TP-LINK Archer C9 Router Review

Finding a suitable router for use at home is a difficult task. We’re checking out the TP-LINK Archer C9 Router today. It boasts being AC1900-rated and can also broadcast simultaneously on both 2.4GHz (600Mbit/s) and 5GHz (1300Mbit/s) bands. With the Archer C9 also coming in at around £100, we could be on to a real winner. Let’s see how well it performs.

Sporting a glossy white exterior, with a sleek, modern metal frame stand, the Archer C9 certainly looks the part.

On the front of the router there’s not a great deal happening apart from the TP-LINK in the centre and the LED indicators along the top. From left to right, we have Power, 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi, LAN, Internet, WPS, and USB 2.0 / 3.0.

Along the top of the router is where you screw in the three dual-band antennas (included), if you wish to use the Wi-Fi functionality of the C9. If you need a bit more range for the Wi-Fi around your house, you can even purchase some high-gain antennas and use those instead.

If we move around to the rear of the router, this is where everything will be connected. Fairly standard placement and fairly standard connections. From left to right we have a USB 2.0 port, reset/WPS switch, an Ethernet port for your Fibre-Optic connection, four Gigabit LAN connections, a power switch and a DC power port.

These aren’t the only ports though. The left side of the router, or right side depending on which way you’re looking from, features a USB 3.0 port and also a Wi-Fi on/off button.

The underside of the router also features some rubber feet. A fairly standard feature of most products.

Within the box you also receive a few other items, as well as the router; which are:

3x dual-band antennas

1x Ethernet cable

A power supply

Quick start guides and warranty information

Xenta 20W 2.0 Bluetooth Soundbar Review

Soundbars are definitely becoming the way forward for TV audio. With the vast majority providing an uprated audio experience whilst watching films, TV or just listening to music, it’s surprising that the Xenta 2.0 Bluetooth Soundbar only retails for £39.99 from Ebuyer.
Despite the low cost, the Xenta soundbar provides 20W of power, features an AUX-in port, a remote control and can even be wall mounted. As well as these great features the overall build quality, even though the entire product is constructed from plastic, is well above what you’d expect from a product in this price bracket.
The design of the Xenta soundbar is fairly basic. You’ve simply got your speakers on the front, covered with a black cloth, with an LED indicator in the centre; the Xenta logo at the end of the soundbar; and all of your ports and buttons at the rear (including left and right audio inputs, the power switch, power plug and an air vent).


There are also some feet on the underside of the soundbar, for those of you who won’t be wall mounting the speaker.
In terms of the internal hardware, there’s two full range 50mm 10W speakers on either side of the soundbar. From these two speakers you’re looking at around 88dB of output sound, with a frequency response of 80-20KHz.
Included in the box you’ve obviously got the bluetooth soundbar itself, along with a remove control, an RCA cable, the owners manual and some wall fixings to help mount your speaker to the wall.

Installation & Testing

Obviously there’s a couple of ways to test this particular soundbar. There’s via Bluetooth, or via the AUX input.
Seen as though my 42-inch LG Plasma TV isn’t the newest of TVs I’ll be hooking up the soundbar using a cable. The process is painless, and depending on your TV you may have to adjust some of the audio settings on your TV so that the audio only comes out of the soundbar, instead of the soundbar and the TV.
As I’m connecting the Xenta soundbar to my TV using the AUX input, the LED indicator on the front is lit red. When using the speaker with a bluetooth device, this LED display blue instead. A small, yet handy feature on the Xenta Bluetooth Soundbar.
Control of the soundbar is done via the included remote control (AA batteries not included), which is again relatively simple in design. There’s an option to switch sources, adjust the volume level and also mute the soundbar.
When connecting to the soundbar via Bluetooth, it’s simply a case of turning on your bluetooth and selecting the Xenta soundbar from your list of devices. A series of beeps indicate that you’re connected and ready to go.
The speakers on my LG TV are actually quite decent, so I wasn’t expecting much of an improvement by using the Xenta soundbar. However I was pleasantly surprised, and found the level of bass and mid-range audio to be very impressive. The highs were a little tinny at full volume, but for a £40 speaker you can’t go too wrong with the Xenta 2.0 Bluetooth Soundbar.
Using the soundbar with my iPhone produced the same high quality audio, and could easily act as an impressive speaker for use at small gatherings / parties at home.
The bass was actually pretty low, but the rest of the levels were well balanced and made for an all-round decent audio experience.

