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Creative XF1 review: although not truly perfect, these active desktop speakers get pretty close for not a lot of money

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Creative XF1: Two-minute review For a cent short of $180 (or a penny short of £140) Creative will sell you its XF1 desktop stereo speaker system — and don’t imagine this money buys anything less than a fully featured and serious product. It may look a little frivolous, especially when its cork ‘wedge’ stands are attached, but the XF1 is all business. And besides, those stands elevate the speakers to the point they’re firing at your ears rather than your torso. An active and bi-amped arrangement that requires the speakers to be wired together and one of them to be connected to mains power, the Creative XF1 has a total of 72 watts of power on board — ample in the context of the most likely use cases. Bluetooth connectivity is on board, too with codec compatibility including the high-end LDAC option, and the USB-C input on the rear of the main speaker allows for genuinely hi-res content to be an op...
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TP-Link Archer 8 Ultra: the future of Wi-Fi has just arrived, with TP-Link’s first Wi-Fi 8 router

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TP-Link Archer 8 Ultra: One-minute review It’s taken quite a while for Wi-Fi 7 to become a mainstream technology – even Apple hasn’t adopted it right across its product range yet – but TP-Link has just launched the first Wi-Fi 8 router in the somewhat imposing form of its new Archer 8 Ultra. In fact, the final technical details for Wi-Fi 8 probably won’t be announced until 2028, but the key features of the new standard are well known, allowing TP-Link and other manufacturers to prepare new products that will introduce the new technology over the next couple of years. It’s also planning to release a number of mesh routers and range extenders that will use Wi-Fi 8 in 2027 as well. It’s safe to say that a state-of-the-art router with Wi-Fi 8 will be massive overkill for most home users – after all, the Archer’s tri-band Wi-Fi and top speed of 19Gbps will leave most home broadband services trailin...
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The Ninja Crispi DualZone air fryer earns its price tag with clever design, great features, and excellent cooking

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Ninja Crispi Dualzone: 30-second review The Ninja Crispi DualZone is a fantastic looking and performing air fryer, boasting eight cooking modes, a clever basket design, and excellent controls. It’s also one of the most expensive air fryers on the market. Is it worth the money? I’ve put it to the test to find out. Get it out the box and place it on your kitchen counter and you’ll be impressed by how much it doesn’t look like every other air fryer on the market. Out is the black, boxy design, and in is Ninja’s CleanCrisp glassware containers, giving the Crispi DualZone an airier presence. This is an air fryer you won’t necessarily want to hide away in a cupboard. It’s not just looks though, as there’s clever design in play here too. The plastic and rubber base on the glass containers make them easy to manoevre and allow you to set them down anywhere when hot, without the need for a heat mat. Future...
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