Baseus Wireless Charging Gravity Car Mount review

Mounting your phone where you can see it while driving has become the norm. Whether you’re using it for a GPS system or entertainment, everyone wants their phone easy to get to, or at least within their visual field. I was recently sent a one-hand air vent clip from Baseus in black to test.

Note: Photos may be tapped or clicked for a larger image.

What is it?

The Baseus wireless charger incorporates a clip-on air vent holder with a one-hand operation gravity holder, and then adds the secret sauce of wireless charging to the mix. The charger itself has a cable that runs to a power source, and the arms are activated by the downward pressure from the weight of the phone in the holder.

Hardware specs

Wireless charger
Gravity car mount
Safe and quick charging
One-hand operation

What’s in the box?

Clip-on charger
USB-A to microUSB cable
Instruction sheet

Design and features

The Baseus Wireless charger at first glance is a bit confusing. The two side arms and the bottom cradle are geared together inside somehow and don’t lock into place. While unboxing it, I moved them around, trying to find the “lock point,” but never got it to work. I plugged it into a spare microUSB cable at my desk and then placed my iPhone 8 Plus into the cradle, just to see if maybe having power would make it lock. When the phone got close to the clip, I felt and heard the familiar “ding” indicating charging. I was a bit surprised that it contacted so easily since I had read and heard on podcasts about how finicky many chargers are.

I was still a little confused on how it would lock into place until I put it in the proper orientation. The slight weight of the phone pulled the side arms around the device just enough to hold it firmly. When you grasp the top of the phone and lift it up, the base’s spring-loaded action draws it up slightly, and the arms are pushed outward, releasing the phone. I drove over some pretty bad road construction while testing, and never got large enough bumps to where the phone bounced out of the holder.

The spring on the air vent clip is quite tight. I could barely get it to open enough to get the prongs onto the vent slat. There is a slight “tooth” sticking up on the lower prong that prevents the clip from vibrating off over time, and foam glued to the inside of the jaws cushions them from scratching your dash. When it’s removed, there is no evidence it was ever there.

Setup

I recommend deciding where you’re going to place the holder first, then deciding on wiring routes. Also, connecting the wire before clipping the holder in place will make your install less stressful. It’s quite difficult to get the angle right on the wire once the clip is installed.

Performance

I cannot overstate how well this unit performed. It started charging every time my phone got within range, and never gave me a moment’s trouble when adjusting it. Once set into place, it is rock-solid, and just became part of my instrument panel, which is exactly what I want from a unit like this.

What I Like

One hand operation
Charging starts immediately and never stutters
Very adjustable, yet sturdy, with no vibration

What needs to be improved

Nothing

Final thoughts

As mentioned, I have several iPhone holders for in-car use. None were active when I was sent this unit. I’ve not taken it out since getting it, except to get a few photos of the back that I forgot to get before installing it. I use it almost every day and would buy another one if this one got broken or stolen. Much of that is because it’s so easy to put the phone into and take out. Even though I have to plug in a cable since I don’t have Bluetooth, it’s still far less hassle than any other car mount I have ever used, bar none.

Price: $27.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Baseus.

The post Baseus Wireless Charging Gravity Car Mount review appeared first on The Gadgeteer.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Car Gear, Device mount, Qi, Wireless charging

Baseus Wireless Charging Gravity Car Mount review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 26, 2018 at 9:00 am.

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Audew Vehicle Vacuum Cleaner Review

I have always been a fan of a well-kept vehicle. Ever since my first car at 16 (Yay! Because of H.S. band and I had to be there before the bus) I have had what you call OCD about keeping it clean and looking good. That is why I was excited to get a chance to review the Audew portable vehicle vacuum cleaner.

What is it?

The Audew vehicle vacuum cleaner is a completely portable vacuum cleaner that runs off the 12-volt socket in your automobile. It comes with a very long power cord and multiple attachments to make cleaning your car easy and fast. It will handle wet and dry tasks and when finished it all goes nice and neat into a storage bag.

What’s in the box?

You get a nice collection of cleaning tools with the Audew. These include:

The vacuum cleaner itself with an attached 15 ft power cable that plugs into the cigarette lighter.
EVA stretch soft long hose
Detachable crevice head
Detachable soft brush head
Extra fuse
Storage bag
User Manual

Specifications

The vacuum is rated at 4500 – 4800pa
They recommend not using it over 20 minutes at a time
15 ft power cable with a nice Velcro wrap attached
Stainless Steel HEPA filter – it can be removed and washed
LED light that can be turned on and off with a button
Can work with both wet and dry items.

Setup and Use

I loaded everything into the bag right away to see if the bag was big enough to hold all of the items. It held everything nicely as you can see in the picture above.

