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Verb Caffeinated Energy Bar review

What is it?

Verb Bars are chewy, chocolatey, and enriched with the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee. The caffeine comes from organic green tea, which entails no spike, no crash, and higher levels of focus than caffeine from other sources due to an amino-acid called L-Theanine.

What’s in the box?

For the price of $20, you receive 10 energy bars in a recyclable box. You can purchase in wholesale, at thousands of bars per purchase with a discount if you contact them through professional email and they always offer free shipping through their website: https://www.verbenergybar.com/#!/cart

Design and Features

Verb bars are petite and convenient to carry around for on-the-go energy. Verb Bars have 8 natural, non-GMO, gluten-free, vegan ingredients which are: rolled oats, almond butter, organic puffed brown rice, organic agave nectar, organic unsweetened cocoa powder, vanilla extract, organic brown sugar, and caffeine from organic green tea. Each bar contains 190 calories, 100mg of caffeine, 5g of protein, and 12g of sugar.

What I like

What I like about the bar is that it’s a combination of multiple health benefits into such a simple serving, using a small number of natural ingredients. I especially adore that the box says “recycle me” on it and that the color scheme of the logo matches the earthy vibes that the energy bars have. I also like that you can subscribe to Verb and get boxes delivered to you based on your consumption, and you don’t need to log on and reorder every single time.

What needs to be improved

I think the claim, “as much caffeine as a cup of coffee” needs to be reevaluated… I am not a coffee or soda drinker, so I have almost no tolerance for caffeine and I did not feel a very prominent energy kick from these bars. The flavor was also not what I was expecting… I think adding more flavor options would be beneficial. These bars are also very filling and would be best marketed toward bodybuilders who want the extra calories for bulking up; not people who are trying to remain thin.

Final thoughts

My final thoughts on this product are sincerely optimistic. I personally would not purchase the product again, but I definitely think there is an established foundation here for a very successful company and desired products. The creators behind this product have their minds and hearts aligned in perfect synchronization with the mother nature, and I know they have our Earth’s health, as well as the health of humanity, in mind.

Price: $20.00 for 10 bars
Where to buy: Verb Energy and Amazon
Source: https: The sample for this review was provided by Verb Energy

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Verb Caffeinated Energy Bar review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 22, 2018 at 4:00 pm.

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HyperX Cloud Revolver Gunmetal gaming headset review

Although not the most prominent of the sensory functions, hearing plays an important role in our lives. Those of us who enjoy music also enjoy it more with a high-quality audio delivery. Those old tunes from your teenage years can take you back to those days like nothing else can. Even more for us that enjoy ’80’s rock and roll. That made reviewing the HyperX Cloud Revolver Gunmetal gaming headset even more enjoyable.

What is it?

The HyperX Cloud Revolver Gunmetal gaming headset is a premium-grade headset that aims to meet the demands of both the PC or Console gamer. Utilizing 50mm directional drivers and a removable microphone, the Revolver series headsets deliver precise, crisp audio in a durable, high-quality package.

What’s in the box?

  • HyperX Cloud Revolver headset with fixed 3.5 ft cord.
  • Audio control box with 3.5mm plugs with 6.75 ft cord.
  • Detachable Microphone.



Design and features

The Cloud Revolver headset makes great use of design when it comes to the structure of the headset. The steel frame is a one-piece design that encompasses the speakers, making it difficult to break. One of the things that really caught my attention was how flexible the braided cord was, unlike some of the braided phone charging cords that I’ve had.

The headset features a self-adjusting headband, which I felt was a little too giving in its springiness, making the earpieces sit a little low on my head. That might not be an issue if you have a fair amount of hair on your head.

The earpieces are memory foam and remained comfortable for quite a few hours at a time. They also did not interfere with my glasses. The fairly closed-back design kept almost all sound from escaping, which comes in handy if you don’t want to annoy other people in the room.

The audio control box has a convenient sliding mute switch, volume wheel, and a clip to keep it in place. The cord connected to the control box plus the headset cord gives you over 10 ft of freedom of movement.



