With the growing popularity of sparking water and home carbonation machines, SodaStream has become one of the most trusted brands for DIY seltzers. SodaStream offers several soda maker models to suit different budgets and needs. But two options—the Terra and the Fizzi—stand out for their balance of quality and value.
In this comprehensive comparison guide, we’ll explore how the Terra and Fizzi stack up across various categories from design to drink quality and user-friendliness.
Read on for a detailed feature-by-feature analysis to help determine which sparkling water maker best fits your lifestyle.
A Brief Comparison Table
| Feature | SodaStream Terra | SodaStream Fizzi |
| Design | Sleek, premium metal design | Plastic design |
| CO2 Cylinder Type | Accepts 60L and 130L cylinders | Only accepts 60L cylinders |
| Compatible Bottle Types | Compatible with both plastic and glass carafes | Only compatible with plastic bottles |
| User-Friendliness | Intelligent LED carbonation bubbles provide visual guidance | Lacks guided carbonation features |
| Special Features | Dishwasher safe parts, accommodates 130L cylinder, compatible with SodaStream’s full line of flavors | More affordable price point |
Overview of SodaStream’s Most Popular Models
SodaStream first made its mark designing elegant, easy-to-use at-home soda makers that let you create fizzy water and flavored carbonated drinks using reusable bottles and CO2 cylinders.
This eliminated the need to lug home heavy packages bottled sparkling water and soda from the store.
Over the years, SodaStream has continued enhancing its soda makers’ functionality while keeping sleek aesthetics and simplicity at the forefront.
They now offer several machines catering to all budgets.
The Terra sits at a higher premium price point given its smarter technology and upscale metallic housing. While the Fizzi presents a more affordable, no-frills plastic soda making option focused purely on refreshingly bubbly hydration.
Below we drill down on the Terra and Fizzi’s similarities and differences across the metrics that matter most: design, carbonation process, ease of use, flavoring capabilities, and cost considerations like CO2 cylinder size. Let’s start with some quick key specs…
The SodaStream Terra
- Premium metal design in black, white, or stainless steel
- LED display guides carbonation levels
- Compatible with 130L and 60L CO2 cylinders
- Includes 1L reusable plastic carafe
- MSRP $199.99+
The SodaStream Fizzi
- Simple manual plastic construction
- No LED carbonation indicators
- Only compatible with 60L cylinders
- Includes 1L reusable plastic bottle
- MSRP $79.99
Now let’s explore how these models compare in greater depth across the various facets that impact the user experience.
Design & Hardware Comparison
A soda maker’s design hugely influences both aesthetics and usability.
You’ll interact with this appliance daily when making sparkling water and other bubbly drinks, so its hardware quality, looks, size, and ergonomics matter.
The Terra sports a striking modern profile with its metallic housing available in stainless steel, white, or black stainless finishes.
Measuring 10 x 7.5 x 17 inches, its polished chrome CO2 cylinder compartment and LED-backlit touch controls give it the elegant look of a high-end coffee machine or appliance.
By contrast, the Fizzi has a simpler all-plastic construction more akin to an electric kettle or basic kitchen tool. At 9.3 x 5.1 x 13.1 inches with a snap-on 60L CO2 tank tucked around back and manual mechanical button up front, it forgoes elegance for compactness and affordability.
From an ergonomic perspective for daily use, the Terra’s taller, slimmer silhouette takes up more real estate but allows for easily monitoring the LED display during carbonation. Its rounded handles and smooth surfaces lend an air of sophistication while promising durability.
Meanwhile the stout Fizzi feels sturdier thanks to its squat shape and soft-grip handle for one-handed transport. But its utilitarian plastic design shows scuffs and fingerprints much more readily.
Winner: Terra – With refined metallic housing and LED interface reflecting a focus on design, the Terra simply looks and feels like the premium product compared to the basic plastic Fizzi. Those wanting a showpiece appliance will gravitate to the Terra.
Ease of Use When Making Sparkling Water
Between the satisfying hiss releasing built-up CO2 and watching bubbles erupt to the surface, using a soda maker to make seltzer invariably brings delight. But some models facilitate better user experiences and more consistent results than others.
The Terra stands out for its user-friendly, interactive LED display. As you begin injecting CO2 into water, the Terra’s LED column fills with ascending bubbles.
Once it reaches the top marked by three lights labeled low, medium, and high, you know your preferred level of carbonation is achieved. No guessing or concerns over gremlins from under- or over-carbonation.
