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IQAir AirVisual Pro Air Quality Monitor review

I live in Florida, the land of perpetual pollen, in an older home in the woods. And I have asthma. Those three strikes mean it can be difficult to enjoy the outdoors. But what about the indoors?

My husband, Bill “Mr. Headphones” Henderson, recommended I try the AirVisual Pro by IQAir to help me monitor our indoor and outdoor air quality index (AQI) in hopes we could identify necessary improvements to our indoor AQI and I would know when to avoid the outdoors.

What is it?

The AirVisual Pro by IQAir is a visual monitor of indoor and outdoor air quality. Plus, it displays the air quality from anywhere in the world that has monitoring stations. You can also register your monitor as a designated public station.

Design and features

My unit, which retails for $269 plus shipping, arrived in late January and was easy enough to set up. Able to run on electricity or battery power, the small unit has a distinct Jetsons vibe to it. It immediately detected my location and linked me to an outdoor testing site. The home screen would display my indoor AQI – which was well within the green, or good, zone but with a higher-than-desirable CO2 level – next to our outdoor AQI.

 

AQI is broken into several categories: good, from 0 to 50; moderate, from 51 to 100; unhealthy for sensitive groups (people with respiratory or heart disease, children and the elderly), 101-150; unhealthy, 151-200; very unhealthy, 201-300; and hazardous, 301 and higher.

The AirVisual Pro also measures PM2.5, which the manual describes as “particulate matter in the air with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers of less. Due to its size, PM2.5 is considered the most hazardous pollutant to human health as it can be absorbed into the bloodstream via the lungs.” We had an initial PM2.5 that was quickly resolved, though I’m not sure how.

I also downloaded the app and linked it to my device using its serial number. The app allows me to see both my indoor and outdoor AQI, my indoor CO2 level and PM2.5, if applicable. It also shows me the air quality of some major U.S. cities.

Now to digress a bit. I also had recently received an Airfree Air Purifier to review. I placed that unit in our bedroom a few feet away from our bed. As a way to test the effectiveness of the Airfree unit, I placed my new AirVisual Pro on the other side of the room. The indoor AQI was 0, meaning the air in our bedroom was completely clean.

However, my AirVisual Pro warned me that outdoor air quality was poor and I should stay inside. So I decided to do an elliptical workout in lieu of going outside. The elliptical is also in the bedroom. With all my huffing and puffing, my workout bumped the CO2 level up about 300 points to 1471, causing the unit to suggest I open windows and doors to alleviate stuffiness. However, the outdoor air quality precluded that possibility. Using a ceiling fan didn’t nudge the CO2 reading a bit.

The next day, the indoor AQI was 35, which is still in the green, or good, range. Within a couple of days, I began to see a correlation between a higher indoor AQI and cooking fumes, but I hadn’t yet made that connection. So I decided to plug in my IQAir HealthPro Plus air purifier, which had been sitting idle in our family room. Also, within 45 minutes of plugging it in, the AQI in the master bedroom improved from 35 to 17.

It was a few days later that I actually connected the dots between cooking fumes and air quality. As my husband cooked bacon in the kitchen, two rooms away, our indoor AQI snuck up to 57, higher than the outside AQI. Obviously the machine doesn’t understand breathing bacon fumes cannot possibly be bad for you.

Two days later, the display inexplicably stopped showing the outside AQI when showing the inside AQI. In place of outside AQI, it displays the inside CO2 level. The manual indicated it was likely a wi-fi issue. However, the device itself and the app showed the AirVisual Pro was connected to the internet.

A couple of weeks later, when the display remained unchanged, I contacted the customer support team via email just to test the company’s responsiveness. The rep responded after a few days, suggesting something I had already tried. In the meantime, Mr. H was able to navigate the device’s menu, which has a bit of a learning curve, and he was able to restore and even improve the original display. Now one screen gives me the indoor and outdoor AQI, another gives me a three-day weather report, and a third gives me the CO2 level, which remains in the stuffy zone.

As Central Florida went immediately from winter to summer, it was time to turn on the air conditioning. The CO2 level was finally less than 1000, possibly from a whole day of AC. However, kitchen fumes from my dinner of oven-fried chicken, roasted asparagus, maple-glazed carrots and sautéed summer squash sent the indoor AQI soaring to 166. Again, the machine can’t distinguish between delicious and deadly. Once fumes dissipate, the AQI typically drops to 0.

