One of the things we strive for at Gear Diary is to make sure our readers are getting honest, accurate information. We do our best to be unbiased in our reviews, and we do our due diligence as best we can when new ideas get pitched to us. With all that in mind, we’re going to raise a major red flag about a pitch we received recently from a company called Qooore.
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.
There are many reasons why you might want to have one or more cameras in certain rooms of your home, like entrances, common areas, or the nursery when you’ve got a baby. The Google Nest Cam IQ Indoor aims to not only help you keep a close eye on the people coming and going in those areas, but it also allows you to communicate with them.
If you’re looking for a great way to protect your iPhone 12 — Urban Armor Gear, the leading designer of rugged, lightweight mobile device cases, is probably your best bet. I had an opportunity to check out a few of their latest cases, and it’s safe to say not only is my iPhone 12 Pro Max protected, but it looks great as well.
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.
OnePlus has just announced a three-year partnership with the esteemed camera manufacturer, Hasselblad, to “co-develop the next generation of smartphone camera systems for future OnePlus flagship devices.” Most excitingly, we can expect to see the first OnePlus x Hasselblad camera system, called ‘Hasselblad Camera for Mobile,’ in the upcoming OnePlus 9 Series!
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.
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. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-PCMCYcvBM&authuser=1
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!
Calm is the #1 sleep and meditation app in the App Store today. Not only does it allow you to listen to peaceful audio to match your mood, but they now have Calm Mindful Puzzles.
It seems more and more people have started a podcast during the pandemic, and with apps like Clubhouse, Stereo, and Zoom, it’s been made even easier to connect to your community. But how do you do it without spending a fortune on the setup? The answer is with the Shure MV7 Podcast Microphone and Shure AONIC 4 Sound Isolating Earphones.
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.
True wireless earbuds have gotten dramatically better since they made their first appearance a few years ago. New models offer improved connectivity, increased battery life, and better sound. Many even offer active noise cancellation and battery cases that are Qi-wireless charging enabled. The new Jays t-Seven True Wireless earbuds offer all of these advances at an accessible price.
Remember when a portable battery pack that held 20,000mAh was a beast to lug around? Thankfully, those days are over. The 20,000mAh Aukey Basix Blade Series Power Banks are much smaller and lighter than many similar capacity Li-Ion battery packs. Wait until you see what I mean …
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.
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.
MediaTek has just introduced it’s latest 5G smartphone chipsets, the Dimensity 1200 and Dimensity 1100. These chipsets will give device manufacturers even more options to choose from as they design smartphone models that feature top of the line cameras, graphics, connectivity enhancements, and more.
Qualcomm has just revealed its follow-up to its flagship Snapdragon 865 Plus with the Snapdragon 870 5G Mobile Platform. Why should you care? Well, let me tell you …
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.
Samsung held its latest Unpacked event this morning, signaling the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+, and the Galaxy S21 Ultra. The latest Galaxy S21 phones have 5G, updated designs, hardware, and software, but the cameras are the star of the show.
Kyocera has a solution for the men and women who work in challenging environments with its Duraforce Ultra 5G Rugged Smartphone. This phone will be the first 5G rugged smartphone on the Verizon network.