[REVIEW] Waterdrop WD-A2: Reverse osmosis with instant dispensing of hot or cold water

We tested a very interesting appliance for both home and the office. It’s an advanced water dispenser with Waterdrop WD-A2 reverse osmosis, which prepares cold or even hot, safe-to-drink water for you instantly.

In the review, we’ll try out all the options this water dispenser offers and share our personal experience after several weeks of everyday use.

Where to buy the Waterdrop WD-A2?

You can find the Waterdrop WD-A2 water dispenser at the brand’s official seller. It’s stored directly in a European warehouse, which means very fast delivery — already within a week — and no extra fees! Don’t forget to use the coupon.

BUY Waterdrop A2

💶 Price: 499 €

Technical specifications

Packaging contents & quality

The Waterdrop WD-A2 reverse osmosis system is delivered in a box measuring 48 x 55 x 29 cm, with a total weight of approximately 10 kg. Inside, you’ll find the appliance itself with a detachable jug, a filter, descaling powder, and the user manual.

The packaging quality is on par with a premium appliance: the molded foam inserts keep the unit securely in place and protect it from damage during shipping. In addition, all removable parts on the appliance are sealed with tape, and the display is protected by a film.

We rate both the packaging quality and what’s included extremely positively. The manufacturer clearly put effort into providing high-quality packaging.

Design and build quality

Waterdrop WD-A2 is a tabletop device with clean lines and a modern look — the matte finish with subtle glossy details feels premium. On the front, you’ll find a control display that gives you quick access to all the key settings, such as temperature or volume. Of course, we’ll cover the controls and individual display elements in more detail in one of the next chapters.

The water outlet is positioned at the front, and beneath it there’s a removable drip tray that’s easy to clean. The rear side features its own 4.7 L tank. Access to the filter is from the top after you open the upper lid.

The appliance measures 40.38 × 20.82 × 39.87 cm, with a weight of approximately 10 kg. It’s quite a compact solution considering it offers both cooling and heating. It won’t take up extreme space on your kitchen counter, and it’s still easy to move around.

The materials are mostly high-quality ABS plastics, and according to the manufacturer, some components that come into contact with water are made from safe or stainless materials. The workmanship feels very precise — the surface is solid, nothing wobbles, the touch panel responds reliably, and the individual parts fit together well.

Installation, operation, and maintenance

A big advantage of the Waterdrop WD-A2 is its no-installation design. You don’t need to interfere with your plumbing system or mount additional accessories such as various hoses. Just fill the tank, turn the device on, run the initial flush, and you’re done — the system is ready to work. However, flushing is a fairly lengthy process and takes more than 20 minutes.

Reverse osmosis and how it works

Waterdrop WD-A2 uses a 5-stage filtration system with an RO membrane, which forms the foundation of the entire water-cleaning process. Reverse osmosis is a process where water passes through a semi-permeable membrane under pressure. The membrane holds back minerals, heavy metals (for example, lead), organic contaminants, chlorine-containing substances, and other impurities, while clean water continues onward. This filter captures particles as small as 0.0001 μm.

The filtration system works in stages: first, water passes through a polypropylene prefilter that captures larger particles. Next comes a filter with activated carbon to eliminate chlorine and bad odors. After that, there’s the RO membrane, which removes most dissolved substances, followed by a filter that stabilizes the water taste, and the final step is UV sterilization. The result is very clean, neutral water suitable for direct drinking and for preparing beverages.

The filter is labeled A2RF-RO and has a recommended lifespan of about 12 months or 1100 gallons, which is roughly 4160 liters. Without a discount, it’s currently sold for 69 EUR.

The device always first pre-filters the water into the front pitcher, from which it then draws water during dispensing. Immediately after dispensing, it pre-filters more water so the pitcher stays full.

Hot and cold water

Waterdrop WD-A2 can instantly heat and cool water as needed. Temperature can be set directly on the display, and the system can heat water up to nearly boiling at 95 °C and cool it down to 15 °C. In practice, however, the temperature of the cold water fluctuates in the range of 9 to 15 degrees. Most commonly, it was 11 °C.

