Moen Engage Matte Black Magnetix Eco-Performance Six-Function Detachable Handheld Shower Head with Magnetic Docking System and 60-Inch Hose, 26100EPBLWaterSense

Project:My old shower head was working OK, but I wanted one with a hose mainly so I could more easily clean my fairly deep/large shower stall. Moving the head around on my old one wasn’t cutting it, and while I rarely use the hose while washing, I knew from past experience that a hose model is great for cleaning a tub/shower stall.Decision:I decided on the Moen as I have had good luck with their products and settled on this design in chrome. But I was torn between this eco model (26100 EP) for $45 (sale) at 2.0 GPM or the 2.5 GPM version of the same thing (26100) for $85 [Amazon prices at the time of review].NOTE: I knew I was going to remove the flow restrictor in either case and after reading some reviews, it seemed the EP model was going to be much harder to modify. But at twice the price for the non EP model, I rolled the dice and got this one. More on this later.Materials:This puppy is thick plastic with a well applied “chrome” coating that appears metallic. The only metal I could find was the hose (and that is only metal on the outside, it is plastic lined). Some have mentioned that they don’t like the plastic, but I have no issues with it. No idea if the $85 one has more metal, but I also don’t care. The plastic is quality plastic (with the possible exception of the gray base which is a soft plastic) but both versions of this shower head have that same base…NOTE: Making it from plastic may even be an advantage. If you lose your grip and drop the shower head and it swings into your shower stall wall (or glass door) a plastic head is much less likely to damage the wall/glass. [If I have to pick between a damaged wall or door and a damaged shower head, I will take the damaged shower head; much easier to fix.]Hose:As I mentioned, it is metal on the outside and plastic on the inside. The anti-kink mechanism on both ends works very well. I wish it was a tad longer, but the hose length has obviously been chosen so it won’t reach the floor if you drop the head in a standard height shower. Both ends of the hose are easily screwed in by hand and don’t leak. No pipe tape needed to connect the hose. DON’T USE TOOLS! Screw it on hand tight only, and don’t forget the rubber gaskets…Spray Options:This shower head may not be very wide but the water dispersion is quite good and widens out significantly by the time it hits you depending on the setting. There are multiple settings that switch between the center and outer rings of the shower and adjust different pressures for each. I normally use it in the center switch (default) setting unless I am using it for cleaning. The selector switch can be flicked with a thumb and is easiest to select when you are holding the shower head in your hand and it is not snapped into the mount.Magnetic Mount:There IS a small plastic clip at the top of the mount in addition to the magnet which helps hold the head in place. The magnet is quite strong and will grab and snap the head into place when you get it nearby. Not sure how this system will hold up over time, but it seems like a solid design. Operationally, I like using it better than the snap-in head units I have used.Moving The Mount:The gray base can be pointed in various directions to some extent but isn’t real easy to move, especially with the head on the mount. Move it by grabbing it behind the shower head (on the gray part) or pull the head off, move it, and snap it back. For the most part you probably won’t move it much unless you have family members of seriously different heights. I used a modest amount of 1/2" pipe tape to connect the mount to the wall pipe. This ensures a solid seal and also protects the soft plastic mount from the metal pipe grooves (reduces cross threading risks). The pipe tape is likely not needed to make a good seal if your pipe is in good shape. Once again, DON’T USE TOOLS! Screw it on hand tight only and don’t forget the rubber gasket.HINT: To easily remove any old pipe tape on your wall pipe (and you DO want to remove it if you can) take a damp wad of paper towel or toilet paper and twist left and right around the pipe while squeezing and the old tape will usually shred itself off in strings quite easily.Negatives:Aside from the low water flow (which is technically a “feature”) there really are no negatives for me on this unit other than the gray plastic base. This is made of a soft plastic and I wonder how it will hold up. Take your time installing it and ensure you don’t cross thread (forcing it on at a slight angle) and you should be fine.Water Flow Restrictors:This shower head has been carefully and artfully designed to provide as much water pressure as possible with a low water usage. That’s what makes it an “eco” shower head as it reduces water flow, and thus, water use and hot water/power use. Presumably that is why you are thinking of buying it. If so, you do NOT want to remove the water flow restrictors!Modern “eco” shower heads are designed to reduce water use to a minimum while still providing a “useful flow” (sic). Removing the flow restrictors on this model is not simple and voids the point of having an eco shower head; at least according to our big-brother, EPA, government hacks.I personally disagree with this position as I believe that a quick shower at high pressure/high water flow will use the same amount of water (or less) as a longer shower at lower pressure/low water flow. This is because you need to stay in the shower for a longer time to accomplish the same results with a low flow. I also wanted the option of high pressure for cleaning the shower. So as an adult with a brain, I decided to remove my flow restrictors and (gasp!) manage my own water consumption; see below for more info. Greenies, please keep your flames to yourselves as not everyone is too stupid to responsibly control their water use manually. Plus, I do explain the consequences of removal in great detail.NOTE: If you are putting this shower head in a shower to be used by kids/teenagers/other persons with no concept of paying the gas/electric/water bills, DON’T REMOVE THE FLOW RESTRICTORS!—Water Flow Restrictor Removal:THE INFO BELOW IS PROVIDED FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY.-I am not responsible for your use of said info, or for any damages you may suffer from doing so. This includes any stress, eco-guilt, or bad karma you may suffer as a result of taking personal responsibility for your own water usage.-Removing the flow restrictors will probably void your warranty, affect your ability to return the product, may cause unforeseen issues down the road, and is probably illegal in some places.-If you are subject to landlord, HUD, or other home inspections (such as when you sell your home) it may cause you to fail said inspections and make you have to buy a new shower head that meets code. [It won’t take a brilliant home inspector to know your flow restrictors have been modified on this unit due to the serious increase in pressure/water flow that results from doing so.]-Reversing this process and putting all these restrictors back in place will likely be somewhere between VERY difficult to impossible to accomplish on this particular product as the water restrictors are unusually complex and delicate. If you decide to remove the restrictors, I suggest you take this action assuming that you will not be able to change your mind!