IN A RUSH? MY TOP CHOICE
Delta 58469-SS-PK 5-Spray In2ition
As far as shower heads go, these are my jam.
High pressure, hot water: that’s the way to live as far as I’m concerned.
There are limits (and at least one showerhead on this list pushes those limits), but I use my daily shower as a way to relieve stress and nothing does it better than hot water pounding the tension from my neck and shoulders.
For all the rest of you high water pressure enthusiasts, I’ve cooked up a list of the top ones I’ve found (and how I chose them) down below. If any of you are in a hurry though, here’s my top pick:
Do you want to read more about the best shower heads in other categories? Click on the link to know more about them.
Top Choices for Your Money
- ImageProduct NameRatingPrice
- Delta 58469-SS-PK9.8Check Latest Price
- Movario Five 5 Sprays9.6Check Latest Price
- Aqua Elegante 6 Function9.5Check Latest Price
- Delta 75509-CP 5-Spray9.3Check Latest Price
- AquaIV Premium9.1Check Latest Price
- SomovWorld Rainfall8.9Check Latest Price
- Aqua Elegante 6 Function Adjustable Luxury8.7Check Latest Price
- YOO.MEE8.5Check Latest Price
- Chrider8.2Check Latest Price
TOP 9 High Pressure Shower Head Reviews
1. Delta 58469-SS-PK 5-Spray In2ition
This is a really interesting high pressure shower head.
I find most combos to be cumbersome; having two shower heads to work around is annoying and neither usually works as well as anyone would do, especially if you try to use them together.
This design sidesteps both of those issues neatly by making the two parts integrated, being able to use it as a fixed showerhead and snap off to a handheld on the fly whenever you need to without sacrificing quality otherwise.
It comes with five settings, four of them different massage settings, something I haven’t often seen in a product. You have the normal full spray, of course, plus a slow massage, a fast massage, and a pulse massage, plus one that combines with the full spray.
My favorite though is the pause function. With a tap you can cut the water flow to the showerhead without fiddling with the knobs so you can deal with other things, like shaving. Given I do all my shaving in the shower, this appeals to me more than anything else.
The already excellent package is rounded out with basic quality in the form of a 5 or 6 foot hose, a stainless steel finish, touch clean spray holes, and a limited lifetime warranty.
It will cost you a bit under $300, but honestly? Entirely worth it for what you get and how long it will last you.
A shower head isn’t something you should be planning to replace every year (or even every 5 years if you don’t trash it on purpose), so the higher price point isn’t a big deal if you want a good product.
The only thing it lacks is a removable water flow restrictor, but everything else is so good, and 2.5 GPM is already high enough, that this can be easily forgiven.
2. Five Hand Shower - 5 Sprays
Almost the most excellent around.
I really love this high pressure shower head. It looks nice, but more importantly it WORKS nice.
This one comes with five distinct settings: normal (full blast all openings), jet (focused blast), rain (gentle, wide spray), massage (pulsing blast), and “Champagne” (uses primarily the larger holes to make large bubbles).
Nothing too special on its own, but it’s backed up by Grohe’s proprietary “Dream Spray” technology that makes sure all the water travels evenly to each of the holes. It may not sound like much, but even some otherwise good showerheads can have an issue on certain settings with some holes dribbling or only firing at half the power they should because most of the water is aimed at the center.
Combine that with the 8 position mount that allows the head to function as well when mounted as not, the anti-lime head that makes it easy to clean, and the brushed nickel finish that won’t scratch or tarnish and you have the top of the line.
While it will cost your nearly $200, I feel it’s completely worth it for what you’re getting. It’s hard to do better than this.
3. Aqua Elegante 6 Function
A good option on the lower end.
If I had to level one complaint at this one it’s that it claims to have low pressure options, but everything about it looks high pressure. Not that it matters to me, or anyone buying this for a high pressure shower, but it’s the principle of the thing.
Other than that though, it’s pretty great for the price (over $50). Of the 6 settings (4 distinct ones) it has two of the three I feel every handheld showerhead should have: full and massage, plus the “water saver” and “gentle rain” options which are GENTLER, but only compared to the 2.5 GPM it works at by default (and this one does have a removable water restrictor!).
The self cleaning nozzle (resists calcium build up) and five-year-warranty round out the package.
In terms of value, this is one of the greatest on the list, you get a lot of bang for your buck.
4. Delta 75509-CP 5-Spray
Another good mid priced handheld option.
This one comes with 9 settings (most of them mixed options) that can be activated with just a button press, no dialing required. That alone makes a solid case for it (you don’t have to worry about not quite turning the dial far enough for your preferred setting or fumbling around with wet fingers to do so), but it also comes with a good kink resistant and sturdy 6 foot hose, a non-slip handle, and a “touch clean” nozzle.
Not bad for under $50, though I’ll admit not as good as others that are only a little more expensive. This one’s main use is for people with low flow showers that want a narrower, high pressure nozzle, and it has an easily removable flow restrictor to open that up even more.
I’ll say only get this one if you’re in that specific scenario, like if you’re living in an RV or something.
5. AquaIV Premium
A high pressure rainfall shower head? It’s more likely than you think.
Metal and silicone construction take us away from the usual plastic nozzles even the optimum high pressure shower heads usually have. The plate is only 2 mm thick, and the nozzles are high pressure, making it less like a rainfall showerhead and more like a rain STORM showerhead. It being an 8 x 8 square gives it excellent coverage (most are 5 inch diameter circles at the largest, and usually 3 or 4 inches instead).
