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Audew Multi-function Flashlight review

REVIEW – Yes, that’s a flashlight submerged in a sink full of water. That’s the kind of thing we do! The Audew Multi-function Flashlight has multiple light functions, clips on metal surfaces with magnets, and can even charge your smartphone in a pinch. And it’s completely waterproof. It’s very handy to keep around. To the review!

What is it?

It’s a waterproof, rechargeable, multi-function flashlight that can also charge your devices. Did I mention it’s also submersible?

Hardware specs

  • 9.4 inches long
  • 8.5 ounces
  • IP68 waterproof rating (submersible to 3 meters)
  • Rechargeable lithium battery
  • 5200 mAh capacity and built-in USB port for device charging
  • Magnetic base for attaching to metal objects

What’s in the box?

The Audew Multi-function flashlight comes with the flashlight, a carry lanyard, and a USB-to-microUSB cable for charging.

Design and features

A lot of multi-function electronic gizmos are a mixed bag of performance, slapping all kinds of components together In a package that may (or may not) work as a whole. I’m happy to report that the Auley Multi-function Flashlight is NOT one of those. It’s all about lighting your way, and it does the job very well with a few bonus features that enhance it’s utility.

The baton-like form factor of the Audew Multi-function Flashlight is great to handle. It’s made from durable thermoplastics with metal caps and rubberized rings at each end that, along with the squared body, make it easy to grip. It’s also extremely lightweight at a mere 8.5 ounces and 9.4 inches long, so you can toss it in your glovebox or toolbox without adding all that battery weight. The vinyl leash is also handy for carrying around.

The Audew features multiple lighting modes, activated by pushing the rubberized button on one end. There’s a traditional flashlight mode with the bulb on the opposite end, and a bar-style light that runs the length of the body.

Flashlight mode is pretty straightforward. I caught this Tiki sneaking around my back yard…

The bar light features 5 different lighting modes: low/medium/high brightness white lighting, an orange bug-repellent light mode, or an emergency mode that alternates blue and red flashing lights. You can cycle through the modes with a click of the button, or press and hold the button to turn it off. You can go for 10-35 hours between charges based on which lighting mode you are using.

Here’s low and high white-light mode, useful for lighting up your campsite or work area:

Here’s “bug light” mode, which claims to repel mosquitos:

There’s also and emergency that flashes between blue and red. I was having trouble catching the switch on my camera, but it would be very useful to stick on the hood of your car if you were changing a tire in the dark:

In addition to multiple lighting modes, the Audew has a few more tricks that add to its utility. There is a pair of magnets side of the flashlight so that you can attach it to any metal object like a car hood or metal toolbox. There’s a D-ring on one end with a lanyard so you can hang it inside your tent, lash it to a tree branch, or attach near your workspace.

Here I have it attached to the door of my car. If you’ve got one of those all fiberglass bodies, it won’t help much… but you could attach it to any bit of metal:

It also has an IP68 waterproof rating, which means it is submersible up to 3 meters, both end caps are sealed so that you don’t have to worry about leaks. Drop it in a puddle, tie it to the side of your boat, get it wet… Audew doesn’t care. I dropped it in a sink full of water for 10 minutes, dried it off with a towel, and it laughed at me. Been using it ever since. I can’t say that about every “waterproof” electronic device I’ve tested.

The charging port is located under the cap with the control button. Unscrew the cap to charge the flashlight with the included USB to micro-USB cable. There’s also a USB port stashed there that you can use to charge your electronic devices. It’s rated at a 5200 mAH capacity. That won’t get you very far as a charging device (roughly 2-3 charges on your iPhone 6 at full charge), but it’s a great feature if you’re stuck in a pinch or lose power in the house (or car).

Performance

The Audew Multi-function Flashlight is a great little lighting multitasker that has a whole bunch of practical uses. I love this little guy as a general work light, especially for tight maneuvers like working under a sink. The waterproof feature is also great if that pipe just won’t stop leaking. We’ve all been there. Its solid construction will take some bumps and bruises if you have butterfingers as well.

