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BenQ treVolo 2 Bluetooth speaker review


REVIEW – I am an audiophile who is favorably biased towards contemporary and smooth jazz as my best appreciated musical genre, followed by classical and easy listening. I do listen to several other genres including reggae, soca, calypso, funk, etc, but I do not consider those genres when I am yearning for an audiophile experience. Apart from my main stereo that can be classified as a piece or pieces of expensive sophisticated furniture, I love smaller components that can provide an audiophile-like experience and are either mobile or can be utilized on-demand in various desired physical locations. The treVolo 2 by BenQ, claims to be an exact fit. Let’s see!!

What is it?

The treVolo 2 by BenQ is a Hi-End Bluetooth audio speaker with built-in electrostatic diaphragm technology. It offers dynamic volume and all-around acoustic clarity. It features optimized acoustic modes all in a very mobile form.

What’s in the box


1 x treVolo 2
1 x AC Power Adapter
1 x Warranty card and Quick Start Guide
1 x treVolo Stand (In separate packaging)

Design and features

Specifications
Frequency Response: 60 Hz – 20 kHz‎
Bluetooth‎: Bluetooth® 4.2
aptX Support‎: Yes‎
NFC‎: No
Input Types‎: 3.5 mm stereo input ; USB audio‎ (DAC)
Duo mode‎: Yes (Stereo / Party mode)‎
Sound Mode: Pure/Warm/Vivid
Playing Time‎: Approx. 12 hours ‎
Key Definition: Power Key, BT Pairing Key‎, Volume Key (+-), Sound Mode Key (End call), Play / Pause (Talk)
LED Indicator‎s: Red LED x 1 ; Blue LED x 1; Green LED x 1‎
Microphone: Yes (For speakerphone function‎)
Battery‎: Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery‎
IO Ports‎: Micro USB x1 ; Line-in x1 ; Line-out x1 , Power Jack x1‎
Input Power Rating‎: DC 12V 2A‎
Temperature Range for Use‎: 0~40º C‎
Dimension‎s: 78.5×174.6×134.6 mm (Closed)‎
Weight: 1.2 kg‎

The treVolo 2 uses the same electrostatic technology that is typically reserved for high-end speaker systems. It was created to reduce harmonic distortion from 10% to less than 1%, to produce a clean, crisp and beautiful sound. “As an improvement over its predecessor the treVolo, the treVolo 2 electrostatic panels have a re-designed grid structure to further reduce the slightest level of vibration, providing a 50% reduction in distortion.” This speaker also features TrueSound technology that is designed to help to improve sound quality on highly compressed legacy audio files. “If the speaker’s DSP chip detects the loss of higher frequency data due to a low bit rate recording or high compression levels, TrueSound will improve the detail in the higher ranges of the audio spectrum.”

Using the Duo Mode, treVolo 2 is equipped to support a pairing of two units to offer flexibility to create different musical experiences.

On top of the treVolo2, there is a cluster of 4 control buttons and a stand-alone power button. As pictured below, the 4 buttons from left to right starting with the top row are, the volume up button, the volume down button, the sound mode/phone hang up button and the play/pause/phone answer button. The large button below them is the power button which has a LED indicator around it that lights blue when the built-in battery power is 81% or more, green when the power is in the range of 80% ~ 31% and red when there is 30% or less power remaining.

At the top of the back of the speaker, there is a relatively large Bluetooth button that allows you reconnect/re-establish your Bluetooth connection.


On the bottom of the back of the speaker, there are 4 ports. From left to right there is the power port, the line out jack, the line in jack and the micro USB port.


The speakers are located on the left and right sides of the treVolo 2, and there is an electrostatic panel on each side that opens outwards to engage the benefits of the electrostatic technology.



The picture below shows how te treVolo2 looks once both electrostatic panels are extended, and the speaker is on the stand.


BenQ also included the stand for the treVolo 2 Speaker. As you can see below, it is an attractive stand. It is well built with a wooden platform base and a nice speaker base with a lip to securely hold the speaker.