It sounds appealing, and the rest of it is pretty solid quality too, having a good omnidirectional swivel ball to adjust to your liking, a 2-year warranty, and easy installation
It’ll cost you over $50, which is a pretty good price for something like this. And hey, if you don’t like it they have a satisfaction guarantee (relatively rare among most products) so you can just send it back.
6. SomovWorld Rainfall
This thing greatly amuses me.
This is your top bet for maximum water pressure I’ve found. No settings (it’s a rainfall shower head, and ONLY that), stainless steel, with self cleaning nozzles that are resistant to lime and hard water build up.
It’s already pretty good for the price (between $20 and $50), but the thing that tickles me is its GPM output when you remove the water restrictor. It starts at 2.5 GPM, any guesses for how high it goes?
If you guessed 5 or 6…you’d be wrong. It apparently goes up to a whopping 7.62 GPM, over three times the legal limit, and a pressure I’m honestly not sure anyone would enjoy. But just in case there is someone who’d like it, here it is. Cheap, pretty good, and adjustable (just turn your water knob down).
7. Aqua Elegante 6 Function Adjustable Luxury
Cheap, but good for high pressure lovers stuck with low flow.
Comes with all the standard settings you’d expect: saturating blast, pulse massage, gentle rain, water saver, and a mix between the blast or rain and massage.
Made of heavy duty ABS plastic – quick aside, many manufacturers, including this one, use “rust proof like stainless steel” when talking about this. It always gives off the feeling they don’t quite understand what rust is – that is resistant to cracking or breaking, and has a self cleaning, calcium resistant head.
A 5-year money-back-guarantee and removable flow restrictor round out this well under $50 package. This makes a perfect camping or travel high pressure shower head, though I wouldn’t recommend it for the home unless you’re just looking for a quick replacement for a broken unit.
8. YOO.MEE Handheld
About as simple as it gets.
This one only has three (really two) settings: normal, massage, and a mix. It has a hose that is a bit too long for my taste (a little over 6 and a half feet), and is made of simple, if sturdy materials.
I put this on here mainly because it’s the cheapest option here with a built in water booster. For over $20, you get something that turns your low flow shower into a 2.5 GPM one, at the cost of the flow being relatively narrow compared to most.
Not much else to say, really. It’s cheap but will do the job great if you find yourself stuck with a heinously low flow in your hotel shower or RV and need a quick fix.
9. Handheld
Our cheapest option, and about as bare bones as it gets.
Sometimes you just need a cheap product. This adjustable one isn’t going to impress you much, but for under $20 you can’t really complain about what it gives, which is:
Seven settings, though three are variants on rainfall, and two are the standard massager and full blast. The last two are a misting function, and “oxygenic water flow”, which is the same as the Champagne option from the Movario (big water droplets).
Other than that, not much to report but the standard stuff. Stainless steel hose, lifetime warranty, sturdy ABS plastic construction, and an adjustable swivel.
Like I said, nothing to write home about, but it’s cheap and you can pick up something just like it pretty much anywhere. Great for the price.
Conclusion
Delta 58469-SS-PK 5-Spray In2ition 2-in-1
It’s hard to argue anything but the Delta In2ition (as much as I hate the name) is the clear winner, though the Movario Five gives it a run for its money. It simply has it all: high pressure, perfect combination of fixed and handheld shower heads I’ve ever seen, and several massage options, and not much to complain about.
When it comes to grading shower heads by water pressure the pickings are surprisingly slim.
Yes, there are good options, but the exceptional soon give way to the mediocre and cheaply made at worst options.
While I think everything on this list is a SERVICEABLE option, I’d only call the top four or five truly GOOD for most people. If you can spend $20 on a showerhead spending $40 isn’t much of a stretch to get something markedly better, and that’s the issue a lot of these shower heads run into.
For other choices:
Look at other products we reviewed.
How Do I Pick The Right One?
There’re a few things you want to look out for besides the flow itself (which is going to be 2.5 GPM by default; the max a manufacturer can allow without modifications). One of those is the ability to be modified, while the rest are pretty standard: price, settings, and adjustability.
Price
We’re looking at a range of about $20 to $300 today. There are some lower and some higher, but they’re respectively essentially trash and overpriced (for the most part), so we’re sticking to the more reasonable range.
Higher price usually (though as with anything, not always) higher quality in both materials and construction as well as the options it comes with.
Settings
A good product is going to come with certain settings, with few exceptions, that allow you to change the flow.
Rainfall shower heads are exempt from this (they’re designed entirely to give the perfect experience with that one setting), but the rest should have some variation on a full blast, a more powerful (though about 1/3 narrow stream) often called a power blast, and some kind of pulsing massage setting (especially if it’s a handheld).
Handhelds should also have a jet setting (for cleaning) and a relatively gentle setting (for washing pets, or if somebody else uses the shower ad prefers a lower flow).
Adjustability
Whether it’s a handheld or not, it should always have some maneuverability so people of different heights and builds can be just as comfortable under it, or it can be used for cleaning things of that nature.
This goes double for a handheld shower head which should have a hose that comes in between 5 and 6 feet long and is resistant to kinking or tangling.
Modification
If 2.5 GPM just isn’t good enough (though for most it should be), some can be easily modified to output more. If they have a part designed to act as a water restrictor (which many do, though just as many restrict the flow by some combination of design that makes modifying this harder) you can simply pop it off to increase the flow up to a max much higher than before (usually up to three times more than usual).
This is limited to your own water pressure of course, and going too far above 2.5 GPM is likely to be quite uncomfortable, but whatever floats your boat.