I really like the idea of getting one of these for each of our cars as an emergency light. I tested the light at full charge and full bar-light brightness and got more than the 8 hours of rated run time before it faded. It will go longer in lower power modes, up to 35 hours in the low-light setting. Good to have in an emergency. That blinky red-blue mode would also be useful if I ran into a roadside issue.

We’ll be going on a camping trip in August, and I’m looking forward to testing it out in the great outdoors around the campsite. It doesn’t have a super-low light mode for use as a night light, but you can clip it to a carabiner at the tent peak for interior lighting. Not having to lug a bunch of replacement batteries in my gear bag will be a nice space saver, and I’ll be interested to see how the bug-repellent orange light mode works around the campfire. I’ll post updates on this as we test it. I also plan on testing this with my product photography over the next few months; the ease of handling and multiple hanging modes will make it ideal for adding background lighting.

All in all, it’s a great tool that also comes at a great price. You can pick one up for under 25 bucks on Amazon Prime. I’ll test the long-term durability over the next few weeks, but it looks like a keeper so far.

What I like

  • Durable, lightweight, and compact
  • Long-lasting charge
  • Multiple ways to hang and carry
  • Backup charging for your smartphone in an emergency
  • Waterproof

What needs to be improved

  • None to be seen so far!

Final thoughts

I really like the Audew Multi-function Flashlight. It’s mission-focused and has a set of nicely related functions that work well together. The tough construction is ready for some punishment, and the waterproofing means I can use it for all kinds of household projects and outdoor activities. I’m going to pick up several more of these for the house and the cars.

Price: $22.99
Where to buy: Amazon.
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Audew.

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Audew Multi-function Flashlight review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 6, 2018 at 9:00 am.

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Shinola gets into your head with the Canfield Pro In-Ear Monitors

NEWS – Okay, I’ll admit it. I have a weakness for in-ear headphones—or as I like to call them, plain ole’ earphones. It started with a pair of Future Sonics Atrio earphones I won in a contest. Not only did those earphones introduce me to the joys of personal audio, they also sparked my entry into reviewing audio gear. Because of that, I am constantly scouting the newest and (hopefully) best earphones and headphones available—which brings me to Shinola. This high-end American made brand from Detroit manufactures all kinds of gear, including audio. Shinola has now introduced the new Canfield Pro In-Ear Monitors.

The Canfield Pro In-Ear Monitors are a new direction for Shinola—a move into the pro arena, catering to music professionals as well as the discerning at-home listener.

 

Shinola states that while the Canfield Pro In-Ear Monitors were specifically crafted for artists performing live, they think everyone should be able to enjoy unparalleled sound anywhere. That’s why the monitors were designed to have the qualities professional musicians need with the addition of an inline microphone, volume control and a multifunctional button for everyday use.

Each Pro In-Ear monitor is powered by two balanced armature receivers—a bass woofer with a mid-high range tweeter. Shinola’s sound signature focuses on vocals while providing enough bass for support, but to never overwhelm. 

The Canfield Pro In-Ear Monitors have interchangeable memory foam and silicone ear tips, for hours of comfortable listening. The detachable monitor cable swivels for additional comfort. Developed in-house with Campfire Audio, every pair is fully designed, tuned, built and tested in the United States.

The Canfield Pro In-Ear Monitors come in both silver or black and sell for $495 direct from Shinola.

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Shinola gets into your head with the Canfield Pro In-Ear Monitors originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 6, 2018 at 8:00 am.

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Protect your AirPods with Twelve South’s AirSnap case

NEWS – Most of the protective covers I’ve seen for AirPods are silicone pouches, but Twelve South adds luxury to the AirPods with their full-grain leather AirSnap case.  AirSnap is designed to protect your expensive earbuds and their charging case while they are floating around in your bag or desk drawer.  The case has a snap closure and a cutout on the bottom that allows charging without removing the AirPods from the leather case.