Performance

The treVolo 2 Speaker arrived fully assembled, with the battery fully charged and ready to go. I turned it on and it showed up in the Bluetooth device list on my phone and once I selected it, it was ready to go. To be quite honest, there is not much more to it. The speaker is well built with a nice weight to it, and for audiophile listening does quite a good job. The built-in battery lasted almost 10 hours before I noticed that the LED indicator had turned to green and therefore the battery would need charging after a couple more hours of use. In my opinion, this speaker is designed for listening to genres like Jazz, and Classical and easy listening. It provides and really nice balance and separation of the lows, mids, and highs, and the electrostatic panels have a really nice effect that is somewhat hard to put into words. The music reproduction is detailed and clean. Since I wanted to test this speaker with more genres, I connected a powered subwoofer via the line out jack and tested some reggae which sounded ok but not similar to how a boombox would sound, which I think is the preferred way to listen to a genre like Reggae. Again, this is just my personal opinion.

Like most of the Bluetooth speakers that I have tested, the phone function works well and calls are clear for both parties on each end of the line.

What I like

  • The sleek and attractive look
  • The build quality
  • The connectivity options
  • The sound reproduction
  • The clear phone call capability
  • The built-in rechargeable battery
  • The basic EQ options

What can be improved

  • The use of drivers that can handle a bit more of the low frequency and with very little distortion

Final thoughts

The BenQ TreVolo 2 speaker is well designed, well built, sleek, sexy and attractive, and pairs easily and works wonderfully right out of the box for genres like smooth jazz and classical music, as well as easy listening. If the need is to use it to listen to music that inherently includes deep and pronounced bass, then I would suggest using the line out jack to a subwoofer and then tweaking the subwoofer to match. I love the way this speaker sounds and it just oozes BenQ quality. While much of my perspective is based on personal taste and perspective, I do believe that many others will enjoy it immensely if they use it in the way it is designed to be used. I give BenQ another well done and two thumbs up!!

Price: $299 (The optional stand can be purchased from BenQ for $49.99)
Where to buy: BenQ
Sample: The sample for this review was provided by BenQ.

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BenQ treVolo 2 Bluetooth speaker review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on February 9, 2019 at 10:00 am.

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Elegant Themes ‘Extra’ WordPress Magazine Theme – Reviewed (2019)

An Elegant Themes membership has always been great value. However, in the early days most of their designs were pretty basic, and they were criticised for building their business model on quantity rather than quality. At the end of 2013, Elegant Themes released Divi. In doing so, they changed the direction of the company forever…. View Article

The post Elegant Themes ‘Extra’ WordPress Magazine Theme – Reviewed (2019) appeared first on WinningWP.

WRZ S8 Bluetooth Wireless Stereo Magnetic Earbuds review

REVIEW – Here at the Gadgeteer I have reviewed numerous earbuds/headphones, both large and small, wired and wireless.  I have never really fallen in love with any one product when it comes to this category.  I use a Bluetooth headset daily because I talk all day long on the phone, so I have basically resorted to using my daily headset to listen to music if the mood hits me.  And honestly, the Bluetooth headsets I use aren’t really designed to listen to music, they are designed to take phone calls. But the $22 WRZ S8 earbuds peaked my interest.  So let’s see how they performed.

What is it?

Bluetooth wireless earbuds that can be used to listen to audio from your device, as well as take phone calls.

Product specs from the manufacturer:

  • Weight: .5 ounces
  • Up to 10 hours of usage time, 240 hours standby
  • 120mAh battery
  • IPX6 Waterproof suitable for sports, running, Gym, workout, travelling
  • Bluetooth 5.0 with microphone Stereo Noise Cancelling
  • Different size ear tips and ergonomic C-shaped ear hooks to make sure S8 earphones will comfortably fit any shape of ears
  • The magnetic absorption abilities let earbuds easily merge together so they don’t get slip off or tangled when not in use
  • 6 Color Choices
  • Waterproof, suitable for exposure to sweat and water
  • Compatible with most of smartphones, tablet PCs, laptops.
  • 30 day money back guarantee & 12 months warranty

What’s in the box?

  • S8 Wireless Bluetooth Headphones
  • Multiple Ear Tips (S, M, L) & Ear Hooks (1 pair)
  • Cable Clip Management
  • Micro-USB Charging Cable
  • Carrying zippered pouch
  • User Manual

Design and function

First of all, I have never had a set of earbuds that fit as well as the S8s.  Not once have I even felt the slightest fear that the earbuds were getting ready to fall out, regardless of what I was doing.  This design, with the earwings, ensured that they fit perfectly in my ears.  And the soft tips were very comfortable in my ears.  These are the best-fitting earbuds I have ever used. Full stop.

