Home Reviews

The Coolest Cooler review

REVIEW – The Coolest Cooler is a very expensive, multi-featured cooler that acts more like a mini mobile bar than a traditional cooler that you’d take along for a day at the beach. At a whopping $399.99 for the version that includes a blender, portable Bluetooth speaker, and USB charging port, the Coolest Cooler definitely isn’t for everyone. You could certainly source all of these components elsewhere, spending less money and getting better overall quality. But, if you’re willing to pay a premium to have a bunch of cool mediocre, albeit functional, features all wrapped up in one package, then this just might be the cooler for you.

What is it?

The Coolest Cooler originated as an insanely popular 2014 Kickstarter campaign that became a victim of its own success. Supporters have literally waited years for their coolers to arrive. Now that the cooler is available for purchase by everyone, Coolest is working hard to fulfill all of the supporters’ original orders.

The cooler itself is basically a one-stop-shop for everything you might need on a beach, tailgating, boating, or picnic excursion. The designers tried really hard to anticipate your needs in a bunch of different situations and, for the most part, they were able to address a lot of them. But, unfortunately, the Coolest Cooler’s components don’t all shine in every environment, they’re kind of average overall. This mediocrity is pretty frustrating after laying out around $400 for a cooler that was pitched as next best thing.

The Coolest Cooler comes in a big, heavy box with a cute little quote on it. Although, this quote might not seem too cute to the original Kickstarter supporters, some of whom are still waiting for their coolers to ship well after they became available on Amazon to other consumers.

The cooler is well packed and works great as additional shipping protection for all of its components.

What’s in the box?

  • 1 Coolest Cooler
  • 1 Blender Pitcher
  • 1 Coolest Bluetooth Speaker
  • 1 Speaker Charging Cable
  • 1 3.5 mm Aux Audio Cable
  • 1 20-volt Rechargeable Battery
  • 1 Battery Recharging Adapter
  • 1 Power Supply for Battery Recharging Adapter
  • 1 Corkscrew
  • 4 Hard Plastic Plates/Frisbees
  • 1 Ceramic Knife
  • 1 Cooler Divider/Cutting Board
  • 2 Instruction Manuals
  • 1 Mix Master Guide

Hardware specs

  • Cooler
    • Dimensions: 26″ (L) x 21″ (W) x 19″ (H)
    • Internal Volume: 55 quarts
    • Weight Empty: 38.3 lbs
    • Insulation: Polyurethane foam
    • Battery: Removable 20-volt rechargeable
  • Speaker
    • Casing: Water resistant
    • Dimensions: 5.8″ (L) x 1.9″ (W) x 3.7″ (H)
    • Drivers: Dual 5-watt
    • Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.0 and 3.5mm aux input
    • Battery: Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion
    • Charging: Micro USB port

Design and features

When you first open the Coolest Cooler, you can feel that it has a great build quality. All of the parts feel a little heavier than you’d expect, which bodes well for its future durability. Although weighing in at close to 40lbs empty, I wouldn’t mind if it was a little bit lighter overall.

The hinges, screws, axle, and other metal hardware in the cooler are made of rust-resistant stainless steel. At this price point, I expect that type of construction, but it’s still nice to see every time you open the lid.

A lot of thought went into the design of this cooler, highlighted here by the inside of the left lid which has a cup holder and spot for the blender pitcher to rest while you’re retrieving ice.

A place for everything and everything in its place. The OCD part of me loves the organization of this cooler and how everything has a neat little place to be stowed. The seams and fit of the cooler are impeccable and the lines are beautifully designed. Again, you can see where the high price comes from; there’s no play in the lid or jiggle on the wheels. There is a lot of play in the collapsible handle though, but we’ll get to that later.

The included plastic blender pitcher fits perfectly into its designated spot and during use, it feels as though it would stay in place even without the requisite hand held over its top.

The pitcher also has cool markings on the side approximating levels for drink mixes and ice cubes.

