Review: Cheap Cobbe Showerhead Filter vs Hydroviv, Puragain, Jolie, Hai, Sprig & Sproos

Why in 2023 was there a surge of shower filters hitting the market? Blame dry skin and hair build-up thanks to the increasing amount of chlorine, odors, minerals, heavy metals and other impurities in your home’s water supply.

For context, water filters are not new, and historically there’s been two popular types: at the tap (cheap, used just for drinking water) and at the source (expensive, filters all house water). Recently, you may have started to see ads on Instagram, TikTok and on TV about shower head filters. The company originally driving this trend was Nebia, originally backed by Tim Cook, Apple CEO, Google boss Eric Schmidt, Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia, Fitbit co-founder James Park, Y-Combinator, and Stanford, was last year acquired by Mark Cuban’s personal hygiene company Brondell. This kickstarted a bunch of other companies to jump in, such as faucet-maker Moen, Hydroviv, Puragain, Jolie, Hai, Sprig & Sproos.

Most of the companies I listed above are aiming to get consumers like you and I to pay for a filter subscription, so that they can get recurring revenue on top of the expensive cost of the initial setup which can range between $200-500 or more. How can a filter in a shower head be so expensive? Well, some of these shower heads have fancy technology like Bluetooth, scents and other add-ons. What a time to be alive!

With that said, if you’re like me, your shower has two things:

1. Shower head build up from all the crap in our water – gross!
   
2. An increasing supply of shampoos and body washes purchased to treat what that water is doing to your body and hair – gross!
   

So I decided to take matters into my own hands. Probably like you, I’ve seen the ads for the fancy filters and read a bunch of reviews about them. In the end, those shower heads costing hundreds of dollars, with an additional subscription to boot, really seem like overkill, like buying a Ferrari to drive to the grocery store. I did a bunch of research and came across the Cobbe shower filter.

Review of the Cobbe Shower Head and Filter

The Cobbe Shower Filter, featuring a matte black finish, is a standout choice for hard water treatment. Its changeable filter has 15-stage powerful filtration layer that promises to remove impurities and residual chlorine, heavy metals (lead, mercury, nickel, chromium) and other harmful substances from the water. At $29 bucks on Amazon, it also won’t break the bank for a test run. Here’s what you get in the box

Installing Cobbe Shower Head and Filter

Installing the Cobbe shower filter took a whole 5 minutes. It’s mostly hard plastic, which felt light but sturdy as I replaced my older shower filter setup with this new one. Included was plumbing tape and rubber gaskets to prevent pesky leaks; you’ll need a pair of pliers to fully mount it, but that’s it. I debated installed the optional low flow adapter apparatus, which made me think back to the Seinfeld episode:

And with that, I kept it on. I was glad I did, the shower head works great and has plenty of pressure. The handheld model is on a 60-inch hose, with 142 silicone nozzles for a stream and six spray modes, including massage patterns. Here’s what that looks like

 

Pros and Cons of the Cobbe Shower Head and Filter (so far!)

• Cheap!
• Easy to install Seems effective at removing chlorine and odors – shower water tastes like bottled water
• Shower head filter cartridges and cheap and easy-to-replace
• Handles great water pressure

Cons:

• Does not make my shower water smell like strawberries and has no Bluetooth 🙁

In the End…

This is a pretty easy way to get into the fancy shower head business without maxing out your credit card. You can buy this filter now on Amazon:

Buy the Cobbe Showerhead on Amazon