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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

 
As the years pass, often faster than we may like, we take a journey through the various stages of life.

Protecting your data : Passwords

Unlike more traditional insurance schemes, the use of a password can offer free protection insurance.
887964 FAIRPHONE FP

Fairphone 3

This is an unusual phone, it does not have the latest and fastest processor, nor does it have the largest screen in the thinnest body, it is sold at a premium price but unlike the competition you can get into it and it even comes with a screwdriver so instead of the standard 12-18 months life this is marketed for a five year cycle of use.
While a large percentage of the world rely on their phones for day to day communication every phone has small amounts of precious metals and so every new phone ‘rapes’ the world that little bit more so has this offering from Fairphone got a place? Going around the outside sees the first change the right side is clear, the base has microphone and USB ‘C’ connector, the left side has two raised buttons on/off and volume rocker. The top has microphone and a 3.
Size isn't everything as a small witch takes on the challenge of the Pumpkin Peril.
Developed by Mixo Games, Little Witchelsa – Pumpkin Peril belongs to the Match-3 genre of game play.  As you might suppose from the clues in the game’s title, this Match-3 offering contains a heavy influence of graveyards, spooks, spells and demons plus a Halloween scenario.  The game’s central characters are the little witch Elsa and Marlow who is a wizard-like being.
Without needing to pack a bag or renew your passport, you can travel to various Ancient World sites and test your puzzle solving skills with this next game.
Developed by Funny Bear Studios, World Riddles - Seven Wonders takes you on a journey to visit the Seven Wonders of the ancient world.  Built in the times that features the mighty pharaohs, mythical gods, great military leaders and the like, these accomplishments of beauty and art present the modern day visitor with a series of game playing challenges.  As there are different types of riddles, so the game offers the player a variety of challenges to test their mettle.
When walking along London's Regent Street you might be distracted by Hamleys new window display.
Every new Pen camera from Olympus is a pleasure to review. For such a small overall unit to give brilliant quality images and video without you having to be a semi-professional user is great. This latest offering camera only was sent with the new 14-42mm lens so I could review it.
The Olympus  Pen E-PL10 measures 12.5x6x6cm and weights 471 grams. There is about 3cm of extension with the lens. Let’s start with the top of the camera, pop up flash, flash shoe, nine position wheel, and finally on/off button. On either side of the top are neck strap anchor points. The left side is clear, while the right side has a door covering HDMI and USB sockets. The base has tripod screw and the solid battery bay as well as SD slot. The face has the motorised lens.
As its title indicates, this next offering is made up of five games belonging to the Hidden Object genre.
A picture, so they say, may be worth a thousand words but sometimes the image does not tell the complete story. Images, especially those of celebrities, have sometimes been doctored to enhance and modify the original image by specialist using software such as PortraitPro 19 from Anthropics Technology.
This product is available in Standard, Studio and Studio Max versions with this review being based on the top-of-the-range 64-bit PortraitPro 19 Studio Max offering.  As its title should indicate, this software's main focus is concerned with the facial features of the subject featured in an image.  This software does work best when dealing with a full face or profile view of the main character featured in the image.
887657 Philips Moda 276C8 LCD monito

Philips 276C8

This is a 27inch flat panel that is for normal home or office use, it is not sold as a gaming panel so the refresh rate can be a little slower. However it is also a panel with USB ‘C’ as a connection method so its bang up to date.
The Philips 276C8 measures 61x35.5x.8cm. Its stand is 18x18cm and this raises the screen by 8.5cm from whatever it rests upon, however cables attach to the rear of the stand so another 4cm is required to insert or remove them. The viewable screen is 59x33cm. The unit displays up to 2560x1440 which is Quad HD a lot more than standard 1920x1080. The notional diagonal imperial measurement is 27inches. The Refresh rate is 75HZ. The weight with stand is 4.26kilos.
ewel Match Twilight 3 is the latest edition to Suricate Games’ Match-3 series. As the game’s title might indicate, this offering has a ghostly theme as it features eerie sounds and abandoned buildings that require restoring. This review is based on a Collector’s Edition of the game that comes with bonus levels, spooky wallpaper and music.
Jewel Match Twilight 3 is the latest edition to Suricate Games’ Match-3 series.  As the game’s title might indicate, this offering has a ghostly theme as it features eerie sounds and abandoned buildings that require restoring.  This review is based on a Collector’s Edition of the game that comes with bonus levels, spooky wallpaper and music.
Adding to its extensive catalogue of play and educational toys, VTech offer a sea lion.
Splish! Splash! when taking a bath some company might well be appreciated Especially by the young and those who are young at heart Who would not mind, even enjoy sharing the water with a sea lion. For those looking for a sea lion companion to share their bath time, with or without soap bubbles, VTech has a possible offering that might be suitable.  This is the appropriately named "Toot-Toot Splash Sea Lion" from the company's Splash Point series to entertain and educate young children.
Winging its way from China comes a set of Bluetooth earbuds with its own charging case
The PaMu Scroll is a set of Bluetooth earbuds that follow the recent trend of arriving with its own charging case that can provide a useful source of additional power and a facility for storing the earbuds when not in use.
887588 Philips Series 9000 Prestige Wet & Dry Electric Shave