The red spring-loaded switch on the left side of the cooler runs the blender and due to a magnetic kill switch, will only work if the blender is sitting properly in place. The blender doesn’t have different modes like a home blender would have; pull the switch down, the blender goes, release the switch, the blender stops. You can kind of pulse it manually if needed.

A great add-on to the Coolest Cooler is the Coolest Outdoor Bluetooth Speaker. I love the design of this speaker. It’s got a great rubberized, water-resistant exterior, large easy-to-use buttons, and a shiny grill that looks like it came off of a hot rod from the fifties.

The back of the speaker hides an impressive little 2 by 3-inch bass driver.

Once set up, the speaker can be paired with other Coolest Speakers to sync to music coming from one source, a feature called Party Pairing.

The speaker has a non-removable internal battery and two ports behind a water resistant flap on the side.

The ports are for the included micro USB charging cable and a 3.5mm aux cable for playing music from devices that don’t support Bluetooth.

Like most of the items on the Coolest Cooler, the speaker has a nice little home for storage, in this case, nestled behind the panel on the cooler’s face.

The panel allows the speaker to come along for the ride while still blasting out the beach jams.

The panel lid locks into place and secures the speaker to prevent it from falling out during rough transport.

A bottle opener is also located on the front of the cooler. The back plate of the bottle opener is magnetized to catch the fallen bottle caps, great design ideas at work.

There’s an included corkscrew as well that stows neatly inside the speaker compartment by attaching magnetically to the interior. Coolest also suggests that this is a good place to store your keys.

The collapsible handle works well but could pose potential problems during heavy beach use. The handle itself, once extended, has a lot of play in it and it feels very much like one wrong turn with a cooler filled with ice, food, and bottled beverages will twist the handle, damaging it.

One common user complaint is that sand renders the handle unusable by easily getting jammed into the sections and preventing it from collapsing. Coolest addresses this issue by saying that it designed the handle to have play in it specifically to allow sand to escape the sections. That explanation doesn’t sound particularly logical to me and could just be some savvy damage control.

The cooler tires are very wide and rubberized, supposedly twice as wide as most wheeled coolers, but users have complained that they are only really effective over flat, hard surfaces.

In deep sand, the small clearance of these tires renders them useless compared to the bigger, balloon-like knobby tires you see on all of those beach wagons beach goers use these days.

Coolest has called out this tire shortcoming as well, noting that the bottom of the cooler was designed to be shaped like a sled to be easily pulled over loose sand. Again, sounds good on paper, but that’s small consolation when you’re dragging your very heavy $400 cooler through the sand to find a good spot on the beach.

Continuing on with features, inside of the right lid are the stowed hard plastic plates and ceramic cutting knife.

The rustproof ceramic knife is held safely in place inside a plastic sheath held closed with a red plastic retainer.

This knife is ridiculously sharp, so be very careful using it, especially after downing a few freshly made frozen concoctions.

After use, the cooler’s four dishwasher safe plates fit snugly back into their rubber-lined slot under the lid. As an added bonus, Coolest designed the plates to work as basic frisbees. I was disappointed though to receive bland white plates instead of plates color matched to my cooler as depicted on Coolest’s website.

The interior of the cooler is pretty spacious. The wheel wells take up a bit of room as does the battery pack on the underside of the left lid.

There’s a removable divider that helps keep ice meant for drinks separate from ice meant for keeping food cold. I was pretty surprised at how much stuff I was able to fit inside the cooler even with the divider in place.

Once removed, the divider also functions as a cutting board, another great intuitive design feature.

Removing the divider will give you a lot more space to store your drinks and food.

Another great feature on the cooler’s interior is a LED light for seeing what’s in the cooler once the sun goes down. Just hit the metal button inside the left lid and you no longer have to search aimlessly in the dark for that last can of PBR. And if you forget to shut the light off because you’ve had one too many PBRs, no worries, it has an auto-off function. The odd thing about this is with the divider in place, the light doesn’t really illuminate the right side of the cooler where most of your drinks would be stored. The light is more useful when the divider isn’t in place though.

