Having spent several weeks with JIMMY's flagship countertop water purifier, I can say the R9 Pro is one of the most capable all-in-one water solutions you can place on a kitchen counter without calling a plumber. It filters, heats, and now, for the first time in JIMMY's lineup, actively chills your water at the touch of a button. Whether that's worth the premium over the standard R9 depends on how you drink, but for many households, this machine makes a strong case for itself.
JIMMY R9 Pro: What's New?
If you're familiar with the standard JIMMY R9, the Pro will look immediately recognizable. The overall concept is unchanged: a countertop reverse osmosis purifier with an integrated water tank, no fixed plumbing required, and instant hot water on demand. What changes, and it's a meaningful change, is the addition of active cooling.
The standard R9 could deliver hot water or room-temperature water. The R9 Pro adds a Peltier thermoelectric cooling system that chills filtered water down to around 10–15°C without you needing to pre-fill a bottle and stick it in the fridge. In a device that already replaces your kettle and your water filter, adding a cooling function genuinely rounds out the package.
The cost of that addition? A bit more countertop depth, a bit more weight, and a fan that occasionally makes itself known. We'll get to that.
Design and Workmanship
The R9 Pro looks sharp on the counter. The large angled touchscreen on the front is a genuine eye-catcher, and the illuminated water spout adds a considered design flourish that doubles as practical nighttime navigation. Red light for hot, blue light for ambient temperature and cold water. It sounds like a small thing, but it consistently proves useful.
The housing is food-grade plastic with a finish that reads as quality without trying to mimic metal. The side-mounted 5.5-litre raw water tank can be pulled out and filled at the tap without moving the entire unit, one of those ergonomic touches that matters more over months of daily use than it does in a spec sheet.
At 381 × 252 × 367 mm and roughly 9 kg, the R9 Pro is heavier and slightly deeper than its predecessor. That's worth measuring against your available counter space before buying. It's roughly comparable to a fully automatic espresso machine in footprint. Not small, but not unreasonable for what it does.
Build quality throughout leaves a positive impression. The two included 1-litre pitchers are made from Tritan, a high-quality, BPA-free copolyester that resists staining and is dishwasher-safe. They feel sturdy rather than flimsy, which matters when you're using them daily.
Filtration System and Water Treatment
JIMMY markets the R9 Pro as a "7-stage" filtration system, though in practice this is delivered through three physical filter cartridges housed behind a service panel. That's not unusual; combining multiple stages into single cartridges is standard practice across the category, but it's worth understanding before you imagine swapping out seven separate components at service time.
The three cartridges are the M2S (a microfiber and activated carbon composite that handles sediment, rust, and chlorine), the Q2S (an activated carbon mineral filter that improves taste and adds back beneficial minerals), and the RO-2.0S membrane, the heart of the system. That membrane is rated at 0.0001 microns, fine enough to strip out heavy metals, bacteria, viruses, nitrates, PFAS, and the vast majority of dissolved solids that conventional pitcher filters simply can't touch.
Independent lab testing backs up the headline claim of over 99% reduction across lead, chlorine, nitrates, and PFAS. In everyday use, the real-time TDS display on the front of the unit lets you see both incoming tap water readings and the purified output, a reassuring feedback loop once you've watched the numbers for a few days.
Filter longevity is genuinely impressive. The pre-filter and post-filter are rated for 12 months or approximately 3,000 standard 500ml bottles each. The RO membrane stretches to 24 months and around 7,000 bottles. The smart display tracks remaining filter life automatically and alerts you when a change is due, with no calendar reminders needed.
Hot Water and Temperature Control
The instant heating system is one of the R9 Pro's most-used daily features, and JIMMY has implemented it well. An instantaneous water heater (rated at 2,200W) brings water to temperature in roughly three seconds, across six selectable presets: 45°C, 55°C, 65°C, 75°C, 85°C, and a full 98°C boil. Ambient (room temperature) is also available, making the spout the only water source you need to visit for practically anything: baby formula, green tea, espresso, plain drinking water.
In practice, the heating is fast enough that it stops feeling like a "feature" and becomes an expectation. You press the button, you get your temperature. There's no kettle to refill, no waiting, no accidental over-pour.