Each earbud has a magnet on it so that when you aren’t using them and just have them hanging around your neck the earbuds will connect to each other.  That’s a nice touch.  I was able to use them to answer calls and I got mostly positive feedback from people on the other end of the call.  It wasn’t as good a call quality as my Plantronics headset, but my goodness, for this price point of around $22 I was pleased.  The S8s also comes with several other earbud tips to make sure you have some that fit.

It wasn’t all good though.  Some things that I don’t like about the S8s are that there aren’t enough voice prompts.  For example, it speaks to you when you turn the S8s on and it says “connecting” when it is connecting your phone, but it never says “connected”.  So I was never sure it actually connected unless I went to the Bluetooth settings and checked, or just tried to play some music.  That is annoying.  Also, the buttons on the in-line controls don’t have enough tactile indicators on them so that you are sure you are pressing the right button.  I was a little disappointed that the sound wasn’t as loud as other earbuds I have owned.  There isn’t much deep bass sound either.  When I was on a plane recently and used the earbuds, I turned the S8s all the way up and it still wasn’t loud enough to drown out all the noise from the plane.

Final thoughts

I have chosen these earbuds as my daily go-to for listening to music.  I wish they were a little louder sometimes, and I wish there were more voice prompts to tell me what was happening, but for a price of around $22, I can’t complain.  Throw in the zippered pouch to keep everything together and easy to carry, and I do recommend these earbuds for everyone.

Price: $21.98
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by WRZ.

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WRZ S8 Bluetooth Wireless Stereo Magnetic Earbuds review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on February 7, 2019 at 9:00 am.

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ROCCAT Vulcan 120 AIMO mechanical keyboard review

REVIEW – I have been using my old ROCCAT keyboard for a few years now, and despite checking out several other keyboards in the past, I keep going back to my old faithful. A new challenger has appeared, this time from ROCCAT themselves with their Vulcan 120 AIMO mechanical keyboard. With its smaller size and fully customizable RGB lighting, will it be able to dethrone it’s predecessor? Let’s find out.

What is it?

The ROCCAT Vulcan 120 AIMO is a gaming keyboard that is stylish and easy to use.

Hardware specs

  • ROCCAT Titan Switches
  • 1.8mm Actuation Points with 3.6mm Travel Distance
  • Ultra-light key-caps
  • RGB customizable to each key with 16.8 million color choices
  • 18.1″ x 9.25″ x 1.25″ in size

What’s in the box?

In the box you’ll find the owners manual, ROCCAT Vulcan 120 mechanical keyboard, and removable magnetic palm rest.

Design and features

I already had the ROCCAT swarm software installed, and it detected my keyboard when I plugged it in. You can plug and play without the software or download it from their website to customize the colors, key bindings, gaming profiles, and more.

Because I love colorful things, I customized the keyboard to exactly the color scheme I wanted. Each key can be customized with color, intensity, and effect. As an Overwatch player, I had to make sure my “Q” button had an effect, while the rest of the keys stayed a solid color. When I put my computer to sleep at night, I was happy to see that the lights turned off.

The keyboard, without the palm rest, is about the same size as most standard keyboards. There’s not a lot of excess on the sides, which is nice, because it makes my desk look less cluttered. Adding the palm rest to the bottom adds a little bit to the size, but it is much more manageable than my previous keyboard.

One thing that I would improve with this keyboard is the palm rest and how it attaches to the keyboard. Most of the time, when my palms are against it, it stays in place, but if I press down a little too hard where it hangs slightly over the edge of the desk, it will pop up easily. I feel that if there was a little stronger magnet that attaches it to the keyboard, it would stay in place. Is it a game breaker? No, but it can be annoying during an intense gaming moment.

The keys feel much different than my old keyboard. They do not have the smooth glide that my old one does, but they do have a nice tactile feel when you press each key down. I knew when each key was pressed. Each press of the key was also a tiny bit quicker, which I tested by putting the keyboards side by side and pressing the keys at the same time.

While my gaming hasn’t improved due to the keyboard, it certainly hasn’t gotten worse. I experienced no issues with multiple key presses, keys not registering, or key presses being slow to register. Typing is just as easy as it was on the previous keyboard. The click each key makes when typing is about as loud as most other mechanical keyboards that I have tried. It may annoy someone trying to sleep in the same room as the keyboard while in use, but it shouldn’t annoy them if they are on their computer as well.

