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Tenergy Renair Air Purifier review

REVIEW – Clean air is really important for good health and something we don’t often consider enough. In the bay area, the recent wildfires have kept it top of mind, but we also have frequent “spare the air” days that restrict wood burning for air quality reasons. I have mild seasonal allergies, while my daughter has chronic environmental allergies so we purchased a very expensive unit for her bedroom which has worked great, but haven’t done much to address the rest of the house. Our two dogs don’t help the allergy scenario either, but they’re family so we manage. Tenergy has recently launched their Renair Air Purifier and asked if we’d like to review it, so over the last month we’ve been putting it to the test. How’s it work? Quick answer? Pretty darn well. Read on…

What is it?

It’s kinda right there in the title… The Renair Air purifier. But in short, it’s an air purifying device that uses a 3-stage HEPA filter and a negative ion generator to clean the air wherever its placed.

What’s in the box?

  • Tenergy Renair Air Purifier (TAP01)
  • True HEPA air filter (already inside the unit, but in a plastic bag)
  • Instruction manual, warranty card, product support info
  • (Images not to scale)

Hardware specs

Filter systems: True HEPA air filter, Activated carbon filter, Cathelicidin-coated layer
Efficacy: 99 Airborne particles removed
Fan and delivery: 3 speed fan, Clean air delivery rate (CADR) of 82 cubic feet/minute, 140 cubic meter/hour
Optimal room size: up to 210 square feet
Dimensions and weight: 18×8.6
Rated power: 37w w/ 6.25′ power cord
Other specs/features: Negative ion generator, night light, touch controls

Design and features

The Renair Air Purifier is a cylindrical device with a relatively small 9″ square footprint. The air intake is around the bottom and the clean air is output at the top. Tenergy has applied an asymmetric design throughout this and it makes for a fun look as well as a little bit of a scenario where it’s not completely clear where the front of the unit is unless it’s on or you can see the power cord.

The underside of the unit is where the filter is housed which you’ll see in the setup section. Here I wanted to call out the fan and the lower cavity which pulls the air through the 360º side intakes, through the 3-stage HEPA filter and up into the unit.

Tenergy has also chosen to generously apply the use of LEDs.


Let’s move on to getting the Renair up and running.

Setup

After removing the unit from the box, the setup is straight forward. Flip the purifier upside down.

Using the handle, turn the base (filter cover) counter clockwise and remove to reveal the filter.

Pull the filter from the cavity and remove the plastic bag. Applause for not increasing packaging size to have the filter outside the unit, but would have liked to see some kind of warning label directly on the unit to make sure the bag is removed before turning the unit on. (Not all of us read instructions).


Place the filter back into the unit and lock the cover into place with a clockwise turn, then upright the unit. Lastly there’s a protective film on the top of the unit you’ll probably want to remove.

Tenergy recommends 15″ of clearance on all sides of the unit for proper air intake. Keep this in mind as you decide where to place the unit.

Beyond the above set up, it’s basically turning the unit on when you want it running. The settings are all touch controls with 3-position selections for the fan and nightlight, a filter replacement indicator and individual on/off controls for power, night mode and the negative ion generator. Here’s what that looks like.

Performance

As I mentioned above, I have some mild seasonal allergies and with my daughter’s room covered I wanted to see how this unit would help in my own bedroom. Besides the obvious allergen reduction, one of the other key features listed in Tenergy’s description was odor elimination. Both of our dogs sleep in the bedroom, The bigger guy on his floor bed, and the smaller one in a crate that is underneath a massive, hide-the-crate nightstand on my side of the bed.

A byproduct of our room also being their room is that it tends to harbor a dog odor that finds you when you walk into the room. It’s most noticeable when one returns from a trip as we are otherwise effectively nose-blind at home day to day. Needless to say I was eager to see if the Renair could help in this matter as well.

When you turn the unit on, the first thing you’ll notice is the blue LEDs on the top of the unit highlighting the different controls. Unless you’re setting up this unit in the dark, you won’t realize just how bright these are. We’ll get back to that in a minute.

Every time you turn the unit on, it automatically starts at the medium fan speed. The speed select button will toggle between fast, slow and then medium again with repeated presses.

