The annual IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin covers about 160,000 square meters and almost 2,000 exhibitors. Whether it was on the floor, at a press conference, at the media-only Showstoppers event, or in private meetings, we scoured IFA to find the latest and greatest to make up Gear Diary’s Best of IFA 2018 list.
I’ve been collecting vinyl records for around twelve years now. So as a musician myself, I’ve obviously always dreamed of putting my own music to wax. So when my band went into the studio to record our second album, we wanted to make that dream a reality.
If you’re looking for a smarter way to get around town, whether it’s a coffee run or commuting to the train, the Swagtron Swagger 5 smart electric scooter is the way to get there. Featuring a powerful motor, app integration via Bluetooth, and a folding design, the Swagger 5 checks all the boxes. Head over to Swagtron.com to get yours.
Whether it’s the Nomad USB-C Cable (read the review), the 4-in1 USB C Cables, the Nomad Battery Cable (read the review) or the new Nomad Slim Wallet with Tile Tracking (read the review) we are consistently impressed by the products Nomad continues to roll out. They’re great but not inexpensive but today, you can save big!
We recently reviewed the iHome iAV2. It’s a speaker dock that not only gives an Amazon Echo Dot much-improved sound but also doubles as a bedside clock. iHome also offers the iAV5B. It too greatly improves the sound from an Echo Dot but, while it lacks a clock, it adds something rather fun. Its lights make your music a visual treat.
Samsung first introduced the Galaxy Note series in 2011 with a huge stylus-driven 5.3″ screen and a direct appeal to power users who wanted more than current small-screen devices could offer. Today a variety of smartphones with screens larger than 5.3″ are available bearing a ‘Plus’, XL or other monikers to differentiate them.
For a market that’s supposedly dying, tablets are getting an awful lot of attention again. There’s still demand for a screen that’s bigger than a phone, smaller than a computer, and able to entertain you or be productive. Alcatel’s new 3T 8 isn’t flashy, but on paper it’s a solid workhorse tablet for a very good price.
For the longest time, there had been about only one name in the noise canceling headphone market. They provided a good product but at a high price. Enter ELEPAWL and the EP6 Active Noise Cancelling Wireless Bluetooth Headphones that offer the same technology but at a very reasonable price.
The average American spends roughly 11 hours staring at a screen, with about 62% of that being that smartphone in your hand. So InvisibleShield has been working on a solution to “blue light exposure”.
Smart speakers are only increasing in popularity and number, and one of the benefits of this explosion is that companies are adding more features and better sound quality to what was once a novelty item. Huawei is aiming to add all sorts of value with their new Huawei AI Cube powered by Alexa.
I stopped visiting Facebook about 2 weeks ago. It wasn’t a conscious declaration, it was just that I felt like Facebook was becoming a crutch to distract me, and it wasn’t something I enjoyed. I probably would have drifted back sooner, but Facebook has been inundating me with emails like a needy ex, and it’s starting to creep me out enough to not want to return.
Robot vacuums are one of the greatest inventions ever. It’s like having Rosie from the Jetsons, but without the dusting or conversational skills. In fact, I have one at home and my son seems to be under the impression it is some kind of robot pet. Neato has some new vacuums at IFA that take cleaning to a new level!
Lenovo knows that deep down, we all want to be Jedis. Who doesn’t look good with a laser sword and a bathrobe? They’ve already tapped into that primal desire with their Star Wars Jedi Challenges Augmented Reality game, and now they’re adding more features, plus a chance to play as everyone’s favorite moody emo darkside guy, Kylo Ren.
If you’re in the market for a laptop this fall, you’ll want to pay close attention to what’s coming out of IFA, especially from Lenovo! They’ve got Yoga, Thinkpad, and Chromebook updates, meaning something is likely to fit your needs and your budget.
The summer might be winding down, but JBL and Harman are just heating up with a few announcements this week at IFA 2018 that everyone should be interested in.
We have more and more ways to enjoy cinematic experiences right at home. Streaming services are offering better and better content, soundbars and other speaker system enhancements bring the audio to life, and televisions just keep improving. Samsung is intent on taking this to the next level with their new Q900FN TV with an absolutely futuristic 8K resolution.
If thoughts of QWERTY keyboards give you a little thrill, you’ll like that BlackBerry is giving us more options. In addition to the BlackBerry Key2, you can also consider the new Key2 LE. The BlackBerry Key2 LE has slightly fewer premium features than the Key2, but at $399 for the 32GB and $449 for the 64GB, it’s an attractive alternative.
Sonos has been on a roll lately. The Sonos Beam with built-in voice capabilities was released recently. Then Sonos rolled out compatibility with AirPlay 2 for some of its speakers. Now the company has announced the Sonos Amp. The $599 Sonos Amp is a replacement for the Sonos Connect: Amp, but it is much more than a mere replacement.
There are a lot of fitness trackers/smartwatches out there that claim to fit any scenario, but if there’s any niche that needs special attention, it’s the outdoors. You need to be conscious of battery life, feature availability without internet, and of course, ruggedness. Casio has been nailing it with their Pro-Trek WSD line, and the newest WSD-F30 looks eye-poppingly good.
I play in a band, which means that my daily driver is an old, huge van. Old, huge vans aren’t known for their stellar sound systems, and mine is no different. It has an AM/FM radio, a tape deck, and if I’m feeling fancy a CD player.
Dell has been busy pumping out gaming computers lately, they haven’t forgotten those of us who think Super Mario 2 was the height of gaming technology. They’re at IFA this week, and they have a full suite of Inspiron, XPS, and other software and hardware improvements to make it faster and easier to get things done!