Double-regulated vertical axial water turbine with conical distributor, which is worldwide known as a Saxo-type turbine, is the main subject of this paper. Due to continuous research, development and improvement, advance and compact structure, simplified civil construction works, reliability, ecological design and versatile applicability, the turbine became very recognizable product of company Litostroj Power, with over 30 successfully commissioned units in North American and Canadian market mainly. Authors see the Saxo turbine as one of the most interesting and suitable solutions for small and medium size hydro power plants. This paper aims to draw attention on this unique and interesting turbine design especially because experiences show that hydro power plant investors are somehow conservative and they mainly prefer and trust in more conventional turbine types i.e. Kaplan turbines and tubular turbines. The paper enlightens important design, hydraulic, economic and operation advantages of the Saxo-type turbines and points out most obvious advantages comparing to tubular and Kaplan type turbines. As an evidence of safe and reliable operation, there is a special section at the end of the paper which is focused on field-feedback experiences obtained during exptensive turbine testing at commissioning tests, final field performance acceptance tests and operation experiences. and Obsahuje seznam literatury