Similarly, the nightlight is on color changing by default so if it’s not your thing, press once to switch to single color and again to toggle off. In changing mode it slowly cycles between blue, green and red. Here’s a photo of what that looks like.

This feature is supposedly there to lull you to sleep, but it definitely didn’t work for me. Felt like more of a light show. Off it went.

The negative ion generator is also on by default. According to Tenergy, negative ions will attach to particles in the air allowing easier removal by the purifier and thereby further improving the quality of the air. This seems like a good thing, so I left this feature on throughout testing.

Another feature mentioned is quiet operation. This is definitely true with the fan in slow speed or the all-inclusive night mode. The medium and high speeds do kick up the operation volume a bit. I found the medium speed to be the right balance of volume and a “white noise” which helps me sleep and also keeps the dogs from reacting to any random noises from outside the house.

So back to the LEDs and night mode. The blue glow is really bright. I’m not a fan of LEDs in general, especially in the room where I sleep.

Hitting the night mode button kills all the lights, which is awesome. However, it also reduces the fan speed which kills the white noise effect I wanted. The closest option to an in-between is leaving it on medium and then toggling off the night light effect which doesn’t change any of the blue light from the top of the unit. This glow is still much brighter than anything I want in the bedroom, but everything else about the unit feels spot on.

My solution was to make a quick top cover from black gaffers tap that I lay on top of the unit to hide the lights. The touch panel is able to read presses through the tape, so I just drew the icons that I need to press. Power and night light.

So, what’s my take after a month of use? Let’s bullet it out…

  • On odor: I had to take a 10 day trip out of country about a week into using the Renair. I can tell you that much time away definitely resets your nose for arriving home. I’m happy to report that I noticed a significant lack of dog aroma when I opened the door to the bedroom.
  • On allergies: Since setting up the unit, I have not experienced any allergy related or breathing issues which I can directly attribute to the Renair as it was not uncommon for me to be stuffed up in the morning.
  • On noise: As mentioned, I appreciate the white noise effect and there’s rarely a night that I don’t turn it on. When I have forgotten, the dogs typically remind me as they respond to some dog howling off in the distance or the wind whipping something down the outside stairs. As a plus, that power button is well positioned at the front of the top of the unit and it’s easy to hit by feel, with the next one off being the button to turn off that accursed night light.
  • One month: Pulled the filter today to take a peek and it was not noticeably dirty. I’ll likely keep doing this at monthly intervals or if I suddenly notice a drop in performance.

Some additional things to know…

  • Filter replacement is based on an automated 6-month timer, not any kind of sensor that tells you the filter is clogged or spent. You’ll need to figure out if your particular scenario requires more frequent replacing.
  • Should you need to replace the filter “off-cycle” you probably won’t use the 6-month timer, but should you want to reset it…  Unplug the unit, reconnect to power and without turning on… [1] press and hold “replace filter” for 3 seconds (red LED will turn on) [2] repeat for 3 seconds (red LED will turn off). Reset is finished.
  • It’s cool that they’ve minimized the retail packaging by nesting the filter in its compartment, but it does create a scenario where a consumer could unpack the unit and turn it on without removing the bag on the filter first. A piece of red tape or something could be used as a quick indicator that there’s a step to finish first.
  • When it does come time to needing a new filter, there’s a handy QR code in the manual to take you to an Amazon order page where you can currently pick one up for $23.

What I like

  • The 3-stage filter seems to work as intended.
  • The price. Significantly less than other solutions.
  • The volume. While quiet in slow mode, medium is a nice white noise level.
  • The footprint. Pretty small compared to some older HEPA units I’ve used.

What needs to be improved

  • Setting for all LEDs to stay off.
  • Setting to change defaults to your preferences.

Final thoughts

I’m really happy with the Renair Air Purifier. It has kept my sinuses clear and solved a dog odor that we’d previously only been able to mask. The unit is ultra quiet in it’s low and night mode settings and I like the white noise level of the medium setting. If you struggle with allergies, or just want cleaner air, this is a solid machine at a very reasonable price.

Price: $109.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Tenergy.

