I have had my Alpha UX Pearl bidet for almost a week now, and here are my first impressions. First of all, since my house is an older one with relatively small bathrooms I was stuck with having to buy a “round” (i.e. 16 ½” front-to-connection holes) bidet. Alpha is one of the bidet companies that sells round bidets. Some don’t. After pondering the features of bidets in general, I elected to spend a little extra and buy the top-of-the-line Alpha UX Pearl model. This model has all of the whistles-and-bells of the better bidet toilet seats.
One of the first things I noticed about having to buy a round bidet toilet seat is the fact that bidets naturally match better to elongated toilets than to round ones. That is because bidet toilet seats take up more real estate than regular toilet seats. Thus, there is actually a slight overhang at the front on a round toilet seat. And since you lose about a third of the toilet bowl opening in the back, there is less of an available opening at the front. That won’t affect women much, but men who prefer to stand while urinating will have to aim better and then wipe off any splashing upon the bidet. This is not a deal breaker if you have a round toilet because the round bidets work identically to the elongated bidets. It is just something to be aware of if you have a round toilet.
Another issue for all bidet toilet seats is the fact that you really need the remote to effectively use the bidet. That brings up the problem of where to mount the remote. For me, the best place for the remote would have been where the toilet paper holder is. But with that spot gone, I had to mount the remote further back on the vanity cabinet – a less convenient spot.
Functionally, the Alpha UX Pearl bidet does what it claims to do. It sprays warm water and drying air, and those are fully adjustable. It also has many other features (which users can peruse in the features lists) and has a nightlight (if you don’t already have one in your bathroom). But without having used any other bidet, I cannot offer any opinion on whether the Alpha UX Pearl bidet is any better than competing brands. The Alpha bidet works, and I am sure the other brands work also. I did, however, find myself wondering whether the water spray could have been stronger on the Alpha. I have read one user comment on that subject. I also found that while having a bidet will greatly cut down on the use of toilet paper, it will not necessarily eliminate the use of toilet paper. So, you still need that toilet paper holder next to the toilet. Thus, you should realize that having a bidet is a hygiene luxury that will never pay for itself in reduced toilet paper usage.
Installation of the Alpha bidet was fairly easy. In my case, I had previously decided to replace everything in the toilet tank plus the water feed lines into the toilet tank. Thus, I effectively now have a new toilet. So, hooking up the bidet water intake was simply a part of replacing the toilet water feed lines, and installing the bidet upon the toilet bowl was simply replacing the existing toilet seat. Most everyone can do those with only a minimum of skills. I did, however, have to run a temporary three-wire electrical extension to the bidet from my one-and-only GFCI bathroom receptable on the other side of my vanity. I plan to eventually have an electrician install a new receptable between the vanity and toilet.
So, is a bidet worth having? I think that it is when you can afford one. But bidets are more geared toward the newer, larger bathrooms with elongated toilets. Nevertheless, like me, if you have a round toilet, you can still buy the Alpha as well as certain brands, and the functionality will be the same as elongated bidets. And if you decide to buy bidet toilet seat, the Alpha brand seems to be a good one. The more expensive UX Pearl model was my choice because of its features.
