Smartphones & Gear



Nomad Spring Cleaning Outlet Sale Offers Big Discounts

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.




OPPO Find X3 Pro: Touts a Billion Color Display, Futuristic Design, Dolby Atmos Sound, and Even a Microscope Camera

OPPO may not be widely known in the United States yet, but today’s announcement of “their most beautiful phone to date,” the futuristic OPPO Find X3 Pro, may change all of that. With a huge emphasis on the Find X3 Pro’s full-path 10-bit Colour Management System and True Billion Colour Display and the smartphone’s two Billion Colour flagship cameras, this sleek 5G flagship was made to impress.



UPDATED Earin A-3 Earphones Review: Tiny Wonders for Tuning Out While Still Being Aware of Your Surroundings

Have you found a pair of true wireless earbuds that fit well in your ears yet? Many people like foam and silicon tips because they help cut out ambient noise and give a more secure seal, but some people hate the feeling of something being jammed into their ear canal. The Earin A-3 Earphones take a different approach; they have an open audio design which leaves them sitting in the user’s ears’ concha. The result is a surprisingly comfortable fit for just about everyone, but it’s also a slightly different experience from wearing and using many other earbuds.


Huawei Mate X2 Launch Teases Excellent Hardware That Won’t Be Coming to the US

Due to the United States’ trade sanctions against Huawei, Samsung and Motorola make the only folding screen smartphones currently available here. But if you live elsewhere and don’t rely on Google apps or services, this might interest you. The Huawei Mate X2  has just been announced; it’s their foldable flagship smartphone updating the 2019 Mate X, and it appears to be an amazing piece of hardware.


AfterShokz OpenComm Bone Conduction Stereo Bluetooth Headset Review

I’m a huge advocate of AfterShokz, especially if you’re the type to listen to music while running, walking, hiking, etc. Having your ears open while still being able to enjoy music is a home run. AfterShokz thinks hearing your surroundings is important when you’re working too, and they’re applying their bone conduction headphones concept to a work-centric headset with the AfterShokz OpenComm. Does bone conduction spiff up well for the office? Read on to find out!




MediaTek M80 5G Modem Brings mmWave 5G Support for Even Speedier Browsing!

5G is, if not yet everywhere, in a lot more places than it used to be. While it seems to be the biggest in cities, the suburbs and the rest of the world will eventually get that sweet, sweet speedy internet on the go. You may not be paying attention to how you’re getting that 5G, but under the hood of all your devices are new chips and modems to handle all that internet, and they’re making sure you’re getting the most out of your connectivity with their new MediaTek M80 5G modem.




Goal Zero SHERPA 100PD Power Bank Review: It Saved the Day When the Power Was Out

A storm some weeks ago left us in the cold, literally. We had no idea how long the power would be out, but my wife and I still needed to work. Thankfully, we’d been sent the Goal Zero Sherpa 100PD Power Bank and Yeti 200X Portable Power Station for us to check out; these power sources kept our phones, tablets, and computers going until our electricity returned.


Google Pixel 5 Review: You Can’t Always Get What You Want

The Google Pixel 5 was released last October as the follow-up to the Pixel 4. Rather than offering an XL version as Google had done with previous Pixel flagship models, the Pixel 5 was more of a “take it or leave it” proposition. It came in one size, a choice of two colors, and only one user memory option. There are some upgrades and some compromises, but overall it’s solid. Even so, I can admit that I wasn’t as enthused with it from the start as I had been with the Pixel 3 XL and the Pixel 4 XL.




Huawei P40 Pro+ Review: Amazing Hardware, Killer Camera, Crippled Software

For a few years now, Apple and Samsung have battled for leadership in the global smartphone market share. This is particularly obvious in regions like the US, where both brands dominate. But did you know that Chinese manufacturer Huawei is consistently in the top three as well? In fact, it was #1 in Q2 2020 — yes, the same Huawei that the US government put on an entity list in 2019, barring it from doing business with US companies like Google.