Side by Side Comparison of: Mavea vs Fette Filter vs Tassimo

While these don't filter as much as Zero Water, they do the job and make the soap-tasting junk water at work tolerable.I keep a jug with these filters near my desk and use them throughout the day.Let's face it, tap water is basically poisonous these days. These are sufficient enough to remove the harmful chlorine and chlorine byproducts as well as improve taste enough to make it tolerable.

I love the water filters from Mavea, and I typically stretch it beyond the recommended usage. Definitely can tell a difference between this and other brand filters like brita. Between brita and tap water, I can't really tell a difference. Between Mavea and tap water, I can definitely tell a difference (and my sense of taste admittedly isn't that good). I had actually bought a second pitcher for my office I like them so much. The 3 pack price is perfect. What I really like is the recycle program Mavea has for these filters. After you save up enough of them, they will sent you a shipping label and you can send back the used cartridges free of charge. For someone that is a recycling nut (we have to pay for our trash per bag, but not recycle) this is a great feature. Probably saves them in production costs as well. A win win I suppose.

Edit (09-12-2017): Seeing a comment on my review here from "FatCat", I can confirm that they are correct and no longer recycling the filters. While it's still green to use filters over bottled water, it's not quite as green as being able to recycle the cartridges too.

These are excellent filters: they remove all tastes and odors from my heavily chlorinated, rock-hard municipal water. Unlike Brita filters (which were no match for the water where I live), they don't shed specks of charcoal into the pitcher. As other reviewers have mentioned, Mavea is the "real" Brita, which is to say it's the German company that invented the pitcher filter and continues to use the "Brita" name in Europe. In America, they sold the name (and a more primitive version of the technology) to Clorox. Now they're back with better filtration and a new name. This is the best water filter I've ever used, and I've tried tabletop and on-sink units from Brita and Pūr as well. These are hard to find in stores near me, so buying them on Amazon is a must. Highly recommended!

Since Brita was bought out by Clorox (how ironic!), things have changed in the way the Brita bottles hold up and the filters don't always stay in place. I researched and found that MAVEA was the original Brita and bought the MAVEA 1001125 Elemaris XL 9-Cup Water Filtration Pitcher, Black here on Amazon. This filter fits this pitcher and is very attractive. Water definitely tastes better (I did a taste test with my Brita vs. Mavea). Filter fits snuggly in place and you do not get the floating black particles in your water. Highly recommend this product. There are some reviews about the handle breaking and I called Mavea before purchasing and they assured me that they fixed the problem.

The perfect accompaniment to the perfect water filter. These filters last a good while even with hard (crappy tasting) water. Having used Mavea and Brita side by side, the Mavea rocks. The water is much fresher and cleaner tasting. This is perfect for coffee makers, pet water fountains or anything that needs that excess taken out because of gumming up issues.EDIT: Keep in mind you need not throw that filter out when your pitcher says it's time. Base that on the taste of the water. Even having mediocre to bad water, I can usually get two or three "cycles" out of one filter.

Good tasting, but thorough rinsing and immersion still required. Little specks of carbon will appear attune bottom of each filter

Got these for my EU purchased brita jugs because I can't find the brita version in the US for a reasonable price.I tested water hardness in Two jugs for these, and oem brita filters after installation and after a complete cycle of use according to the jug timer.Brita reduced hardness from 18 down 1 on the scale versus mavea 18 down to 3.Most telling was after a complete cycle of use. The brita's were back up to 10, but mavea 15.

Either these little numbers are really, really working, or they're hardly working at all. I can't decide. We have hard water and it seems that in such a short time the little indicator tells me it's time to change. Hmmm...should I be suspicious? Do they need replacement because they have such a hard workload and have filtered out all the gunk they can possibly filter in a relatively short time...or are they sub-par and are able to do very little filtering and need constant replacing?Either way, they are easily replaced in the water pitcher and the company is very environmentally responsible--you can send back all your empties (on their dime).

