Home 2018 December

Cavalier Maverick portable Bluetooth and WiFi speaker system with built-in Alexa review

REVIEW – Operating your smart home got a lot easier once voice control was introduced by various services.  I use Amazon’s Alexa system for voice control of my Hue lights and Nest products.  I bought my Amazon Echo devices before the surge of new-generation Echo devices and before all those new items with built-in Alexa were introduced.  I have a variety of Echo devices, but I mostly have Echo Dots. They work great for talking to Alexa, but they don’t have good speakers.  My iPhone 7 Plus has better speakers for playing back music.  When your Alexa device doesn’t have good speakers, you could buy yourself a set of Bluetooth speakers and pair the Echo Dot with these new Bluetooth speakers for better sound from Alexa.  But now you have two devices you have to have room for on the surge protector and on the tabletop.  Enter Cavalier, whose The Maverick speaker system has both Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity and Alexa built-in – Alexa smart home control and good sound in one device.  Cavalier sent The Gadgeteer a Maverick to try.

Hardware specs

  • CAV1 Speaker: 2.96″ x 2.96″ x 8.79″
  • CAV1 Base: 3.7″ x 3.7″ x .99″
  • Weight: 1.76 lbs
  • USB Auto-switching 100-240 V, AC universal input wall adapter
  • Bluetooth Audio and Speakerphone with Echo-Noise Cancellation
  • Connects to your home Wi-Fi network with any 802.11b/g, 2.4 GHz broadcast-capable router for uninterrupted wireless streaming
  • Start and control music with your voice, with built-in Amazon Alexa and far-field voice activation
  • 20W Stereo Speaker system with 2 active drivers paired with 2 passive radiators
  • World Inspired, Genuine Materials: premium genuine leather, high quality acoustic fabric and aluminum chassis with machined edge
  • Built-in Rechargeable Battery with up to 9 hours playtime
  • Wi-Fi for Alexa support and Streaming with Voice Control for Pandora, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Amazon Prime Music streaming services and more
  • Bluetooth Wireless Audio Streaming
  • Speakerphone with Built-in Echo Noise Cancellation
  • Spotify Connect Integration allows direct control of Music playback via Spotify App
  • For Alexa supported services, use your voice to pause a song, turn up the volume and other basic playback controls
  • Complete Privacy with dedicated microphone mute with illuminated status LED’s to ensure you are aware when in privacy mode
  • Analog volume control knob for when you prefer not to use voice
  • Cavalier Multi-Room Audio Support
  • Cavalier Setup and Control App (for iOS and Android)
  • Programmable Capacitive Touch Smart Button (Change default music controls to include playlist shortcuts for Spotify and iHeartRadio via App)

What’s in the box?

  • Cavalier Maverick Speaker (CAV1)
  • USB-C Charging Cable
  • USB Wall Adapter
  • Protective Travel Case
  • Charging Base
  • Quick Start Instruction Book

Design and features

Cavalier describes their Maverick best: “Each Cavalier is crafted using only the most premium aluminum and carefully engineered with machined edge to give a beautiful finish.  Each is crafted with luxurious genuine leather to compliment the rest of the design and add true character to the product.  Our premium knitted fabric adds unique texture and character to our products. The high quality finish is crafted to not only look great, but feel great too. The texture, colors and patterns are chosen to compliment your personal style.”

There are two versions of the Maverick.  Both have the aluminum body with a machined edge.  The Black version has a black leather accent with black knitted fabric cover.  The Indigo, which I received, has a caramel-brown leather accent with indigo-blue fabric.  Both are very elegant, but I especially love the caramel and dark blue combination.

Both have a built-in battery with up to 9 hours of playback time.  The Maverick is charged with a USB-C cable and AC power supply.  You can plug the charging cable directly into the back of the speaker tower, or you can use the charging dock.  The charging stands are also made of aluminum and are wrapped in a piece of matching leather.

With the dock, you can easily grab the speaker to take with you for music on the go without having to fumble with charging cables.  And to protect your speaker on the go, put it in the included protective bag.