Verdict

Overall the Xenta 2.0 Bluetooth Soundbar is an impressive bit of kit. The two 10w speakers certainly pack a punch, and offer great audio quality inside a low-priced hard plastic shell.
This is a great option for those on a budget, and for those looking to improve on just using their TV’s built-in speakers.
You can check out the Xenta 2.0 Bluetooth Soundbar here, available for just £39.99.

Epson EcoTank ET-14000 A3+ Printer Review

The Epson EcoTank ET-14000 is part of Epson’s EcoTank range of printers. It offers ultra low-cost printing, thanks to the high-capacity refillable ink tank system. A3+ printing is one of the main selling points of the ET-14000, however the ability to print A3-sized documents means that the printer is over 700mm wide. This isn’t necessarily a problem, but is definitely something to consider if you’re looking to print documents of this size and don’t have too much space to spare in your office.

Whereas your traditional desktop printer will require two ink cartridges (black & colour), the ET-14000 relies on Magenta, Yellow, Cyan & Black ink in its continuous high-capacity ink delivery system (situated on the right hand side of the printer). The installation of the ink is incredibly simple, and hassle-free. Simply unhook the ink tank and place it on its side. All you then need to do is pour the ink in to the matching compartment. Each individual ink compartment is then sealed shut using a rubber stopper.

The ET-14000 arrives with five 70ml bottles of ink (2x black ink, 1x cyan, 1x magenta & 1x yellow).

According to Epson, this amount of ink is capable of printing up to 7100 pages in monochrome & up to 5700 pages in colour. This is technically enough ink to last up to two years (for the average user). We unfortunately don’t have enough time to test this claim though…

In terms of the available features, there aren’t a great deal. So if you’re after a printer with a touch screen display, access to Epson’s built-in printer apps & wireless printing, then perhaps the 4-in-1 ET-4550 from Epson’s EcoTank range would be a better option. You would, however, lose the ability to print A3-sized documents if you opted for the ET-4550.

The lack of an external power supply is one feature we approve of. With the inclusion of a built-in power supply there’s no bulky power supply taking up space on your desk with the ET-14000.

Basically, what you see is what you get with ET-14000. There’s no fancy displays, with a maze of menus to navigate through; just high-quality low-cost printing.

The ET-14000 is one of the more expensive printers within the EcoTank range, with an RRP of £500. So, how much is A3 printing worth to you? And can you justify the cost? We can’t answer these questions for you, unfortunately, but with the ET-14000’s large ink capacity your overall printing costs should be considerably lower than that of a standard desktop printer.

HP Envy 5540 All-In-One Printer Review

The HP ENVY 5540 is an All-In-One printer that boasts built-in Wi-Fi, double-siding printing, a 2.2-inch touch screen which makes navigating the printer extremely easy, and also the ability to save money on ink using HP Instant Ink. It retails for less than £80, but it takes up a decent amount of space on your desk. Let’s see how well it performs in our review.

Sporting a black colour scheme, the HP Envy 5540 has the looks of a very impressive bit of kit. A 2.2-inch touchscreen mono LCD display is where everything is controlled from including the copying, scanning and printing functions and also accessing HP’s free printables section where you’re able to print off a wide selection of forms, calendars, puzzles and more.

The rear of the printer is pretty standard, you’ve got a power port, and also a USB port for connecting your printer up via USB (the cable was not included in my review unit, so be aware that you may need to purchase one separately or use one of your existing cables).