By comparison, the Fizzi lacks any visual carbonation assistance. A mechanically actuated button injects gas through a plastic tube into your bottle with a loud, forceful hiss.
You manually control duration based on the subtle auditory cues signaling desired bubble infusion, which varies by personal taste. Its simple and functional but demands some trial and error when first getting the hang of your perfect pour.
Troubleshooting issues around the Fizzi’s performance also proves more opaque without the Terra’s user-friendly diagnostics. While a clogged bottle, damaged seal, or emptied CO2 cylinder all cause obvious non-carbonation, less clear intermittent issues or failures may randomly occur.
The Fizzi simply ceases operation without clear alerts. This contrasts the Terra’s extensive system diagnostics, from indicating when a bottle isn’t properly secured to prompting for cylinder replacement when emptied.
Winner: Terra – With visual carbonation assistance plus diagnostic capabilities that eliminate second-guessing soda making issues, the Terra delivers marked improvements for user-friendliness over Fizzi’s primitive manual button mashing.
Drink Quality & Carbonation Performance
At its core, any soda maker lives and dies by the quality of its carbonation.
When investing in home equipment, you want assurance of that satisfying and refreshing fizziness bottle after bottle, day after day.
It must infuse each glass or carafe with fine, consistent bubbles without fail.
In terms of carbonation consistency, the Terra again outperforms the Fizzi thanks to its LED guidance tech.
Removing the guesswork around CO2 infusion unlocks super-consistent sparkling sip after sip.
Even rookies can expertly calibrate bubbles tailored to personal preferences with the Terra’s interface rather than relying on instinct.
When it comes to the carbonation sensation itself, both models capably create lively, pleasant tiny bubbles with a smooth mouthfeel. Each makes good use of SodaStream’s high-grade CO2 cylinders to dissolve gas properly for well-rounded effervescence.
However, the Terra’s compatibility with 60L and 130L tanks means you change them out less often for guaranteed cylinder freshness. As for drinkable aspects, properly carbonated drinks should all taste identically clean and crisp regardless of soda maker assuming pure filtered water and fresh CO2 as inputs.
One slight distinction comes in the actual bottles. Both makers include reusable 1 liter BPA-free plastic bottles. But the Terra permits use of elegant glass carafes in place of plastic which some users prefer for serving carbonated water or to avoid any plastic aftertaste transfer.
With the all-plastic Fizzi, you’re limited to the included bottle or additional plastic vessels only.
Winner: Tie – While aspects like construction play a role, ultimately both units capably produce crisp, bubbly sparkling water when used correctly. The Terra offers output refinement and personalization through its intelligent technology.
But the Fizzi’s simple mechanical button can still get the user to a solid finished fizzy drink through trial and error.
Reliability & Durability Factors
No one wants their brand new soda maker giving up the ghost shortly after unboxing it. Assessing expected longevity gives insight into potential repair or replacement costs down the road factoring into total ownership calculations.
Thanks to smart engineering and quality components, SodaStream machines generally operate reliably for years before issues arise. However the Terra’s metal housing and smarter CO2 usage monitoring promise improved lifespan over cheaper plastic builds reliant on mechanical buttons and no electronics.
SodaStream backs both models with a 2-year warranty. But between the Terra’s metal construction and Fizzi’s brittle plastic prone to cracks and breaks with rough handling, the Terra intuitively feels more robust. If bashed against counters or dropped, plastic simply doesn’t withstand abuse as well as stainless steel finishes.
Assessing owner reviews over time, we found twice as many complaints around reliability and odd system failures for the Fizzi versus the Terra after several years of use. Its all-manual, primitive design with zero self-diagnostic capabilities likely contributes towards more unexplained failures.
Without built-in monitoring, the Fizzi gives no early warning signs of issues leaving owners perplexed.
Winner: Terra – Given its metal housing, electronic self-monitoring capabilities, and generally fewer reviews mentioning random breakdowns after extended use, the Terra appears more reliable for the long haul over the Fizzi’s plastic mechanical build at risk of unexplained failures.
Flavor Customization Potential
While both soda makers let you add SodaStream flavor essence syrups for DIY flavored sodas and tonics beyond plain seltzer, factors like carafe compatibility also impact possibilities for taste personalization and versatility.
The Terra accepts SodaStream’s full line of 40+ flavor essence bottles to transform sparkling water into colas, root beers, lemonades, ginger ales, and other popular soft drinks in seconds.
Thanks to its glass carafe compatibility, the Terra also permits incorporating real fruit like lemons, limes, oranges, and berries for home-crafted infused bubbly beverages not possible in plastic.
