At CES 2016, Judie and I had a chance to check out the Plantronics BackBeat FIT. We were impressed and said so in our review last February. (Read the review.) Fast forward a year, and the BackBeat FIT is still going strong. A few things have changed, so we thought we would take a second look.
The Scosche BoomBouy Rockstar Pocket-Sized Speaker is a small speaker that clips to a backpack and goes wherever you go. In fact, “goes wherever you go” even includes a pool, river or lake if that is where your travels take you. The small speaker is part of Scosche’s Rockstar sub-brand, but a quick look at it will make that fact clear.
We’ve seen and reviewed a goodly number of external batteries; many are increasingly fancy and complex. The Scosche Rockstar GoBat 10K Portable Battery falls on the simpler side of things… So long as you ignore that very obvious branding. And if you can get past the branding, or you like it, then you may find this a good option.
Sure, Apple included a 3.5mm to Lightning Adapter with the iPhone 7 when they removed the 3.5mm headphone jack, but that adapter is a pain. It works, but it is cheap and annoying. And while you need it to use in-ear headphones, the Scosche StrikeLine Cable is a better alternative if you use over-the-ear or on-the-ear headphones.
The Reliefband is a wearable technology that has been FDA cleared and clinically proven to treat nausea and vomiting associated with motion sickness, pregnancy, and virtual reality gaming all without the need for medication. This anti-nausea device sells for $94.99 and a tube of replacement gel sells for $14.99 on the company’s website.
Paracable manufactures high-quality charging cables, including Lightning and MicroUSB varieties. The cables are wrapped in 32-strand paracord, which provides excellent durability and strength and all Lightning cables are Apple MFi Certified, so you know they’ll work. If you don’t love it, Paracables will give you your money back within 30 days. Get your Paracable now, starting at $15.95.
As a guitar player, I’ve been aware of the quality of Marshall products for most of my life. The fact that they are not just a guitar amp company, but they also make speakers and headphones is great. I recently received the $199 Marshall Mid Bluetooth headphones to review. The styling is cool as heck, but what about the sound?
Polaroid’s Remote-Controlled EyeBall Head is a hands-free way to get great panorama shots with your smart phone, GoPro, or digital camera. The rechargeable EyeBall Head turns smoothly, without any shake or distortion of the picture. Using the included remote, you can adjust the speed and degree of rotation. You can get yours on Amazon, for $49.99.
For a time, it seemed as if every external battery was alike; they all had some sort of housing, a charging port to power up the battery and one or two ports into which a device cable could be plugged.
The other day we took a look at Nomad’s impressive approach to sync/charge cables. I love the Universal Cable I reviewed and am ordering a few more. Nomad has also re-envisioned what I’ll refer to as the “short throw portable charging cable.” Many companies offer short cables but none come close to the awesomeness of the Nomad Carabiner.
Charging cables are a simple fact of modern life. And while inexpensive cables abound- after all, pretty much every mobile device and accessory includes one- the right cable can make a huge difference. Nomad offers three different cables in their Ultra Rugged Cable Series, and one of them stands out as the only cable you will ever need.
OK guys, I’m going to be talking about a bag company named NutSac, so let’s get all the jokes out of your system. Good? Good. The NutSac Satchel is a high-quality bag made with Top Grain leather and waxed canvas and can hold a tablet up to 9.7” as well as accessories. You can grab your own NutSac for $129.
Aren’t we getting spoiled by all of the portable Bluetooth speakers that are waterproof? The days of having to jealously protect your portable speaker while outdoors or at the pool are gone! If you still don’t have a speaker that you can bring along without second guessing yourself, take a look at the Braven 405 Wireless Waterproof Speaker.
Scandinavian furniture has clean lines and, too often, appear to sacrifice comfort in favor of minimalism and style. Sit in such furniture and… you will be pleasantly surprised. The Libratone Q Adapt On-Ear headphones reflect this same Scandinavian design language. The have clean lines and, like the furniture, appear to sacrifice comfort in favor of minimalism.
V-MODA has consistently created some of my favorite headphones. That includes their over-the-ear, their on-the-ear and their in-the-ear models. It’s no small feat to succeed at all three approaches to headphones and yet V-MODA has done just that. It is no surprise then that I was excited to check out their Forza in-ear headphones. Do the extend V-MODA’s winning record?
Graceful, sensual, sleek, plush, refined, swanky, superlative yet practical and … these aren’t the words I’d usually use to describe a pair of headphones, but the Bowers & Wilkins P7 Wireless Headphones deserve those adjectives and more.
The right case for your mobile device is a key part of maximizing its usefulness. In the case of my 9.7” iPad Pro that is especially true. It goes everywhere with me and I use it all the time. Thankfully, I finally found the right balance with the Speck Smartshell Plus for 9.7” iPad Pro and the Apple Smart Keyboard.
I had many RC cars and trucks as I grew up but I haven’t had one since 1995 when I got an RC car as a perk for buying Windows 95. The Toy State Nikko RC Elite Ford F-150 Raptor was sent to me to check out.
This review of the Huawei MateBook has been a long time coming. I like the MateBook a great deal, but I’ve been struggling to figure out exactly what this Windows 10 mobile device is. From the specs, it looks to be Huawei’s answer to the Microsoft Surface, but it is more complicated than that. Let’s take a look.
Innerexile and STC Optical & Chemical have joined forces to develop the OpticPro, a curved edge glass screen protector that blocks up 40% of the harmful blue light emitted by your iPhone 7. The OpticPro boasts 9H hardness that prevents scratching, is anti-smudge, anti-glare, and easy to install. Preorder yours now starting at $31 on Kickstarter.
When I used to commute to work, I would frequently take my work laptop in a backpack and another bag of clothes for the gym. The AER Duffel Pack tries to solve this problem by combining a gym duffel and a laptop backpack. It will not work, though unless you are lucky enough to have a 15″ MacBook or smaller.