The Best Automatic Hand Soap Dispensers

Very easy to set up and fill, with a large transparent body that lets you see how much soap it contains at a glance, this model was reliable and dispensed soap quickly. A volume dial lets you adjust the amount of soap it dispenses, which can range from a tiny dot of less than 1 gram of soap to a heaping 6 grams. It uses four AA batteries, which are not included. We liked that the battery chamber is in the column behind the dispenser rather than underneath, so it won’t get wet (which causes batteries to corrode and leak). We also liked that the device’s grippy silicone base sat securely and didn’t threaten to topple or slide, even on a wet countertop near the sink. Random motions near and beneath the spout do not easily trigger spurts of soap; you have to deliberately hold your hand underneath, and then it dispenses soap in less than 1 second. It performed consistently throughout testing, and its generous 17-ounce soap chamber needed no refilling after nearly two months of frequent daily use. 

This sleek, compact device lets you customize the amount of soap dispensed according to how closely you place your hand to the spout, a feature we especially appreciated when cooking with messy foods. It’s powered by a lithium battery (included), which recharges via a proprietary cable, offering a good alternative to buying and replacing regular batteries. The cable detaches between uses, so you do need to keep track of it. (After its initial charge, it didn’t need recharging during nearly two months of testing.) The dispenser is relatively easy to fill since the top pops off, but its soap chamber’s funnel-shaped opening narrows to just ½ by ¾ inch, and thicker soap can drip in a bit slowly. The device is steel, so it can also be difficult to judge how full it is at a glance. It works best with a viscous but not overly thick soap, such as liquid Softsoap. At about $70, it’s a bit pricey, but it’s a solid performer.

This dispenser was easy to fill, thanks to its wide chamber opening, but it was much slower than our top performers. After activating the sensor, it took about 4 seconds until the soap detached. And while the soap usually released well, it sometimes clung to the nozzle, which gave us stringy soap strands that took longer to release.

We didn’t like much about this dispenser. First, its narrow opening made it hard to fill. There was a small window on the opaque soap chamber, but it was positioned so low that it was practically useless for observing soap level—so the soap snuck up on us, overflowing. This model also had terrible soap release—it took about 4 seconds and didn’t release neatly. Instead, we got wispy threads of soap stretching from our fingers to the nozzle, and those spider web–like threads of soap often blew back onto the dispenser. Finally, this dispenser sometimes went rogue, squirting soap when we weren’t anywhere near the sensor.

This model was literally the clear winner—its transparent plastic soap chamber with a wide opening made it easy to fill. It was fast, and it neatly released soap with no wisps trailing behind. Finally, we liked that this dispenser was the shortest in our lineup, making it less obtrusive. One complaint: It had “plus” and “minus” buttons that allowed us to adjust the soap amount, but the settings weren’t marked, so we didn’t know which one was selected.

This dispenser, made by the same company as our winner, performed just as well—it gave us soap in less than 1 second, with excellent release from the nozzle. But this model was harder to fill because of its narrower opening and hinged lid that blocked part of the opening. As with our winner, we could adjust how much soap this model dispensed—and again, there were only “plus” and “minus” buttons, so we didn’t know which setting we were on. This product also had a rechargeable lithium battery that came with a small USB cord, which meant we’d need to buy fewer batteries—as long as we didn’t lose the cord.