GadgetSpeak Articles
GadgetSpeak has close to 5,000 product reviews and other articles. You can use this page to find others opinions on anything from mobile phones to computers to the latest kitchen appliance
I am sure we all have all the devices – and more – available as single tools, however in this small multi tool offering, but when you need them can they be instantly located. You are more likely to find them if located on your keyring and this comes with such a ring attached.
The tool comes in a fabric case with the keyring attached to the ‘multi tool’ via a short 3cm chain, this enables the tool to be in the case rather than rubbing a hole in your pocket as it would without the case. The total weight with the case is 81grams. The multi tool is when folded in on itself is 8.5x3x1.5cm and as it fits snugly in the case that has a Velcro flap, that is the overall dimension as well.
With its new UK store and plenty of new products, Xiaomi has been busy of late.
What’s in a name? In the case of this next review product, the name is that of Pocophone F1. As part of Xiaomi’s product portfolio, the Pocophone’s brand of smartphones forms part of the more than 100 million smartphones shipped during 2018 by the company although what its percentage would be, I have no idea. Available in a choice of Graphite Black (my review sample), Steel Blue and Rosso Red, with dimensions of 155.5 x 75.3 x 8.
A visit to a barber between Liverpool Street and Old Street for a totally new brand to me had a presentation for a 99 year old company found me leaving after a very pleasant haircut from a barber at a shop called Ruffians and with a sample of the WAHL hair trimmer to try out in my own home, and before you ask the barber did use one for part of the haircut.
To give it the full name on the box it’s the Aqua Blade Wet/Dry Stubble & Beard Trimmer. It weighs 150 grams and is 16cm from base to tip 4cm wide near the head and 3cm deep at the same point. 8cm up from the base is the single on/off button. Just below this is an LED, the two pin power lead plugs into the back 2cm up from the base. The unit is matt black with silver coloured trim curving up from the front to the sides starting just below the on/off button.
This next headset combines Bluetooth, Noise Cancelling and Hi-Res delivery at a sub £80 price point.
Private listening headsets come in a range of formats that vary from the small ear-bud types to those featuring ear cups of different sizes. You could opt for the almost invisible in-ear type or the more obvious on or over-the-ear product with a choice of tethered to the audio source or the walk-about freedom of wireless (ie Bluetooth) for your listening pleasure.
A Wi-Fi security camera from Time2, this is an internal offering but I see this range of releases also has an external offering that I shall ask to look at when this one returns home. So what can this camera offer to help secure your home?
The camera is 9.5cm tall, 5.5cm wide and 5cm back to front. There is just one visible connection in the rear of the back of the unit a supplied micro USB cable. Setup is just a matter of downloading an App from either the iOS or Android store and following the instructions, there is a small Start Up Guide supplied but it just duplicates the instructions in the App.
Cygnett’s ChargeUp Boost and ttec’s PowerStones Trio each offer a different approach to ensuring that you have backup power for you mobile when you need it.
How are your Match 3 game playing skills? You will need them as you set about restoring your world.
It is a cold and desolate world that faces you when you first enter the game of Jewel Match – Naturescape. This is a Match 3 game that has been developed by Suricate Software. As with some other Suricate Software Match 3 titles I have looked at, Naturescape is spread over numerous levels with each one containing connected rooms filled with decorated tiles populating grids. Profiles can be created to help record the progress made by individual players.
The Ultimate Carryall, Elite Backpack, and now it’s actual name Solo New York and as we all know everything in New York is big and this backpack is no exception, perhaps so good they named it three times is slight overkill but your laptop and much more will all fit inside.
It is 52cm from base to the carry handle on the top. It is 30cm wide all the way from bottom to top and 16cm deep at the base and up to 14cm deep at the top. The back has a pair of 7cm wide shoulder straps which have subsidiary straps for width and depth towards the base so whatever your size it can fit snugly to your back. The outside closest to your back is padded and pimpled for breathability.
With its expertise in developing speakers, it is not surprising Edifier also develops headphones.
Previously, whenever the name of Edifier popped up, as it does on numerous occasions, the subject matter would concern a speaker system offering a range of audio features and sometimes unusual shapes. However, with the arrival of the latest Edifier product, I will now need to widen my view of the company’s product portfolio. I had been sent an Edifier W800BT unit. The W800BT product is a Stereo Bluetooth set of headphones with AUX connectivity.
Occasionally I get the chance to stay in what is called a four - or even - five star hotel for a night and quite often I am left amazed as to how far standards have dropped, for instance finding a stained ironing board and iron in the wardrobe so when the opportunity to review a small traveling iron came up I said yes please.
Don’t get me wrong I am certainly not a snob and in normal circumstances only handkerchiefs and the occasional shirt get ironed but if one is in a top hotel you probably need to look your best for a dinner or other such event. This is a light unit at only 441grams (less than one pound in total weight) in the 16.5x15.5x5cm box. There is also a drawstring bag if you prefer to take it in that way. The iron itself is 12x7x2.
A smartphone costing under £60 is the subject of this next review.