I then zipped up the bag and it was all ready for me to carry out to my ready and waiting truck. Now I have to mention that I have been detailing cars and trucks for a while. I normally use a really nice wall hanging shop vac in my garage for all of my vacuuming needs. I will admit that it is a pain to have to pull the vehicle into the garage in order to get my vehicle close enough for the hose to reach the car. I am hoping this handy dandy portable vacuum will eliminate the need for moving the vehicle.

In the pictures above you can see my driver’s side and passenger side floor mats. The driver’s side will be in my opinion the tricky one to clean. I have a dog with long fur and I swear it just likes to embed itself in the carpet. The driver’s side also contains a lot of very small particles. The passenger side has some larger leaf particles and rock pieces. This truck is not quite a year old and the carpets are still pretty full and thick. I am now going to include some videos of me actually vacuuming the carpet.

This video shows me trying to vacuum the driver’s side floor mat. As you can see it simply pushes the dog hair around and does not really pick it up with the brush. I will admit the dog hair even gives the shop vac some difficulty. The suction power of this vacuum is much less than that of the shop vac and it has an even harder time with the dog hair.

The video above is showing the vacuuming of the passenger side. The vacuum had an easier time of it picking up the larger particles. There was one stubborn piece that was giving me some issues, but otherwise, it seemed to do a decent job.

Finally, I have a picture of the HEPA filter after the cleaning. It is very easy to pull out of the vacuum cleaner. I simply ran water from the other side forcing the particles out the way they came. You then let the filter air dry and it is ready for the next use. I was not going to sacrifice my truck for this review and pour water on the floor mats to test the wet capabilities of the vacuum. I did, however, try suctioning up water off the floor and it did an OK job of getting most of it off. If the water were embedded in carpet I am not sure it would get much of it out. The suction power is just not there.

What I like

Nice storage bag – I am all about stuff going into bags and being easy to keep
You can clean the air filter yourself. It reminds me of a K&N type filter you would use on your car except that it does not need to be oiled.
Inexpensive
Nice long power cord. You could easily reach the back of a suburban with this cord.
Runs off the car cigarette lighter
Nice attachments

What needs to be improved

Suction power – using the brush head the area trying to get suction is almost too wide for the amount of pull the vacuum has. This means little to nothing gets picked up with that head.

Final Thoughts

I would recommend this vacuum to the minivan owner with little kids. I know how the kids like to drop food in the car and I think this vacuum would do a good job of picking up those messes. You can be anywhere and whip out this vacuum cleaner from the back of the van and quickly clean up messes. I would not recommend it for someone who has dogs or cats and loves to take them for car rides all the time. It just does not have the suction power to pull embedded fur out of carpets.

Price: $32.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Audew.

The post Audew Vehicle Vacuum Cleaner Review appeared first on The Gadgeteer.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Car Gear, Cleaning

Audew Vehicle Vacuum Cleaner Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 23, 2018 at 11:00 am.

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LOOK-IT Wireless Backup Camera review

The LOOK-IT Wireless Rear Vision System is a Bluetooth enabled backup camera for your car that installs easily, but suffers from a poor quality VGA camera, inconsistent performance, and a very high price tag. The system works, for the most part, but at a $299.99 price point, the performance and image quality should be much, much better.

What is it?

For older models cars, without built-in backup cameras, the LOOK-IT wireless rear vision system adds this coveted safety feature with the help of your Bluetooth enabled smartphone.

The LOOK-IT comes in an impressive box detailed with all the features of the device. The important components are all set deep into a custom foam inset.

What’s in the box?

LOOK-IT Plate Frame
QuickView Wireless Remote
Magnetic Phone Mount
LOOK-IT Manual
Mounting screws, adhesive, and attachment for hardwiring system

The LOOK-IT unit itself looks like a large license plate mount with a small camera attached to the top.

The unit is waterproof and has a self-contained long-life battery. LOOK-IT says the battery is good for over three years in normal operating conditions. After that, you can purchase a replacement battery through a LOOK-IT authorized retailer.

Various mounting brackets, caps, and a uniquely tipped wrench to prevent theft are included with the camera system.

Along with the camera unit, a remote control fob is required for total functionality.

Only the main center button on the fob works, the other buttons are for “future expansions”. The website says that the extra buttons will open up the map apps on iPhone and Android devices, but that function did not work in my testing.

The fob has a velcro strap that allows you to attach it to your steering wheel, parking brake or another convenient spot.

The LOOK-IT also comes with a handy magnetic phone mount. The metal plates slip into your phone’s case and the mount can be attached to a vent. This was a great addition to the kit, but at $299.99, it’s the least they could do.

Requirements

iPhone 5 and up with Bluetooth 4.2
Android smartphones running Android 5.0 and up and equipped with Bluetooth 4.2. BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) is required for updates and settings. Some Android smartphones are not capable of BLE operation.

