OK, that title may be a bit over the top. But if you’re like the typical Gadgeteer, you spend much of your work and leisure in front of some sort of screen, whether it’s coding, IT support, financials, or just a hot & heavy FPS. Even the classic “Netflix & chill” brings with it staring into the bright eyes of the evil LCD, unless you’re using your TV. There have been studies galore condemning this modern pariah, but Felix Gray, an eyeglass manufacturer, promises relief. Their glasses are designed to protect your eyes from the 400-440 nm range of blue light, which (according to their website) is the most dangerous. Increased exposure to blue light in this range results in poorer sleep, blurred vision, dry eye, headaches and eye fatigue.
Felix Gray does not offer prescription lenses as yet, but they do offer a slight magnification for reading assistance and there are several styles to choose from with prices starting around $95.
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Do you brush your teeth at least two times a day, preferably right after you wake up in the morning and before you go to bed at night? If you answered yes, good for you. If you answered no, I foresee dentures in your future. Seriously though, how do you make dental hygiene a habit and can the right toothbrush be the answer? I’ve been testing a quip electric toothbrush for the last couple of weeks. Let’s see if it has made brushing is my new favorite hobby.
What is it?
quip is a compact electric toothbrush that has been designed to ditch gimmicks like Bluetooth connectivity, USB charging, reminder LEDs to change the heads, etc., in favor of creating an easy to use toothbrush that will help keep your teeth and gums healthy.
What’s in the package?
You can purchase a quip toothbrush with or without quip toothpaste. quip sent me a kit with the brush and a tube of their mint toothpaste paste.
The toothbrush is available in six colors. I was sent the copper version.
Design and features
The quip toothbrush is very compact for an electric toothbrush. It’s barely larger than a traditional plastic handled toothbrush.
The quip brush has a CNC’d aluminum handle with a bead-blasted matte finish.
The brush is made of plastic with a small flat brush head at the end of the handle, that has soft rounded DuPont nylon bristles that are surrounded by a row of rubber “fingers”.
The back of the brush head has a rubber covering with the quip logo and short nubs that can be used to clean your tongue.
As you will notice, there isn’t an obvious charging socket or USB connector built into the handle of the quip toothbrush. You might notice the power button though. It’s built into the white part of the brush head where you see the q. Pressing this button turns on a 2-minute brushing timer.
The brush head can be removed when it needs to be replaced after 3 months. It can also be removed if the AAA battery in the handle needs to be replaced. Rubber O-rings keep the mechanism water-tight.
A toothbrush holder is included with the quip. This holder has an adhesive strip on the side so it can be attached to your bathroom mirror or wall. It can also be used as a travel cover like you see above.
Let’s brush!
Since the quip toothbrush runs on one AAA ordinary alkaline battery, you don’t have to worry about charging it up for your first brushing session. All you need to do is remove it from the package, rinse the bristles, add a pea-sized blob of toothpaste, press the q button on the handle and brush your teeth.
If you’ve used other electric toothbrushes, you won’t be impressed with the way the quip feels against your teeth. Although you can feel the vibration in the handle, the bristles don’t spin or even move at all.
The vibration sensation might cause people to think that they can just hold the bristles against their teeth to clean them without actually moving the brush back and forth across their teeth and gums.
Even though the brush bristles don’t move, the vibration feature is useful because the toothbrush pulses every 30 seconds to prompt you to move to the next quadrant of your mouth. After 2 minutes, the brush pulses twice and stops vibrating to let you know that the brushing session has ended.
One thing I noticed about the quip’s aluminum handle is that it gets slippery after toothpaste and spit start running down your hand.
The toothpaste
I was also sent a tube of quip mint toothpaste. I normally use Sensodyne Pronamel toothpaste and found the quip toothpaste to have more grit than what I’m used to but the taste of the paste was just fine and it cleaned my teeth fine as well.