Another thing I like about the Vulcan 120 AIMO is the volume/multimedia wheel. Yes, I can press FN and use the number keys to control volume, but it is just so much quicker this way. The location they added it, on the top right, also is out of the way yet easy to access if needed. I only used it for volume controls, but pressing the FX button next to it offers access to the multimedia functions if desired.

The aluminum top plate gives the keyboard an overall sturdy feel. It has resisted/hidden dust quite well compared to the black plastic areas. The palm rest is also made of quality plastic since I have tested it by it dropping on the ground several times on accident. There are rubber pieces on the bottom of the keyboard to prevent it from sliding around and it worked well. Also, on the top of each side there is a flip-up foot that is a little wider than some of the other keyboards I’ve tried out, and I prefer this because not once has it accidentally flipped down when moving the keyboard around.

What I like

  • Very easy/quick to press keys
  • Dedicated volume controls on the keyboard
  • Customizable colors on each key
  • Easy to set up and use

What needs to be improved

  • The magnetic wrist rest needs a stronger magnet.

Final thoughts

Overall, I really liked the ROCCAT Vulcan 120 AIMO mechanical keyboard. It worked great for both gaming and everyday use and is customized to my own style. Each key gives a light click when pressed, and it does not seem as loud as some of my previous keyboards. Alas, it has dethroned its old ancestor, and I will be sticking with this one in the future. If you are in the market for a fully customizable keyboard, the ROCCAT Vulcan 120 AIMO is one I would recommend taking a look at.

Price: $159.99
Where to buy: Best Buy
Source: The sample of this product was provided by ROCCAT.

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ROCCAT Vulcan 120 AIMO mechanical keyboard review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on February 6, 2019 at 10:00 am.

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Bond smart Wi-Fi ceiling fan remote hub review

REVIEW – If your home is anything like mine, remotes rule your life, especially for your home audio/video. If you have ceiling fans with wireless control, it only adds to the clutter.

I have been searching for a solution to both eliminate my remote clutter and also add voice control to my four ceiling fans. Olibra has a solution. Enter Bond. Bond Home.

What is it?

Bond is a hub that adds remote control for wireless ceiling fans, both from Android or Apple devices and from Amazon Echo or Google Assistant.

What’s in the box?

Bond comes with the hub itself, a micro USB cable, wall plug, a very basic setup guide, and a future feature card.

Hardware specs

  • Width: 3.75″
  • Height: 1.1″
  • Network connectivity: Wi-Fi only
  • Power: micro USB
  • Remotes supported: Radio frequency (RF) and infrared (IR)

There is no network port on the Bond. It connects to your network via Wi-Fi.

Design and features

The design is fairly typical for a device hub. It is glossy black plastic and feels sturdy in the hand. The top center ring lights up various colors, depending on the mode. It shines white when first plugged in, flashes green when ready, shines blue when online, flashes blue in learning mode, flickers blue when learning a remote and shines red when there is a problem.

The hub itself doesn’t really do anything but send out signals. The real magic is in the Bond app. Available from both iTunes and the Google Play store for no cost, the Bond app drives all the functions.

Setup and installation

First, connect the Bond hub to the network. If you have ever added any type of hub to your network, you already know the drill. Install the app, set up an account, connect the hub to your network by providing your network name and Wi-Fi password in the Bond app. Once you do that, the hub indicator ring will change from green to blue, indicating that the hub is online. This is where the fun begins.

Click “Add a Device” in the Bond app. The app prompts for the type of device to add.

Currently, Bond supports ceiling fans, some electronic fireplaces and is in beta for some air conditioners. If the app is to be believed, support for a bunch of other devices is in the works.

After choosing Ceiling Fan, the app prompts to choose a specific button on the remote and press it while holding the remote within a few inches of the Bond hub. The indicator flashes blue to indicate it is ready to learn.

The indicator will flicker as it reads the wireless signal from the remote and then flashes green to acknowledge it read it correctly. Bond maintains an extensive database of fan remotes and their associated signals. Once the hub reads the signal and the app looks up the specifics in the database, it will return a list of functions it thinks the remote has. Confirm that by testing the fan functions by hitting the remote button icons in the app. The app supports multi-speed fans and fans with upward and downward facing lights, with or without dimmers. Once the functions are confirmed, provide a name for the device and it is ready to be controlled from the app.