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Tenergy Renair Air Purifier review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 15, 2019 at 11:00 am.

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Dress up your Apple Watch with the Golden Knight stingray strap

CROWDFUNDING NEWS – Apple Watches are everywhere.  Most people like the sporty look, but there are many folks that prefer a dressier look.  Golden Knight has just launched a Kickstarter campaign for their genuine stingray watch strap.  It is designed to give the Apple Watch, or any watch with a 22mm spring bar lug (Tag Heuer Carrera and others), a classy, dressy look.

The strap has the following features:

  1. High-quality stainless-steel Apple Watch Connectors that are compatible with all watches that use 22mm spring-bar straps
  2. Genuine vegetable-tanned cowhide leather backing
  3. Dual-deployment stainless-steel butterfly clasp with laser etched logo
  4. Sustainably-sourced Genuine Stingray Leather

The strap will be available with stainless steel hardware in three colors, silver, black or rose gold.

The straps will all be hand-assembled and inspected in south Florida and will come with a limited lifetime guarantee.

Golden Knight is very, very early into their Kickstarter funding campaign, having launched on March 12.  As of March 15, early AM, they have only raised $1,356 of their all-or-nothing $50,000 goal.  Pledge rewards are a strap in your hardware color choice for $125, a large strap in your hardware color choice for $150, or a strap with all three colors of hardware for $175. The funding period runs until April 21, 2019. The shipping target is July 2019.

If you’re looking for a dressed-up look for your 22mm strap watch, this might just be the strap you’re looking for. If their funding campaign takes off, this might be a stingray of sunshine for your wrist. You can learn more from Golden Knight, and Kickstarter.

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Dress up your Apple Watch with the Golden Knight stingray strap originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 15, 2019 at 10:00 am.

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Audew Cordless Vacuum Cleaner review

REVIEW – My wife worked for a home cleaning company for a while.  When it came time to buy a new vacuum cleaner for our house, she knew from experience exactly which model to buy, one that was both powerful and long-lasting.  Not every job around the house, however, is a good match for a full-size vacuum.  Sometimes it’s a pain to get the vacuum where it’s needed, such as the stairs or the car; other times the mess is too small to be worth the effort of hauling out the big vacuum.  For jobs like these, a small cordless vacuum cleaner, like this one from Audew, is the perfect tool for the job.

What is it?

The Audew Cordless Vacuum Cleaner is a handheld, rechargeable vacuum cleaner designed to handle small messes in awkward places.

What’s in the box?

  • The vacuum
  • A removable battery and a small power adapter
  • Two attachments, one with a brush and one with a long nozzle
  • A brush for cleaning the filter
  • A multilingual manual with 4 pages of instructions in English.

Hardware specs

The battery is rated at 2200mAh and 300 charge cycles.  This is fairly typical for Lithium-Ion batteries and should last 2 to 3 years.  The manual says that the expected run time is only 20 to 22 minutes, so its best used for quicker jobs.  It also says that it takes 4 to 5 hours to fully charge.

Setup

The battery is not pre-charged, so the first thing to do after unboxing is to insert the battery into the bottom of the vacuum, attach the charger, and then plug it into the wall.  Then it’s time to wait; my battery took nearly 5 hours to charge.  Although the battery is removable, it must be in the vacuum in order to charge; the length of the cable on the adapter is a handy 6 feet, allowing it to be put up on a table or counter while charging.  While the battery is charging, there’s a red light on top; when finished, the light turns blue.

Design and features

After the blue light appeared, I promptly set out to do some vacuuming.  I unplugged the adapter and pressed the on button.  Nothing happened.  I was suddenly concerned that I had a lemon on my hands.  After a bit of experimenting, I found the trick:  You have press and hold the on button for a couple seconds before it turns on.  I suppose this prevents it from being accidently turned on, if it gets bumped in the closet.  This is not really a problem, but it is a bit unexpected; I imagine that I’ll get used to it eventually.

Off I went on a cleaning frenzy.  No nook or cranny escaped the suctioning power of my little friend, not the floor in the half bath, the space beside the fridge, the edge of the stairs, not even the floorboards along the hall.  The most important question at this point in the review is obvious:  Does it work?  Does it do a good job vacuuming?  Yes, it works, and yes, it certainly does a good job.  In only a few minutes of vacuuming, I could see a considerable amount of detritus and debris in the vacuum’s dust cup, doing its best to clog the filter.