Philips S9000 Prestige

This is not a cheap electric razor in fact you could probably buy several cheap electric razors for the cost of this one. This razor removes a week’s stubble quickly and without any discomfort either at the time or later. It has three round heads for the shaving part these pop off to attach the hair trimming head and there is yet another head for another purpose.
The unit with shaving head is close to square at the end with the three heads at 5cm and it is 16cm long. It comes with a wireless charging plate 18x11cm and the razor sits on its back on the plate there is a slight indentation at one end that takes the shaving head. It comes with a two pin plug – the only one that should be found in a bathroom – that has a USB socket on one side. The plate has a hard wired USB lead of 1.2 metres long.
With a title of Hive View, the subject of this next review has to be a security camera that has been designed to keep you informed as to what is happening in the home when you are on your travels.
The Hive View security camera kit consists of the actual camera unit, various power plugs and connecting cable, screws, wall plugs plus mini User Guide and warranty document. .  Deck out in white, the camera unit comes in three parts.  These are the well-made camera unit, metallic base plate and stand unit.  The various components can easily be slotted together for a free standing device or you could opt to have the camera wall-mounted using the supplied screws and wall plugs.
Are you ready for a story about a journey? Maybe it is not to the destination you would opt for given the choice. But Vendel Games hope you will accept the invitation.
Downloaded from Gamehouse.com, Love Chronicles - Death's Embrace is of the Hidden Object genre developed by Vendel Games.  I have been checking out the Collector's Edition of this particular title.  Bundled with the main game are a number of bonus offerings  that Vendel Games hopes will add extra appeal to your trip to the Underworld.
This indoor camera is shaped like a wheel and has a slightly magnetic base so it stays where you put it. Like most such items it is controlled by an App. The setup is therefore almost entirely on your phone. Place the camera and insert the long micro USB lead and answer a number of questions on the phones screen and then you have a working security camera.
This indoor security camera from Somfy measures 9x9x4cm without the small curved base it sits on. The box it comes in has three layers first the camera, then after removing the top layer the three metre (10 foot) micro USB to USB lead and on the final layer dual EU and UK plugs with USB front. Plug in the plug to a power outlet attach the full sized USB end to the plug front and then anywhere within three metres place the camera and plug the micro USB end of the lead into the rear of the camera.
Looking after your teeth is not a task to be taken lightly.
Similar, but not identical in its outward appearance to the Colgate 250R electric toothbrush reviewed recently, the company's E1 product is a Smart Electronic Toothbrush.  White in colour, the E1 toothbrush consists of a handle unit and replaceable brush head.  The toothbrush handle does have a couple of differences that help distinguish it from the 250R model.

Who is in Charge? : Hive

For those who like being in charge, the results of a survey indicate some pointers.
887552 Olympus E M5 Mark III Body Silve