-NOTE: Removing the restrictors significantly increases water pressure (AND POTENTIALLY WATER USE/EXPENSE) depending on how you use the product.Legal stuff out of the way... I found this shower head did not meet my personal needs with the restrictors in place, however, I admit bias on the topic as I had planned to remove them from the beginning. Before you start, understand that this shower head literally has THE MOST COMPLEX series of water flow restrictors I have EVER run across in any product!There are multiple levels of flow restrictors in this shower head. The ones that matter are all in the shower head itself. There is a debris screen/restrictor in the gray mount where it connects to the wall pipe. This is mainly to capture loose debris in your water line to protect the mechanism in the head and prevent clogs in the water outlets. It does reduce water flow a little bit, but not much, so I recommend leaving this one in place (and that is what I did myself).In the shower head itself there are many layers of flow restrictors and they do NOT come out easily. At least not if you are trying to remove them without damaging them like I was… That said, with 8 plastic pieces and 2 springs I am not sure I could put it all back together again in any case as I didn’t take notes or pictures during removal.I attached a pic of all the flow restriction parts I removed there are so many!-2 springs-2 white plastic “plunger” like things-2 blue plastic disks-1 green plastic disk-3 white plastic wheelsThese are ALL located in the base of the shower head where it connects to the hose. I started with a pair of small needle nose pliers and slowly and carefully removed the first white wheel (with a cross pattern on it). Getting it all out undamaged took patience, a delicate touch, and a LOT of light. After I got that one out, there was another, and another, and another, and I just kept removing them thinking “if this doesn’t work I will never get all these back in there…”The manufacturer had obviously tried their best to maximize the end user effect and did not just slap a plastic disk or two in there to limit water flow like you often see. I grew more and more concerned as I dug deeper and deeper that I would somehow compromise the inner workings and the head would not change settings or something when I was done, but happily that was not the case.HINT: You will need small, long tipped, needle-nose pliers to get way down in there to get them all out. You might be able to get them out with very small screwdrivers or by bending a small hook on the end of a wire coat hangar wire, but probably not without damage to the restrictor parts.Once I reached the end of the stack of restrictors the whole handle was visibly empty and I blew into it easily and heard a whirling sound inside so I knew I had clear flow. After I installed everything again, I found that on the tight setting (water from the middle) I could now shoot a nearly straight, six foot blast of water at the wall; just what I wanted for cleaning!When I took my first shower in it after the mod I actually had a flashback to the original WaterPik massage shower head that I owned some 30+ years ago (back when they had enough pressure to actually massage you). There is no pulsing to the water on this unit, even on the strongest setting, just flow/pressure; so it wasn’t a real massage. But it can do a fairly impressive neck massage at least.I also know the water pressure is WAY up because normally if I leave the door open I can shower without turning on the exhaust fan. No longer true after removing the restrictors… Need the fan. The water gets hot much faster as well due to the increased flow.Controlling The Flow:My shower has just a single knob that turns it on and sets the temp. It provides zero control over the flow rate. As it happens, several of the settings on the shower head reduce the flow some so you can cut the water flow back that way to a very limited extent.In my side-view picture you will see a fairly small valve with a blue handle between the shower pipe and the shower head. This does NOT come with this shower head and most showers do not have one. It is an optional ball valve flow controller that allows me to manually adjust the water flow to the head to whatever I want; including zero if you want to pause the flow. Thus a low flow for soaping up, and a high setting for getting shampoo out of your hair quickly or washing the stall.NOTE: If your shower controls allow you to control the water flow via two handles (or otherwise) you do not need this part - but you may want it anyway! Once you set the flow and temperature via the controls, you can use this valve to quickly pause or lower water flow while you soap up and then a flick gets you back to your prior settings. In this situation the ball-valve is purely for convenience.If you decide to get one of these flow valves, be SURE it is a BALL-VALVE type unit or the flow valve itself will likely limit the water flow to your shower head some even in the full open position. The one in the photo is from Amazon “KES Shower Head Shut-Off Valve Ball Valve 1/2-Inch NPT SUS304 Stainless Steel Polished Finish, K1145” $16 prime at the time of this review. Not cheap but a quality valve.HINT: If you decide to install a ball valve, there are some extra steps you should do. First, install JUST the valve on your wall pipe using pipe tape. Then turn on the HOT water and cycle the valve slowly on and off multiple times. Ball valves are usually packed in lubricant and this one was no exception. They do this so it can sit on a warehouse shelf for a long time and not be stuck in the open position when you go to install it. So the cycling is to wash the extra lubricant off the valve guts before you put your shower head on. You may notice a smell when you do this, thats the lube you are washing away! When you think it is done, wash your hands with soap in a sink, then allow water from the valve to hit your hands and smell them. If you smell the lube on your hands, you are not done washing it yet! Do it again until your freshly washed hands (with soap!) no longer have any lube scent when exposed to water from the valve. It only takes a few mins. Then put pipe tape on the front of the valve and install the gray shower head mount by hand per instructions above. Technically, you can use tools to install this valve, but I didn’t need to and it screwed on the pipe-taped pipe easily and I just hand tightened it like everything else on this project.NOTE: If you don’t do this step, the lube won’t hurt anything. But it isn’t a pleasant smell to wash in so clearing it out first is best. The lube/smell will go away on its own after a few uses if you don’t rinse it off first. You can also do the cycle cleaning with the shower head installed, but why send all that gunk into your new shower head?Good luck!Fly-Boy---Update: Two months later I bought a second one for my guest shower (installed so the flow valve handle faces the wall so I could set the flow in stealth mode.) This time around I just yanked at the flow restrictors and didn't try to not damage them and they popped out in three (damaged) chunks rather than 10 individual pieces. This may be a design change as I also noticed that when I blew in the handle of this shower head I didn't hear the whirling noise I did on the first one; It worked out the same though. I added another pic of what the three restrictor assemblies look like when they come out intact.LOVE the magnetic mount. Much better than the snap in type. No issues with the soft plastic base. Great product! Two-minute showers are back when I am in a rush, blasts the shampoo right out of my hair! Also, definitely makes cleaning much easier which was really the reason I bought the product in the first place!