To clean the filter, I first pressed the button on top.  This allowed me to detach the dust cup from the base.

I then pulled the filter out of the dust cup.  Look at all the junk it captured!

I took the filter over to the trash can and pulled off all the easy to grab junk, like the hair and the yarn.  Although this cleared out the vast majority of the junk, there was still some finer dirt and dust captured in the ridges of the filter.

To clean this out, I took the filter to the sink and ran water over it, just like it shows on Audew’s website.

For the really stubborn dirt and dust that doesn’t want to come out, there’s a small cleaning brush.  Rubbing this back and forth a few times completely cleaned the filter.  I put it on a towel and left it to air dry.

Although Audew’s website says that the filter is made of stainless steel, small spots of what appears to be rust showed up on the filter after the first washing.  I think it’s better to not use water. In the following days, whenever I needed to clean the filter, I used the cleaning brush and brushed out the dirt and dust into the trash can.  It’s the perfect tool for this task, and I’m really glad that Audew included this nice touch.

The mouth of the vacuum is only 2 inches wide at its widest point.  This was perfect for vacuuming hard to reach places, like the floor behind the toilet and under the cabinets in the kitchen.  It was not, however, a good match for vacuuming the carpet on the stairs.  Although it’s light and easy to use, the small mouth meant that it just took too long to clean each stair.  Perhaps if it had a wide-mouth attachment, this problem would be solved.

To test the brush attachment, I began dusting all the places around the house that don’t get dusted enough, like the top of the door frames, the desk behind my computer monitor, the windowsills, the top of the fridge, and the blinds.  The light weight of the vacuum made it easy to dust these hard-to-reach places.  Although it did a good job and got most of the dust, it didn’t quite do a perfect job.  After dusting my desk carefully, I rubbed my finger along the top and there was still a fine layer of dust there.  For most tasks, however, Audew’s vacuum does a more than good enough job.

To test the nozzle attachment with the long nozzle, I headed out to the garage to vacuum out my car.  It was handy for vacuuming the floors, along the edge of the seats, and other hard-to-reach places, although I again wanted that wide-mouth attachment for the seat backs.

In order to test the battery, I charged it up and then ran it non-stop.  It lasted for 20 minutes and 30 seconds, which is within the range specified in the manual.  While this is just fine for small jobs, keep in mind that it’s not going to be as helpful for big jobs, like spring cleaning or moving day, where you need to use it again and again.  When the battery starts to run low, it doesn’t give any visual indication; the vacuum simply turns itself off when the charge runs out.  Although the battery and the filter are both removable, I couldn’t any mention of where to buy replacements, should that be necessary, neither on Audew’s website nor on Amazon.

What I like

  • Light weight
  • Easy-to-use
  • Gets the job done

What needs to be improved

  • Wide-mouth attachment
  • An option to buy a second battery

Final thoughts

In the end, Audew’s Cordless Vacuum Cleaner is a welcome addition to our house.  This vacuum is perfect for those small jobs where it’s either too much hassle to get out your big vacuum or for those hard-to-reach places.  It’s definitely worth your consideration, so long as you keep its (few) limitations in mind.

Price: $48.00
Where to buy:  Amazon
Source:  The sample for this review was provided by Audew.

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Audew Cordless Vacuum Cleaner review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 15, 2019 at 9:00 am.

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6 Awesome travel apps to use for your Spring Break trip

ARTICLE – The information age has opened new avenues when it comes to travel. You can choose to stay in someone’s home in a foreign country to fully immerse yourself in the culture, or book an inclusive resort vacation, with a few keystrokes from your smartphone or laptop.

There are so many travel apps out there it can be hard to choose the right one, so we’re here to help. We’ve gathered a list of apps you’re probably missing out on.

For the sake of this piece, we’re going to focus on lesser-known apps, so you won’t see Priceline, Travelocity or Airbnb on this list.

1. Tripit

When you’re planning a vacation, whether you’re heading across the county or around the globe, you probably have dozens of emails to sift through.