The headset is truly multi-platform compatible, operating on Windows, Mac, or gaming system, as well as being compatible with Teamspeak, Discord, Skype, Ventrilo, mumble, and Raidcall.

The removable microphone is a nice touch. It features a 3.5mm plug and bendable boom. I did a video conference call and the other person said I sounded great.

Nothing beats great headphones when it comes to gaming. The extra edge you get from being able to hear the little audio queues like someone walking up on you really is exciting. The immersive experience is so much better than just speakers. The noise-canceling microphone really helps, and other players said the audio sounded great.

What I like

  • Flexible cords
  • Full metal frame that encircles the earpieces
  • Detachable, flexible, noise-canceling microphone
  • Closed-back ear cups don’t allow much sound to escape and annoy other people
  • Ear pads work fine with glasses

What needs to be improved

  • The self-adjusting headband is a little to loose for my liking
  • The frame is hard mounted to the ear cups, which means any touching of the frame transmits quite a bit of sound through to your ears

Final thoughts

This headset not only sounds great but feels like it is rugged enough to last for many years. Whether gaming or just listening to audio, this headset provides a comfortable and precise audio experience.
Price: $119.99
Where to buy: HyperX or Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by HyperX

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HyperX Cloud Revolver Gunmetal gaming headset review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 22, 2018 at 11:00 am.

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FluidStance Bamboo Level balance board review

Standing Desks are everywhere nowadays. So, once you’re no longer seated, what do you use to keep your feet occupied and in motion while you’re just standing there? One suggestion is a balance or wobble board. We were sent one from FluidStance, their Level model in cast aluminum and bamboo, to test in the Gadgeteer way. I’ve been using it for a few weeks now and here’s what I have found.

Note: Photos may be tapped or clicked for a larger image.

What is it?

The Level is a beautiful Bamboo (also available in Dark Walnut and Natural Maple) deck mounted to a solid cast aluminum framework that allows you to stand, rock, pivot, and in general keep moving while in a standing position. Made from quality materials with a conservative modern design, it will fit into any office or home environment where a standing desk is in use.

Hardware specs

From the website:

  • 26.5″ long x 12.2″ wide x 2.5″ tall
  • Approximate weight: 7lbs, 12oz
  • Designed for use under 250 pounds
  • Ships in 1-2 business days

Design and features

The idea behind balance boards is that while standing, your feet will be happier with constant small movements, to keep the blood flowing. Your calves, ankles, and toes will all get a workout, and your core muscles will be engaged. This dramatically ramps up the health benefits of just standing versus sitting. Think of it as skateboarding, but without going anywhere. I’ve seen balance boards in materials from high-end laminated woods and exotic hardwoods all the way to cheap plastics. A work colleague recently had her 2-year-old get one as a birthday gift in plastic with decals and eye-popping colors. Another model had a ball-in-slot maze, where your challenge is to move the trapped ball from one part of the maze to another by changing your balance. (Think of it as a Labyrinth game that you play with your feet and shifting body weight instead of two knobs.) It’s all about moving.

The Level is FluidStance’s second tier product, but it’s far from a cheap-o board. The cast aluminum .19” military-grade aluminum frame raises the bamboo deck off the floor about 2.5”, and is designed for folks under 250 pounds. At 7.75 pounds, it’s not something that will slide out from under you, and it’s not going to crack or fall apart in normal use.

I used it for a day or two at home, just to see if I was going to survive using it. (At my age, that’s the first criteria! Note warning in the photo above.) I dropped it off at my office over a weekend and started using it there on Monday. My office is equipped with sit-stand adjustable desks throughout. Many folks spend all or part of their workday standing, so I was not sticking out by elevating my desk. I used it for 30 minutes or so, and then took it down to a sitting level. My legs felt good like I’d just done a quick run or ride, rather than the usual stand. I stood and used the Level a few more times that day, and have been using it more and more since.

