Home John

Pitaka Aramid iPhone 7+ Case review


Pitaka Amarid iPhone 7 Case

Take a look at your phone. I mean, really look at it. Chances are if you’ve purchased or acquired a new phone in the last few years, it’s shiny and sleek and svelte. Or at least it was until you put that bulky case on it. Do we really need to wrap our sexy communication devices in a layer of aluminum and hard rubber just to keep it safe? Case maker Pitaka is out to challenge that notion with their line of thin, aramid cases.

Ara-what?

Aramid, short for aromatic polyamide, is a synthetic fiber that can be formed into rigid polymer chains, similar to carbon fiber. However, aramid is non-conductive, making it perfect for phone cases, as it does not interfere with reception. Its high strength and resistance to abrasion, solvents, and heat allow for the creation of an extremely thin case that is 5 times stronger than steel of the same weight.

Thin. Light. And strong.

Pitaka basically created a phone case for people who hate phone cases.

The case itself is only 0.65mm thick, yet it’s extremely rigid. It has very minimal flex and installs easily. The fit is dead-on and isn’t a hassle to remove like some other thin cases I’ve tried. Others tended to be too thin, and warped after a short time, bowing out at certain points and feeling like they just weren’t a good fit. But this case, even after several weeks in my pocket, is still a perfect fit. It’s like a second skin.

What’s in the box?

Hey, a free screen cover! Nice little bonus if you’re into that sort of thing.

The Pitaka case comes with the case itself and also a bonus tempered glass screen protector, which is a nice bonus until you realize that it’s almost certainly necessary for full front-to-back protection. This is because the case itself does not extend past the front of the screen. It’s not even flush with it. Personally, I like that about the case, as having that extra “lip” around the sides of the screen makes it difficult to properly input a swipe from the edge of the screen.

I went ahead and installed the glass screen protector, anyway, just to get the whole experience as the manufacturer intended. It was a fairly easy process and was easily removable for when I had to reposition it to work out all the bubbles. But after a couple of days, I couldn’t get used to it. Even though it was very thin and recognized all of my inputs just fine, it felt like a speed bump for my fingers every time they brushed over the edge. And there was a noticeable outline on the front of my black phone. I couldn’t take it anymore and removed it after several days.

That did leave my screen completely unprotected, something certainly worth noting.

Baby Soft

I really like the feel of this case. It’s soft to the touch and grippy, but not overly so. Now that I think of it, it sort of feels like a firm banana peel. Think of that level of waxiness. It slides easily into my pockets and doesn’t pick up dirt, lint or hand oils.

Like a second skin that feels like actual skin.

The precision port, speaker and button cutouts on the sides of the case are spot-on. The case really is like a very thin second coating on the phone. And because of the aramid weave, it’s very scratch-resistant and the color won’t fade.

Oddly enough, the main reason anyone puts a case on their phone — protecting it from a drop — is the one thing I thankfully didn’t get to test. I imagine that it would absorb some impact, but not much, and definitely wouldn’t protect the screen. If you’re prone to dropping your devices, I’d have to suggest a much thicker case.

Hello, handsome.

But there are plenty of us who want to let their thin phones run naked and free. I honestly don’t like phone cases. But since Apple insists on making their phones difficult to hold on to, they sort of forced my hand.

Fortunately, Pitaka has you covered. If you want protection, added grip, and don’t want to make your phone feel like a rubber brick, put the power of aramid to work for you!

The Aramid iPhone 7+ Case is available now from Pitaka in a variety of colors for $49.99. It is also available in additional sizes for the iPhone 6, 6+ and 7 as well as the Galaxy S7 Edge, S8 and S8 plus phones.

Source: The sample for this review was provided by Pitaka. Visit their site for more information and Amazon to order.

 

Product Information

Price: $49.99
Manufacturer: Pitaka
Retailer: Amazon
Pros:
  • Extremely thin and minimalistic
  • Adds nice texture and grip vs. no case
  • Easy access to ports/buttons
Cons:
  • Does little to protect the front of the phone
  • Only minimal protection from long drops

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged:

Pitaka Aramid iPhone 7+ Case review originally appeared on on May 17, 2017 at 10:32 am.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.

Mu, world’s smallest loss prevention tag


In physics, the Greek letter “µ” (Mu) is used to mathematically represent the effective gravitational inertia of two objects as a single “reduced” object. I suspect the designers of the Mu locator tag were aware of this when naming their miniature loss prevention tag. 

The Mu tag, like its larger cousins such as Tile, TrackR, and ITrex, can be deployed to allow a user to locate wayward phones, keys, or even pets using wireless communication to their corresponding apps. Where Mu sets itself apart is its diminutive size. Smaller than HALF a postage stamp, the 18 X 10 X 3mm pixie can easily piggy-back on your favorite treasures to prevent that oh-so-familiar pain when misplaced. At a fraction of the size of its cousins, Mu is certain to appeal to anyone wishing to discreetly locate their belongings.