The button on the top is a programmable Capacitive Touch Smart Button.  Original setup for this button is as follows:  1 tap to pause/play music; 2 taps to advance to the next track; three taps to go to previous track; or press-and-hold to activate Alexa.  You can also program this inner button to activate a streaming service or other function.  The ring around the smart button is the volume adjustment.

Setup

To set up the Maverick, you’ll need both the Cavalier app and the Alexa app on your mobile device.  You’ll have to set up an account in the Cavalier app.  You’ll need to connect to your home WiFi to use the Alexa services and to directly stream music with Alexa voice commands.  With Alexa, you can stream Spotify, Amazon Music, Pandora, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, and Sirius XM.

Performance

When using WiFi and the Cavalier app, I was able to select between the Apple Music library on my iPad, Spotify, and iHeartRadio from the home screen.  The other, circular icon opens setup for Alexa. I don’t have iHeartRadio or any of the other services listed above, so I couldn’t try those.  I do have a basic Spotify, but it turns out you need a Premium account to play Spotify through the Cavalier app.  I’m not willing to pay for the Premium account, so I couldn’t it, either.

I was able to play music from my Apple Music library, but it didn’t have access to the music in my iCloud library.  It could only play the small subset of music I had downloaded to my iPad.

When I had the speaker connected to my home WiFi, I was able to use Alexa voice commands.  It worked similarly to the way my Echo Dot worked, but sometimes it didn’t seem to hear me say the wake word.  However, I’ve been having a little trouble lately with Alexa through the Echo Dot not hearing me, too.  I don’t know if I’m suddenly not talking loudly enough or what, but there have been no other changes in my room.

When I connected via Bluetooth, I was able to use the Maverick speakers just as I would any other set of Bluetooth speakers with my iPad Pro.  The 20W stereo speaker system with two active drivers paired with two passive radiators produced great sound whether I was using Bluetooth or WiFi connectivity.  With Bluetooth, I could send the sound from any app on my iPad Pro to the speakers, including my iCloud music library.  I tried a variety of songs in a variety of genres, and they all sounded great.

I did have a bit of trouble switching back and forth between WiFi and Bluetooth with the Maverick.  When I wanted to switch from one to the other, I’d have to put the speaker into pairing mode with the buttons on its back to change connections.  I’d even have to sometimes tell my iPad Pro to forget the Maverick and start the connection from scratch to switch to Bluetooth.

What I like

  • Beautiful and well-constructed
  • Good sound
  • Can have access to Alexa and great sound through a single device

What needs to be improved

  • Couldn’t access my iCloud music library, which is where most of my music lives.  I’m sure that’s a function of the iCloud access and not a shortcoming of the Cavalier app, though.

Final thoughts

I like using the Maverick for music playback, but I must admit I prefer it with Bluetooth so I can access all my iTunes music.  I have days and days worth of iTunes music, and I don’t want to download it to my mobile device just to be able to play it via WiFi with the Maverick.

Price: $299.99
Where to buy: Cavalier online and Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided Cavalier

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Cavalier Maverick portable Bluetooth and WiFi speaker system with built-in Alexa review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 19, 2018 at 9:00 am.

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Braxley Bands add stretchable comfort to your Apple Watch

NEWS – There are tons of third-party Apple Watch bands on the market today. But it’s not every day that you come across one as unique as Braxley Bands.

These unibody bands are made with innovative ELSTC elastic. They’re fully elastic and stretch over your hand to lay on your wrist. Making them easy to put on and take off. Aside from being stretchy, the bands are moisture wicking, machine washable and according to Braxley’s website, insanely comfortable.

Like all other Apple Watch bands, Braxley Bands snap onto the Apple Watch using metal adaptors that slide into the cutouts in the Apple Watch.

The bands come in three sizes small for 6-inch wrists, medium for 6.5-inch wrists, and large for 7-inch wrists. For Apple Watch sizes 38mm or 40mm and 42mm or 44mm.

Currently, the Braxley Bands are available in 12 different designs including solid color styles like Luxe, Blackout, and Revolver or more elaborate designs like Primrose, Aloha, and Recon. All are available from the company’s website and are priced at $29.99.