A recent visit to what used to be a very run down area near Paddington found lots of new offices off a busy main road with what I assume was a small river or canal running through all very upmarket. My meeting was with a top man from Kaspersky Labs to chat about the latest threats that affect us all even if all we have is a PC or mobile phone.
While it has ‘Cloud’ in the name this need not be a worry as this is Kaspersky Total Security with a plus. The plus is all the Smart Home devices like Alexa are handled as well as the more obvious items that you have input into like a PC, Notebook or Phone. My copy was what Kaspersky call a Family offering which covers up to twenty devices. This is a slightly different context in that you can allow others to have secure protection but they never get to see anything of yours.
The 27P1 is AOC’s universal 27 inch business monitor. It has the features and facilities that businesses want today and, at the same time, can still be used as a replacement for legacy monitors.
Having a 16:9 aspect ratio IPS panel with WLED backlight it offers 1920 x 1080 resolution and is mounted on a stand that provides a full range of movements. As well as DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort inputs there is also a traditional 15-pin VGA so the 27P1 can easily become the standard monitor in an office with PCs of varying ages. Furthermore, it incorporates a 4-port USB 3 hub.
Is it an electronic book? Or is it a carry case? No it is Leap Frog’s new learning tool.
Leap Frog, well-known for its educational based electronic products, has recently released its LeapSmart 3D offering. Developed for the 2 – 7 years age group, this product provides on-screen animations to enhance learning. It has been designed to work with all LeapStart books of which there are currently 25 offerings covering various skills that are important to the development of the young child.
A trip to London’s Excel saw the world launch along with about 2000 others from around the planet of the latest flagship phone from Huawei, the Mate20 Pro. Apart from being that bit faster, larger screen and better featured this offered new features including AI effects as well as having no less than three Leica cameras in a square section on its rear.
The Huawei Mate20 Pro measures 15.5x7x.7cm and weighs 189grams. My unit was mirror black but other colours are available. AI which stands for artificial intelligence is a real buzz word these days and in a demonstration I saw a toy stuffed panda come to life and dance on stage with a real person via this phone. So how was that possible? The latest Kirin 980 processor and the triple lenses of the inbuilt Leica camera, plus a lot of skill.
Technology can help with your fitness by using an appropriate device.
As part of its recent marketing activity in the UK, Xiaomi, the world’s fourth largest smartphone manufacturer, announced the release of its Band 3 Fitness Tracker product. This Activity and Fitness Tracker, joining an already crowded market for this type of device, consists of a wristband, Fitness Tracker unit and a USB charging cable plus a User Guide booklet covering numerous languages and making use of a small type face.
Not just another PowerBank but one with enough power to charge a mid-sized Notebook or Tablet so whatever the length of time it can go without slurping up mains power can now be at least doubled by the addition of this offering from Cygnett.
The Cygnett PowerBank ChargeUp Pro 20K measures 17x10x1.5cm and weights 462 grams (a tad over one pound in weight), this is considerably heavier than your average mobile phone PowerBank but this offering from Cygnett offers an amazing 20000mAh capacity. Mine was a duck egg blue in colour apart from the last 1.5cm at the front end that is shiny black. The only other piece of hardware in the box is a short 15cm USB ‘C’ to USB lead.
Having passed 400 THX tests, thus next speaker system had to satisfy me.
Unlike the last Edifier speaker (MP200) which was almost pocket size, the next Edifier speaker system to arrive for review is a totally different and weighty beast. This product is the Edifier M3600D which belongs to the company’s family of 2:1 speaker systems that tend to prefer a more permanent residence from which the audio can be delivered to the current and waiting audience.
These are just gels that fit into the ear there are no wires or brace the Bluetooth connection is direct from the back of the bud to the SmartPhone. Unlike some other devices you can use just one bud should you wish so ideal if you have a hearing aid in the other ear.
Each bud weighs only 6grams. Rather than have a USB lead to clip into the bud the USB connection is to a 57gram case that is also a second battery so if the buds run out of power just place them in the case to recharge even if you are nowhere near external power. So you could wear the buds on your journey to work, place them in the case and they are ready to wear recharged from the case on your journey home. The case is 6x6x3cm and slips easily into a pocket, purse or bag.
This water bottle charges colour according to the temperature of either the internal contents or the external air temperature. While this on the face of it is little more than a gimmick it could possibly have other uses that may be more useful.
My bottle is what is described as peach in colour and even holding it will change that to white, if you fill it with a liquid then you know how much is in it because that’s the level that will be white, clever and perhaps more useful than I stated in my first comment. Reading the information on the link at the end the unit – you purchase – will come with a sleeve that was not sent with my sample and by the launch time there could well be more colours available.
Being a prison guard for a dinosaur does require some specialist equipment.
A few months ago I took a look at WowWee’s Fingerling® UNTAMED™ family of Raptors made up of Stealth, Blaze, Fury and Razor. Now it seems that some of these vicious creatures were not as susceptible to training methods as they should have been and were less likely to respond to the training offered by their young owners. Eager to help when this type of situation occurs occasionally, WowWee has developed its Fingerling’s Untamed Jailbrake T-Rex Playset.