As a memory-challenged individual, I welcome anything that can make my life easier. The rechargeable Mu certainly fits that bill and I look forward to seeing them hit the market after being successfully funded.

For more info, check out their story On Kickstarter.

 

Filed in categories: News

Tagged: ,

Mu, world’s smallest loss prevention tag originally appeared on on May 17, 2017 at 8:27 am.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.

Add some “Sole” to your iPhone with Nike’s new iPhone 7 cases


Sneakerheads rejoice there’s finally an iPhone case for you! Nike has introduced two new cases for Apple iPhone 7. Both new cases are modeled after the outsoles of two of Nikes most popular and iconic shoes. The Air Force 1 basketball shoe and the Roshe running shoe. 

Each hard case is made of thermoplastic polyurethane and features the unique outsole pattern of each classic shoe. Both cases also brandish the iconic Nike Swoosh. The material is durable, slip resistant and Nike says will protect your iPhone 7 against impacts and scratches.

Of the two cases, the Air Force 1 really stands out with its real deep and cool tread design. And I’m kind of biased because I owned a pair of blue and white AF1’s back in the day. Unfortunately, it’s not yet available but will come in both Blue and Black.

The Roshe case features the classic waffle design of the iconic running shoe and is available in two colors, Team Crimson (currently sold out) and Green Glow.

Kudos to Nike for taking something iconic you wear on the bottom of your feet and incorporating it into a phone case for another iconic brand. These aren’t Nike’s first iPhone cases but, they’re the first to incorporate the outsole design.

Whether you’re a sneakerhead or just want to own a unique, really cool looking case for your iPhone 7 head over to nike.com. Both cases sell for $35. The Roshe case is available now, while Nike lists the Air Force 1 case as coming soon.

Filed in categories: News

Tagged:

Add some “Sole” to your iPhone with Nike’s new iPhone 7 cases originally appeared on on May 17, 2017 at 7:17 am.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.

Mint SIM review


Chances are very high that you own a smartphone if you’re reading this post. Chances are also high that your smartphone has a Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T, or Sprint SIM card in it. Those four carriers may be the most popular, but are they the most economical? If saving money is a big concern for you, I have been testing an alternative to the big four called Mint SIM. Let’s take a look.

What is it?

Mint SIM is a no contract cellular company that uses the 4G LTE T-Mobile network to provide service.

With Mint SIM, you can pay 1, 3, 6, or even 12 months at a time for big savings.

Activation

To start using the Mint SIM you have to activate it by going to the Mint site.

Then you have to install the SIM in your phone. The Mint SIM card looks like the same SIM card you have in your phone right now. Depending on your phone, the SIM can be customized down to as small as the nano-sized, micro-sized, or the standard sized SIM that you see above.




The final step requires that you go into your phone’s settings to add the APN (Access Point Name) info so that you can use the data part of the Mint SIM plan.

This is something you normally don’t need to do with the other carriers, but it’s not difficult and only takes a minute.

Does it work?

If you live, work, or travel in an area with T-Mobile coverage then Mint SIM will work great because that’s the network that uses.


T-Mobile blanket in my area has a few holes in it compared to the “other guys” blankets, but it still worked just fine in most areas.

Pricing Plans

Mint’s pricing plans are very affordable especially if you can get by with a 2GB plan which is less than $12 a month when you pay for 3 months at a time.

What happens when you go over your monthly 4G LTE data allotment? Mint doesn’t cut you off, the speed just goes down to 2G which should be fast enough to still do basic things like check emails and chat. It may even be fast enough to use Google Maps, but I haven’t tested it.

Note that Mint SIM does not offer any type of family or group plans, so each plan must be purchased individually.

Final thoughts

If you’re on a budget, definitely check into Mint SIM. As long as your area has good T-Mobile coverage, they are a viable alternative to Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, and AT&T.

Source: The sample for this review was provided by Mint SIM. Please visit their site for more info and Amazon to order.

 

Product Information

Price: Depends on plan
Manufacturer: Mint SIM
Pros:
  • Cheap plans
  • Easy to setup
  • No contracts, cheaper the more months you buy at once
Cons:
  • Depends on T-Mobile coverage area

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged:

Mint SIM review originally appeared on on May 16, 2017 at 4:49 pm.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.