Housed inside the left lid is the 20-volt rechargeable battery that powers the blender and the USB charging port. Simply slide the battery into the lid dock and you’re good to go. The battery took about three hours to fully charge the first time and is supposedly good for about six straight minutes of blending. That works out to around 16 pitcher 20-second blends. My testing came in a bit below that and I wasn’t using the USB port for charging.

One thing that concerns me about the battery is how many times Coolest mentions that if you allow the battery to fully discharge during storage it will “sustain irreversible damage”. That really worries me, mainly because I only use my coolers during the summertime. There’s a good chance I may forget to check the level on the battery of my cooler that I threw in the back of my garage after my last camping trip at the end or middle of the summer. And with the price of a replacement battery coming in at $50, this isn’t something I’d want to deal with.

Anyway, as long as the battery is working you can use it to charge your devices via the USB port located on the back of the cooler behind a waterproof plug.

Inside the cooler on the right side, you’ll find the compartment’s drain plug.

The interior drain for the cooler has a recessed area around it to help prevent clogging.

The external drain plug is located on the underside of the cooler between the wheels.

One major drawback here is that there isn’t a tether on the drain plug, so it’s very easy to lose, especially when Coolest recommends leaving the plug off to keep food stored in the cooler from getting soggy.

Just inside of the telescoping handle on the rear of the Coolest Cooler is the “Done in One” tie-down bungee cord.

The cord is long and adjustable and is secured around the front face plate of the cooler.

I think this is a great addition to the cooler, another one of those well-thought-out design features, but I worry the thin bungee cord won’t last more than one summer’s worth of excursions. It would’ve been nice to see something a little thicker here in its place.

Performance

In my testing, the Coolest Cooler kept ice cold for about the same amount of time as my old Coleman camping cooler. The Coolest Speaker was about as loud and clear on tracks like L’Trimm’s “Cars with the Boom” as my Echo Dot. The Coolest Blender blended ice about as well as my $17 Hamilton Beach Personal Blender. Do you see the point I’m making here?

The Coolest Cooler is a beautiful piece of equipment, don’t get me wrong. I love all of the smart little design features. I love that the bungee cord secures around the face of the cooler which holds the speaker, which looks like a retro futuristic radio. I love the large wide handles on the side and extra wide low-rider tires and the slick font of the Coolest logo. In short, if design and aesthetic, along with ease of use, are important to you, then the Coolest Cooler is the way to go. Otherwise, you can find better, more effective versions of these elements elsewhere.

What I like

  • Great all-in-one functionality
  • Sturdy construction of cooler itself
  • Well-designed and intuitive features

What needs to be improved

  • Very expensive for what you’re getting
  • Overall performance lacking
  • Pop-up handle feels weak
  • Heavy even when empty

Final thoughts

The Coolest Cooler does a lot of things well. It keeps your food and drinks cold, not for a super long time, but for long enough. It can blend your frozen drinks, not perfectly smooth, but smooth enough. And it can play your music, not totally clear and loud, but loud enough. Basically, the Coolest Cooler will get you where you need to go, but you’re going to pay handsomely for that frozen-drink-filled, Bluetooth-music-thumping, frisbee-plate-throwing trip. Sure, you can build your own Coolest Cooler feature set for much less than $400, but where’s the fun in that?

Price: $449.99
Where to buy: Coolest and Amazon.
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Coolest.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged:

The Coolest Cooler review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 23, 2018 at 9:00 am.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.

AmpliFi Instant System review


REVIEW – I live in an apartment building that was built many years ago and besides its very thick brick walls, all of the studs are metal. It is surprising to see how much this construction can weaken an otherwise great wireless signal. My initial solution was to place additional access points in the areas with a weakness in the signal, and that seemed to work for a while. However every so often, my Roku and Amazon streaming sticks seemed to still suffer from a weakness in the signal. I was very excited when I got the opportunity to test the Amplifi Instant System, with the hope that it would finally solve my wireless signal woes. Let’s see if it did.