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Braxley Bands add stretchable comfort to your Apple Watch originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 19, 2018 at 8:00 am.

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VivaLNK Vital Scout continuous wellness monitor review

REVIEW – Fitness tracking devices used to only be available in form factors that strapped to your wrist or around your chest. Now we have fitness trackers that you can wear on your finger as a ring or in a patch that you stick to your chest like the Vital Scout continuous wellness monitor from VivaLNK that I’m going to talk to you about today. Let’s check it out.

What is it?

The VivaLNK Vital Scout is a wearable wellness monitor that uses medical-grade EGC sensors that track your heart rate, respiration, stress, recovery, and sleep quality 24/7.

What’s in the box?

  • VivaLNK Vital Scout monitor
  • Charging case
  • micro USB cable
  • 10 adhesives
  • Instructions

Design and features

The Vital Scout stores in a small white plastic case when it’s not being used to track your heart rate, stress level, sleep quality, and breathing.

This case doubles as the charger for the wearable monitor. The monitor is made of soft flexible plastic. It has an oval shape with two round nodules that stick up from the surface and a large square protrusion in the center.

When you flip the Vital Scout over, you can see two small electrical contacts which are used to charge the patch and three larger contacts which make contact with your skin through a thin layer of adhesive to track your fitness data.

Before you can begin using the Vital Scout patch, you need to charge it first. This is easily done by placing it correctly in the case and using the included micro USB cable to plug into an AC adapter or a USB port on a computer. While the patch is charging, a large LED on the case glows red.

Once the patch is fully charged, the LED will glow green.

The next step is to attach the patch to your chest using one of the included Hydrogel adhesives. The Vital Scout comes with two packs which each contain 5 adhesives. Additional packs of adhesives can be purchased for $5.99/pack of 4 adhesives.

The adhesives have three sections which are numbered to make them easy to identify. You obviously remove tab #1 first.

Once the protective tab is removed, you can see the thin silicone film surface of the adhesive.

The Vital Scout patch sticks to this area and then you can peel off tab #2 and stick the patch to the upper area of your left chest. You can also stick it in the center of your chest.

I opted to put it in the upper area of my chest. Once stuck in place, you can peel off tab #3 and you’re ready for action. There is no worry that the patch will fall off. The adhesive is strong and water resistant. You can even shower with it.

I have to tell you that I immediately had flashbacks of 2011 when I had a port in my chest for chemo treatments. I had the port for over a year under the skin in the same area as shown here. You can even see one of my 6 tattoos in the photo above. It’s that little black dot to the left of the patch. The tattoos were for the radiation treatments that I had after the 2 rounds of chemo. Anyway, the reason why the Vital Scout patch reminded me of the port is that it sticks up and gets in the way with some activities like wearing a seat belt or a with the strap of a messenger style bag.

I was a little concerned when I agreed to review the Vital Scout because my skin sometimes has an allergic reaction to adhesives. Back when I was going through treatments for breast cancer, they would put an adhesive film called Tegaderm over the port with the needle attached to it to keep out germs during treatments. That type of adhesive would make my skin itchy and red and would leave an exact mark where it had been for days and even weeks later. I’m happy to report that I had almost no issues with the adhesive included with the Vital Scout. I had just a tiny area where it became itchy and red when I removed the patch after wearing it for a couple of days, but the irritation cleared up quickly.

Using the Vital Scout the app

As you can see, the patch does not have any type of display, status LEDs, speakers, etc. To see the data that it collects, you have to pair the patch with an app on your iOS or Android device.



The app is easy to use and has a main dashboard screen as you see above that gives you a quick way to see your stats for the current time period, including your current heart rate, respiration, 24hr stress level, recovery level, activity level, and sleep quality.