The carabiner-style clip on top allows you to attach the AirSnap to a zipper pull, key retainer strap, keychain, or bag strap.  The case measures 2.9″ x 2.1″ x 0.98″ and weighs 0.8 ounces.  AirSnap is $29.99 and is available in black or blue leather right now.  A tan version begins shipping on August 6, 2018.  The AirSnap for AirPods is available at Twelve South.

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Protect your AirPods with Twelve South’s AirSnap case originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 5, 2018 at 3:16 pm.

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ILive – Voice Activated Clock with Amazon Alexa Review

REVIEW – I am normally an early riser by nature and will often wake up before my alarm clock even goes off.  However, there are those occasions where I apparently needed the extra sleep and was glad I did have an alarm clock set to make sure I got up on time.  I had recently replaced an alarm clock I had been using for literally over a decade with a new alarm clock.  Much to my disappointment I found that the alarm was so high pitched I did not hear it in the morning (I wear earplugs at night, but that is a whole other story!).  So when the opportunity came to review the new ILive Voice Activated Clock with Amazon Alexa I jumped on it.  Let’s see if it worked for me and made sure I was out of bed on time.

What is it?

The ILive Voice Activated clock is exactly what it is named.  It is a voice-activated clock that works with Amazon Alexa.  You can give it voice commands like any other Amazon Alexa enabled device as long as you have signed into your Amazon Alexa account through their app.  You can tell it to set alarms, cancel alarms, ask it a plethora of questions, play music and play Audible books.  It has a really nice speaker that has both left and right channels on it and it gives a much better sound than any other Amazon Alexa device that we have in the house.  We have the original Echo, Echo Dot, and the newer Echo Show.

Hardware Specs

  • Amazon cloud-based Alexa service
  • Voice activated
  • Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi direct
  • Bluetooth connectivity
  • Support for multiple streaming services like Pandora, Spotify and IHeartRadio
  • Nightlight at the bottom of the clock
  • USB port for phone charging
  • Multi-room and multi-user capable
  • High-performance speaker
  • ILive Wifi App

What’s in the box?

In the picture above you can see what comes in the box.  You get the clock radio (the light colored band at the bottom is the night light).  You also get an ac adapter,  an advertisement for a WiFi booster service, instruction booklet, quick start guide and an advertisement for Spotify Premium.

Design and Features

In the pictures above you can see my original alarm clock on the right and the new ILive alarm clock on the left.  The ILive is definitely larger but still does not take up a lot of space on my bedside table.  The next two pictures below show images of the top and back of the device.  There are a lot of buttons on this alarm clock.    Many of the buttons have dual features as you can see.   Starting from left to right on the left picture the top button is the power button.  I found this particular button rather deceiving.  When I plugged the clock in, it immediately lit up and displayed 12 am which made me think the clock was on.   I was unable to begin the configuration process until I pressed the power button and the light bar between the light and snooze button started blinking.   Also worth noting is once the clock is all set up and connect to your WiFi, if you were to lose power and have it come back on, the device will self-power back on after 2 minutes.  It sits with the 12 am display and will eventually start to self-search for its WiFi connection.  If it finds it, it will display the proper time again and pull back any alarms you set from Alexa.  So no battery backup is necessary.

Going clockwise the next two buttons let you control music playback manually on the clock itself.  The bottom button will control the LED clock display brightness (only 2 settings – light up the whole room and only slightly less light).  The last button on the left will let you pair with Bluetooth or a WiFi protected set up device.

In the middle, you have the light button that will let you turn on the night light at the bottom of the clock.  There are three levels of brightness for that.  The big button at the bottom is the snooze button.

To the right, you have a microphone mute button if you don’t wish to have Alexa listening to you. The plus and minus buttons control how loud the alarm and how loudly Alexa responds.  The bottom button with the microphone picture is just a manual button you can press to activate Alexa if you don’t want to call out her name first.

In the back of the unit is a USB port in which you can charge your phone and a DC in port for the power adapter.  I did note that when I plugged the USB from my wireless charger for my Galaxy S9 that it did not have enough juice to support fast charging.