Like so many others have commented, I really like that Mavea designed their filtration system absent those leaking pieces of black bits that plague competitor's designs. They're filters, they fit, they're originals made by the same folks who made the pitcher. They make my water taste better. They may not remove 100% of all of the bad things that some people worry about, but they remove everything I care about and as mentioned above, they make my water taste better. That's what it's all about for me.Giving it four stars for "I Like It" because it's a filter and I've never felt strongly enough about any filter to say "I Love It". :-)

I have this item set up on (shameless plug) Subscribe & Save, and the timing is just about perfect. I have a MAVEA pitcher at work in the break room, and these filters perform admirably. The filters typically screen about 25 gallons before the indicator signals a replacement (roughly 95 liters for those heathens that don't ascribe to the queen's measure.) Preparation consists of holding the filter under water until it stops bubbling, then running a few cycles through and discarding the water. Installation is simple, in that you simply press down on the filter until it sits firmly in the seat of the pitcher reservoir. Removal is also easy, as there is an integrated tab in the top that really facilitates removal, and is just a good design. The only downfall is that there are small bits of charcoal that escape the filter throughout the use. This is not overwhelming, but it might disturb some. Other than the one complaint, the water from the pitcher is great, and I would recommend both the MAVEA pitcher and the replacement filter packs to anyone who wants to save money and reduce waste by moving away from bottled water.

I've been buying from Amazon since the 1990's but they are not as reliable on their prices as they once were.I've replace my Brita system with the Mavea a few years back. In my opinion the Mavea system does a great job removing the bad taste of our local water. In fact it makes our water taste great (clean and sweet). When I switched I bought two Mavea pitchers and several packages of the refills from Amazon. I was happy with Amazons service until they raised the price and added the subscribe and save. These same items can be found a couple of dollars cheaper elsewhere on the internet without the addition of subscribe and save. So they are cheaper and no addition of a subscribe and safe, which in this case is not a good deal at all.Simply put the water filtration is excellent but a simple look on a search engine will save you $$

What we received said "MAVEA", so should be the original filters.Went though two of them, both had the following issues:1) lots of little black specs in the filtered water throughout at least first half of the cartridge life cycle2) only lasted 1 month each instead of 2 months with moderate water usage and water coming from the tap being on the softer side.

The filters seem to work ok, better than the Britta. My mine gripe is the price. I bought 6 of these exactly one year ago & the list price was $29.99. Now, one year leater it is $44.99. Either Amazon or Mavea is really jacking people for their money.

I don't know if these really are any bette than the Pur filters I also use but they seem to do the job in taking away any odor or taste from tap water, which is why I keep buying them. They are slightly easier to use in that you just have to rinse them in cool water before use, but the disposing of the first couple of pitchers is the same. I think I agree with another user that the "timer" runs out way before the usable life of the filter. I'm guessing this is either a marketing ploy to cause us to buy more often or, more generously, that they are calibrated thusly for really bad water.

We purchased this about 4 years ago because at the time Consumer Reports rated it higher than Brita. I had purchased a Brita and did not like that they had changed the spout from a V-shaped to a square one - harder to pour without spilling - so I gave the Brita to my daughter and purchased a MAVEA. Well, first the spout cover broke off, then we learned that it you are not careful filling it with water, water will leak out from the handle all over the counter. The filters are more expensive than the Brita but the water tasted great with no charcoal particles like the Brita. The filter changer reminder stopped working long ago but that was okay. However, yesterday. my son was filling it with water, and the handle simply snapped off! I am having to shop for a new water purifier, and the Brita I gave to my daughter still works fine.We are still not wild about the carbon particles that Brita lets in, so we will have to decide whether to try another MAVEA,

The bad:Indicator told me my filter needed to be replaced after 3 weeks.I replace the filter at the end of the month so it is easy to remember.If you buy the 6 pack of filters, you are paying around $6.50 a month.Not bad, but I didn't expect to buy this many filters.The good:No more black pellets.This one did have some black dust after the first couple refills,but still much cleaner than the Brita.The filter stays firmly in place.You don't need to submerge for 15 minutes before first use, just shake the bubbles out and fill twice.The other:You can recycle the filters!....However, you need to mail them at least 6 used filters per shipment.But don't worry, it won't take long.

I'd say these filters are about average as far as these kinds of filters go. I use them in my Brita glass pitcher and they fit perfectly. They do NOT take out everything though. I did notice that they do not remove much chlorine, I really don't know how much they remove. I noticed this because I poured a glass of water and drank some, and when I went back to drink some more about 20 minutes later (the water was warmer) it really reeked of chlorine. I have since installed a reverse osmosis system under the kitchen sink which does a much better job of filtering water. I would recommend the reverse osmosis system under the sink over this type of filter. Or use them together, ie. install an RO system and then put that water in your Brita (or similar type) pitcher for further filtration. That should give you much better quality drinking water!!