Stress – a normal physiological reaction to physical or mental load. Not all stress is bad and can be caused by a variety of positive and negative factors such as working, training, commuting, anxiety, excitement. The goal is to moderate the amount and intensity of stress over time and to ensure sufficient recovery to balance the stress. General guideline according to VivaLnk:

• > 60% = More than usual
• 40- 60% = Normal
• < 40% = Less than usual

Recovery – The calming of the body, and helps to balance stress. The majority of recovery occurs during sleep, but day-time recovery is also beneficial and can occur in a variety of situations such as relaxation, meditation, and enjoyment. General guideline:

• > 29% = Good
• 20 – 29% = Moderate
• < 20% = Low

Activity – When the body is in a physically active state such as walking, running, exercising etc.

Sleep – The amount of time spent in sleep. General guideline:

• > 7hrs = good
• 5.5 – 7hrs = moderate
• < 5.5hrs = poor




Tapping any of the boxes under the main dashboard graph will let you drill down into each category such as Stress, Recovery, Activity, and Sleep to see more info.


The same goes for the heart rate and respiration info. Heart rate is determined by beats per minute and respiration is determined by breaths per minute.

You can also see graphs that bring Stress, heart rate, respiration, Activity, and Recovery all together in one graph to give you a better overall picture of what’s going on with your body during the day.

I found that the Vital Scout patch and app did a good job tracking my times of stress/activity and recovery. Vital Scout uses heart rate variability (HRV) which is the variation in the time interval between heartbeats and is used to determine stress levels. I could easily see the times when I was recovering was when I was vegging out on the couch in front of the TV and the times when I was “stressed” was when I was moving around and active.

The Vital Scout app will also allow you to export your data in CSV format so that you can archive it or share with a doctor.

Sample data:

Date Time HR RR Stress %% Recovery %% Activity %% Calories Burned Sleep?(Yes/No) Sleep Quality Notes
2018-12-12 00:00:00 65 15 0 51 0 1 No 0
2018-12-12 00:01:00 57 12 0 99 0 0 No 0
2018-12-12 00:02:00 62 13 0 90 0 1 No 0
2018-12-12 00:03:00 61 12 0 96 0 0 No 0

Battery life

A fully charged Vital Scout patch will collect data for around 72hrs or 3 days before needing to be recharged. Of course, recharging the patch involves removing it from your chest, which means you have to remove the adhesive and use a new one to apply it back to your chest after you’ve recharged.

What I like

  • Stick it and forget it continuous monitoring
  • 72 hour battery life
  • Helps you see your stress levels throughout the day so you can better manage them

What needs to be improved

  • Replacement adhesives are too expensive when they have to be replaced every 3 days
  • Would be nice to include step tracking too
  • Patch needs to be thinner

Final thoughts

I like how easy it is to use the VivaLNK Vital Scout. You basically charge it, and stick it to your chest and forget about it (sorta). No one will see that you’re wearing it unless you wear a tight-fitting thin shirt.

I also like that it is continuously recording your heart rate, activity, stress, respiration, and sleep info every minute and that you can go back and look at that data or export it into a spreadsheet that you can share with your doctor.

The only “bad” thing I can say about the Vital Scout is that you have to buy the proprietary adhesives and they are too expensive at $6 for 4 adhesives which will only last you for 12 days if you plan to wear the Vital Scout all the time. That said, I can see that this device would be fine for occasional use, but not 24/7, 365 days a year. The consumables are just too much money for continuous use.

Price: $149.00 MSRP
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by VivaLNK.

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VivaLNK Vital Scout continuous wellness monitor review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 18, 2018 at 11:00 am.

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Make an interesting collage of photos instantly for your wall using the Modular Magnet Frame System

NEWS – I see photos of expertly decorated walls using a collage of photos and would love to recreate such designs on my wall but I’m not sure how to go about it. Who’s with me? Well, the Modular Magnetic Frame System by Magnaframe is here to help us out albeit with tiny special sized frames. You buy a set of either four frames that accommodate classic 4″ x 6″ print size photos, six frames that accommodate Polaroids, or six frames that accommodate 4″ x 4″ Instagram print sizes.  One frame of the set is screwed into the wall and has an integrated leveler and the other frames connect magnetically to it in any configuration (each frame in a set has neodymium magnets embedded into the perimeter). If you don’t like the configuration or get tired of it, you can rearrange them instantly! You can continually build onto your collage with additional frame packages. Each of the Modular Magnetic Frame System sets comes in black or white and are available from the Grommet for $49.99 per set.

