The Grovemade Apple Watch Dock is tech that doesn’t look like tech

NEWS – Most charging docks available today for the Apple Watch are either too gadgety or too techy looking. The new Grovemade Apple Watch Dock is a fresh, elegant option for charging your Apple Watch. This disk-shaped charger forgoes the plastic that many chargers use for more elegant materials. The top of the dock is made of a soft and smooth natural cork. While the base is made from 1/4-inch brushed steel, giving the dock some heft, so it stays put. The design also does a great job of cleverly hiding that ugly bright white charging puck. When laid flat the Apple Watch magnetically snaps into charging position when placed on the center of the dock.

Each Grovemade dock is made one at a time by a single person who takes the product from start to finish.

The dock comes in either Light or Dark and is currently available at the introductory pricing of $50 and $60 respectively.

The black cork (Dark model) is actually hand-stained with Japanese calligraphy ink which accounts for it being $10 more in price.

For more info or to purchase the Grovemade Apple Watch Dock head over to their website. 

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The Grovemade Apple Watch Dock is tech that doesn’t look like tech originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on February 7, 2019 at 10:00 am.

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WRZ S8 Bluetooth Wireless Stereo Magnetic Earbuds review

REVIEW – Here at the Gadgeteer I have reviewed numerous earbuds/headphones, both large and small, wired and wireless.  I have never really fallen in love with any one product when it comes to this category.  I use a Bluetooth headset daily because I talk all day long on the phone, so I have basically resorted to using my daily headset to listen to music if the mood hits me.  And honestly, the Bluetooth headsets I use aren’t really designed to listen to music, they are designed to take phone calls. But the $22 WRZ S8 earbuds peaked my interest.  So let’s see how they performed.

What is it?

Bluetooth wireless earbuds that can be used to listen to audio from your device, as well as take phone calls.

Product specs from the manufacturer:

  • Weight: .5 ounces
  • Up to 10 hours of usage time, 240 hours standby
  • 120mAh battery
  • IPX6 Waterproof suitable for sports, running, Gym, workout, travelling
  • Bluetooth 5.0 with microphone Stereo Noise Cancelling
  • Different size ear tips and ergonomic C-shaped ear hooks to make sure S8 earphones will comfortably fit any shape of ears
  • The magnetic absorption abilities let earbuds easily merge together so they don’t get slip off or tangled when not in use
  • 6 Color Choices
  • Waterproof, suitable for exposure to sweat and water
  • Compatible with most of smartphones, tablet PCs, laptops.
  • 30 day money back guarantee & 12 months warranty

What’s in the box?

  • S8 Wireless Bluetooth Headphones
  • Multiple Ear Tips (S, M, L) & Ear Hooks (1 pair)
  • Cable Clip Management
  • Micro-USB Charging Cable
  • Carrying zippered pouch
  • User Manual

Design and function

First of all, I have never had a set of earbuds that fit as well as the S8s.  Not once have I even felt the slightest fear that the earbuds were getting ready to fall out, regardless of what I was doing.  This design, with the earwings, ensured that they fit perfectly in my ears.  And the soft tips were very comfortable in my ears.  These are the best-fitting earbuds I have ever used. Full stop.

Each earbud has a magnet on it so that when you aren’t using them and just have them hanging around your neck the earbuds will connect to each other.  That’s a nice touch.  I was able to use them to answer calls and I got mostly positive feedback from people on the other end of the call.  It wasn’t as good a call quality as my Plantronics headset, but my goodness, for this price point of around $22 I was pleased.  The S8s also comes with several other earbud tips to make sure you have some that fit.

It wasn’t all good though.  Some things that I don’t like about the S8s are that there aren’t enough voice prompts.  For example, it speaks to you when you turn the S8s on and it says “connecting” when it is connecting your phone, but it never says “connected”.  So I was never sure it actually connected unless I went to the Bluetooth settings and checked, or just tried to play some music.  That is annoying.  Also, the buttons on the in-line controls don’t have enough tactile indicators on them so that you are sure you are pressing the right button.  I was a little disappointed that the sound wasn’t as loud as other earbuds I have owned.  There isn’t much deep bass sound either.  When I was on a plane recently and used the earbuds, I turned the S8s all the way up and it still wasn’t loud enough to drown out all the noise from the plane.

Final thoughts

I have chosen these earbuds as my daily go-to for listening to music.  I wish they were a little louder sometimes, and I wish there were more voice prompts to tell me what was happening, but for a price of around $22, I can’t complain.  Throw in the zippered pouch to keep everything together and easy to carry, and I do recommend these earbuds for everyone.

Price: $21.98
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by WRZ.

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WRZ S8 Bluetooth Wireless Stereo Magnetic Earbuds review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on February 7, 2019 at 9:00 am.