What is it?

The Amplifi Instant System is a network mesh system that allows you to extend the reach of your wireless network to ensure a strong signal in areas beyond the capabilities of your base modem/router.

What’s in the box


1 x Amplifi Instant Router
1 x Mesh Point
2 x AC Adapters
1 x Instruction Manual
1 x Ethernet Cable

Design and features

Specifications:

On one side of the Instant Router, there is an ethernet port for connection to the main router or modem, an additional pass-through port to hard wire to another device, and the USB AC adapter port.


On the front of the Instant Router, there is a touchscreen that shows the date, time and status of the router.


On one side of the mesh device, there is an ethernet port that allows you to hardwire another device and the USB AC port.


At the bottom of each component, there is a LED light that goes around the entire base.

Performance

Setting up this system literally took only a few minutes. Once I connected the Instant Router to my main router, and downloaded the app, and followed the easy steps through the app, the router was fully functional and ready to go. I then plugged in the mesh device in an area in my home with a usually very weak signal, and via the app was quickly able to make the wireless connection between the router and the mesh device. and Voila!! My entire home now has a very strong and fast wireless signal everywhere. It is just that simple.


At the bottom of each component, there is a LED light that surrounds the edges. Not only is it nice looking but it senses the darkness of a room whether it is nighttime or the lights are turned off, and it turns off or on to match the ambient lighting.


APP

The app is not only used to set up connectivity but also for a host of other functions including monitoring, testing, troubleshooting and setting preferences. Here are some screenshots from the app:





What I Like

  • The size
  • The build quality
  • The ease and quickness of setting it up
  • The App and its capabilities
  • The general reliability of the connection and the speed of the connection
  • The sleek and attractive design
  • The LEDs and their sleep capability
  • The wireless range

What can be improved

  • For me, the Amplifi Instant just works, so no issues here

Final thoughts

The Amplifi Instant in a great solution for extending your wireless signal to areas of weakness within your desired jusridixction. It is very easy to set up and for me it works flawlessly. I highly recommend it as a solution for this type of isse, and I give Amplifi two thumbs up for this product.

Price: $179
Where to buy: Amplifi website and Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Amplifi

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: ,

AmpliFi Instant System review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 22, 2018 at 3:00 pm.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.

Tronsmart Mega Bluetooth 4.2 40W speaker review


REVIEW – I’ve been borrowing my sons Bluetooth speaker from time to time, so I thought reviewing the Tronsmart Mega Bluetooth Speaker would be a good time to get my own.

What is it?

The Tronsmart Mega Bluetooth Speaker is a portable 40W wireless speaker that has a rich feature set and most of all, great sound.

Hardware specs

Model: Mega
Compatible: All Bluetooth enabled devices
Bluetooth version: 4.2
Transmission Range: 20m (Open field)
Output Power: 20W X 2
Battery: 3.7V/2*3300mAh
Power Supply: 5V/2.1A
Frequency Response: 115Hz-13KHz
Distortion: =1.0%
Driver Unit: 4ohms 20W/53mm
Playing Time: Up to 15 hours
Dimensions: 193mm x 57mm x 82mm
Weight: 662.3g

What’s in the box?

  • Tronsmart Mega Bluetooth Speaker
  • Micro-USB Charging cable
  • 3.5mm male-to-male audio aux cable
  • User manual
  • Warranty card


Design and features

The Tronsmart Mega Bluetooth Speaker features start with a simple rectangular design in a compact form factor, at 7.6″x2.25″x3.22″ (193mm x 57mm x 82mm) the speaker is comfortably carried in one hand and can be placed just about anywhere. The large Bluetooth speaker I was previously using was round, large and had three legs that didn’t always work well for some locations.