This is the size of a small dogs and is in fact exactly that with tweeters built into the dogs glasses and the main speakers the back of its head, it has a pair of ears a couple of LEDs at the start of the front of the neck and there this wireless speaker ends.
It is 9cm tall and 9cm wide and weighs 129grams. While there is a small tripod screw in its base it sits on a table or desk and outputs whatever music you send it from your phone or other Bluetooth device. Although it has no 3.5mm socket you can also output sounds using the special double ended micro USB charge lead using the Y end that has both a standard USB lead and a 3.5mm lead, this of course needs to be attached to the rear charge point at the back of the dog’s neck.
It is time to meet Ricky, a member of Hasbro’s RealFur family of child-appealing pets.
In the past I have given home room to a parrot and a cat from Hasbro and have to admit they got on reasonable well together. Now it is the turn of a trick-loving puppy to take centre stage as it entertains a young owner who is lucky enough to find this pet among their Christmas presents.. Not being an expert on the subject of dog breeds, I will limit my description of Ricky to his colour scheme of grey with white feature, paws and tail. Unpacking Ricky is an adventure in itself.
A recent distributor event in London saw me get access to several brands new to me one of these was a firm with a range called Kitsound and I left with a pair of Active Noise Cancelling headphones that can be wired or Wireless.
In the box are the on/over ear headphones, a 1metre 3.5mm to 3.5mm lead, a 75cm USB ‘C’ to USB lead for charging, an airplane style connector plug and a drawstring bag to keep everything in when travelling. There was also an eight sided User Manual which at 21x14.5cm was printed single language in a font at a readable size even for those of us with less than perfect sight, others should follow suit.
As well as offering its customers a full range of popular handsets for their communication needs, Vodafone has also developed its own range of handsets.
The latest such device to arrive, forming part of the Vodafone Smart range, is the company’s N9 handset. Adopting the standard Candy bar style of appearance, my review sample of this Smartphone combines an aluminium silver back plate with an Apple White bezel surrounding the handset’s screen. There is also a model with a black Titanium back plate. Supplied with the Vodafone N9 are a USB lead and a 2-pin charging plug plus a set of earphones for private listening sessions.
I am a projector virgin or rather I was until this solid battery offering arrived a few weeks ago. It came with no instructions, it had a power adapter and an HDMI lead so I plugged it into my PC and pressed the power button and after a few seconds I was looking at my Windows desktop. To be fair I had seen lots of other projectors but only as a recipient of another person’s presentation.
This Optoma LV130 LED Projector measures 12.5x10.5x3.5cm and weighs 393grams. It can be placed anywhere standing on its four tiny rubber feet or mounted on a tripod using the tripod screw in the centre of the base. The rear has a line of connections, 3.5mm socket for headphones, HDMI socket (this can also be an MHL socket) USB which can charge at 1A and DC connection. Finally an on/off button with red and green LED’s above it.
Even if like me your daily shave is with an electric or battery razor there is nothing like a wet shave and even though a lot of recent electronic offerings are ‘wet or dry’ the scrape – for want of a better word – of a wet razor is a pleasure. My razor of choice for such a task uses the five blades on offer from Gillette here an offering that will make a perfect gift at a low price.
The Fusion offerings have five blades inline, and for those places like just under your nose another single blade on the other side of the shaving head. To give this gift pack its full name it’s Gillette (Limited Edition) Fusion 5 ProGlide. In the box is the razor 15cm long from base to tip and a stand. 5.5cm down from the head is a rubberised area of just less than 4cm for your thumb with the 6cm below that in chrome.
Robots are not just work horses but can provide fun and entertainment for the youngest members of the family.
With a title that gives a clear indication as to the product’s general appearance, the Boxer (no relation to a hit Paul Simon song) is an interactive box-shaped AI robotic toy. As one of the top twelve entries in the latest DreamToys listing, the Boxer has been developed by Spin Master Toys and is being aimed at the 6+ age group or anybody who is young at heart and enjoys technology.
A lot of devices say ‘fast charge’ however fast charge will never be achieved by plugging the device into a USB port on a PC or even a wall socket unless you have a special plug capable of getting more power to your device which means higher power.
A lot of the figures given with this device are for iOS offerings but more Android devices are now allowing power to be transferred faster and even if your current device does not yet offer it with this plug and lead as supplied by Cygnett you are future proofing. I recently attended a mobile phone launch where the presenter talks about wireless charging and then without pausing mentioned that X% of charge was achievable in Y minutes.
We love our food but does it love us as the issue of body weight needs to be considered.
Obesity is currently a hot topic. You have only to look at your local High Street were you live and consider the meals with which you partake to see how this problem could affect you. Fast food outfits form a major part of our high streets and their offerings make up a significant part of out diets, and I have to include myself as being as guilty as the next person with regards to my selection of meals.
Older articles
Main Menu
