Wirecutter borrowed an Impulse Cooktop, had it installed in its test kitchen and called it powerful, precise and impressively intuitive, and very expensive. A battery lets it run from a regular 120-volt outlet and send 10,000 watts to one element. A New York Magazine Strategist writer who cooks on one at home says its biggest drawback is the price. Impulse lists the 30-inch model at $6,999.
Full review
What Wirecutter found in its test kitchen
Wirecutter's Rachel Wharton borrowed an Impulse Cooktop in spring 2026 and had it installed in the Wirecutter test kitchen. She boiled a stockpot of water, held a saucepan of marinara at a simmer and toasted flour in a 14-inch skillet to check evenness.
On the battery-powered boost setting, 4 quarts of water reached a full boil in just under three minutes; her earlier tests of high-end induction cooktops took eight to 10 minutes. On medium-high heat, oil in a pan began smoking in two seconds.
Temperature to the degree, with knobs
Wirecutter reports that an element's target temperature can be set to the degree, with sensors tracking the heat of the pan. Wharton held a pot of water at 160 degrees Fahrenheit and says no other cooktop makes this so easy.
She calls the cooktop legitimately intuitive, unlike the dozens of full-size induction cooktops she has evaluated. The four knobs work as they do on traditional stoves, are held on by magnets and come off for cleaning; removing a knob shuts off its element.
Living with one
The Strategist's writer, whose household pre-ordered the cooktop during a kitchen remodel, first used a preproduction unit. She found the learning curve steep and says the stove sometimes never reached her set temperature. She reports that later software updates addressed every one of those issues.
She found it reheated fish without overcooking and let her brown butter while distracted. After cooking on a gas range again, she writes that she feels far more at ease on the Impulse.
Price and limits
Impulse lists the 30-inch cooktop at $6,999 and the 36-inch at $7,599, reserved with a $250 deposit. Wirecutter notes that this matches the most expensive luxury models from far more established companies, and that a great induction cooking experience costs a lot less elsewhere.
A prototype wok ring Wirecutter tried was a bust, heating only the very center of a round wok, although a flat-bottomed wok set directly on the element gave excellent results. Impulse states the battery hangs 6.5 inches below the counter, which limits which ovens can sit beneath it.
Strengths
- +Runs on a regular 120-volt outlet, per Wirecutter
- +Target temperature can be set to the degree and is held by pan sensors, per Wirecutter
- +The Strategist's writer could reheat fish without overcooking it and brown butter while distracted
- +Battery sends 10,000 watts to a single element; Wirecutter boiled 4 quarts of water in just under three minutes
Watch-outs
- −Costs as much as the most expensive luxury cooktops, per Wirecutter; the Strategist calls the price its biggest drawback
- −The prototype wok ring Wirecutter tried heated only the very center of a round wok
- −Impulse says the battery hangs 6.5 inches below the counter, which limits the ovens that fit beneath
How it compares
At $6,999 the Impulse Cooktop costs more than twice the Bosch 800 Series NIT8661UC ($3,099.00) or the Miele KM 7740 FR ($3,199). It has four elements where those two have five and the Miele KM 7745 FL has six cooking zones. Wirecutter says it lets a cook set a target temperature to the degree, which the same outlet says the Bosch and the Miele KM 7740 FR cannot do, and it uses knobs where the two Mieles use touch controls.
Rating sources
“This powerful and precise cooktop is beautiful and impressively intuitive to use — and it’s very expensive.”
“Though I occasionally miss being able to char a leek or heat a tortilla over a flame, I realized, while using the Bertazzoni, that I feel far more at ease cooking on the Impulse.”
Our 4.5 score is the average of the 2 scored reviews above; 1 more reviewed it without printing a score and is not in the average. Ratings marked * were derived from the reviewer’s written analysis or video transcript — the publisher didn’t print an explicit numeric score, so we inferred one from their own words. Click through to verify. More about methodology.