The top has a lighted touch panel and controls for mode, volume, play/pause, track forward and track back, as well as an NFC “button” for touch pairing from compatible devices. The volume control took a little bit of playing with to figure out exactly where I could and could not touch to adjust the volume. The controls feature a line between volume + and volume -, but only the ends of the actual line are touch sensitive. I initially thought I could slide my figure along the volume line to adjust the volume, but that was not the case.


On the rear of the unit is an aux audio input jack, on/off switch, TF card slot (micro SD), and the micro USB power charging jack. The bottom of the unit has two rubber non-slip pads.

Let’s talk about what really makes this a great speaker. Dual 20W drivers with a passive radiator and a large 28 core high-fidelity subwoofer deliver a total of 40W output. 3D digital sound integrated with DSP technology that almost eliminates distortion (<1% at full volume) means that you can basically turn this thing all the way up and have great sound – which is quite loud!

The Tronsmart Mega Bluetooth Speaker also has TWS technology that enables syncing two devices for true wireless stereo.

Two 3300mAh batteries provide for up to 15 hours of play time before needing another recharge. I like this feature as I occasionally listen to podcasts while driving, and since my truck doesn’t have an aux input, a Bluetooth speaker is the only safe way to do that. With the built-in battery, I don’t have to mess with micro USB charger cords along with my lighting cord.

I’ve had plenty of speakers for computers and several Bluetooth speakers ranging from the inexpensive to the really expensive and I must say, the sound quality from this speaker is phenomenal. I’m not an audiophile – but I do appreciate clear audio that doesn’t sound like it’s coming from an empty plastic box. If you are an audiophile, you probably already know you’ll want something larger if you really enjoy gut-punching bass sound.

The TF card slot (micro SD) supports cards up to 64GB. It supports MP3, WAV, APE, FLAC. The sampling rate is 44.1k, bit rate is 1411kbps. I really like this feature as I can put all of my music on one micro SD card and leave it in the speaker and I have all of my music with the speaker all the time. By the way, the THX movie intro sounds great at full volume.

There is no battery level indicator on the device, but on devices like the iPhone, you can see the battery level at the top of the iPhone screen and a more detailed battery level if you swipe right to see the battery widget.

The speaker also has a built-in microphone, but it’s nothing to write home about. It works good at close range (1-2ft) but at larger distances, it sounds, well, distant. Basically, it’s better than nothing when your hands are dirty and you don’t want to handle your phone.

What I like

  • Physical on/off switch
  • It’s loud
  • MicroSD card slot
  • Aux input

What needs to be improved

  • No battery level indicator on the unit
  • Volume controls a bit touchy

Final thoughts

I really like this speaker. It’s gotten a lot of use over the last few weeks and will get plenty more in the future. Whether I’m in my office, garage, or gallery it’s plenty loud enough to fill the room with clear audio.

Price: $47.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Tronsmart.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged:

Tronsmart Mega Bluetooth 4.2 40W speaker review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 22, 2018 at 9:04 am.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.

Tap wearable keyboard and mouse review

REVIEW – I’m a touch typist and a mousist (is that a thing?). Even if I use a tablet, I want to be able to pair it with a keyboard and a mouse (Android) so I can enter text and navigate much faster than tapping on a virtual keyboard if I have a lot of work to do. I’ve tried alternative keyboards in the past but have always gone back to using a standard keyboard and a mouse for the sake of convenience. I was recently sent a Tap wearable keyboard and mouse to try. Let’s check it out.

What is it?

Tap is a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse that you wear on your hand/fingers.

Hardware specs

OS Compatibility – IOS 9+, ANDROID 5+, OS X YOSEMITE+, WINDOWS 8.1+, LINUX UBUNTU
Connectivity – Bluetooth 4.0+
Battery life – 8 hours tapping, 7-day standby

What’s in the box?

Tap wearable keyboard and mouse
Tap portable charging case
Micro USB charging cable
Quick start guide

Design and features

The Tap keyboard comes in a storage case that doubles as the charger. Inside the case, there are posts for each ring.