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Make an interesting collage of photos instantly for your wall using the Modular Magnet Frame System originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 18, 2018 at 10:00 am.

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Zulu Audio Wearable Bluetooth Speakers Review

REVIEW – The days of carrying a boombox around on your shoulder have long been gone, and wearable Bluetooth speakers are here as a hands-free replacement. Zulu Audio’s Wearable Bluetooth Speakers magnetically connect to your clothes, so you can bring the party to the people.

What is it?

The Zulu Audio Wearable Bluetooth Speaker is just what you guess it is. It’s a set of Bluetooth speakers that you can wear.

Hardware specs:

  • Sweat-proof and water resistant
  • Bluetooth 4.1technology and integrated microphone
  • Quickly pairs with IOS or Android operating systems
  • 2.5 hours charging time
  • Approximately 4 hours of battery life

What’s in the box?

  • 1 Micro USB Charging Cable
  • 1 Carrying Case
  • 1 Wearable Speaker (with magnets)
  • 1 Extra magnet
  • 1 Instruction Manual
  • 1 Cable Tie (on the speaker)

Design and Features:

LED Light, Volume up (+), Volume down (-), Mic, and USB Charging

These speakers use a magnet to magnet connection for secure attachment on clothing, and they are comfortably lightweight at about 75 grams. The directions suggest you wear them around your neck and secure them around the shoulder area of your shirt, but you can essentially wear them on any body part covered in clothing. Additionally, you can simply secure them to any magnetic surface, or use them recreationally around the house or car. I found it nifty to put them on my metal shower rod, being as they are water resistant!

You can skip forward to the next track by holding down the Vol + button for 2 seconds, and go backward to the last track by holding down the Vol – button for 2 seconds.

Zulu Audio Wireless Speakers also allow the ability to answer phone calls by pressing the multifunction button (O- On/Off) during the time of an incoming call. Music plays again automatically when the call ends.

Performance

Pairing these speakers to my iPhone X was extremely easy. All I had to do was make sure my bluetooth was on, and hold down the multipurpose button (O) adjacent to the (+) and (-) buttons, for 6 seconds. When it is in pairing mode, red and blue LED lights flash alternately. I selected “Zulu Audio” from my Bluetooth selections on my phone, and I was instantly connected.

The box claims that the speakers last around 4 hours, which is true. At around 4 hours is when it starts giving warning beeps that the battery is low. I would say you have about an extra 25 minutes before they completely die after that. So really, they lasted ~4.5 hours.

These speakers are loud enough for what they are for. They get the job done.

What I like

What I enjoy the most about this product is that it allows you to be handsfree. I am a rollerblader, and these were an absolute hoot to take to the park! I also like fact that they are lightweight and have strong magnets. I thought they might annoyingly bounce around when I’d try to run, but for the most part, they don’t.

The sound quality isn’t bad. Again, gets the job done.

What needs to be improved

The only thing I’m unsure of is how stylish they aren’t.

I found it more trendy to wear them around my waist, like this, instead. I do understand that if they are on your shoulders/around your neck, you can hear them better but… meh. The difference is minute.

The only way this could be improved is to make them even smaller.

You could always wear your shirt or jacket over them. Problem solved.

Also, nobody has ever complained that their speakers’ battery life is too long… 4.5 hours is good; longer would be great.

Final thoughts:

These are high-quality speakers and I will continue to wear them in the park while I rollerblade and run, and use them in my shower! I think whether you are active in your lifestyle or not, most people can find a use for lightweight, water-resistant speakers that are magnetic. They would be a great gift for the holidays.

I think the price is steep. They are originally $100 and are currently 15% off for $84.99. Before I had these speakers, I was using a $20 Bluetooth speaker that I would carry in a lightweight backpack which also held water, phone, keys, etc. Considering the main function (wearable) of these speakers, and their competition, I believe the price is high.

Price: $84.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Zulu Audio. Please visit their site for more info.

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Zulu Audio Wearable Bluetooth Speakers Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 18, 2018 at 9:00 am.

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