a shower that, yeah gives you the ability to shower, but is a pain.
Cons:
1) The ball joint will not move, so instead of the shower hitting the middle of my tub, it's hitting the far end. The nut that screws it to the, hose, and the nut that screws it to the pipe on the wall both go in the same direction, so if you try to move the ball joint, the shower starts screwing off the pipe. I tried to leave the ball joint nut loose before I screwed it onto the pipe, but it leaked. I tried again, but the weight of the head just turned it sideways. First, they could just use a better attachment assembly -- one that is metal, preferably so you could use wrench to tighten everything -- and second, they should at least have them turn in different directions, so when you try to move the shower head in a different direction, you don' start unscrewing the whole thing from the pipe in the wall.
Perhaps if you get one of those extension pipes that bend in the middle that they use for rainfall showerheads, you might be able to position this showerhead correctly, and it might even make a really nice improvement.

1a) If you have a shower pipe that is at a regular, or even height, this showerhead, once installed, is pretty high. It wouldn't be so bad if you could position the head downward, but, of course, the ball joint doesn't work. If you have a shower pipe that is a little low, then this is great, because it will position the head height just right.

2) It has 7 settings, which is good, but not all of them click in, so you have to king of guess where the setting is. This could be fixed if the little clicky disk that is between the spraying part and the base of the showerhead itself was of better quality.
There is no home fix for this.

3) The hose is really cheap, and is VERY stiff, though I believe it will relax in time. Still cheap.
You could probably buy a better hose.

I didn't take out the water restrictor yet, and the shower strength on 4 out of the 7 settings was still decent -- not great, but it didn't take forever to get the shampoo out of my hair either.
A personal choice -- the pulse setting gets real old real fast.

I called Delta, and they were very helpful. They're sending me out a new piece to attach it to the pipe. I don't think it will be any different, but I thought it was good customer service. They asked me several times if I wanted to send it back to them for replacement, but I didn't think it would change anything. Again good business. I told them that they should actually make a slightly better product (only slightly better, I don't expect a $1,000 showerhead for the price) , but they're not going to change anything. They didn't come out and say that, but they're not gonna.

Bottom line: It's not great, but it's not terrible for the price. I've been reading A LOT of reviews for different showerheads, and I've come to the conclusion that if you want a really good shower, you need to make Frankenshowerhead. Get good connectors, hoses,etc. a la carte, and assemble everything yourself. Despite the cons, I think that this showerhead itself is better than some of the expensive ones out there.

We have a small shower space - big enough to bend down to pick up things that fall to the floor, but not much bigger.

This is the third or fourth hand shower we've had, but this is the first one with this particular problem, which is:

It doesn't angle down very far, so a lot of the spray is directed towards the opposite wall of the shower, instead of most of it pointing down (which is what "shower" basically means, right?)

It seems like the problem is due to a combination of a relatively long handle, a shallow head angle, and limited ability to swivel at the ball-joint.

In other respects it's perfectly good - lots of different spray patterns to choose from, seemingly well made, and the white plastic is a bit matte-surfaced instead of slippery.

P.S. We ordered the white model, but the hose was chrome - doesn't match the photo. No biggie but keep that in mind.

ONE YEAR UPDATE:

The swivel joint at the top has become more loose, so the shower head often won't stay pointed where you want it to. I tried to tighten it but I couldn't improve it.

I have a combination showerhead with removable wand that started leaking, it was awesome as it could spray out of one, the other, or both, and it had a good flow rate. IT was perfect for me.

The Delta was purchased as a replacement and It is a dissappointment.

1. It's made entirely of plastic. Even the metal looking hose. If they wanted to use a non metal hose they should have used the garden hose type of flexible plastic you see for kitchen sink sprayers. Instead they went with a spiral plastic monstrosity that is too stiff to bend and just screams cheap.

2. The flow rate is much lower. My other showerhead is 2.5 gpm and it absolutely blasts dirt off you. This thing even on it's highest flow setting is too gentle and it takes me longer to shower. Plus the pattern isn't as broad so I have to move around a lot to get good coverage.

3. The head sits in a holder and that holder does not swivel very far and requires a lot of pressure. Sometimes it's nice to stand there and move the showerhead to different angles for a fast shower instead of doing the 'shower dance'. If you're over 6 feet you know what I"m talking about. This one doesn't adjust nearly as much and it mostly sprays down at a nearly vertical angle. I prefer the slightly shorter and more diagonal stream of my other sprayhead.

It came in a finger slicing blister pack that will likely make it hard to return so I will probably just move it to the guest bathroom and swap shower heads. A dissappointment.

The spool is very cheap and contains less tape than what you would buy normally at HD

What can I say he's my shower from leaking water

as expected

The title claims 260' but its more like 260"

The hose is literally stiffer than my garden hose, which makes it protrude into the shower so I'm always bumping into it as I wash.

The holder has cavities underneath from a cheap injection-molding process, which are impossible to clean without undoing the plumbing, so things will grow in there.

The shower head itself has grooves around the back where the gray plastic portion is inset, which again are difficult to clean.

All that being said, it sprays water well enough, and installation was easy enough. I'm gonna see if I can fill the holes with epoxy and get a better hose, but at some point it's just throwing good money after bad and I should just get one that doesn't suck in the first place. That's sad, because it's replacing an older Delta which suffered none of these problems (though the plastic body eventually cracked after thirtysome years).