I’m up to about 4 20-30 minute sessions a day now and find that a good place. Since most of my work is phone calls from customers, it’s not necessary for me to be perfectly still, and the note-taking/typing I do while on calls if not hindered by moving around. I did move my standing setting up a few inches to take into account the height of the deck. (There are 4 saved settings I can use, but it is fully adjustable across a huge range. I use heights from 27” – 43”.)

As soon as someone walked by and saw my feet and legs going, however, they were intrigued. I’ve loaned it out to several folks in the office, and they all really enjoy using it. (Note the variety of feet in the photos!) My boss even brought in one she had found at a discount store made of plastic. It’s not nearly as heavy or stable as the Level but still gives you a workout.

What I Like

  • Well designed and crafted from quality materials
  • Gives your legs and core muscles something to do while standing.
  • Conservative but modern design fits in with any office decor.

What needs to be improved

  • I really couldn’t think of anything, except maybe a chain lock to keep coworkers from borrowing it and not returning it!

Final thoughts

If you’re someone who chaffs at having to be sitting or standing at a desk while doing work to pay the bills, this may keep the fidgets under control. If you’re a more sedentary person, who needs to move a little or a lot more for your health, this may be the best thing you can get. It’s a bit of an investment, so you may want to try a less expensive model at first, or you may want to take the leap and use your financial investment to force yourself to use it more. However you decide to use it, you’ll probably enjoy it, and benefit from it.

Price: $389.00
Where to buy: FluidStance
Source: The sample of this product was provided by FluidStance.

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FluidStance Bamboo Level balance board review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 21, 2018 at 11:00 am.

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iLife A8 robotic vacuum cleaner review

Everyone likes a clean house, but most people I know don’t enjoy doing the work to keep their house clean and tidy. With keeping the laundry clean and put up, the dishes cleaned and put up, the furniture dusted, and the floors vacuumed, there’s no time to binge watch your favorite TV shows! So let’s remove at least one of those chores and have a robot do all the work for us. The iLife A8 robotic vacuum keeps your floors clean while you sit on the couch thinking about how nice it would be to have robots to do your laundry and your dishes. But until that day comes, let’s check out the iLife A8.

What is it?

The iLife A8 is a robotic vacuum that you can set to manually clean your floors by using a handheld remote, or you can configure the vac to clean automatically at a certain time every day.

What’s in the box?

  • iLife A8 robotic vacuum
  • Charging base and AC adapter
  • Remote control (2 AAA batteries not included)
  • 2 extra side brushes
  • Extra main brush
  • Cleaning tool
  • Filter

Design and features

The iLife A8 is smaller than the Botvac vacuums that I use and it’s completely round with built-in bumpers on the front and back.

There’s a slide out dirt bin on the back edge and a visual navigation sensor and control button towards the front edge.

The A8 maneuvers with two main wheels on the sides and a smaller wheel up front.

On the bottom of the vac, you can find the replaceable main brush and 2 side brushes.

The dirt bin is easy to access by sliding it out of the vac.

A door on top of the bin provides access to the filter.

The main power button and what I believe is a direct power jack is located on the edge of the iLife A8.

The first thing you want to do before using the robot vacuum to clean is to charge the battery. You do this by plugging in the charging home base and placing the iLife against the charging contacts.

When the iLife’s main power switch is in the on position and the vacuum is placed on the home base, the vacuum will begin charging and will alert you to this action with a female voice. The voice will also tell you when charging is complete and when cleaning is about to begin.

To begin a cleaning session, you can either press the button on top of the iLife, or you can press the point cleaning button on the remote (the button below the clock button). You can also click the border cleaning button (lower right) to have the iLife clean along walls.

I used the iLife A8 to clean my carpeted basement which is vacuumed 3 times a week with a Neato Botvac Connected robot vac. I decided to make a time lapse of the iLife’s cleaning session, which you can see below.

The vac does a good job of covering all of the room in back and forth passes. The whole room including my office which you can’t see took about 35 minutes to clean. I was impressed by the speed and how quiet the A8 is compared to my Botvacs. But the most important question is how well did it clean?