Cold Water Function
This is the big new addition and, for warm-weather households, potentially the main reason to choose the Pro over the standard R9. The Peltier cooling system chills filtered water to around 10–15°C, not ice-cold, but comfortably cool and genuinely refreshing without any refrigerator prep work.
It works automatically in the background once the unit is switched on, meaning chilled water is available on demand rather than after a waiting period. The convenience here is real: you go from tap water to cold, purified, mineralized drinking water in a single touchscreen tap.
The trade-off is noise and electricity. Peltier cooling requires a small fan to dissipate heat from the system, and in a quiet kitchen that fan is occasionally audible. It's not intrusive, more of a low background hum than a refrigerator compressor, but worth knowing about if you're sensitive to ambient noise. Running costs for the cooling function in continuous operation add up to an estimated 35–50 dollars annually in electricity, which is reasonable but not negligible.
Smart Features and Everyday Comfort
The touchscreen interface is well-designed: slightly angled, easy to read, and not cluttered. You select your temperature, your dispensing volume (120 / 200 / 300 / 500 ml), and the R9 Pro does the rest. The child lock prevents accidental dispensing of hot water, an important safety feature in any household with young children.
UV sterilization runs continuously in both the clean water cup and the cold water cup, which
addresses a real concern with countertop systems: water that sits in a tank can become a breeding ground for bacteria over time. The UV treatment ensures that what comes out of the spout is as clean as what the RO membrane produced.
The system also filters automatically. After the pitcher is inserted and the raw tank has water, the R9 Pro purifies continuously in the background. You don't manage a filtration cycle manually. This is one of those workflow improvements that genuinely reduces the mental overhead of owning the device.
Running Costs
The R9 Pro operates at a 3:1 pure-to-drain ratio, meaning for every three litres of purified water produced, roughly one litre is discharged as waste. That's among the better ratios in this category, though under-sink systems with direct connections can sometimes do better.
Filter replacement costs over a two-year cycle amount to a handful of purchases. Following the R9 Pro prompts, you'll need the pre-filter and post-filter at the 12-month mark, and one RO membrane at 24 months. Compared with an ongoing bottled water habit (or even a monthly pitcher filter subscription), the long-term economics are clearly in the R9 Pro's favor.
Electricity consumption in standby is minimal. The R9 Pro takes approximately 0.5W with the display off, 2W with it on. The heating element only draws peak power during the brief moment water is being heated, so overall electricity costs for filtration and heating are modest. It's the cooling function, running continuously, that adds the most to the annual bill.
Verdict
The JIMMY R9 Pro is the most complete countertop water purifier I've tested. It replaces your water filter, your kettle, as well as your need to keep a chilled bottle in the fridge. It does all three things well, in a unit that requires nothing more than a power outlet and regular tank refills to operate.
Is it perfect? Not quite. The manual refilling of the raw water tank is the one persistent friction point of owning any untethered RO system. The fan noise from the cooling system is minor but present. And at around $499, this is an appliance that asks you to commit.
However, if your household values water quality and appreciates the convenience of instant temperature selection, the R9 Pro is a genuinely excellent choice. Few competing devices match its combination of purification quality, temperature range, smart monitoring, and portability.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Full-spectrum filtration removes 99%+ of lead, chlorine, PFAS, heavy metals, and bacteria
- Instant hot & cold water at six precise temperatures and four volumes preset in ~3 seconds
- No installation needed; completely freestanding with just a power connection
- Long filter life (12 months for the pre-filter and post-filter, 24 months for RO membrane)
- UV sterilization in both clean and cold water cups prevents recontamination
- Smart display with real-time TDS readings and filter life tracking
- Child lock and illuminated spout add practical safety and comfort touches
- Comes with 2 convenient BPA-free Tritan pitchers for fridge storage and easy fresh water pouring
Cons
- Active cooling adds low-level fan noise, audible in quiet environments
- Higher power consumption than passive systems due to continuous cooling
- Raw water tank requires manual refilling
- Price of $499 places it firmly at the premium end of the market
For more information about the JIMMY R9 Pro, visit:
* Amazon: Amazon.com
* Website: JIMMYglobal.com |