Final thoughts
Do I think that the quip toothbrush cleaned my teeth better than a manual toothbrush? No, not really. But I do think the quip helped me brush longer than a manual toothbrush? Yes, the 30 seconds per quadrant pulsing feature really does help you do a more thorough job of cleaning your teeth and gums.
But here’s the thing. You can go to Walgreens, Walmart, CVS, or one of many other stores and buy a manual toothbrush (with a small head and soft bristles – because that’s the best for your teeth and gums) in a pack of 4 for only $5 or so. That’s much less than what you will pay for the quip toothbrush.
A quip toothbrush starter set without the toothpaste costs $45 and you’ll then be billed $5 every three months to receive a replacement head. That works out to $60 a year. You can save $5 if you prepay $55 for a full year. You’ll also need to replace that AAA battery 3 times a year because quip doesn’t include a battery in their brush replacement kit. So let’s add another $4 for a pack of batteries to make a yearly cost of $59 a year assuming that you go the prepaid route. That means the quip will cost you $54 more a year than buying a 4 pack of manual toothbrushes for $5. The only features missing when you go with a manual toothbrush are the holder/travel cover and the 2-minute brushing timer.
While I like the look and feel of the quip, I don’t see it as a better value than a traditional toothbrush.
Source: The sample for this review was provided by quip. Please visit their site for more info.
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At least once a day I roll my eyes at an announcement for a new IoT (Internet of Things) gadget. Do we really need another toaster, refrigerator, or toilet that’s connected to the internet? Ok, I made up the last one… at least I don’t think there’s a toilet that’s connected to the internet – yet. But back to the point of this news post. Pillsy is a pill bottle that’s connected to an app that’s connected to the internet. Wait, don’t click your back button yet because this IoT gadget actually sounds pretty useful.
Pillsy is really a pill bottle cap that uses Bluetooth to pair with your mobile device and the Pillsy app to remind you when it’s time to take your meds or vitamins. Yes, I know you can just use the calendar app on your phone to remind you to take your meds. But Pillsy goes two steps further. It records WHEN you took the medicine AND it will warn you if you try to take another dose before it’s due. This is really convenient if you have memory issues or if two people give meds to pets and humans in the same household.
Pillsy is available with a child-resistant vial or a twist off bottle for vitamins. Either version is $49 for one cap/bottle combo which I think is a little pricey. However, the price goes down a little when you purchase additional caps. For more info go to pillsy.com.
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Standing desks have obvious benefits. They promote standing to do your daily office work instead of sitting in front of your computer all day. I’ve tried a couple standing desks and like them just fine for a few days, but then I either get bored standing or my feet and knees begin hurting. The Wurf Board has been designed to solve these issues.
The Wurf Board is an anti-fatigue mat that has been designed for people who use standing desks. The Wurf Board is a fully adjustable air spring platform that you control from springy to firm.
When you stand on the platform, you’re compelled to make lots of micromovements that help with your circulation, standing comfort, and according to the people who make the Wurf, you’ll be burning 32% more calories than you do when you’re just standing stationary behind a desk.
Wurf Boards come in different sizes to match your weight and shoe size. They are priced from $199 to $299. You can find out more by visiting wurf.com and Amazon. We’ll be reviewing the Wurf Board in the coming weeks.
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Just when you thought there couldn’t possibly be one more thing that could be made into a Star Wars character, comes Star Wars kettlebells from ONNIT. Now you can use the power of the dark side for something good – building up your muscles!
ONNIT offers three Star Wars kettlebells made of cast iron. There are three in the set that includes Boba Fett which weighs 50lbs, a Stormtrooper which weighs 60lbs, and Darth Vader comes in at 70lbs.
ONNIT’s Star Wars kettlebells are priced at $149.95, $179.95, and $199.95 from lowest to highest weight. At that price, you better really love Star Wars! Head over to ONNIT.com to pre-order one or all three. Check out their other crazy kettlebells on Amazon.
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