Moen Essie Matte Black Pull-Down Kitchen Faucet

This Moen faucet is wonderful because: It's extremely simple to install, looks great, is truly spot resistant compared to shiny stainless faucets and has great water pressure. The soap dispenser is cool too. This setup replaced a 10-ish year old standard faucet with a total of 4 holes in sink so the soap dispenser used the one where the separate sprayer hose used to be and the trim plate covered the rest.

This new spigot was easy to install and works well. I was surprised to find that all of the water movement is controlled by electric valves inside a small box, so there is no water valve assembly within the actual spigot assembly. Most connections are easy to click into place and the battery box is mounted separately on the inside wall of the cabinet. The lever of the spigot is simply controlling an electric switch within the spigot assembly. That in turn tells the cold or hot water to turn on using electric valves within a separate valve and connection box that you have to screw into the back of the cabinet under the spigot. So far so good. We use it several times per day since June 2025 without any issues and still on original batteries now in Feb, 2026.

Ordered Monday (38% off); arrived Wednesday; installed by a local handyman today. Replaced an 11 year old Hansgrohe and this one weighs about half of what it replaced. (The Hansgrohe was part of a kitchen remodel and cost about 4 times what this Moen did.) However, it is the function which counts. - Got black to replace brushed stainless. Looks good but it quite a change. - Installation went well and was easy for the handyman (younger and more agile than I so he was able to get under the the sink much easier than I could). Only issue & not huge is that the special tool (essentially a very long deep well socket) for tightening the nut under the sink - holds the faucet to the counter - could have been longer to facilitate the installation with a deep farmhouse sink. (Hint #1: Go to the hardware store and buy a bolt and nut to fit the non-business end of the tool, then use a socket, extension, and breaker bar (or ratchet) on that bolt/nut combination to tighten. Using the screwdriver in the holes per the instructions is not the greatest. Hint #2 (from the handyman) save that special tool for the next person. I attached mine to one of the 2x4s which support the sink with a wood screw.) - The reflex system discussed for retracting the hose is nothing more than the weight attached to the hose under the sink much like any other sprayer installation. However, the hose does have a smooth fabric outer layer so the hose does run in & out smoothly. (Make sure to screw on the plastic end cover for the threaded shaft to keep the hose from fraying.) - The sprayer head is not magnetic as some are, nor does it have any sort of notch to locate it in a particular position when docked. - The hose does seem a bit short but is adequate to spray down all corners of the big farmhouse sink. Bottom line, looks good works well (so far, only hours after install).

We recently decided to get a new faucet because the internal parts were failing and it was never a faucet we loved, just one that came with our house when we built it. We first bought a Kohler Malleco Touchless because we loved the style of it, very similar to this Moen faucet. We bought that one at Costco though because the deal was so good. After installing it and starting to use it though we realized it’s use had a major fault. In order to use the touchless feature, the faucet has to be turned “ON”. After it’s turned on, you can swipe your hand in front of the sensor to turn it off and on. One of the issues with that is when people would come over, they had no idea how to work our faucet! They’d turn it on and off trying to get it to work. The other thing is the sensor is timed so it will turn off automatically. That’s good in case it’s left on but not good when your doing dishes etc...so then you’re fiddling with turning the sensor on and off to work it the way you need. Lastly, the location of the sensor made it turn off or on way too easily when using the faucet. After looking around at other faucets and their technology, I found that Delta works the same. In order to use their touch sensor, the faucet has to be turned on. I found that Moen did NOT work that way and was extremely happy. At that point it was just finding the style we liked which was this faucet. The good. We love the looks of it! It’s high and easy to use. The sensor on it is worlds better than any other brand!!! For one, it’s low and on the side opposite of the handle. This prevents it from accidentally being turned on. The best part though is the sensor works independently of the handle. So the handle can be in the off position but you can still turn it on with the sensor. Wonderful! The handle operation is smooth and the pull out hose works much better than the Kohler we had as well. The not as good but not deal breaker. Because our builder put our soap dispenser too close to our last faucet, we can’t use the soap dispenser it came with. But that’s not Moen’s fault. The way the sensor works is that ALL water is controlled through a battery or outlet powered control unit. This means even the faucet handle controls that unit. This allows the handle to stay in the off position and the sensor still work which is why I got it. The downside though is that if the box fails, batteries die, or power goes out and you use the outlet not batteries, your water WILL NOT Work. This could be a deal breaker for some but it wasn’t for us. The last thing is the faucet head. First off it’s not magnetic so it’s not as easy to fully seat it in the faucet. WHY is it NOT magnetic? So many other brands are and it worked amazingly. It doesn’t hurt how well the faucet works but it’s like the manufacturers have teamed up to leave our features so no faucet hasn’t everything. Also, the spray feature is nothing special, it’s the typical sprayer. The Kohler had a wonderful sprayer designed to blast off food which worked great and splashed less. Other brands have other spray designs which work much better. Glad this has a sprayer but it’s meh. It does have a hold button as well which has come in handy with various tasks. It’s where you can hold it down and the water stops until you let go of the button. All in all it’s a wonderful faucet with some great features but possible deal breakers for some. Compared to every other faucet I looked into, this was the best. But as far as every feature out there, this is missing some simple but great ones like the magnetic head. This is why I gave it four stars. Not because of function but because of features.

Very elegant look! Great description and easy installation instructions.

Very easy to install. Control unit fits well under cabinet behind sink, with very good instructions that are easy to follow. Even the install itself is easy, and I recommend installing the box for the AA batteries in a convenient spot at the side of the cabinet near the front so you’ll be able to easily change the batteries … probably every year or so.

Love this faucet. Easy and straight forward installation. Just wave your hand and it turns on or off. Works perfectly. Been using for about a month now - not sure how long batteries will last, but may go with the optional power adapter. Got it on sale - not sure I would pay full price as it is expensive, but great value on sale.

Warranty

El producto llegó en excelentes condiciones. Teníamos dudas sobre el diseño pero nos encantó. Tuvimos que comprar unas conexiones extra para las mangueras de la llave hacia la toma de agua. Es importante indicar que es una placa ahorradora de agua por lo que el chorro no es tan grueso, sin embargo nos gusta mucha.

El monomando es de excelente calidad, con buen acabado y todo lo necesario para instalar incluyendo una llave para apretar el monomando

My previous kitchen sink faucet was moen and it lasted more than 20 years. And this is the upgrade. Amazing quality. Works as expected and it was easy to install. No complains whatsoever. A great peace in mind purchase for the coming decades.