Vida Alegría H5+ Handheld Shower Head; with Steel Hose, Holder, 5 Sprays; 2.5 gpm (Chrome)

This is by far the best handheld shower head & hose I've ever purchased, owned and used! I looked long and hard for my new shower head, physically looking at them in stores and reading reviews online for just about every handheld unit made that's under $100. I had not seen the Vida Alegria H5+ in person, and was not familiar with it or the manufacturer by name, so I purchased it with high hopes and the knowledge that if I was not happy Amazon would accept the return. I am so happy that I did, and you will be too! This shower head not only looks beautiful, it feels solid and substantial in hand without being heavy or awkward to use. As a home health nurse that cares for injured and infirmed patients, often of advanced age, I know the usefulness and importance of a great high quality handheld shower unit that can also be used hands free for cleaning wounds that are hard to reach when you have limited mobility. I've used them personally for years simply because they work so well and are also great to use for bathing dogs if you don't want to get water all over your bathroom and have a shower/tub combination. When it was time for a replacement in the past I always bought one of the older household name brands we all know, but not this time. After 7+ years with my last handheld unit, the ball-joint bracket that connects everything together and holds the head up high when not being handheld, finally broke. My old shower head won't fit properly in the new universal replacement brackets, and the original manufacturer charges almost as much for a replacement bracket as I paid for the entire package when new. I liked the one I had, but when I started shopping for a new handheld shower head & hose set the prices have gone up a lot, and by the looks of the shower heads that I've seen personally from that same old popular brand as well as most of the reviews I've read on their current handhelds, they seem to have lost the ability to produce a quality product. Their loss is my gain, because I love this new Vida Alegria H5+ and have now found a new company named S.K.LANG Products that makes a great shower head and obviously values their customers. I will say that out of the box, with the combination of both the white plastic water restrictor and black O-ring restrictor inside the base of the shower head handle, the water pressure of the "relaxing rain" mode (which is my favorite) was sufficient to get clean with minimal water consumption, but too low for my liking and the water pressure in my home. Fortunately S.K.LANG provides very detailed instructions (including pictures!) on the removal of either just the rubber O-ring, or both it and the plastic restrictor, so that if you have lower water pressure in your home like me this shower head can be adjusted to compensate for it. If you haven't already figured it out, I think this is a great handheld shower head, and I highly recommend it.

The toughest thing to find on Amazon, or anywhere for that matter, is a handheld shower, I've realized. I'm normally ridiculously fast about gauging products and purchasing, especially if it's not a high-cost item. And on Amazon, the majority of handheld showers are cheap, so cost wasn't the issue. But as someone who likes hard and even water pressure, I find that I can't trust Amazon reviews these days with slews of "got this product for an unbiased review" reviews, especially when the product is going to affect how I feel in the morning after my shower--irritated or clean and happy. I know I can return any of these items, but the problem is that once I return it, I'm without a new showerhead for X number of days because the last one was a flop.Enter the Vida Alegria H5.Does it make my water pressure stronger?Well, not really--or not noticeably. I feel like my water pressure was quite good to begin with but very unevenly sprayed when it hits the body. But because the Vida Alegria takes that same water and sprays it harder and evenly through each hole on the shower head, it FEELS stronger. This is not a product that I'd say "INCREASES" your water pressure, but whatever you have as pressure right now, it's sure to enhance.Unlike other shower heads, this one didn't have a flow restrictor though the ad says it does. If it did, the boyfriend missed it because he said there was no such thing. It's really a simple set that is easy to install and doesn't kink, though really, the shower hose could be longer. I notice that when I am sitting on a small stool in my shower to bathe my dog, the hose could really be a foot longer, but that is easily fixed if I wanted to spend the extra money.The head of the shower is quite wide--much wider than the images on the ad would suggest. This makes for more of a "rain shower" effect and while it's less concentrated for that same reason, it feels very good when it hits your back or you're wetting your hair with it. It's also great in removing shampoo, conditioner, etc.Because we had installed the Culligan WSH-C125 Wall-Mount 10,000 Gallon Capacity Filtered Showerhead, Chrome Finish in our last shower, and WaterChef® SF-7C Premium Shower Filter System (Polished Chrome) in our guest bathroom. (We installed the latter in our current guest bathroom too, because we removed that one from our old guest bathroom and brought it with us.) I was really adamant on not having a shower head that required any changing of filters. BOTH of those models require filter changing--and what a PITA.I'm of the mindset that a shower head should really just not be something I have to think about again, or put on my calendar to order a new filter. While the Vida Alegria doesn't adjust the water in any way, and if chlorine removal or adding heaven powder or something to your shower is your objective, then this one doesn't fit the bill. For me, what I spend on the shower head is really the last time I want to think about the shower head. Sure, removing lime and other buildup from the head itself -- OK, no problem. I'll do that every once in awhile but a good shower should require not much else.And for that purpose, Vida Alegria fits the bill. I'm so happy with this purchase and really appreciate that there's a well-built, easy-install handheld shower option for the average homeowner without spending $500 on a shower head.And for the record, I bought this at the listed price, used my Amazon Prime and received it within the two promised days.