Olympus OM-D E M5 III

This offering was sent to me body only but with a 12-40 lens for my testing. I was surprised first by the way it arrived in a brown box with each part bubble wrapped and second when I mentioned no manual to be told no printed manuals are supplied now with any of our cameras. Even for someone used to using an interchangeable lens unit surely no manual is not the way to go, however you can still download one in PDF from the website.
The Olympus OM-D E M5 III body measures 11.5x8x4.5cm without lens. With the supplied 12-40mm lens attached the last figure increases to between 12.5 and 15.5cm. The weight is 800 grams without neck strap which I assume is included although not sent to me. All the outputs are on the left side behind rubber bungs. The base has tripod screw and solid battery bay, the SD card slot is on the right behind a snap shut door.
Collect and decorate the wheels of Ritzy Rollerz.
As I was taking my leave of the latest DreamToys 2019 event, following hearing about the release of the Top 12 Toys, as selected by a panel of retailers and industry experts, I was handed a copy of Ritzy Rollerz™.  This gift was from the Tomy Series 2 Besties product line-up.  The company feel that this product had been developed and was suitable for the 4 plus age group of children.
Oppo headsets have always been different, instead of putting a cheap pair of earbuds in the box that probably never get used they sell better quality offerings. Here a round the neck set of buds that look quite old fashioned but instead of a 3.5mm plug there is no plug as they are Bluetooth and work rather well with any phone.
There is 25cm of cord from each end of the grippy rubber that goes around the neck this is stiffened and thickened in a 45cm loop to connect the other earbud. There are two buttons split by the volume rocker at the end of the stiffened area that is horseshoe shape to lie comfortably around the neck.

Game Player Survey : Hyperoptic

Children and parents have different views regarding game and its role in life.
When the Oppo Reno 10x Zoom arrived for review, I felt a certain affinity with the product.
This was due to the Oppo part of its title as this was a palindrome - a word that is spelt the same way forwards and backwards.  My date of birth is a palindrome with numbers replacing letters.  I was also tempted to reduce the product title to just Oppo Reno in order to save on the wear and tear of my typing figures.  However, know that a Oppo Reno product had also been released, I decided to stick with the full title to avoid any possible confusion.
When out and about and wanting to listen to music then headphones are often the way to remove external noise. This could also be true in a household where there are several occupants. Here a set of small on ear headphones that could suit.
Weight is not normally the first item I mention but at only 180 grams they are light for a set of headphones. Next is the size as the arms fold in on themselves a size of 16x14x7cm makes them easy to slip into a bag or pocket. They can be as little as 15cm from the base of the earpiece to the top head band but there is up to three centimetres of expansion in each arm so they should fit most heads.
The Raspberry Pi 4 Model B Starter Kit from OKdo, a brand of the long-established Electrocomponents Group, brings together all the special items necessary to get started and put together a computer based on the 4GB Raspberry Pi 4 Model B single board computer.
In addition to the Pi itself the kit includes power supply, cables, heat sinks, microSD card with operating system pre-loaded, and a Raspberry Pi case with an integrated fan. This latter is important because the Pi 4 is more powerful than earlier versions and so needs the enhanced cooling that a fan will provide. (You provide your own monitor, keyboard and mouse.
You might find some surprises when checking the details of famous paintings.
During the initial development stages in the construction of a Hidden Object game, important consideration needs to be given to the various locations used to place the various objects to be discovered.  In the case of this next title, the game's developers hit on the idea of using famous items of artwork.  The player's task is to find the listed items integrated into paintings and restore the paintings to their original state.
887512 icebreaker po

IceBreaker Pop

Picture a normal mid sized ice cube tray and place another upside down on top of it and you arrive quite close to what you have with IceBreaker Pop. There is more to it including the ability to keep other items frozen for longer.
The IceBreaker Pop measures 20x11.5x3.5cm at one end and 5cm at the top end. However a normal ice cube tray is open here it is closed – sealed - so does not need to be laid flat while freezing and no chance of taking in tastes from other items. The instructions as received by me were on a brown cardboard sleeve in the now popular illustration format. Being old I did not find them that easy to follow and a couple of attempts were required to get the desired results.
A visit to a Soho hotel introduced me to a high-end amplifier product.
For those that are not too familiar with Cyrus, I should explain that Cyrus is a British company specialising in high performance, upgradable Hi-Fi systems.  Over the past 35 years, the company has been hard at work developing modular audio room-friendly products that are claiming to make listening to music to be an emotional experience.  The latest product to emerge from Cyrus is the earlier mentioned Cyrus ONE Cast.
887499 Colgate ProClinical Whitening Rechargeable Electric Toothbrus

Bargain Buy Electric Toothbrush

Probably better known for its toothpaste, Colgate also produces a range of toothbrushes..
Released under the banner of being "Tough on Plague, Gentle on Gums" as it provides a deep clean service, the Colgate ProClinical product consists of a handle unit and a brush head which is already in place and ready for action.  The sleek and white handle unit houses a rechargeable battery that can hold enough power for two daily cleaning sessions over a period of ten days.
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