The next series of pictures show you the process to get the clock connected to your WiFi.  It is a pretty standard setup where you actually connect your phone directly to the WiFi coming out of the clock itself then provide the clock with the home WiFi password.

Once connected you get the opportunity to name the device.  Then you proceed to connect to your Amazon Alexa account.  You give the app permission to access the Alexa voice service.   You even get the choice of specifying which language in which you want Alexa to speak to you.

Once I was through all of that I was then prompted for a firmware upgrade for the device which I did apply.

A nice feature which I mentioned earlier is the microphone mute button.  If you really don’t want Alexa listening in to the fun you are having in your bedroom you can mute her.

The next few screens show the plethora of playing options provided by the app to the clock.  I personally did not have any of those streaming accounts available, but I did have the clock read my Audible book to me.  I have to say I was really impressed with the sound that came out of the device.  It had a great base quality and was very clear compared to our existing Echo devices.

What I like

I love that it connects to Amazon Alexa.  We are a big Echo use home.  We own five existing echo devices, so using this clock came very naturally for me.   Just before going to bed telling Alexa to set an alarm for the next day is so easy.  You can even tell her to set the alarm for all weekdays if you like.  Alexa also now gives you the ability to set multiple alarms if you have two people using the same clock.  When it goes off you can talk and tell Alexa to stop the alarm or press a button on the clock to stop it that way.  I love that I do not have to remember to replace batteries in the clock to handle the battery backup issue.  That is also a con which you will see below.  The speaker on this clock is amazing for its size.  I often use it when I bring a load of clothes into the bedroom to fold.  Listening to music or a book certainly makes that job go much faster.

What needs to be improved

I really think that the clock could benefit from an actual battery backup.   A possible weak spot is that this clock is very dependent on WiFi in your home.  If you WiFi goes out, your alarm will not go off.   Another weak spot is if you wake up before the alarm goes off you only have two choices to cancel the alarm.  One is to talk to Alexa to cancel the alarm which can be loud for the other person still sleeping in the room.  The other is to open the Alexa app and cancel that way.  It would be awesome if there could be some way to configure a manual button press to cancel the alarm before it goes off.  Another issue is also dealing with the power issue.  If the power goes off in the middle of the night and comes back on, the clock will reconnect with your WiFi if your WiFi is available.  However, it is a noisy process with the clock talking and giving you a status along the way.  I would rather it do that soundlessly so it would not wake me up in the middle of the night.   My last issue is a pet peeve with pretty much all newer alarm clocks.  Dang those LED displays are bright.  I see people complaining that even the lowest display setting is still too bright for a dark room.  This clock is still pretty darn bright.  I will most likely be buying a film to place over the display to hopefully dim that sucker down.

Final thoughts

All in all, I really do like this alarm clock.  It will stay on my nightstand and become my personal alarm clock.  Fortunately for us we rarely lose power so the backup issue is not that big of a deal.  I just really love the sound that it produces and I can actually hear the alarm in the morning.

Price: $71.07
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by iLive.

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ILive – Voice Activated Clock with Amazon Alexa Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 5, 2018 at 9:30 am.

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A cat tree that doesn’t look like a cat tree

NEWS – Instead of a big carpet-covered column with carpet-covered shelves and boxes like most cat trees, this Natural Sphere Cat Tower from Sauder looks almost like a floor lamp.  The tower stands 43.75″ tall and is 19.8″ wide at the front and 21.6″ deep.  It’s topped with a wicker sphere with two access holes and is fitted with a comfortable, machine-washable bed cushion inside.  The base has a carpeted shelf and a toy on an elastic string.  One leg is wrapped with sisal rope to serve as a scratching post (instead of your sofa arms).  The wood has an espresso finish.

The Natural Sphere Cat Tower is $234.99 direct from Sauder.  You can also check the website for the location of a retailer near you.

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A cat tree that doesn’t look like a cat tree originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 5, 2018 at 8:12 am.

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