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!
The summer heat is here and so are pool days. Pools have become very popular in homes and safety is always of utmost importance. If you own the Vivint Outdoor Camera Pro, which I reviewed here, there is a new Vivint Pool Alerts beta feature that adds a second detection zone to alert you of activity near your pool area.
If you’ve never experienced the frustration and heartache of consoling a child who’s lost their favorite plush toy — with you having no idea where the toy was lost or how to find it — then you are genuinely lucky. But if you’ve been through it, you know that pain. The popular plush toy GUND has a new initiative with Chipolo that should help keep that from happening, though.
During the pandemic, Raina and I knew we needed to spend more time outside. We began hiking on the reservation near our home with our mini golden doodle Nava. The first few times, we didn’t have the right gear; now we do. Here’s a look at the hiking gear that we’ve come to depend on.
HEYKUBE is the first all-in-one programmable smart cube marketed to the masses. The possibilities are endless with the option to create your own games, play others, or finally solve the classic cube puzzle.
I’ve become a huge fan of Rockport’s shoes. Both the Total Motion Active Mesh Sneaker and the Men’s Total Motion DresSport Slip-Ons look great and are amazingly comfortable. I’ll be adding dress shoes shortly. If you want to try out some Rockport’s, you’re in luck! The company is offering huge savings this weekend on a wide assortment of shoes.
There are very few times in life where things aren’t improved with a solid bag. Admittedly, “I need a really solid, smell-proof bag” isn’t necessarily the first thing on everyone’s shopping list, but you never know when you might need to transport some onions. Or, more realistically, when you realize you want to travel with the kind of plant matter that’s legal in more and more states. You need a bag that doesn’t make people look up and say, “weird, why does it smell like college in here all of the sudden?” That’s where the Higher Standards x Revelry Stowaway…
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!
Small knives are arguably the most useful pocket item you can have. They can do everything from slicing up an apple to whittling little figurines or cutting you loose if you get stuck in some vines. Admittedly, of these, slicing the apple is probably (hopefully) most likely what you’d need a small knife for, but we don’t judge here at Gear Diary. Go ahead and whittle to your heart’s content. In any case, if you need or want a new knife for everyday carry, check out the WESN Samla; it’s now live on Kickstarter!
So many of the things in your home are smart, but wouldn’t it be cool if the exterior of your home was smart, too? Imagine if you could control your backyard landscaping lights, the lights you have hanging under your patio, your pond, holiday inflatables, up to 1000′ of holiday lights, or other outdoor items with Alexa, Google Assistant, or Apple Homekit. With the new Lutron Caseta Outdoor Smart Plug, you can.
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.
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.
One welcome feature of the latest iPhones is the MagSafe charging — designed for faster and most efficient charging. Recently Nomad released their MagSafe-compatible cases for the iPhone 12; starting today, the new Nomad MagSafe Mount will be available for purchase.
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.
It’s time for a bit of spring cleaning for us all, but Nomad, one of our favorite brands, has launched their Spring Cleaning Outlet Sale that opens up the opportunity to get major discounts on several of their products as they make room for a bunch of new product launches coming down the line.
Since the pandemic began, people have been spending most of their time at home, both for work and school. With so much attention on air quality in offices and schools, many people have overlooked the air quality in the home, until now. This summer, the Airthings View Plus will be available for comprehensive, advanced in-home air quality monitoring.
We love Neuro products here at Gear Diary. Their mint and cinnamon flavored gums, as well as their mint and cinnamon flavored mints, are delicious, and we could never have survived CES 2020 without several packs of Neuro Gum! Anytime I’ve sung their praises, I’ve had to steer potential buyers towards Amazon, CVS, or the Neuro website, but Neuro sent us some amazing news today — you’ll be able to get Neuro Mints and Gum at Whole Foods!
Do you have room in your wallet and your password manager for one more streaming service? Before you brace yourself for C-Span+, don’t worry, it’s more exciting than that — CBS All Access has morphed into the far more broad Paramount+, and its huge catalog of shows and movies is available now on Roku!
Today is World Hearing Day, and Loop Earplugs has an amazing giveaway to celebrate the event and raise awareness for hearing loss. They desire to open a conversation about the conception that earplugs are boring and ugly. To that end, they’ve created Loop Bling, a one-of-a-kind set of earplugs made of 18K gold, set with 120 diamonds, and valued at $10,000. The best part? You can win them!
Need a helping hand with your iPad? Whether you’re looking for a way to position your iPad properly so that you don’t have twenty chins during video calls, or a place to keep your iPad out of the fray while cooking from a recipe on it, or a holder for your iPad so you can use it as a secondary display in your office, the Twelve South HoverBar Duo for iPad looks like a handy all-in-one solution.
When we talk about MediaTek, it’s usually in the context of their hard work behind the scenes in bringing 5G to phones everywhere. But they do more than just 5G chips; they’re also bringing their ability to provide AI processing units to 4K smart TVs with their new MediaTek MT9638 smart TV chips!