Just after Christmas the switch on my kettle decided to break. It was only a cheap Argos value one and I had had it about a year. I said I wouldn't get another value kettle but with Christmas just gone and all our spare cash going on baby bits I changed my mind and tried a Tesco Value kettle.

The kettle is sold in a typical value product box with very little on it. There is the Tesco Value logo and a picture of the kettle. The front of the box informs the customer that this is a cordless kettle and has a 1.7 litre capacity.

Inside the box the kettle is in a clear plastic bag and the base plate and cable is inside the kettle. The kettle came with no instructions but to be honest I didn't need them. The kettle is made from a plastic material and is white in colour. It is an oval shape and really looks quite neat on my work top. The kettle is approximately 25.5 cm's high including the base plate and 13cm's wide. The handle is curved and quite chunky, its very easy to hold and feels nicely balanced when pouring the water.

To open the lid you need to pull back on a large clip on the lid and pull the lid open, the lid will stay open on its own without swinging shut whilst trying to fill the kettle. To close you need to pull the clip back, press down on the lid and release the clip, the lid id now secure and cant swing open when you are pouring boiling water out.
The spout is quite wide, roughly 4 cm's and if you pour steadily its alright however if you pour the water a bit faster it does tend to over flow the spout. There is a small limescale filter which slots just behind the spout, this is easy to lift out if you need to clean it.

One side of the kettle has a window in it so you can see how much water is going in. The window gives levels starting at 4 cups up to 8 cups which is the maximum amount of water it will hold. As there's mostly just the two of us I always use the minimum amount of water which is marked on the kettle as 4 cups, this is approximately 1 pint of water and for us this makes 2 mugs of tea or coffee. I suppose it all depends on what size mugs you use. If there is just 2 of you and you use cups then you would be boiling twice as much water as you need. 1 pint of water takes approximately 90 seconds to boil and the kettle is surprisingly quiet for a value product.

There is a small silver coloured switch at the back of the kettle which needs to be flipped down to make the kettle work, it then switches off automatically once the water is boiling. I personally think a white switch would have blended in better but this is just a minor point. The switch has an orange light behind it when its pressed down, this also goes of automatically once the switch flips back up.

The base plate has 2 little rubber feet at the back so it doesn't slip around on the worktop. I do have a small problem with the base plate though, its very awkward to sit the kettle on it. It seems you have to tilt the kettle back ward to get the kettle to sit properly. I found this very fiddly to start with although I have got the hang of it now it could be a bit of a problem for some. There is a little groove in the edge of the plate to tuck the cable into so it sits nice and level.

I have quite a few value products and I know the length of the cable is where corners are always cut and Tesco value kettle is no exception, the cable is just 67cm's long. Personally this isn't a problem for me but depending on where your plug sockets are this may be something to consider when buying any value appliance. It does come with a plug though so its not all bad.

I have been pleased with my Tesco value kettle is cost just £5.99 and in my opinion has been worth the money. It boils reasonably fast and quietly too. It does have a couple of negatives, the short cable and the fiddly base plate but over all its a good little kettle that looks quite nice.

If you are looking for a kettle and don't want to spend much I would recommend having a look at this one, how long it lasts only time will tell but at the moment I'm more than happy with it.