Beelink SEA Android 4K TV box review


I have been building home theater PCs (“HTPCs”) for almost fifteen years.  My current HTPC configuration includes an Intel Celeron CPU capable of decoding various AV codecs, a high end Nvidia GPU card, a large capacity hard drive, and an M-Audio sound card capable of 7.1 surround sound.  The entirety of this system is housed in a large HTPC ATX case the design of which is to stylistically match a high end audio/video component enclosure.  Over time, dedicated TV boxes have emerged in the AV market.  The Beelink SEA Android TV box is one such example in a package at a fraction of the volumetric size of my HTPC.  In this review, we will see if the SEA can ultimately replace my HTPC as my main home theater device.

SPECIFICATIONS

The SEA is powered by a Realtek Quad-Core ARM Cortex CPU with an ARM Mail GPU.

It includes 2 GM DDR4 of ram memory and 32 GB eMMC internal storage in this review unit whereas a less expensive unit with 16 GB is also available.  Additional storage is available with a full size SD card slot and an internal SATA III 2.5″ hard drive slot.

Connectivity options include WiFi 2.4G and 5.8G capability, an RJ45 ethernet port, Bluetooth 4.0, one USB 2.0 port and one USB 3.0 port.

Audio/Video ports include HDMI in, HDMI out, and SPDIF audio.

The SEA is powered by a 12V/1.5A DC wall adapter.  There is no actual power switch on the SEA, as it powers on as soon as you plug the DC adapter in.

UNBOXING

The SEA is housed in a compact box about the size of the ATX power supply on my HTPC.   After removing the cover, there is a 2 page guide that mostly points out the different ports on the SEA.   Inside the box, the SEA itself is wrapped in plastic situated on top of a plastic support carton.  The remaining contents below include an HDMI cable, remote control and DC adapter.

As shown in the pictures, my review unit came with a EU power adapter.  Customers can order an adapter for US, EU, or UK plugs.

The SEA itself is only approximately 7.5″ long by 0.75″ high by 5″ deep.  The majority of the top surface is a matte black color with a pattern that resembles a brushed metallic surface.  There is a substantial cursive Beelink logo that is not all that perceptible given that it is in a glossy black color.  The sides are all glossy black with the front center featuring a small LED display for time or status.  There are small rubber feet/pads on the bottom corners.  I personally like the plain black box design as it blends in unobtrusively with the rest of my home theater equipment.

The included remote control is similar in looks and function to the variety of HTPC remotes I own.  You will need 2 AAA batteries as they are not included.

REVIEW EQUIPMENT

For this review, I essentially used the SEA to replace the HTPC component of my home theater system which also consists of a 1080p Panasonic Plasma flat screen TV via HDMI, and a Yamaha amplifier via SPDIF.  I also used my Dell 4K PC monitor as a separate test of the 4K video capabilities of the SEA.

A variety of ripped 4K Ultra HD and 1080p movies, and  CD media were transferred to the internal storage of the SEA for playback testing.

USAGE

Immediately out of the box, I attached the HDMI cable between the SEA and my TV, and powered it up with the DC adapter.

Upon powering the box, you’ll see a blue ‘boot’ LED messsage on the front display panel and a couple of splash screens on the TV.  It took approximately 30 seconds to boot.  If this is the first boot, the SEA will go through a setup process with a series of guide screen choices such as network configuration and screen size adjustments.

Since the OS is Android 6.0 (Marshmallow), the basic UI screen reminds you of a smartphone.  The home screen has a notification/status bar as well as a large widget-like element displaying time and location.  There are other icons in tiled/gridded format to invoke various apps and utlities like: internet, file explorer, play store, settings, and memory usage.  The right third of the entire UI has a container where you can store commonly used app icons.  Furthermore, this home screen can be ‘swiped’ left or right to give you additional app storage windows.

There was no documentation enclosed to help you navigate the UI.  However, if you are familiar with Android on phones, you’ll eventually meander your way through all the menus and UI elements to find what you need.  I imagine those without Android familiarity will probably fumble around the UI much more.

The UI can be navigated using the remote control arrow pad, ‘OK’, and back buttons.  There are also dedicated buttons for one-click access such as web browser or settings.  At times, I found it was easier just to plug a keyboard and mouse into the USB ports to navigate the UI and use apps effectively.  This is especially the case with apps like Chrome browser or the Play Store where you want to gain focus on a text field or do any sort of text entry.  Ideally, I prefer not to have to use a mouse or keyboard on my HTPC.  In the case of the SEA, if you’re going to do basic home theater tasks like media playback, using just the remote control generally works.

The remote control additionally has a learn function that allows you to control your TV.  Thankfully, documentation for this learn function does exist, but it is in the form of small lines of text on the bottom of the remote.  Your button options are limited however, as you only have on/off and volume buttons.

