Skip to main content

Nebia Shower Head review

This misting shower head saves water, if you don't mind feeling like a cabbage

Have you ever been at the grocery store, seen the vegetable mister come on and thought, “I’d like to shower in that?” If so, the Nebia shower head might be for you. Its nozzles atomize water streams into smaller droplets with more surface area, using less water to get you clean — 60 percent less water, according to the company. With a successful Kickstarter and Apple CEO Tim Cook’s backing, it promised a bathroom revolution. See what the Nebia shower head’s supposedly spa-like experience is really like in our review.

Plumbing the depths

No matter how cool a product is, a tricky installation process will dissuade a lot of would-be customers. Nebia has a three-minute installation video and says the whole process should take about 35, including 20 minutes waiting for the adhesive to dry. Our installation time was pretty close to that. The Nebia won’t fit every existing shower configuration. If it does, though, you’ll probably find the whole experience pretty painless. The kit comes with various spacers and adaptors to make the Nebia work with your shower.

Nebia Shower System review spraying

The setup includes the bracket, head, dock, and wand. Both the wand and dock are magnetized, so it’s easy to detach and replace. The head is a light gray thermoplastic polyurethane with 10 nozzles spaced around the circle. One of the most adaptable shower heads we’ve seen, it tilts 45 degrees up and down and slides up and down the bracket 27 inches. This is great if you live in household with biggies and smalls. The wand looks a bit like a magnifying glass and can be turned on or off, depending on how much spray you want. There’s a toggle switch on the head’s arm that gives the shower extra power. This cuts down on the water saving but delivers a more powerful misty blast. The Nebia doesn’t replace your tub spout or handle, so bear that in mind of you don’t think it will match your current decor.

Chasing waterfalls

Nebia wants to evoke images of steam rooms or waterfalls, because its shower experience is definitely different from a traditional stream. We’ve never lived inside a fog-wrapped noir film, but we can now imagine what it feels like. If you love needles of hot water, the cloud of droplets may not be for you. We had the Nebia installed in the Digital Trends bathroom for a bit, and one staffer complained that he didn’t feel clean after standing in the mist, post bike ride, for 10 minutes. Though the scalding water was on full blast, he said the atomized spray was cold by the time it reached him. This is definitely a common experience, but we found adjusting the head’s height and adding in the wand can alleviate it. If you stray too far from the source, though, things can get chilly. We found we cranked the water up a few degrees warmer than usual to compensate.

The atomized spray might leave you cold, literally.

That said, when the proper adjustments are made, we don’t have trouble getting shampoo or conditioner out of our hair. We sometimes have to stick dirtier parts closer to the nozzles, like after a muddy day at the pumpkin patch. The one major drawback we found is liberated hair. When it’s no longer stuck to your head, it can cling to your hand and no amount of Nebia nozzle pressure seems able to pry it loose.

Yet the Nebia does use far less water than a typical shower. Even with the shower head running full strength, a 10-minute shower used between nine and 10 gallons of water. Standard shower heads use 2.5 gallons of water per minute, so the savings are pretty definitive. We didn’t feel the need to take twice as long in the shower to get clean, for example.

Nebia launched its Kickstarter in the midst of the recent California drought (and several other water-saving crowdfunding campaigns followed), and backers got the device for $280. The price is now $649. Nebia has a calculator on its site that can help you figure out how much the shower will save you per year, but it’s not clear how the electricity savings factor in (especially if you’re taking hotter showers to make up for the colder mist). While that’s one expensive shower head, it’s thousands less than Orbital Systems’ NASA-inspired Shower of the Future, which recycles water using less than two gallons in eight minutes.

We’re going to guess the Nebia experience isn’t for everyone, but spending a month with the device definitely made a believer out of some of us. Though we do miss the feeling of hot drills of water on achy muscles.

Editors' Recommendations

Jenny McGrath
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Jenny McGrath is a senior writer at Digital Trends covering the intersection of tech and the arts and the environment. Before…
Amazon flash sale gets you this Roomba robot vacuum for $179
iRobot Roomba 694 at Best Buy - WiFi connected robot vacuum

iRobot's Roomba is the most popular brand in the robot vacuum industry, and that's because of feature-packed devices like the iRobot Roomba 694. If you don't own one yet, here's your chance to get the robot vacuum for cheap as it's available for just $179 in a flash sale from Amazon. You'll be saving $96 on its sticker price of $275, but since there's no information on when this deal ends, you'll want to hurry up with your purchase. You may miss out on the discount if you wait until tomorrow.

Why you should buy the iRobot Roomba 694 robot vacuum
The iRobot Roomba 694 is considered an entry-level model, but it's more than capable of getting the job done when it comes to cleaning your floors. Like the best robot vacuums, it's capable of picking up all the dirt, dust, and debris in your home with the help of its three-stage cleaning system, which features dual multi-surface brushes and an edge-sweeping brush, and its auto-adjust cleaning head that adapts its height depending on where it is in your house. The iRobot Roomba 694 can run for up to 90 minutes, after which it will automatically return to its dock to recharge for the next session.

Read more
This deal gets you a Ring Video Doorbell for $20
A Ring Video Doorbell Wired set up next to a front door.

The Amazon-owned company Woot! has refurbished Ring Video Doorbells available at a super low price today. The Ring Video Doorbell Wired is going for just $20, and all units have been tested and verified by Amazon to be fully functional. They include the same accessories and documentation as new devices, which currently cost $100. That makes this refurbished model worth $80 in savings. This is pretty impressive since you’re getting a Ring Video Doorbell that’s guaranteed to function like new. Woot! also has .

Why you should buy the Ring Video Doorbell Wired
You can’t really call your smart home smart without a video doorbell, and like all of the best video doorbells, the Ring Video Doorbell Wired aims to keep you in the know about what’s going on outside your home. It has a high resolution 1080p camera with a 155-degree field of view. It also has two-way talk, allowing you to hear and speak to people at your front door from your smartphone or tablet. Customizable motion control settings help you set focus on the areas you most want to protect. Night vision is also part of the camera system, and it keeps an eye on things even while you sleep.

Read more
Smart speakers vs. smart displays: Which is right for you?
Woman using smart speaker while working in office.

Smart displays and smart speakers often serve the hub of a connected smart home. Giving you the ability to issue commands to other gadgets, quickly check up on the local news, or stream your favorite music, smart displays and smart speakers are incredibly popular. The lineup of devices is better than ever today, with Amazon, Google, Sonos, Apple, and other big-name manufacturers churning out highly reviewed products.

But which is best for your home, a smart display with video capabilities or a simple smart speaker with robust audio output? Here’s a closer look at both to help you decide which one better fits your needs.
Size and Design

Read more