Hardware specifications

Horizontal viewing angle of 100 degrees
Camera resolution: VGA 600 x 480
Three year self-contained replaceable battery
Waterproof molded plastic casing
Bluetooth 4.2

Setup

The first step in the LOOK-IT setup is to turn it on by activating the battery. This is done by pressing on the single button on the back of the unit for four seconds.

Once activated, the button light will blink red and the unit will stay on continuously for up to three years, depending on the life of the battery.

The next step is to link the LOOK-IT unit to your smartphone. This process involves downloading the LOOK-IT app and making sure that Bluetooth is enabled on your phone.

I started the app and followed the setup instructions, and after several tries, I still couldn’t get the unit to link to my device.

The app would crash at the same point in the setup process every time.

The only way I was finally able to get everything synced was to go into my device’s Bluetooth menu and connect to the LOOK-IT unit that way, similar to how you set up any typical Bluetooth device.

Once the camera unit and my device were linked, the rest of the installation was relatively easy.

There are two brackets that need to be inserted and then adjusted for correct mounting on your vehicle.

Your license plate mounts on top of the LOOK-IT unit, so the plate has to be removed first. An important thing to remember is to keep the original license plate screws handy, you’ll need them for the next step.

The LOOK-IT mounts to your vehicle using the original license plate screws, then your plate slides under the camera unit and mounts to the LOOK-IT with the included screws and the specially tipped Allen wrench. Definitely keep this wrench in a safe place, you won’t be able to remove your license plate without it.

The only part of this installation that I didn’t like was that there are no holes on the bottom of the LOOK-IT to secure your license plate.

To secure the license plate bottom you need to use adhesive tape placed behind the license plate. Again, after spending $299.99 on the LOOK-IT, this solution seems pretty inelegant.

Design and Features

To activate the LOOK-IT, you press the center button on the fob after it’s mounted where it feels comfortable. I chose to mount the fob on the parking brake handle in my vehicle.

Once you press the fob button, what should happen is the LOOK-IT app activates and a backup view from your camera pops up on your device screen. This worked properly about 75% of the time in my testing. Again, for $299.99, this should be flawless. The times when I pressed the button to no avail were incredibly frustrating and the only way to get it to work is to manually open the app, close it and try again.

I also have some concerns about the LOOK-IT application draining my phone battery. The LOOK-IT application needs to be running for the camera to work. When the application is running, you will see an Android logo on the very top left of your device’s screen. If the logo is not present, you will need to manually start the application.

When the button and app do work properly, a view from the camera appears for 30 seconds. Overlaid on the camera view is a safety boundary showing you how close objects are to your car.

One of the setup features in the app allows you to adjust the safety boundaries to correspond to the placement of the camera on your vehicle.

The view is usable, but it’s VGA, crappy, and pixelated. With camera sensor technology advancing every day, becoming smaller and cheaper, attaching a 640 x 480 VGA camera to a device and charging $299.99 for it is unconscionable. The camera has night vision as well, but as to be expected, it’s even worse quality.

What I like

Easy installation
Unobtrusive design

What needs to be improved

Expensive
Poor Camera quality
Unreliable

Final thoughts

The LOOK-IT Wireless Rear Vision System works, occasionally. And when it does work it gives you a very poor quality view of the objects behind your vehicle. If the price were $50-$100, I’d recommend it, but with all the other options available on the market right now, $249.00 is just too much to pay for this product.

Price: $249.00
Where to buy: LOOK-IT and Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by LOOK-IT.

The post LOOK-IT Wireless Backup Camera review appeared first on The Gadgeteer.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Car Gear

LOOK-IT Wireless Backup Camera review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 15, 2018 at 10:00 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.

The post Speak Music Muse Alexa voice assistant review appeared first on The Gadgeteer.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Alexa, Car Gear

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

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This dashcam protects your car around the clock

Thieves don’t like cameras. That’s what Owl is counting on with their new entry into the ever-crowded dashcam market. Owl is an always-on, multipurpose “Car Cam” which records video when you’re driving and protects your car when you’re elsewhere. This small but powerful device leverages a touchscreen, front and rear-facing cameras, a lot more tech, and an LTE connection to monitor your car. Their monthly Owl LTE Service lets it call you, providing live audio/video and 24-hour recording if there’s an activity you should know about. Saying “OK Presto” sends clips to your phone instantly for sharing to your social channels.

Owl retails for $349 and currently requires an iPhone 6 or newer running iOS 11 (or higher). A year of their LTE service is included with some limitations on the number of clips you can upload each month. There’s also a waiting list for any Android users out there. To find out more, head on over to owlcam.com for the details.

Filed in categories: News

Tagged: Car Gear, dash cam

This dashcam protects your car around the clock originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 2, 2018 at 7:00 am.

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