You’ve got booking confirmations, hotel and flight information, not to mention any dinners, tours or activities you may book in advance. Even in a clean inbox, it’s easy to lose a vital piece of information, or accidentally delete it.

Tripit is a free app that links to your email and collates all that information in one simple, user-friendly program. It picks through your email to find the relevant information and pulls it together for you in one place. Never lose a digital hotel reservation or boarding pass again.

2. PackPoint

Just about everybody loves to travel, but far fewer of us enjoy packing before we do! If spring weather rolls around and you’re ready to “spring” out your front door, pause for a beat and ask yourself: do I have everything I need? In three hours’ time, will I be wishing for my neck pillow on the flight — or thinking about looping back home to grab my travel-sized Waterpik? If you want to take the guesswork out of packing for your next getaway, consider enlisting PackPoint.

PackPoint is a free app for iOS and Android that brings some intelligence to the process of packing.

All you have to do is input your destination, length of stay, and a couple of other details, and the app generates a surprisingly inclusive packing checklist for you. After the list is complete, you can add or subtract items as needed.

3. HotelTonight

There’s nothing worse than showing up for a hotel reservation, only to find the facility is overbooked and you have nowhere to stay. It can put a damper on even the best vacation. HotelTonight takes all the hassle out of finding a last-minute hotel room when you’re far from home. Enter your destination and dates of your stay, and the app does the rest.

There is a web version of HotelTonight too, but if you’re on the road, download the app, and you’ll have all the local hotels and the best deals right at your fingertips.

4. Dark Sky

Most people manage to squeak by with the stock weather app on their tablet or smartphone. But whether you travel regularly or you’re proudly sedentary, Dark Sky is a great ally to have on hand. The Dark Sky API is built on open-source code and serves as the foundation for other weather apps and services.

More importantly, its feature set won’t leave you wanting. For travelers, the ability to save multiple destinations is handy for planning your next jaunt around potential foul weather.

Dark Sky’s marquee feature is probably its “hyper-local” forecasting and down-to-the-minute push notifications for precipitation and other weather events. Wherever life takes you, grab a companion who can tip you off about what the sky has in store for you.

5. Rome2Rio

Once you get off the plane at your destination, getting from point A to point B can be challenging. The bus and train schedules are probably in a different language, and figuring out which bus to get on, or which subway you need to ride to get to your hotel, can be a nightmare.

Rome2Rio does all the hard work for you. It has databases of bus, train, driving and ferry schedules, instructions on how to ride and tools to help you map your way to your destination.

You can plan your whole trip itinerary in the app, and follow it to help you make it where you’re going safely. It will even tell you how long your trip will take, and the approximate cost!

6. Detour

Walking tours are an incredible way to experience a city from the ground, but they can be expensive, and you might find yourself left behind if you prefer a stroll, but your tour guide is into power-walking. Instead of booking a tour, download Detour.

This app provides immersive self-guided walking tours, and all you need is your phone and a pair of earbuds.

Audio giant Bose bought Detour in 2018, which means the app may soon be coming to Bose’s AR glasses, which would take these walking tours to a whole new level.

Go off the Beaten Path

While mainstream apps like Priceline and Travelocity can be useful tools, they’re not your only option when it comes to travel apps.

These hidden gems might help you find an affordable flight, a last-minute hotel or a new hole-in-the-wall restaurant you never knew you needed in your life.

Image via Roman Carey

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6 Awesome travel apps to use for your Spring Break trip originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 15, 2019 at 8:00 am.

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Share Encrypted Files for Free with Mozilla’s Firefox Send

This week Mozilla launched a new file-sharing service that solves a problem. It can be difficult to share larger files because many times they are too large to send in email. That leaves us with sharing over Dropbox or another cloud storage service, even if we have no desire to save it, just to send it. Mozilla solved this problem by launching Firefox Send, a free, encrypted file-transfer service. It allows users to share files over a a browser, and it doesn’t even have to be through Firefox. Mozilla’s Firefox Send You won’t ever struggle to share a larger file again, as long as it’s… Read more

Posted by / March 15, 2019 / Posted in News