However, with an incredibly easy Wi-Fi setup feature there’s really no reason why you shouldn’t be using Wi-Fi to print from your devices, in our opinion.

If we open up the top of the printer you’ll find the scanner function of the Envy 5540. It reminds me more of an office photocopier, due to the sheer width and depth, though!

Lifting the second section of the lid brings you right inside the printer where you’ll be able to change the ink cartridges when required.

Whereas many printers will use the same paper tray for regular printing and photo printing, the Envy 5540 actually has a separate paper tray for standard A4 paper and also a 4 x 6-inch photo paper tray. The primary A4 paper tray is able to hold 125 sheets of paper, and the secondary photo paper tray has a max capacity of 15 sheets of photo paper.

To access the paper trays, all that’s required is a pull on the handle at the bottom of the printer. This will reveal the primary A4 paper tray, with the secondary photo paper tray being located on a sliding panel, which can be pulled out if required.

A fairly cool feature of the Envy 5540 is the tray for printed items. Upon closing the paper tray, the printer will do it’s thing and then the tray for printed items will pop out automatically. A random feature, but cool and unique nonetheless.

Included within the box are your usual documents, user manuals and a CD.

ThumbsUp! Infinity Speaker Review

Ever thought that more LED lights are needed when using a bluetooth speaker? Well, look no further! The Infinity Speaker from ThumbsUp! might be just what you’re looking for. The speaker features an LED equaliser with built-in mirror. They claim that this gives the illusion that light is gearing off into infinity and moves in time with your music. Let’s take a closer look.

Currently, the Infinity Speaker from ThumbsUp! is on sale on Amazon for the eye-watering price of £43.15. A little over-priced for a novelty speaker, in my opinion.

The speaker looks of a fairly decent quality though, and sports a matte black exterior with a mirrored front. This is where the LEDs for the LED equaliser are situated.

The speaker boasts 6 watts of “sophisticated sound” and is compatible with most wireless devices (bluetooth enabled devices). Unfortunately the website doesn’t list devices that may not be compatible.

There’s not a great deal to say about the design of the speaker really. It’s oval shaped, features three main control button on the top with both speakers being situated on either side of the speaker.

The rear of the device is where you’ll find the power switch, AUX in and the microUSB charging port.

Package Contents

Infinity Speaker

MicroUSB charging cable

AUX cable

User Manual

Tt eSPORTS Commander Gaming Gear Combo Review

Bundles of anything are usually a great idea, they’re convenient, offer a discount versus what the constituent parts would cost normally and often have an added value bonus, be that a voucher or an extra freebie in the box. The Tt eSPORTS Commander gaming keyboard and mouse is a little different though…

It’s still convenient but it isn’t a bundle of items that would normally be available separately, you can’t get either the mouse or keyboard on its own. Whilst not unheard of, it’s a strange decision to offer neither of the items separately; and as we’ll get onto later, there are reasons you might want one part of this kit and not the other.

Keyboard Specs

Mouse Specs

Hannspree Legend Smartwatch Review

With wearable tech becoming more and more popular, many well-known brands are trying to get in on some of the action. Today we’re checking out the Hannspree Legend smartwatch. It claims to be both smart and functional, and also has a price tag of just £70.

The watch sports a standard leather watch strap, in orange. A traditional brown or black would make the watch look a little more appealing, in my opinion.

Moving on to the watch itself – it’s black in colour, and sports a 1.54-inch HD touch screen display. There is only one physical button on the watch, which is the crown – situated on the right side of the watch. On the right side of the watch you’ve also got the built-in speaker, which is used for calls, music and alerts.

If we move around to the opposite side this is where you’ll find the built-in microphone. On the underside of the watch we’ve got the Hannspree logo in the centre and the magnetic charging port on the right.

From a design point of view, the Legend appears to be well-built and looks of a fairly high quality. So far, so good.

The accessories within the box are fairly standard. You’ve got your usual quick start guide, a docking station for charging and then also the micro USB cable.