PHILIPS ADD4902BKO/37 Sparkling Water Maker, Soda Maker, Soda Streaming Machine with 1L Carbonating Bottle, Seltzer Fizzy Water Maker, Compatible with Any Screw-in 60L CO2 Carbonator(NOT Included)

Simple mechanical design, no batteries or other nonsense. The large gas button is nice and the overall design looks good. I prefer this design over the soda stream and drinkmate options I've used previously.Phillips > drinkmate > sodastream3x solid blasts on ice-cold water carbonates just right for soda. 2x is all that's needed for a lighter carbonation for lemonade or lemon/lime water. I highly recommend buying a home refill kit and refilling your own CO2 canisters off a larger 10lb tank. I use leftover drinkmate and sodastream canisters.

Why did you pick this product vs others?:We’ve enjoyed making our own sparkling water at home with this carbonator. It’s a nice slim design that doesn’t take up much space on the counter and works well. I think we’ll save money in the long run and will buy less la croix and other bubbly water - a fresh squeeze of lemon, lime or orange is just a good!

I had an old soda stream that finally (after 8+ years) bit the dust. One of the inner seals or something finally failed. They have moved to slip-top (rather than screw top) aluminum canisters for CO2, but I still had a couple screw-top ones and a few empties to exchange.So when I went looking to replace it, this was the only one I could find that seemed to meet all the requirements. I'm overall satisfied with this except for 2 major issues: 1) it seems flimsier (the plastic seems thinner and weaker) and 2) it doesn't "hold" the charge after you press the button. I found I need to depress it 1/2 way and hold there, otherwise the seal releases immediately. I like a slightly higher fizz, so having it release the pressure as soon as you release the button means I use more gas to get the same fizz level. This is easy to adjust for by simply holding the button a 1/2 press until I've added enough.All in all, I find this was what I needed when I bought the replacement that used the screw-top canisters and I'd buy it again if this broke. It was among the best options for its price and it is as simple to use as pushing the button. I don't need to clean it as I only put clean water in it from the tap. This does its job of getting me fizzy tap water without having to purchase more expensive options from the store. I'm glad I have this on my counter.

Why has Philips made this so difficult??? My old Soda Stream carbonator broke after several years of great service & I thought I would try the Philips brand - I now wish that I didn't. I bought the Philips ADD4902BKO/37 carbonator on the basis that it was compatible with the screw valve CO2 cylinders I already have, and based on comments I had read it seemed to be compatible with the Soda Stream plastic bottles. When I got the carbonator it did work with the screw in CO2 bottles, but I found that it wouldn't work with the Soda Stream plastic bottles. The Philips plastic bottle has 4 'bayonet lugs' that are used to lock the plastic bottle to the carbonator. I realized that I obviously needed to order the correct plastic bottles for this Philips carbonator. I selected from the Amazon website a pair of Philips plastic bottles that were recommended as being compatible with the carbonator I had purchased - and I checked that they were listed as being compatible with the ADD4902BKO/37 carbonator. When I received these new plastic bottles I realized that they didn't have the 4 bayonet lugs and hence are just the same as the Soda Stream bottles I already had. Something didn't add up here so I went digging into this compatibility issue further.On close inspection of the carbonator machine I had purchased I realized that the serial number on the bottom of the item suggests that the model number is actually ADD4902BKOQ/37. It seems that the letter "Q" in the model number has major significance - not that this is pointed out on the Philips website, nor is this highlighted on the Amazon advert. From what I can tell it seems like this letter "Q" denotes that the carbonator has what some people are calling a "quick twist neck" - I.E., the plastic bottle features 4 bayonet lugs, and the absence of the letter "Q" means that the plastic bottle is the original screw top type.It wouldn't be so bad if this was all clearly laid out however the Philips website doesn't even talk about these two completely different bottle types nor does it explain that there is a compatibility issue if you have the wrong type of plastic bottle. I see other users have made comments about the plastic bottles not sealing correctly when carbonating & I am guessing that this is the cause of issues with other users and I suspect that they might not have an engineering background and the ability to try and diagnose exactly what the issue is.What made this issue particularly bad in my situation was that I ordered a carbonator with the ADD4902BKO/37 model number but in reality I was sent a ADD4902BKOQ/37 and to a new customer not fully versed in the subtle differences in Philips part numbers, there was nothing obvious to suggest that I had been sent the ADD4902BKOQ/37 model - I am only able to determine this difference by inspecting the serial number on the bottom of the carbonator.As a customer I don't really care which model of carbonator and plastic bottles I have - BUT what is important is that I want a carbonator and plastic bottles that are compatible with each other.What makes this a really bad issue is that it seems that even Philips are not aware of this compatibility issue - if you order a device with one model number and they actually send you a device with a slightly different model number.I would characterize this issue as constituting that this product is not fit for its intended purpose. If Philips can't effectively manage the fact that they are selling different types of carbonators and plastic bottles and they have compatibility issues then they shouldn't sell this product. I would welcome a technical representative from Philips contacting me so that I can show them the extent of how bad this compatibility issue is - specifically regarding many of the product pages on the Amazon platform and even the information on the Philips website.

This is so much nicer than the official soda stream version. The build quality is much nicer and it looks a lot sleeker in the kitchen. I also like how the CO2 container attaches, it's a much better design than the soda stream one.

I had an early Sodastream brand soda maker for many years (10?) that needed to be replaced when a plastic part finally gave out. I just wanted a good replacement to make bubbly water -- I don't need something that plugs in or takes a ton of counter space. This product is as compact as anything on the market, it does the job well, it looks modern and simple, and it's a good price. It seems well made and the bottle is heavy duty and nice quality. My old Sodastream bottles fit this one too, which was a nice bonus. What else do you need?One note: the item shipped just in the box you'd find on the shelf (the one with pictures, text, etc.) and was not taped shut or glued, there was no outside shipping box. It was missing the instruction manual and the round metal plate that covers the drip well. I emailed Philips and they promptly sent replacement parts, no hassle, so I'm happy about customer support, too.

CO2 saturation is low, need to pump 2-3 time. It’s very disappointing!

I make mine extra sparkling! I LOVE it and use it all the time!