The thumb post has two electrical contacts and each post is magnetic to hold the rings in place even when the case is bouncing around inside your gear bag.

The case itself is charged with a micro USB cable. There’s a status LED on one end along with a button that you have to press the start the charging process.

The Tap keyboard is available in two sizes and is made of 5 rings, one for each finger and can be worn on either hand. The rings are made of a flexible plastic and are attached to each other with soft woven cables that remind me of shoelaces.

With the Tap keyboard installed on your hand, you can still use your fingers to pick things up, scratch your head, wave hello, type on a traditional keyboard, or use a traditional mouse… Oops, did I just say/type that? 😉

Wearing the Tap keyboard kind of made me feel like a cyborg or an alien with webbed fingers or something kooky like that since the rings are all connected to each other. The keyboard didn’t feel uncomfortable to wear, just different.

The thumb ring is the main control for the keyboard and has the power button on the top silver part of the ring. This button is also the charging status indicator and it has a blue LED ring around it that “breathes” while charging in the case.

There are also two flat bumps on the side of the thumb ring. The top one is the laser mouse and the bottom one is the gliding surface for the mouse. More about those features in a bit.

Let’s getting tapping!

If you’re already a proficient touch typist like myself, you’ll have to re-learn how to type with the Tap keyboard since you’ll be using only 5 fingers instead of 10 to type the alphabet, numbers, and symbols. Learning is made “easy” with the Tap Genius app.




The app has a simple user interface that helps you learn groups of letters at a time by playing a game where letters drop down from the top of the screen and you have to tap them with the Tap keyboard before they reach the bottom of the screen. This fun way to learn is easy at first but quickly becomes complicated and more difficult as more letters are added and complex finger tapping combinations are introduced.

Check out the Tap Code glossary sheet above. It’s not a problem at all to learn to type A, E, I, O, and U as each letter requires just one finger tap. But things quickly escalate as you learn the next set of letters N, T, L, and S which use two-finger taps at a time. Again, it’s easy when you use your index finger and middle finger together, or middle and ring finger together, but things got a little awkward for me when the letter S used the ring and pinkie finger tap. And it just got harder from there. It almost felt like learning to play piano or a guitar and having to learn a bunch of chords.

According to their website, you can learn to use the Tap keyboard in 30 days with 10 minutes of practice a day. I don’t doubt that claim, but you definitely need good hand/finger dexterity to use this keyboard and you need a flat surface to tap on. Although you can tap in the air, the accuracy suffers a LOT.

But wait, it’s a mouse too

I tried using the Tap as a mouse my Android phone and my MacBook and it was pretty awkward and was picky about the surfaces I tried to use it on. Check out the video above to see how it works.

What I like

  • Wearable
  • Fun game makes learning fun
  • Keyboard and mouse features

What needs to be improved

  • Steep learning curve
  • Not for people with poor finger/hand dexterity
  • Need a flat surface for it to work well

Final thoughts

The tech behind the Tap keyboard is definitely cool, but I’m surprised they didn’t go one step further and implement gestures for typing like swipe your hand to the right for space or even drawing the letters out with your finger. I bet I could type faster drawing the letters than trying to tap the finger combo for the letter J which is all your fingers except your ring finger. Try that right now on your desk and you’ll see how awkward it feels. I had a lot of trouble with those types of “chords” because my first three fingers would touch the desk first with the pinkie tapping last. It would often cause the wrong letter(s) to show up because a tap of the first three fingers is the up arrow and a pinkie tap is the letter U. And don’t get me started that ENTER a tap of your thumb with your ring and pinkie.

Trying to use the Tap keyboard was like learning to type from scratch (duh!) and to be honest, it was too tedious for me to use it. I tried it for a week or so and learned enough letters to spell most words, but when put into actual practice using it with my phone, it took me way longer to type using the Tap keyboard compared with either using the onscreen Google keyboard with the swipe feature or pairing my phone with a traditional Bluetooth keyboard and touch typing with both hands.