In this screenshot, “Living Room” is the name of the Bond Hub. I have four devices added to that hub, my four fans.

Bond can control up to six devices per hub. You can add as many hubs as needed and switch between hubs in the app.

Bond supports voice control via both Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. I integrated with Alexa for this review. Alexa supports Bond via an Alexa skill that needs to be added in the Alexa app. The skill needs your Bond username and password. Once linked, have the Alexa app discovers devices and the Bond devices show up in Alexa. With my four fans, each with a light, eight new devices showed up as expected. Once they were there, I could turn my fans on and off, change speed, and turn the associated light on and off by voice.

One of the issues with a device like this is that many ceiling fans remotes toggle the lights on and off. What this means is that the remote doesn’t know if the light is on or off, it just sends a “change state” command to the fan and the fan changes the state of the light. If it is off, it turns on and if it is on, it turns off. Since the app functions essentially like a remote, that isn’t an issue. But, if you add voice control, Alexa or Google Assistant won’t know if the light is on or off, so a voice command to turn it on or off, may not work.

Bond has a solution for that with Light State Tracking.

Basically, the Bond app remembers the state of any light. So, when you tell Alexa to turn on the light and Bond thinks it is on, it does nothing. The caveat here is that if you use the physical remote, Bond has no knowledge of that. So, if you turn a light on or off with the physical remote, be sure to change it back again, also with the remote, or Bond will be out of sync and think on is off and off is on.

All my fans are three-speed fans. The app says that I should be able to control the speed by saying, “Alexa, turn on central fan, speed <1, 2 or 3>”. That has never worked. Alexa acknowledges the request, but the hub does nothing. Instead, I have to say, “Alexa, turn on central fan <33%, 66%, 100%>”, for low, medium or high speeds, respectively. It’s a minor quibble, but “…speed <1,2,3>” makes more sense to me than “speed <x>%”.

One ongoing issue is that Alexa and the hub seem to have occasional spats where they aren’t talking to each other. I can’t identify any cause or repeatable series of events that cause it. Eventually, they kiss and make up and everything works as designed.

All my fans are RF devices, meaning that the remote uses radio signals for communication. My Bond device is in the living room, near both the central fan and piano fan. It works perfectly with the bedroom fan and bathroom fan that are in different rooms. Bond also supports infrared (IR) devices. Of course, this means that the Bond device has to be able to physically see the device to be controlled, as IR signals are light and require a line of sight from the hub to the device.

Another nice app feature, at least on Android devices, is widget support.

You can add one widget for each fan, including one or more buttons on the widget.  If you include a single button, the widget shows that one function button.  I chose to add most of the features – light on/off, fan power and all three-speed settings.  The widget produced is a clever scrolling widget, allowing access to all the buttons from a single, scrollable widget.  Pretty slick.

Finally, Bond supports IFTTT (If This Then That). I set up automations with my Ecobee 4 thermostat. If the temperature in the living room is under 75 degrees, IFTTT has Bond set the fan to low (30% is IFTTT’s speed 1). IFTTT triggers Bond to bump the central fan to 50% (speed 2) if the living room hits 77 degrees and 100% (speed 3) at 79 degrees.

What I like

  • Attractive design
  • Easy setup
  • Alexa & Google Assistant support
  • Wide range of supported remotes
  • Widget support for one-touch control from my phone

What needs to be improved

  • Limiting the hub to six devices seems short-sighted, but the app does support multiple hubs
  • Minor usability issues with fan speed voice commands
  • Occasional Alexa/hub communication failures

Final thoughts

This was the only solution of this type that I could find. It brought voice and/or phone control to my fans, and eliminated clutter in the living room and on the nightstands. Sitting in the chair after playing a couple hours of pickleball and being able to say, “Alexa, turn central fan on, 100%” is a real asset to my automated house lifestyle. Having the fan automatically speed up and slow down with the temperature when we have the windows open is a real plus as well.

Lutron has just announced a potential competitor in this space, the Caséta speed controller, although Lutron’s website makes it look like the fan needs to have a wired controller. That doesn’t help me as my fans are all wireless. We shall see once more details are released.

Overall, I really like the Bond hub and what it has added to my automated home. It is a bargain for the price.

Price: $99.99
Where to buy: Bond, Amazon or Home Depot
Source: I purchased Bond with my own funds.

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Bond smart Wi-Fi ceiling fan remote hub review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on February 5, 2019 at 11:00 am.

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