The file explorer app allows you to explore the storage locations in the SEA to access all your files and media.  Since the internal storage is only up to 32 GB on my unit, the additional SATA III 2.5″ hard drive slot is a welcome expansion option.  The hard drive enclosure is accessible underneath the unit.  No hand tools are required to access the drive door, which slides out when you depress a tab.  In this case, I added a 2 TB SSD, by sliding it through the opening until it snugly attaches to the SATA port.  The SATA connector is the only means of securing the drive as there are no additional screws or fasteners involved.  Since the SSD is thinner than a typical 2.5″ spinning hard drive, the SSD can rattle if you shake the SEA vertically.

The SSD was brand new, so after rebooting, the additional hard drive was not found.  I assume in this case that Android had no drive formatting capability.  I removed the drive and reformatted it externally using a Windows PC.  After reinstallation in the SEA, the SSD and it’s full capacity was finally recognized.

One thing I’ll note, the SSD was very difficult to remove from the SEA.  The way the brackets and drive housing was designed, there was no easy way for me to grip the end of the SSD to slide it off the SATA connector.  This, along with the aforementioned size disparity between the SSD and housing, made me worry that I would break the SATA connector as I was wiggling the drive out.  After managing to get the SSD out with some small electronic tools, I’m hoping that I will rarely have to replace this drive.

Video Playback

The SEA supports MKV, WMV, MPG, DAT, AVI, MOV,  ISO, MP4, and RM video formats with the native video player.  However, I found that when using this player, some of my 1080p videos had stuttering issues.  Even my smallest filesize video would not play back smoothly which seemed odd.  I immediately went to the Play Store to install Kodi which is a media player software app and VLC which is a video player.  Using either player, the videos played back smoothly as I would expect from a dedicated media player.

As a final video test, I plugged the SEA into my Dell 4K monitor.  Using a sample 4K UltraHD video, I was able to get it to successfully to play on this monitor.  However, none of my 4K videos would play smoothly with slight stuttering no matter whether I used the internal video player, Kodi, or VLC.  To be fair, my HTPC doesn’t play these files smoothly either since it lacks the horsepower to do so.  Since my regular flat screen TV is only 1080p, the 4K stutter didn’t bother me in my usage situation.

One other thing I’m trying to sort out is that the remote control doesn’t have an official “Play” button.  There is an arrow keypad with an OK button in the center.  I find that the OK button can serve as a “Play” button in Kodi, but it doesn’t work that way in VLC as it seemed to access a menu instead.  So, once again, I had to plug in a mouse to play a movie.  So, currently, there is inconsistency between remote control operation and apps that I still have to rectify.

Audio Playback

The SEA can play MP3, AAC, WMA, RM, FLAC, and OGG files using the native audio player.  I transferred a variety of familiar FLAC files to the SEA and played each of them successfully.  I’m the first to admit that I’m not an audiophile, but I felt that I could pick out the same details in the playback with the SEA as I can using my HTPC.

Image Playback

Using the file explorer, I accessed a folder of JPG images stored on the SD card.  Clicking on each JPG file brings up the image on a viewer as expected.  However, after a number of images, the viewer failed to display the picture and showed a error symbol instead.  I tested the same SD card on a PC and had no issues viewing every single image.  So it wasn’t entirely clear why I was getting an error.  Personally, picture viewing and slideshows are features I will probably never use on the SEA or any HTPC anyway.  So I didn’t spend any further time trying to diagnose this issue.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Even though I am personally familiar with Android because of my smartphones over the years, after three weeks of usage, I still have this nagging feeling that I am missing some cool features or not taking full advantage of this device.  I feel a lot of this is because there is no documentation at all with the SEA and I could not find any manuals on the Beelink website.  There is a forum on the Beelink website where you can ask specific questions to Beelink employees or pick up tips from other users.  Ultimately, that is where I think I will be slowly building up knowledge to explore the full potential of the SEA, as it is a fun device to play with if you like to tinker.

So, does the Beelink SEA 4K Android TV Box replace my HTPC?  The answer for me is, not yet, but eventually.  I will need to spend some time experimenting with apps and configurations to get it operating to the level that I had my HTPC running.

Source: The Beelink SEA 4K TV Box for this review was provided by GearBest, please visit their site for more info.

 

Product Information

Price: $103.99
Manufacturer: Beelink
Retailer: Gearbest
Pros:
  • Compact footprint
  • Android OS allows for UI and App/player customization
  • Expandable storage with SATA III
Cons:
  • No documentation
  • Remote control features are not consistent with Apps
  • Hard drive difficult to remove
  • UltraHD videos didn't play smoothly

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged:

Beelink SEA Android 4K TV box review originally appeared on on May 16, 2017 at 10:00 am.

Note: If you are subscribed to this feed through FeedBurner, please switch to our native feed URL http://the-gadgeteer.com/feed/ in order to ensure continuous delivery.