I've been using MAVEA filter for years. I really love this product until I start to use a new replacement filter. The substance in replacement filters leaks. I ordered twice and tried 4 filters, all of them leak!

Second time im purchasing these.. Was good the first time, but this time around For some reason the taste of water is different after its filtered

I bought my Mavea pitcher thinking it would be better than the standard pitcher filters but I'm finding the taste is no better, if not worse and the filters don't last as long.

I would give it three stars because the taste is decent but the filters literally last three weeks and then the taste of chlorine and heavy metals comes back. Ridiculously short filter life. I am still looking for a good water filter pitcher like this. Any suggestions out there?

The first filter that I opened looked a bit scratched up as if it had been used, and after running water through it a good 30 times, carbon particles are still very abundant! I'm assuming I just got a crappy filter, but I'll update once I open the next one. Maybe I should contact the company..?

WHen I first purchased these the 6 pack was a great deal but now they have gone up. However I love the Mavea and will continue to buy the filters. Just check the pricing on different size packages each time.I do find they last different amount of times depending on how the water is where I have the pitchers. We have a second home we take care of and there the water is better than my full time residence so they last a very long time.EDITED REVIEW 9/6/2016After several years with Mavea, I am seriously considering chosing a different filter process. I have had problems with the water not tasting good many times with these filters. I called the company and they are very supportive with every thing but the filter issue. I cannot say enough about how they handle problems with the pitcher or indicator but when it comes to the quality of the water after using; they tend to blame me or the water etc. These are NOT cheap if you cannot use them. RIght now I am on my 3rd filter and no difference; I have washed the pitcher religiously every week; let the water run for a while before putting into the pitcher trying to see if that helped; even taken the filter out to pour out the residue of water that will stay under the filter in case that was the problem which is NOT FUN. Nothing helps. Our water still taste like it does out of the top (a small bit better but not much to be 100% accurate). If anyone has had this problem I really wish they would post. Thank you.

I bought these filters to try and boost the alkaline level of water from my Berkey water filter. Right away I noticed the filtered Berkey put through the Mavea filter tasted more acidic so I ordered ph tester drops and the results were interesting. The tap water here in Salem Oregon is 7 ph and that water put through the Berkey came out 8 ph and that water put through the Mavea filter went down below 7ph or close to it. So My tap water is already pretty alkaline(though polluted with chemicals), the Berkey surprised me by not only raising the PH of the water besides cleaning it, and the Mavea scored terribly by actually lowering the ph.UPDATE to be fair I also tested my tap water (8ph) straight into the mavea and it dropped down to 7ph. I contacted Amazon and this is a NON RETURNABLE ITEM! so BEWARE!!!UPDATE+ I bought a cheaper Chinese filter and ran the same tests and as soon as I added the drops it went dark blue 8ph so the Mavea filter was crap for sure.

What we received said "MAVEA", so should be the original filters.I have used this brand for the last 5 years never got disappointed the last two orders they don't seem right.I'm not quite sure if the Germans had louse their greed or this are fake .Time to change brand, even thought Amazon was great to replace the product I went thru the same issue.Went though two of them, both had the following issues:1) lots of little black specs in the filtered water throughout at least first half of the cartridge life cycle

Are you kidding? I returned them because the Mavea pitcher was too expensive.

The original MAVEA filter I bought came with a filter with 3 holes at the bottom of the filter. This allowed the filter to drain relatively quick. I just bought this MAVE replacement filter and it only has 1 hole at the bottom, making it drain a LOT slower.Why would you ship out different replacement filters than ones that came in the original? This changes how I feel about the entire product.

Just opened my most recent package (ordered as part of a subscription on Amazon), and 2 of the 3 filters are broken. The carbon beads are rolling all around inside the plastic package. Unfortunately because I just opened the box now, I'm past the date of return. So always open and check your packages if you order these via subscription on Amazon!

I want to make clear that the Mavea brand items that i purchased have always been great and worked perfectly in my pitcher. Its the "AQUA BLUE" brand that amazon ships instead of the Mavea brand that are really, really bad. I got those the second time after i signed up for the subscription. These AQUA BLUE take more water to "start up" and they release a lot of the carbon material, making the water dark. Also, they take 3 to 4 times longer to filter the same amount of water.Amazon played a bait-and-switch on me. Don't let them do that to you as well. If they're not sending you the Mavea ones, send them back.