The carpet had not been vacuumed for 2 days prior to testing the iLife. This is the dirt that it picked up. FYI: we have a long haired cat.

The next thing I tried was running the Botvac right after the iLife had finished cleaning to see if it would pick up any dirt that the A8 had missed.

As you can see the Botvac did pick up some additional grunge…

I also tested the iLife on a hardwood surface by putting some salt (above on the left) and some cat litter (above on the right), on the floor in my office.

I had to run the A8 several times to pick up all the grit from this test, so I wasn’t overly impressed with how well it did on a hardwood surface. That is until I discovered that the remote control has a button to turn on max suction. Why that’s not a default is a mystery to me, but once I enabled that setting, the iLife A8 did a much better job picking up dirt from different types of flooring.

What I like

  • Easy to use
  • Easy dirt bin clean up
  • Relatively quiet

What needs to be improved

  • Basic scheduling only allows you to set it to clean the same time each day
  • Remote batteries not included
  • Max suction setting is not enabled by default

Final thoughts

I like the iLife A8 robotic vacuum cleaner because it’s simple to use. You don’t have to mess around with apps or pairing it with your phone in order to use it. Just plug it in and press the button the remote or on the vac itself to start cleaning. But its simplicity also means that it’s almost too basic. You can set special schedules so that it will just clean Monday and Friday. You can only set the schedule for it to clean the same time every day. The voice prompts are also a little too much in my opinion. I don’t need to know when it’s done charging and I don’t need it to tell me when it will start cleaning.

All in all, the iLife A8 is a decent vacuum and is not too expensive. This is a new model which will be available on Amazon in a couple of weeks, but you can find several other iLife robot vacuum models that are currently on Amazon. I’ll update this review with a link to the A8 when it becomes available.

Price: $167.20 – $249.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by iLife.

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iLife A8 robotic vacuum cleaner review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 20, 2018 at 11:00 am.

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Coocheer self-balancing scooter review

According to the movie Back To The Future 2, by 2015 we should have now been riding around on our own personal day to day hoverboards. What a great world that would have been. As we are in 2018, and yet still don’t have the same technology to ride a non-wheeled skateboard deck that defies gravity, we have to settle for riding on a two-wheeled balancing board that utilizes the subtle shifting in our bodies to maneuver the board where we want it to go. Although this scooter board doesn’t defy gravity, it is still fun to ride.
 

What is it?

The Coocheer Self-Balancing Scooter Board is electric powered scooter that uses gyroscope sensors that allow the rider to control the direction and speed of the scooter. By simply leaning your body forward or backward, it causes the scooter to accelerate in a forward or backward motion as well as slow down or stop.
 
 

The Coocheer Self-Balancing Scooter physical specs are roughly 23″ in. x 7.3″ in. x 7″ in (585 x 186 x 180mm) and weighs around 22lbs (10kg).
The color I received to review was the red color. There are 3 other colors available, Black, Blue, and White. The body is made from a hard durable plastic material and there are non-slip rubber pads where you stand on which helps your feet from slipping.
The scooter board has a wheel size of 6.5″ inches and the scooter has a maximum speed of up to 10 MPH (16km/h). The alloy wheels are covered by solid rubber tires that allow the scooter to ride on various surfaces from carpet to outdoor terrain such as gravel or grass. Although not having to inflate these tires is very convenient, I think having inflatable tires could be advantageous on some hard flat surfaces for a smoother ride since there isn’t any type of shock absorber for the balance scooter board. The bumps over hard surfaces can be very unforgiving.

 

 
The scooter has an On/Off Button located right next to the Charging Port. It is an easy one touch button that doesn’t require you to press and hold for a few seconds. Just press the Power button quickly and it turns the scooter board on and off with no problem.
On the front of the scooter are two blue LED lights. They are used for aesthetics and visual alerts as well as give to off some illumination when riding in dark areas.
This balancing scooter board is water-resistant rated at IP54 so it should be ok to ride around in dusty areas and in splashing water or light rainfall.
 