There really aren't any massage settings on this unit. It's essentially got a spray and a stream that will combine in various ways, but there's no alternating/pounding massage like I've had with other shower nozzles. It's hardest spray is also pretty weak when compared with past nozzles; I assume it's a water-saving feature, but I feel I have to shower longer to get the soap and shampoo/conditioner off. In addition, the 6 foot cord means the head has to rest on the floor of the shower if I don't hang it back up. (I've got a bad left knee and have to sit on a shower stool, so that's an issue for me.) I'll keep it for awhile, but will replace it sooner rather than later.

Based upon other reviews, I hoped this would have good water spray force. Even with the flow reducer removed, it was mediocre. Even drilling a larger bore into the handle, it was mediocre. I have used Kohler hand sprays in the past that gave 2-3x more pressure. I went to Home Depot and purchased a couple of the mid range Glacier hand sets, removed the reducer, and had much better results, roughly twice as strong. My wife has a bad neck and likes the water force. the 2 Delta 75700 hand sprays went into the trash.

I am reviewing the hose only. Opened the package and handled the hose and it is stiff and will not work in the shower. The hand held shower head must be easy to handle and point. The stiff hose will be in the way and knock off bottles and the shower curtain. The hose will not follow the head. This is a discard waiting to happen. The material is plastic and I am ok with it and the finish is good.

I wanted to like this shower head, I really did. Setup was a breeze, and there were absolutely no leaks (using sealant tape). But the thing I can not get over is is the fact that the hose is not flexible like they claim. It sticks straight out into the shower and I could not get it to go down no matter what I tried. The shower head itself was great, but the hose needs some work. Maybe i just got a defect, but i will be returning and getting another 2.0 GPM Niagara instead (highly recommended!)

The tape is very small and thin. I not sure how others use the product because of the size. I tried to use it for repair but tape rolled together and wax used.

very little teflon on the spool, less than advertised

Both ends of the cheap hose leaked .The plastic fittings on the ends are as cheap of hardware as i have ever seen on any product .One end split when tightening. I went and bought a $15 stainless hose and put on it.As far as the head itself it is fine .i would not recommend this product as there are many just as cheap with better hardware .I say that from experience as i work in maintenance at a large resort and replace these on a regular basis.

I'm not sure if I received a defective product or my hard water killed this thing, or maybe I'm just a little more picky about my shower than all of these other reviewers. What I am sure of is that I have no idea how the shower head I had is the same one that has over 800 five star reviews.
I love taking showers, but for the two weeks I had this shower head, I absolutely dreaded getting into the shower. The water pressure was as weak as a bad public drinking fountain. I even tried soaking it in vinegar and water for hours, thinking there was some sort of mineral clog, and it made no difference. I'm a petite 5'1" female, and even on the widest spray setting, the water spray only covered the top of my head and not my full body. The hose it comes with is awkwardly long and stiff so it sticks out from the wall. And for some reason, my water wouldn't get as hot as it would in every other faucet in my house. (I got a new shower head and the water gets hot again so it wasn't some weird plumbing issue)
I used this as an overhead shower with the provided mount it comes with. Maybe it'd be usable strictly as a handheld shower, but if you're looking at this for the only shower head you'll have, do yourself a favor and spend a little more on a better fixture.

I put this together, no problem even with my arthritic hands. However, the connection between the hose and the showerhead crumbled in my hands. Did I mention they are weak and arthritic -- so it was not strength that made the cheap plastic connection fail. Very disappointed. Still no shower. Do not buy.

This shower head was bought to replace a 15 year old one
The old one was working okay I just thought that maybe it was time to relace it with a new one
It had a crack in the washer of the holder which was now leaking water
The holder also did not always keep the shower head from falling down
Maybe I should have just tried to get another holder
I guess the saying "they don't build them like they used to" definately holds true in this case
The new one is cheap plastic and does not offer a good massage feature
The fact that this is supposed to give "7" different spray modes is really inaccurate
I don't find much of a difference between them
3 or 4 usable modes is more like it
Some people may find the extra long hose to be great but it is a too long tome
Just preference
It is however way too stiff
I hope this information is helpful
I hope it will loosen up in time

Experienced DIY'er. Easier to install than to open packaging. Every part of this unit is plastic except for washers and water jets, however, "jets" is a misnomer. With water turned on full force there were no leaks but only a trickle of water came out of the shower head at each and every position of the dial except for the Pause selection where none came out at all. No obstructions could be seen and a return to old Speakman shower head resulted in an excellent strong stream. Possibly the flow restrictor is too restrictive but the Speakman has a similar restrictor and an excellent flow. Unfortunate piece of Chinese manufactured junk from a generally reliable US company. Too bad, I was really hopeful for this product.

Might just be a personal preference but handle of unit felt awkward in hand and hose while long was quite stiff. Removing and placing hand held wand in holder on shower arm may be problematic for children or short adults as it fits on top of holder rather than cradled in it like some. Also if you can't get it tight enough in proper position it may twist off line a bit.

You won'the recieve the Apache Teflon tape. I recieved a cheep over the counter thin tape.

This tape does not work. Quality extremely poor. I've installed dozens of fixtures using tape and I've never had an issue with any other brand before.

This "new" item was more than half-used. Buyer beware.

This is not a 275' spool it is a 260" spool. So less than 1/12th the amount listed