I moved the unit to the family room – right next to the IQAir purifier and closer to the kitchen – for comparison’s sake. The indoor AQI remained at 0, and the CO2 count dropped to 570 – possibly from proximity to an exterior door that is often opened.

Because the outdoor AQI is still not displaying on the device, I refer to the app, which tells me the outdoor AQI is a low 41. However, this is the same day my state of Florida is called out for having the highest pollen count in the nation. This information is enough to inform this asthmatic to avoid being outside, though the app would have me believe otherwise.

A couple of days later, the app is telling me our local AQI is 30 – in other words, excellent for outdoor activities or opening doors and windows. However, the pollen count is still the highest in the nation, and I have to cover my nose and mouth when I’m outside because of smoke from a nearby wildfire. Obviously the reading station wasn’t getting accurate measures. So I ignored the recommendation on my unit to open doors and windows to alleviate stuffiness in our indoor air.

I even moved the device to a screened porch, which would result in outdoor AQI readings, so I could compare those readings with those of the local station. The readings from my back porch, which faces a couple of hundred trees, was a mere 13, compared with the local station reading of 30. Both are well within the green zone, though pollen levels remain high. I’m still confused by how outdoor AQI doesn’t reflect the high pollen counts.

What I like

The IQAir AirVisual Pro gives an accurate—and quick—reading of any changes in indoor air quality. It provides reassuring feeling knowing how good or bad our air quality is.

What needs to be improved

Outdoor readings are subject to monitoring stations which may not always be reliable.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I found the IQAir AirVisual Pro helpful in that it shows the Airfree and IQAir air purifiers are doing what they’re supposed to do. It also alerted me to the problem with our home’s high CO2 levels, a problem I still need to address. I suspect the outdoor AQI information will become more accurate as more testing stations become available and the technology evolves – especially if testing begins to take pollens into account.

Price: $269 US
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by IQAir.

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IQAir AirVisual Pro Air Quality Monitor review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 12, 2018 at 11:00 am.

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Speak Music Muse Alexa voice assistant review

Is Alexa your BFF? Do you have the Amazon Echo or Echo Dot devices in your home? Digital voice assistants like Alexa are very handy when you want to control your smart home gadgets or when you want to ask questions and play your favorite music without using your phone, or your computer. Being able to use your voice to say “Alexa, turn up the heat” or “Alexa, play songs by U2” makes you feel like you’re living in the future. But how can we take Alexa with us on road trips in our vehicles? The Speak Music Muse Alexa voice assistant is like a miniature Amazon Echo for your car. Let’s check it out.

What is it?

The Speak Music Muse Auto is an Alexa voice assistant with a microphone and forward and back buttons that plugs into a power socket in your car.

What’s in the box?

  • Muse Bluetooth device
  • 12V dual USB car adapter
  • Magnetic mounting plate
  • Quick start guide

Design and features

The Muse has a black plastic puck-shaped device with a microphone, a status LED, and two buttons. Attached to it is a cable connected to it that has a 3.5mm input cable and a USB connector.

On the back of the device is a magnetic mount that can be used to affix the Muse to a flat surface on your car.

The Muse voice assistant is powered through a USB cable. If you don’t have a USB port in your car, you can use the included dual port 12V power adapter.

Setup and usage

Installing and setting up the Muse is pretty easy. First, you need to find a place in your car to attach it. I didn’t have a good place to stick the adhesive mounting disk in my MINI Cooper, so I just stuck it to the iOMount that I already had installed in my car.

The next step is to install the Muse app on your phone. This is needed because your phone will be doing all the heavy lifting as far getting the info when you ask Alexa questions or command it to control other devices in your home when you’re on the road.



For the most part, you won’t even look at the app once it’s installed and you’ve set up Muse in your car. It will ask you to either connect the Muse via Bluetooth to your car, or you can use the 3.5mm cable to connect it to the Aux In jack in your car if you have one. From there, all you need to do is start talking to Alexa which you do exactly like you do with an Amazon Echo or Echo Dot, by saying “Alexa” and then your command or question. You will need to wait for a tone before saying your command or tone.

It should also be obvious that you’ll need to have a good signal on your phone in order to have a connection to the internet when you’re driving.

During my week or so of testing the Muse, I did all the usual things I would do with Alexa at home, I would ask her to read me the news, tell me what time it was, ask her where the nearest gas station was, play my favorite tunes, turn up the heat in my house, etc. All that worked as I had expected it to work.

I did run into a few small issues though. If I had my favorite music cranked up, and wanted to play another song or give Alexa another command, she sometimes would not be able to hear me unless I yelled her name a couple of times. However, the physical buttons on the Muse device are handy for skipping tracks when you don’t feel like shouting.

