Coway BA-13 Bidet – Editor’s Review

Welcome to the first of, hopefully, a long series of Editor’s Reviews of toilet seat bidets.  We’re going to start off with a bang by reviewing the brand new, top-of-the-line Coway BA-13 bidet.  How does it stack up to the competition and is it worth the money?  Keep reading to find out.

Introduction – I’ve had a Bio Bidet BB-1000 for the last 2 years and am very happy with it.  However, I recently became aware of a brand new bidet from a company I hadn’t heard of before; Coway.  Turns out, they’ve been around for quite awhile in the bidet business.  After reading the specs and seeing pictures of it, I knew I had to see how it stacked up to my trusty BB-1000.

Coway – Coway only recently launched their products in the United States in May of 2007.  They have offices in California and New Jersey and their company headquarters are based in South Korea.   Coway makes a variety of products, from water and air purifiers to humidifiers and bidets.  If you want to check out their high-quality website, check out Coway-USA.com.

Build Quality – The BA-13 feels like a very well put together bidet.  From the 4-way valve system to the aerated water stream, this Coway screams quality.  I would give it a slight edge over the Bio Bidet BB-1000 in quality, due to overall feel and the small touches, like dual stainless steel nozzles.

Installation – As should be expected from a bidet in this price range, installation was a breeze.  Still, I was happy to see that it was just as quick and easy to install as my Bio Bidet BB-1000.  The included directions are very clear with proper English, enabling just about anyone to install this bidet in a minimal amount of time.

Instant Heating System – If one of the reasons you like the idea of a bidet is the environmental benefits, you’ll appreciate that the Coway BA-13 utilizes an instant heating system.  Rather than keeping the water in its reservoir warm all day long, the Coway begins heating the water as soon as it senses that you’ve sat down.  I couldn’t tell a difference between the heating speed between my Bio Bidet BB-1000 and the Coway BA-13, but it felt faster.  However, this could be due to the fact that the Coway performs a 5 second sterilization procedure as soon as you sit down.  This has two benefits; it rinses the spray nozzles and also removes any cold water that is in the nozzles.  With my Bio Bidet BB-1000, the first few seconds of spray were always cold, no matter what temperature I adjusted the water to.  The Coway comes out at the right temperature from the beginning, eliminating the initial shock of cold water.

Eco Mode – Speaking of environmentally friendly, the Coway has something called “Eco Mode”.  In addition to the green benefits that most bidets offer, the BA-13 has an extra way to help the environment and save you money.  This is how it works; most bidets utilize instant heating technology to prevent the water from being heated when not in use, but they also keep the seat heated even when you’re not using it.  This is great if you always want a toasty seat to sit on, but not so great for your energy bill.

In Eco Mode, the Coway BA-13 turns the seat temperature down to Low when it hasn’t detected any panel or remote control activity for 10 minutes.  This can really cut down on the amount of electricity your toilet seat bidet uses while still providing instant heating when you sit down.

Wide Spray Function – One of the nicest unique features of the Coway BA-13 is the inclusion of a “Wide” button.  As far as I know, no other bidet offers a variable width nozzle spray.  Premium bidets always offer variable water pressure, but that simply adjusts the intensity of a thin stream of water.  The Wide button on the Coway BA-13 actually changes the shape of the spray; from the standard thin stream to a wide stream that covers much more area.  This is great for reducing the need to move around while sitting on the bidet.  The wide nozzle spray covers the entire area that needs to be cleaned and makes you wonder why no other bidet up until now has provided such a feature.  Also, this function (available in 3 different widths) is remembered by the bidet, meaning you don’t have to select the spray width every time you use it.

Automatic and Manual Deodorization – The Coway BA-13, like most premium bidets, has automatic deodorization which draws in air and runs it through a filter to reduce odors.  This function works very well and you’ll notice a huge difference between using this bidet and a regular toilet.  A nice feature on this bidet is the “Deodorize” button built in to the remote control.  If you’d like to have the deodorizer continue to run after you’ve finished, you can push this button and it will run for an additional minute.

Remote Control – The BA-13 has a remote control that attaches to the wall plate with strong magnets.  I can’t say I’ve ever had the desire to detach the remote, but the option is there for anyone who wants it.  The remote is compact compared to the fairly large remotes on other bidets and gives you access to all of the bidet’s functions.  Certain functions, such as the Seat Temperature, Wide function and Water Temperature settings, have a light above them that lets you know what setting they’re on.  In general, blue is the lowest setting, pink is medium and red is high.

If the batteries die on your remote control, there’s a control panel built-in to the bidet seat, providing you with a power button, rear cleansing button and a nozzle cleaning function.  This ensures that you’re never left stranded on your bidet, even if your remote’s batteries have died.

Style – This is probably the least important consideration of mine when purchasing a bidet, but the Coway BA-13 is definitely one of the most modern and attractive toilet seat bidets on the market.  The remote control is very compact while still providing you with all of the functions of bidets with remote controls twice the size.  It stays in place with a magnet, allowing you to quickly and easily detach it.  Why would you need to detach it?  I have no idea.  I’ve never had the need to take a bidet remote off of the wall, but it’s pretty standard for high-end bidets.

Pros:

• Has almost every feature you could want in a bidet
• Great build quality
• Automatic and manual deodorize function
• Variable width spray
• High quality stainless steel spray nozzles
• Self-cleaning before and after use
• Compact and comprehensive remote control
• Easy install
• Instant-on heating and Eco Mode to cut down on electricity usage
• Modern design

Neutral:

• “Move” button doesn’t stay in memory; you have to select it each time you use it.  I decided to put this in the “Neutral” category, since no other bidet, that I know of, does this either.
• No enema button for those who need it (though the highest level of spray is very strong and could probably give you the same result)

Cons:

• Expensive.

Conclusion – The Coway BA-13 toilet seat bidet is the best bidet I’ve ever used.  I’ve decided to permanently keep the BA-13 on my main bathroom and move the Bio Bidet BB-1000 to another.  The BB-1000 is a great bidet, make no mistake, but the Coway BA-13 beats it in almost every way.  If you’re looking for the best bidet on the market (and don’t mind paying a little more for it), the Coway BA-13 bidet is the clear choice.