Practical use is broad — hot water is ideal for tea, instant coffee, soups, while cold water is great for refreshing or diluting drinks.

It’s important to keep in mind that the coldest or hottest water may not be available immediately, especially if the system was used shortly before for water at a significantly different temperature. Still, both cooling and heating work very fast, and the device dispenses water immediately even if it doesn’t quite reach the exact requested temperature.

Display and water settings

On the display, you’ll find several buttons mainly used to set the water temperature and volume. On the left side, there are quick options for cold water (15 °C) and hot water (95 °C).

On the right side, you can find buttons for other temperature and volume options. As for default temperatures, we have 15 / 25 / 45 / 65 / 85 / 95 °C available. For volumes, you can choose from 150 / 250 / 350 / 500 / 999 ml. The last value represents a more unspecified amount, which means the dispensing has to be stopped manually by pressing the button with the droplet symbol.

Temperatures should be taken only as a guide, with a relatively large deviation. The 15-step water usually is not actually 15 °C, but around 18 °C. Lower-temperature water is provided only if we let it cool for longer before dispensing. Also, 95 °C water is mostly only around 85 °C or even less. There isn’t a big difference in real temperature between 85 and 95 °C. Subjectively, we wouldn’t say the deviations are that large, but this turned out only after measuring with a food thermometer.

There’s also a quick option for the most commonly used setting — the so-called favorite drink. It’s represented by a star icon, and it’s set by holding that icon longer, when you can select the volume and temperature. You can then easily return to those settings later by pressing the star.

Status information and boiling point temperature

The display also shows status information and alerts with a beeping sound. On the screen, you’ll see the message Flush when the system needs flushing, an icon representing the water tank when it’s empty, or other alerts such as the need to replace the filter.

You’ll also see a snowflake symbol when the device is cooling. During that time, it hums slightly. The downside is that if we leave the temperature set to 15 °C, the device often keeps cooling even after it has dispensed the water, which is often unnecessary.

Performance, taste, and overall impression

The taste of the water after passing through RO is very clean and neutral. The system’s performance is reliable: the flow rate is stable, and the heating and cooling speed is also very good. The system feels like a quality premium appliance designed for people who want both water filtration and temperature control in one elegant device.

A big advantage is the container with pre-filtered water with a 1.1 L capacity, so you have clean room-temperature water right away. It’s especially useful when you need a larger amount of water, because dispensing a bigger volume takes longer.

A limiting factor can be the water tank, which holds 4.7 L, but when the level drops to the MIN mark, there’s still 1.5 L of water in it that the system can no longer draw from the tank. So in reality, you only have 3.2 L available, which in a multi-person household can mean frequent refilling.

This also comes with another downside — you can’t simply open the top cover of the container and pour in more water. If you do it that way, the device won’t register that you added water. You must physically remove the container and put it back so that the Waterdrop WD-A2 registers that you refilled the water.

Maintenance and child lock

As for maintenance, the package includes descaling powders (2 packs). Just pour them into the water tank and start cleaning by holding the buttons with the star and the child lock symbol at the same time. Descaling should be performed when the display shows error E2, or if you can see deposits, or if the water dispensing visibly slows down.

Since the appliance can also dispense almost boiling water, the manufacturer has implemented a child lock. This is a button that you have to press every time you want to dispense hot water. However, it’s not a sophisticated solution because even small children quickly figure out that they need to press this button since the light turns on immediately. If you don’t have children at home, holding down this lock button longer will disable the child lock functionality.

Waterdrop WD-A2: Final assessment

Waterdrop WD-A2 is a modern, powerful, and practical solution for anyone who wants to have clean, chilled, or hot water available, after it has been filtered. It’s suitable for those who prefer a no-installation solution that doesn’t need to be connected to a water supply.

The benefit is 5-stage filtration with reverse osmosis, which is why Waterdrop WD-A2 prepares clean, fresh, and taste-neutral water for you. It has a clear display with the option to choose both the water temperature and volume, a child lock, and a pitcher for already pre-filtered water.

The downside is the higher upfront cost and the rather illogical way you top up water—it's not enough to simply pour more water in, you need to select and insert a water container.