I also was disappointed that there was no way to get turn by turn directions to a destination. You can ask where the nearest store is and Alexa will give you the address, but she won’t tell you how to get there. She also won’t let you call people in your contacts. But, she will pause music or other playback if calls come in and then resume after the call ends.

One other issue that I noticed is that the Muse app is always running in the background which can be a drain on your battery.

I did all my testing with my Pixel 2 XL and noticed a drop in my battery life after starting to use Muse which you can see above in the Android battery details.

What I like

  • Can play and control music with your voice instead of your hands
  • Works just like the Amazon Echo in your home

What needs to be improved

  • No turn by turn navigation
  • Can’t use it to call your contacts
  • Have to yell ALEXA! To get “her” attention if music is playing

Final thoughts

I like a totally hands-free way of interacting with music when I’m driving and being able to hear news briefs instead of waiting to hear them on my normal radio stations. Muse is a fun and easy way to have an invisible assistant do your bidding and I’m looking forward to when it can do even more than it can do now.

Price: $69.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Muse.

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Speak Music Muse Alexa voice assistant review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 11, 2018 at 3:10 pm.

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Waterfield Atlas Executive Athletic Holdall review

When I first learned of Waterfield’s recently released Atlas Executive Athletic Holdall, my first and only thought was…that bag is so me. I do my best to workout as often as I can, especially those days I’m in the office. Making lunch a mandatory exercise time not only makes me healthier but is an excellent break in my hectic day to refocus and destress. The Atlas is designed to (stylishly) enable the tech carrying, modern day fitness folks of the world the ability to transport everything they need in a single EDC bag from their laptop to their gym shoes. So let’s see if Waterfield Design hits the mark with their new Atlas Executive Athletic Holdall.

Typically I carry all my needed stuff into the office in a number of different bags: Colonel Littleton Navigator bag as my EDC tech bag, old nylon Air Force helmet bag for my workout gear, and reused plastic bags for lunch. Occasionally I even have to carry additional bags/containers if the office is having an event, definitely adding up to a very cumbersome commute. Being able to smartly consolidate all my cr@p into a single bag is definitely advantageous and desirable.

What is it?

The Atlas Executive Athletic Holdall is a combination briefcase, EDC/gear bag, and athletic duffle all in one, that transitions seamlessly from office to gym and back. The Atlas has a padded tech/laptop compartment for all your EDC gear, a separate space to hold clothes, and a collapsible, zippered area to store your shoes.

Design and features

The Atlas Executive Athletic Holdall is available in one size (16″ (L) x 10″ (H) x 8.5″ (W)) that is divided into two compartments: the Briefcase and the Athletic Workout sections. The bag is made in the USA from ballistic nylon (or waxed canvas), reenforced and trimmed in full grain leather.

The Briefcase section opens fully enabling the front face of the Holdall to lay flat allowing for easy access to its four slipper pockets. The tech portion of the bag has 2 padded pockets engineered to protect a laptop and a tablet plus two additional pockets for stashing power cords, pens, and other EDC gear. There is a dedicated pen slot between the two smaller pockets. The padded laptop slipper pocket fits up to 15” laptops and the tablet slipper pocket fits up to 13” tablets. The two vertical pockets are deep and large enough to hold a decent amount of stuff. The tablet space held my 12″ MacBook very nicely. You could also transport paperwork in this compartment as well.

The Athletic Workout compartment can fit a fair amount of workout gear, work clothes, towel, shaving kit, etc. Both interior compartments are lined in WaterField’s smooth, finely-woven bright gold fabric.

The separate, collapsible shoe pocket can hold a pair of gym shoes or work shoes…here you can see my size 13 running shoes fitting inside. This separation keeps any wetness or dirt from getting on your clothes or tech gear.

Specifications:

Materials:

  • 1050 Denier black Ballistic nylon or brown Waxed Canvas
  • Full-grain leather accents

Dimensions & Weight:

  • One size: 16″ (L) x 10″ (H) x 8.5″ (W)
  • Ballistic 3.1 lbs. / Waxed Canvas 3.4 lbs.

It can transport a lot of gear…

Even with all this gear, the Waterfield Altas Holdall can still accommodate my lunch & snacks.

Build and material quality:

The ballistic nylon, full grain leather, zippers, rivets, and stitching are all very well done and “built to last”. In addition to strength, the leather adds a nice look and style to the bag. All of the zippers are low profile, covered, and waterproof. The entire bag holds up to liquids very well, (as the story goes…) I accidentally spilled my coffee all over the bag and it cleaned up like new with a damp rag.