Does that mean that the Tap wearable keyboard and mouse is a dud? Nope, not at all. It’s just not for people who aren’t stuck in their ways and are already traditional touch typists. I think the Tap keyboard is a step toward what input devices will be like in the future and I can’t wait to see how they will evolve and hopefully get easier to use.

Price: $179
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Tapwithus.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: ,

Tap wearable keyboard and mouse review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 21, 2018 at 11:00 am.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.

Optoma NuForce BE Live 5 wireless earphones review

REVIEW – We’re big fans of wireless earphones ’round here at The Gadgeteer, and every of us have reviewed many pairs, myself included.  I’m always on the lookout for a pair that is moisture-proof and durable enough to survive my fairly rigorous workouts.  Having reviewed a few pairs of Optoma NuForce Bluetooth wireless earphones in the past, so when Julie offered me the opportunity to try out a pair of Optoma’s latest, the NuForce BE Live 5, I was pretty excited.  Let’s check ’em out!  Gadget on!

What is it?

The Optoma NuForce BE Live 5 wireless earphones are Optoma’s latest generation of Bluetooth wireless earphones that feature lower-profile earbuds, stylish design, moisture resistance, long battery life, and other features.

Hardware specs

  • Color options: Black or Gold
  • Driver type: 8mm, dynamic graphene
  • Frequency response: 20Hz – 20kHz
  • Impedance: 15 Ohms
  • Microphone sensitivity: -42 +/-3 dB
  • Bluetooth type: V4.1
  • Bluetooth range: 33 feet (10 meters)
  • Bluetooth profile: A2DP V1.2 (AAC, aptX, SBC), HFP V1.6, AVRCP V1.4, HSP V1.2
  • Sensitivity: 95dB +/-3dB at 1KHz
  • Weight: 0.49 oz
  • Audio support: AAC and aptX
  • Moisture resistance: IPX5 rating
  • Battery life: 8 hours of playback time

What’s in the package?

  • Optoma NuForce BE Live 5 wireless earphones with Cable Loop
  • Earwings in 3 sets of sizes (Small, Medium and Large)
  • Silicone tips in 3 sets of sizes (Small, Medium and Large)
  • “Comply” foam tips in 2 sets of sizes (Medium and Large)
  • Micro USB charging cable
  • Storage case
  • Instruction manuals

Design and features

As pictured above, the BE Live 5 includes multiple styles and sizes of ear tips to give the user plenty of options to fit their ears and their preferences.  Along the top row are small, medium and large sizes of silicone “earwings” used to help retain the earbuds in your ears, the middle row are small, medium and large sizes of silicone earbud tips, and the bottom row are medium and large sizes of Comply foam tips (more detail in the photo below).

The Comply Isolation tips are made of foam and provide a bit more ambient sound blocking than the silicon tips.  They work best when squeezed and compressed down a bit, placed in the ear, then allowed to expand to conform to the ear canal.

The photo above illustrates the setup that I used most for this review, which included the medium size “earwings” and the large size Comply foam tips.

The NuForce BE Live 5 casings are made of aluminum and polycarbonate and Optoma has done a good job of reducing their size and mass from previous designs so that they are less likely to fall out of your ears due to their weight.  In addition, their drivers include 8mm magnets that are 30% larger than other earphones which help produce clearer sound.  Optoma also claims IPX5 water and sweat resistance, and in practice, I found that even with my waterfalls of sweat during workouts, it never failed (at least in a way that would attribute to moisture of any kind).  In fact, I wore the BE Live 5 for a run in a light rain one day, and they were unaffected.

A simple feature that I noticed and liked immediately was that Optoma marked the “Right” and “Left” earbud brightly and in different colors, which make these marking much easier to read quickly.