What’s In The Box?

Along with the Coocheer Balancing Scooter is the charging adapter and manual.

Design and Features.

First and foremost, this is not a hoverboard as many others have stated in their descriptions. It has wheels.  If it were a hoover board then it would float above the ground without the aid of the two tires.  But I understand why these balancing boards would be called that since the sensation you get when you ride this balancing scooter board does feel like you would be hovering. Or at the least, it gives you the sensation of floating across the ground.
The size of this balancing board feels like the perfect dimensions for kids to adults. It’s not too big nor is it too small for anyone to comfortably stand shoulder width apart. This balancing board can accommodate an adult weighing up to 220lbs (100kgs).
 
According to the manufacturer, this balancing board can handle going up inclines of up to 15 degrees. Anything more than that and you’ll have difficulty going up the increased incline since you’ll be putting too much stress on the balancing board’s motors. The size of this balance board feels like the proper size to me. It doesn’t feel too big and bulky nor does it feel too small and awkward. When I stand on the non-slip pads, my feet are at a shoulder width stance which feels natural to keep my balance on the board. I think a small kid or a larger adult should have plenty of room for a natural stance.
The molded plastic body feels sturdy enough that if a 220 pound person were to stand on this balancing board, the plastic won’t crack under the weight.   
 
A 36V 4.0Ah Lithium battery is installed which powers two 250W motors. The battery life on the Coocheer scooter board is about 2 hours of continuous use and charges in about the same amount of time. There is a Battery Indicator on top of scooter board which displays the status of the battery. A major concern about these self-balancing scooters is the issue with their batteries being unsafe. Fortunately, the Coocheer self-balancing scooter is UL2272 Certified with a Smart battery and Intelligent Power-Off protection. And, this balance board has undergone a 159 Point Safety Test plus it has a temperature control system.
 
This balance scooter board being 22 lbs. gives it a nice sturdy feel to it without being to heavy to carry. It feels solid and doesn’t feel cheap. It also doesn’t feel like a toy, which honestly, is what I was expecting of these balance boards. I know there are other balance boards on the market that are more expensive and probably feel more solid but the Coocheer balance board feels like it can take a  beating.
A nice feature built in the Coocheer is a warning beep that alerts the rider when the maximum speed has been reached or exceeded.
The blue LED lights on the front of the balance board gives off some illumination when you are riding in dark conditions and just gives the balancing board a nice futuristic look to it. However, I wouldn’t suggest riding at night or in complete darkness since I don’t feel like the LED lights give off enough illumination to be used as safety headlights.
 

What I like

Sturdy and solid build.
Intelligent Power-Off
IP54 Water resistant.
159 Point Safety Tested.
Speed warning beep.

What needs to be improved

Non-inflatable tires.
Not ideal for low light or night riding.
No shock absorbers.

Final Thoughts

Having never ridden one of these self-balancing scooters boards before, I really looked forward to trying this out and see if I could actually pilot one. I can honestly say that I was intimidated the first time I actually stood on the scooter board itself. But for me, and years of competitive skimboarding and aggressive inline skating, the balance wasn’t a major concern. My main concern was not being able to control the Coocheer balance board. My biggest fear was slamming into a wall because I couldn’t steer the balance board to the direction I wanted it to go. But after a few times on the balance board, I got a grasp of the whole technique and was soon challenging myself to go faster, spin 360’s, lean against the turns, and more. After a while I felt like a seasoned rider. I wouldn’t even mind trying a bigger or faster version of these balance board.
Although these are absolutely fun to ride, there is definitely a learning curve. But with some practice and patience, you can build up the skills to ride these self-balancing scooter boards just like this Coocheer balance board.
Here’s a short video clip of me riding the Coccheer self-balancing scooter board.

Price: $199.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Coocheer. Please visit their site for more info.

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Coocheer self-balancing scooter review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 19, 2018 at 11:00 am.

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