The main face of the Altas has a quick-access, zippered pocket engineered to hold smartphone, keys, business & misc cards, wallet, pocketknife, pens, etc. The inside of this exterior pocket has a dedicated, lined smartphone pocket and key fob for easy retrieval of your cell and/or keys.

The open-topped, end pocket can transport a large water bottle for convenient access.

The bottom of the Altas Holdall is completely covered in leather for greater resistance to wear and tear.

The Atlas Executive Athletic Holdall can be transported in several ways. Waterfield includes a removable suspension strap for carrying the bag over the shoulder or crossbody. The bag rides very comfortably over the shoulder, hanging at hip height.

The reenforced, built-in handle carries comfortably as well. The handle is wrapped in the same full grain leather as the rest of the Holdall, for a solid grip and greater durability. With all my gear, the Athletic Holdall is not all that heavy, especially considering it is approximately three pounds lighter than my all-leather Colonel Littleton Navigator & old helmet bag combo.

The back of the Altas has a pass-through slot for slipping onto wheeled suitcase handles.

Positives

  • Excellent material quality and craftsmanship
  • Well designed/thought out
  • Stylish, professional design
  • Wheeled-suitcase handle pass-through
  • Relatively lightweight

Negatives

  • Expensive

The Waterfield Atlas Executive Athletic Holdall available in:

  • black ballistic nylon with chocolate leather
  • black ballistic nylon with black leather
  • brown waxed canvas with chocolate leather

The waxed canvas variant weighs in at 3.4 lbs and ballistic nylon ones, 3.1 lbs. The Altas Holdall meets most airline personal carry-on item size requirements and makes for an excellent overnight bag on the fly.

Waterfield Designs backs all of their products with a (limited) lifetime warranty.

Final thoughts

I really like the Atlas Executive Athletic Holdall from all points of view: quality, function, and design. Waterfield has done an excellent job engineering this bag for the athletic urban warrior, creating a professional looking EDC bag for all your tech and gym gear alike. This bag functions as advertised, a single solution to replace all your other bags…doing so in polished style. While admittedly expensive, the Altas Holdall not only gets the job done, it does so with the looks for both office and Club.

Price: $429
Where to buy: Waterfield Designs.
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Waterfield Designs.

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Waterfield Atlas Executive Athletic Holdall review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 11, 2018 at 11:00 am.

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JustMobile Shuttergrip review


Nowadays, I use my phone for nearly all of my photography needs. It is just so simple to use and it is always with me. I have a nice tripod that I’ve used for my big camera and have been recently wanting to use it for the phone as well, so I picked up a simple tripod phone mount. Less than a month later, JustMobile offered to send their Shuttergrip, which is an easy to use mount, but also can be used for holding your phone steady and has a detachable a Bluetooth remote.

What is it:

The JustMobile Shuttergrip is a remote shutter combined with a grip for photography that is used with smartphones. It allows someone to utilize the camera on their phone in a more ergonomic, efficient way.

What’s in the box:

In the box, you’ll find the Shuttergrip, a hand strap, battery (CR2032 type), and an instruction page.

Design and features:

Pairing the Shuttergrip to my phone was simple, and there were no problems connecting whatsoever. I did not have to charge it up first since it uses a watch style battery instead of a rechargeable battery. Once paired, I was ready to go!

Attaching it to the phone is easy and I could use it with my case, which is something my simple mount could not do. I could slide it on and off with ease but it was still very firmly attached to my phone. It also paired without me even knowing after the initial pairing. I was testing the grip a few days later and accidentally took a picture. There is no real way to turn off the camera button that I’ve found. Instead, it goes into idle mode after three minutes of inactivity.

When using it as a grip for taking pictures with the phone, it was comfortable and easier to use than the buttons on the phone. My pictures always turn out slightly blurry when using the volume buttons, but with the Shuttergrip, I did not have that problem.

It fit well on my tripod and using the remote made taking scenery pictures easy. If I felt the need to inject myself into the photo, I can easily hide the remote since it does not need line of sight. That is much more useful than the remote I have for my big camera, since finding creative ways to hide the remote is a challenge at times.

To test the range on the Shuttergrip, I set it up in my room and detached the remote, walking through the house and pushing the button five times total. All five photos took, which showed me the range was pretty good.