Replaced old one just like it. The gray plastic that attached to pipe broke, however my husband wanted the same one because he likes it. Great magnetic attaching.

I've got three of these in my home; one of them is about 3-years old, another about 2, and this one. The build quality has steadily declined over that time, but the price remains the same. The one I installed today came with a crappy plastic washer/screen installed in the magnet mount. It dislodged while hand-tightening and created a steady drip. I removed it, threw it in the trash, installed a real rubber washer (no screen), applied some silicone lube, and it's good to go. The last step, not in the instructions, is removing/discarding the flow restrictor in the handle. It only takes seconds with a small needle nose. Overall still a good product that my guests gush over.

Lightweight without quality compromised. Well priced and easy to install. Long enough to wash my dogs paws! I’m happy!

This magnetic shower wand is well made and the magnet holds fast. It's brushed nickel coloring upgraded my bathtub look. It has different settings and the spray quality is good. I'm glad we purchased this.

This is much better than expected for a low flow shower head. Works very well. Has several settings. Easy to install. Would buy this product again.

I got this for my elderly parents when I got them a shower chair. This head is simple to use with it's magnetic holder. I also bought the stick on Moen magnetic holder so they would have a lower location to place the head while sitting on the shower chair. They love it. Nice pressure and plenty of shower patterns to choose from. I've always had good luck with Moen products and always try to buy Moen. My parents love the brushed nickel that matches everything else in their bathroom.

For the amount paid ($62) and being a Moen, I expected a whole lot more from this shower head. I'm beyond disappointed that I missed the return deadline by one day but I was getting my bathroom remodeled so it was somewhat unavoidable.My main complaint is it's made of a cheap, hollow plastic or resin that doesn't feel any more high-end than any other shower head that's half the price. I wish it was made of a thicker material and I'm skeptical it will hold up for a very long time.Next is the lack of water pressure, compared to the one I replaced. There are multiple settings but none of the jets are all that powerful. My previous $25 shower head was twice as powerful as this one and I felt like I used more water to feel clean for that reason alone.The magnetic option isn't enough of an upgrade to justify the price but it's functional, the cord is long and it's easy enough to use.Lastly, it looks rather meh -- almost on par with Walmart quality. I know it's just a shower head but I was expecting something more high-end in appearance. It's pretty basic looking even though I expected it to complement my black Moen faucet. Instead, it sort of cheapens the overall look.In hindsight, I should have chosen a different brand for less money. It's a done deal so I'll live with it. However, I'd advise others to research all options and not rest on the Moen name only. It's not worth the price to me.