Smartphones & Gear



Nokia G20 Keeps Going and Going with 3 Days of Battery Life!

It can be hard to balance features and reliability with budget-end phones. Plus, all too often, anything that isn’t a flagship can sometimes be forgotten or behind the curve in terms of security updates and other features. Nokia isn’t making you choose between features, security, and budget with the Nokia G20!


Infinix Hot 10S Review: Offers Flagship Features at a Budget Price

Infinix Hot 10S sounds like a chicken wing special from a punk bar in a sci-fi movie. Still, it’s actually a surprisingly compact and powerful Android phone that boasts an incredible battery life, a very impressive camera, and a processor and software set focused on giving you a truly kickass gaming experience on the go!



Anker PowerHouse II 800 Review: Charges So Many Things When Needed!

I used to think that if we had a winter power outage lasting a week or more, Kev and I would be adequately prepared. We’d have plenty of drinking water on hand, piles of cut wood for the fireplace, our food would be safe (because, winter), and portable battery packs would power our electronics. Earlier this year, we got to find out just how unprepared we actually were when Texas got slammed with one winter storm after another, causing a massive power crisis. What would have made a huge difference for us during this disaster? The Anker PowerHouse II 800.



INTELLI ScoutPro 240 Watt Powerbank Review: It’s the Most Versatile Battery Pack I’ve Ever Used

Before smartphones starting touting the massive internal batteries that they have right now, you would never catch me without a small battery pack in my back pocket. While I may not carry them as much anymore due to the pandemic, with the world opening back up, I’ll need something in my everyday carry to keep my devices juiced up, and here’s why I think the INTELLI ScoutPro 240 Watt Powerbank may be the best solution. 



MediaTek Dimensity 900 5G SoC Raises the Bar on Smartphone Power Yet Again!

If you’re a regular reader of Gear Diary, you might find the name MediaTek vaguely familiar. It’s ok if you don’t, though; they’re one of those companies that operate quietly behind the scenes. Their logo may not be splashed all over your phone, but chances are they’re providing some important connectivity options for you. If your next phone has a MediaTek Dimensity 900 5G SoC, you’re definitely going to enjoy the experience!



JBL Charge 5 Review: Delivers Next-Level Sound Anywhere, Anytime

JBL’s portable Bluetooth speakers have always been impressive, and each successive model has gotten better and better. The JBL Charge 5, the latest generation of their wildly popular portable speaker with a powerbank, is their best portable speaker yet. It blasts music, recharges phones, and it’s ready to hit the beach, the mountains, or your next backyard barbecue.


Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 4G Review: Thin and Light and in Many Ways Just Right

It’s easy to get enamored by all of the flagship phones being released by phone makers, but what if you don’t necessarily need (or want) something with 5G, the fastest processor, or a $1000 price tag but still want a great camera? You have options, and one of them is the Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 4G. This phone packs many features in its thin and light body, and it sells for around $300 — not that you’d ever be able to tell, just looking at it.


Incipio Organicore Cases Save Your Phone and the Earth!

I recently started cleaning out a junk drawer, and I’ll admit, I was pretty ashamed of how many old phone cases I had squirreled away. I can’t tell you where some of those phones are, but if you need a case for a 6-year-old Motorola phone…you should have asked me last week before I tossed a bunch of junk. All joking aside, the reality is that our gadgets have a pretty big ecological footprint. It’s possible to protect your phone and ease your environmental guilt all at once with Incipio Organicore cases.



Jabra Elite 85T Firmware Update Brings Amazon Alexa to Your Ears

Some weeks ago, Jabra did something amazing. When they released the Jabra Elite 85T, they also released a firmware update that brought ANC to the Jabra Elite 75T. It was a small touch that showed the company’s commitment to its consumers. Now they’ve done it again with a Jabra Elite 85T firmware update that delivers one-touch access to Alexa.





OPPO Find X3 Pro Review: A Brilliant Android 11 Flagship in Every Way

OPPO has been making phones since 2008, yet the OPPO Find X3 Pro is the first OPPO phone that I’ve ever tried, much less reviewed. Seeing as the Find X series is OPPO’s flagship line, and the Find X3 Pro is their top model, I can’t think of a better phone to introduce me to this company, which as of January this year, has overtaken Huawei as the number one selling smartphone brand in China. I have been using the Find X3 Pro as my primary phone for the past few weeks, and I have found much to like.


Qualcomm Snapdragon 780G Mobile Platform Makes Powerful Phones Even More Accessible

It sometimes feels like we’ve hit somewhat of an endgame with smartphones, as the form factor seems to have settled pretty solidly into “large glass slab with camera array on the back.” But the outside is only a small portion of the magic; the real excitement is in the chips doing all the work. Having a bunch of cameras sounds good, but the reality is they work because the chips inside are doing all the heavy lifting with none of the glory.