My initial thought when making the decision to purchase this Kettle was that 'a Kettle is a Kettle'; when you think about it how much do you want from a Kettle?
You want it to look nice, you want it to boil water in an acceptable time, you want it to be robust, you want it to be easy to clean, you want it to be portable, and you want it to be easy to use.

Ease of Use-
How difficult can a kettle be to use I hear you ask. Even the most poorly designed or complex kettle essentially only has one function - to boil water - and the question is more about how the design facilitates the ease of this one process. With this kettle, whilst boiling water is never more than a simple task, you feel a little more thought could have gone into it.

The fact it is portable, with the kettle essentially coming in 2 parts - Jug and base, allows for easy removal to fill and this, when combined with large top opening, makes filling and cleaning the jug quite easy; this said, when replacing the kettle onto the base it never feels like it fits - there is always the need to jiggle it a bit until satisfied that it is on properly. Also if you look up the hole in the bottom of the jug, where it connects with the base, it doesn't fill one with confidence to see how exposed certain bits of electronics are.

My biggest problem with this kettle, with regards to usability, becomes apparent when pouring; the large lid is only loosely locked, by which I mean it is a simple pull / bolt lock rather than being rubber sealed, and does have gaps, and water finds plenty of places to leak out in small amounts when poured at an angle past 45 degrees.

Boiling, the kettle's primary function, is quite impressive, considering the price; a small cup of tea's worth will take 30 seconds, a large coffee mug's worth about 1 minute, and around 5 minutes for the full 1.7Ltrs. This isn't terribly fast, but fast enough; the large, exposed filter, heating at 2.2Kw works very well. Another criticism of this kettle is also applicable to mention at this stage, and that is that the kettle boils whether the lid is closed or not; not a great problem, but has the potential for scalding - especially if children are present / curious about what is going on. Granted most cheap models don't have cut off switches, but it is worth mentioning.

It also has a clear water level indicator so you can see exactly how much water you have in the kettle (found on all kettles, most with clearer details than on this one - so hardly worth mentioning, but useful to know) and, as a side note (because as a guy I dislike cleaning), the exposed element makes for easier cleaning.

Aesthetics -
I am no interior designer, but I think it is fair to say that this Kettle doesn't particularly look nice; there is something 'off' about it's shape, specifically the long sloping lid. This said, it isn't repulsive either; it just looks a little cheap. It only comes in white, it is made of plastic (albeit robust hard plastic), and you can see little effort has gone into it's design; a plastic bodied kettle does however have the positive that it won't get as hot as a metal bodied kettle. A major plus point is that it does feel robust, it doesn't feel cheap - it feels like it will last, which is most certainly something you want and is something you would please to get for the price.

Price-
You may have noticed that I have mentioned price numerous times in this review, and I have deliberately left it to last to tell you as it is the BIGGEST selling point - £4.78, cheaper than large jar of instant coffee.

Finally the stats - taken from http://direct.tesco.com/q /R.203-7540.aspx

Capacity (Litres) 1.7
Colour White
Cordless Yes
Element Exposed
Limescale Filter Yes
Power in Kw 2.2
Product Depth 12.9 cm
Product Height 26.4 cm
Product Weight 0.85 kg
Product Width 23.7 cm
Rapid Boil No
Style Jug and base
Water Indicator Yes

Basically, if you are just looking for something that boils water adequately quickly and pours relatively easily, I can't recommend this enough; it has flaws, it does spill a bit of water, and it does look a little odd, but for £4.78 you can't complain.