What I like:

  • Very easy to use
  • Pairs so quickly that it never feels like it turns off
  • Usable with multiple types of phones/cases

What needs to be improved:

  • Simplicity is best. The only thing I’d improve is adding a bag to put it in for storage.

Final thoughts:

I am looking forward to going on a trip and taking this with me. It will pack very easily and be so useful, both in my hand when walking around, and on my tripod for great scenery shots. For someone like me who takes tons of pictures when out and about, the Just Mobile Shuttergrip will come in handy. I would recommend it if you are in the market for something like this. It is a very nifty product, with a good design that is also very easy to use.

Price: $39.95
Where to buy: JustMobile Website
Source: The sample of this product was provided by JustMobile.

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JustMobile Shuttergrip review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 10, 2018 at 10:00 am.

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Sigma 105mm macro lens review

Photography professionals and enthusiasts are always looking for an opportunity to enhance their photography skills and to take better pictures. Those interested in macro photography seem to be involved in an ongoing search for the best lens to ultimately allow them to produce the most amazing pictures. Macro photography lenses have the ability to take really close-up photos with a nice depth of field and great bokeh (Bokeh is the blur produced in the parts of an image that are not in focus). I have a Canon EOS camera, and I recently purchased the Sigma 105mm Macro Lens for myself.

What is it?

The Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro Lens for Canon EOS Cameras is a mid-level lens specifically designed for macro photography (This lens is also available for Nikon, Sony and Sigma DSLR Cameras). Like many macro lenses, it is able to focus from infinity all the way into a 1:1 ratio which ensures a life-size reproduction of the image, from the lens to the sensor inside of the camera. This lens produces very clear images and its autofocus capability makes it much easier for even the entry-level photographer to take pictures that are sharp, in-focus and free of distortion.

What’s in the box?

In the box, there is a very nice lens case and carrying strap. The case is well padded and will very likely protect the lens in the event that it is dropped a few feet. Sigma also includes a lens hood, a hood extension for cameras with APS-C sensors, and protective lens caps for both sides of the lens. Of course, the warranty brochure and an instruction leaflet are included as well. This lens comes with a limited 1-year warranty for North and South America and a 3-year extended warranty if it remains within the USA.

Design and features

As with all macro lenses, this Sigma lens is quite heavy for its size. This is due to the additional glass inside that is necessary for the lens to be able to take macro images. The body is metal and it feels very solid overall. With an Aperture of f/2.8, this lens is capable of taking great pictures in low light conditions. The aperture and focus rings are nice and smooth and rotate freely without any binding. On the side of the lens, there are switches to select manual or auto focus, 2 types of Optical stabilization and a distance switch which is helpful with autofocus, by pre-defining the distance range between the subject and the lens. The Optical Stabilization is Sigma’s proprietary stabilization feature and does a great job at stabilizing when shooting hand-held. The “focus-Free” mechanical design creates a separation between the autofocus function and the mechanical focus ring which is great, since it allows you to hold the focus ring for support and still utilize autofocus without affecting the function. The lens can focus as close as 12.2” away from the subject and with the dual focus capability is easy to use without a tripod. The Hyper Sonic Motor makes focusing very fast and is relatively quiet.

What I like

After using the lens for a week or so, I can truly say that I am enjoying it. I like the build quality and how solid it feels. I also like the sharpness of the pictures it produces and the versatility of being able to use it for macro photography as well as portrait photography, and always get sharp photos with a great depth of field. The Bokeh it produces for my macro shots is very good, and my friends seem to love the photos.

What needs to be improved?

While this is obviously a great lens, I do think that there are a couple of things that can be improved. Despite its nice Hyper Sonic Motor, it is not as quiet as some of the other lens I have used. This would not usually be a problem for photography, but would be for videography, and would require the use of an external audio recorder for clean audio. I would also like to see 62mm ring adapters included with the lens, which is the size that is required for use with any lens filter or a ring flash. This size of ring adapter is not normally a part of most ring adapter kits, and must be purchased separately.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the Sigma 105mm macro lens does a very good job of producing clean and clear images, and has the versatility to do so both for macro and portrait photography. It can also be used for other types of photography as along as the distance to the subject can be managed.  In my opinion, when compared to a revered lens like the Canon 100mm macro lens, the Sigma comes in at a very close second. If overall quality and price are the main considerations, it would be a better purchase than the Canon, since it is now available at a newly discounted price.

Price: $569
Where to buy: bhphotovideo.com and Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was purchased with my own funds.

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Sigma 105mm macro lens review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 9, 2018 at 11:00 am.

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