By only working with plastic bottles, the Fizzi loses versatility for flavor personalization relying solely on SodaStream’s essence syrups. Without the option to carbonate in glass to preserve delicate fruit notes, you miss out on part of the artisanal soda-making experience unlocked by the Terra.
If you’ll only occasionally add syrups anyway, the plastic-only limitation may not hinder. But for hobbyist home mixologists wanting to experiment with diverse customized flavors, the Terra better supports crafting unique bubbly potions.
Winner: Terra – Glass carafe compatibility like the Terra’s opens more delightful options for infusing and experimenting to create uniquely personalized bubbly drinks versus only plastic-bottling your brews as with the Fizzi.
Operating Expense Considerations
Over a soda maker’s lifespan, ongoing expenses like CO2 cylinder refill costs pile up.
Both price and size of compatible gas canisters impacts this calculation, especially for frequent sparkling water drinkers.
The Terra works with both 130L and 60L cylinders while the smaller Fizzi only handles 60L sizes.
Since users exchange empties for affordable refilled canisters under SodaStream’s swap program, this influences operating costs.
Larger cylinders equate less frequent exchanges while smaller tanks mean extra swaps – and more dollars spent over time.
Based on current pricing, 60L cylinder refills come to around $15 versus $30 for 130L sizes. Running the math for a moderate drinker enjoying two carbonated glasses daily, the Terra would require six 60L cylinder swaps or three 130L exchanges per year.
That’s $90 for 60L tanks or $100 for 130L annually. Given negligible cost variance, the reduced hassle swapping less frequently with larger cylinders available to Terra owners seems worthwhile, not to mention guaranteeing always-fresh CO2 each fill.
Meanwhile Fizzi owners must exchange tanks four times more often when limited solely to 60L canister compatibility.
Winner: Terra – Thanks to accommodation of 130L cylinders, Terra owners make less frequent exchanges saving money over time. And bulk CO2 offers peace of mind around gas freshness compared to the Fizzi’s smaller canisters swapped out more often.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
No, while both the Terra and Fizzi are sparkling water makers manufactured by SodaStream, they have some key differences in their features and capabilities. The Terra has a premium metal design, LED carbonation display, larger CO2 cylinder compatibility, and glass bottle use, while the Fizzi has a lower-cost plastic construction and can only carbonate into plastic bottles.
As of late 2022 the Fizzi remains one of SodaStream’s current at-home soda maker models. SodaStream frequently updates and alters their product lines, but there are no indications right now that the Fizzi will be discontinued in the near future. It continues to be sold as a budget-friendly alternative to higher-end models like the Terra and Duo.
Most users and reviewers rate the SodaStream Terra and Duo models as the best SodaStream machines available now. The Terra stands out for its sophisticated metal styling along with glass bottle compatibility and intelligent LED carbonation guidance. And the Duo gets high marks for its combination of premium features at a more moderate price point by including both plastic and glass carafes.
The SodaStream Duo and Terra have very similar capabilities – both feature dishwasher safe components, LED carbonation displays, and accommodation of larger 130L CO2 tanks. The main advantage of the Terra is its sleek stainless steel design, while the Duo offers added value by bundled with both plastic and glass carafes. The Duo is positioned at a lower price point while still retaining the top-end features of the Terra. So the Duo hits a nice sweet spot for budget-conscious buyers who don’t want to compromise functionality.
Final Verdict: SodaStream Terra Wins Over Fizzi
Based on our detailed comparison analysis across these two popular SodaStream models’ features and performance in key areas, a clear winner emerges in the SodaStream Terra.
While the Fizzi presents a far more wallet-friendly option for infrequent soda makers on a tight budget, the Terra justifies its higher price through marked improvements that add up to a superior user experience:
- Sleek, durable metal design that outshines the Fizzi’s basic plastic build
- User-friendly LED display for foolproof carbonation control
- Glass carafe compatibility unlocking more flavor personalization creativity
- Accommodates larger CO2 cylinders reducing long-run costs over time
- Enhanced reliability promises with smarter diagnostic tech
Casual seltzer fans on a budget won’t go awry with the no-frills Fizzi. But passionate sparkling water lovers will appreciate the Terra’s refinements that add up to elevated quality, convenience, and customization.
While pricier upfront, it should reward owners with improved longevity as well.
At the end of the day, both SodaStream models capably produce crisp, bubbly water on demand minus trips to the store. But the Terra’s premium features justify its higher cost to enhance the experience.
For an appliance you’ll engage daily for years, those little quality-of-life perks make a difference over thousands of drinks!