As with Optoma’s previous NuForce products, the BE Live 5 have magnets embedded into the back of the casings such that they magnetically stick to each other.   This can come in handy if you are wearing them and want to remove them from your ears for a moment but not set them down somewhere (and perhaps misplace them).  You can just place them around your neck and let the magnets clasp together, turning the BE Live 5’s into a sort of necklace.

The BE Live 5 have an inline remote that is used to control its function.  It’s a simple design that has three buttons, +, O, and -.  Each of these serves various functions such as song advance or rewind, volume up/down, phone call answer/hang up and so forth.  Pairing with my phone was simple, and I should also mention that the BE Live 5 are capable of being paired with multiple devices, such as a phone and a laptop.

The side of the inline remote has a small cover with a lightning bolt symbol on it.  This cover protects the Micro USB charging port, as shown below.

Above, the included Micro USB cable is shown plugged into the BE Live 5’s charging port, with the charging port cover carefully rotated to the side.  The cover is a bit fragile in this position, so beware of it breaking off.  Also seen in the image above is a tiny hole for the BE Live 5’s microphone, which enables phone calls or voice commands (as through Apple’s Siri or “Hey, Google”).  Regarding battery life, Optoma touts that it takes 2.5 hours to fully charge the BE Live 5, giving a full 8 hours of use, and I’d guess this is roughly accurate.  I was able to use the BE Live 5 for 4 or 5 workout sessions of about 1.5 hours each.

Above, the tiny LED is shown in red when the battery is charging.

Above, a tiny blue light is shown illuminated on the inline remote, indicating that the BE Live 5 is fully charged.

As do many similar wireless earphones, the BE Live 5 includes a small Cable Loop that holds the cable together and can be used to tighten the headphones up and better stabilize them against your head.

The Optoma Nuforce BE Live 5 includes a clamshell-style storage case made from a molded foam with a zipper closure. The outside of the case is covered with a gray fabric that gives is a classy look and feel.

There is a small mesh pocket on one of the inside halves of the case where I placed the included Micro USB charging cable.

The BE Live 5 fit well in my ears, especially with the Comply foam tips, and the “earwings” did help to keep them secure, even during activities.  However, between my apparently large ear canals and my likely higher than average intensity workouts (which generate a ridiculous amount of sweat), the BE Live 5 tips, did not stay put in my ears.  I’ve given up being critical of wireless earphones for this, because I think I am a pretty extreme user, but bear this in mind if you have extremely large ear canals and/or work out to the point of profuse sweat production and motion.

Above, you can see that the BE Live 5 do stick out of the ear a bit, but I think they are lower profile than other wireless earphones that I’ve tried.

Now, how about their sound?  I really liked the Optoma BE Live 5’s sound, especially with the Comply foam tips, which I think help keep the ambient sound out and the intended sound in.  They don’t have super deep bass, but in this geometric size and shape, I wouldn’t expect that. However, Optoma has done a really good job of improving the sound quality of each of their successive wireless earphones and the BE Live 5 represents their state of the art.

What I like

  • Cool styling
  • Very moisture and sweat resistant
  • Lightweight and low profile
  • Long battery life

What needs to be improved

  • They fell out of my ears during vigorous activities

Final thoughts

I really like these Optoma BE Live 5 wireless earphones.  Optoma has done well with continuing to improve their product designs, and the BE Live 5 represents their state of the art.  Their styling is top notch and incorporated into this are lighter weight, lower profile earbud pieces that stay in your ear better and the multiple tips and ear wings help the user customize their comfort level for their preference.  Their battery life was impressive at somewhere between 6.5 and 7.5 hours for me, and their sweat and moisture resistance is solid.  Their sound is clear and sharp.  I still feel they are a bit pricey at their $99.99 retail price, but if you can manage to find them on sale for any kind of a discount, they are worth a serious look (and listen).

Price: $99.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The product sample for this review was provided by NuForce.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged:

Optoma NuForce BE Live 5 wireless earphones review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 21, 2018 at 9:00 am.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.