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Vroom-vroom becomes shhh-shhh with Harley-Davidson’s Livewire all-electric motorcycle

NEWS – Harley-Davidson is jumping into the electric vehicle fray with their new Livewire, all-electric motorcycle. Offering stomach-into-your-spine acceleration of a claimed 0-60 MPH under 3.5 seconds, the Livewire is expected to offer great, albeit nearly silent performance. With an estimated range of 110 miles on a full change, this bike is more of a whisper-quiet city cruiser than a roaring open highway tourer. One benefit of electric vehicles is that 100% of their torque is available instantly.  Rather than having to wait for an engine to spin up to get your go-fast-now feeling, you get it with a flick of the wrist, now, now, now. After driving a Chevrolet Volt for over four years, I can tell you that electric vehicle acceleration is something you need to experience to understand. Couple that with a new lightweight frame and the Livewire should feel like a performance motorcycle. It will also offer a new 4.3″ touchscreen display for vehicle status, music and navigation. Of course, you will be able to add on lots of Harley-Davidson accessories to personalize everything.

Harley-Davidson provides multiple charging methods.  The Livewire has a built-in Level 1 charger, allowing you to plug in to any 110V socket to recharge. You should get about 13 miles charge per hour, or a full charge in about 8.5 hours. You can also plug into any publically available Level 3 DC Fast Charge station. Level 3 charges much faster at 192 miles of charge per hour, so a full charge should take about 35 minutes or less.  The Livewire can also be charged on the more widely available public Level 2 charging network, although it will only charge at the slower Level 1 rate.

The Livewire will offer a very connected experience via the Harley-Davidson app.  The app will report location, battery status and alert the user if the bike is bumped or moved. The service is free for the first year with a subscription fee after that.

Purchasers will have three color choices, vivid black (above), yellow fuse or orange fuse.

The Livewire is available now for pre-order starting at $29,799 with anticipated deliveries in August 2019.  For more information check out the Livewire page at Harley-Davidson.com.

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Vroom-vroom becomes shhh-shhh with Harley-Davidson’s Livewire all-electric motorcycle originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on February 7, 2019 at 8:00 am.

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The wandrd Travel Journal is packed with useful features for travelers

NEWS – We’ve been very blessed to have taken some nice family vacation of varying duration and in different parts of the world.  Two aspects of these trips that would have been nice to have a good place to record information are the planning prior to the trip and journaling during the trip itself.  I wish I’d known about the wandrd Travel Journal a few years back, because I’d have certainly used one.  It’a an 8″ x 5″ book with a soft-touch, hardbound cover, 240 pages of 100 GSM paper, three bookmark ribbons, an integrated pen slot, elastic strap closure, and a pocket for keepsakes.  But those are just the tip of the iceberg.  It also has space for 12 trips of varying durations (3 long, 3 medium, 6 short), and each trip’s allotted space includes pages for planning, itineraries, pre-trip checklists, maps and travel logs.  There is also a fold-out world map, universal communications symbols section, and tear-out notecards.  The wandrd Travel Journal is available in Black and Yellow for $35 each.  Note that wandrd also has a blank, grid-page Notebook version in the same two cover colors for $25.  Wander over to wandrd.com for more info or to order.

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The wandrd Travel Journal is packed with useful features for travelers originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on February 6, 2019 at 11:00 am.

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ROCCAT Vulcan 120 AIMO mechanical keyboard review

REVIEW – I have been using my old ROCCAT keyboard for a few years now, and despite checking out several other keyboards in the past, I keep going back to my old faithful. A new challenger has appeared, this time from ROCCAT themselves with their Vulcan 120 AIMO mechanical keyboard. With its smaller size and fully customizable RGB lighting, will it be able to dethrone it’s predecessor? Let’s find out.

What is it?

The ROCCAT Vulcan 120 AIMO is a gaming keyboard that is stylish and easy to use.

Hardware specs

  • ROCCAT Titan Switches
  • 1.8mm Actuation Points with 3.6mm Travel Distance
  • Ultra-light key-caps
  • RGB customizable to each key with 16.8 million color choices
  • 18.1″ x 9.25″ x 1.25″ in size

What’s in the box?

In the box you’ll find the owners manual, ROCCAT Vulcan 120 mechanical keyboard, and removable magnetic palm rest.

Design and features

I already had the ROCCAT swarm software installed, and it detected my keyboard when I plugged it in. You can plug and play without the software or download it from their website to customize the colors, key bindings, gaming profiles, and more.

Because I love colorful things, I customized the keyboard to exactly the color scheme I wanted. Each key can be customized with color, intensity, and effect. As an Overwatch player, I had to make sure my “Q” button had an effect, while the rest of the keys stayed a solid color. When I put my computer to sleep at night, I was happy to see that the lights turned off.

The keyboard, without the palm rest, is about the same size as most standard keyboards. There’s not a lot of excess on the sides, which is nice, because it makes my desk look less cluttered. Adding the palm rest to the bottom adds a little bit to the size, but it is much more manageable than my previous keyboard.

One thing that I would improve with this keyboard is the palm rest and how it attaches to the keyboard. Most of the time, when my palms are against it, it stays in place, but if I press down a little too hard where it hangs slightly over the edge of the desk, it will pop up easily. I feel that if there was a little stronger magnet that attaches it to the keyboard, it would stay in place. Is it a game breaker? No, but it can be annoying during an intense gaming moment.

The keys feel much different than my old keyboard. They do not have the smooth glide that my old one does, but they do have a nice tactile feel when you press each key down. I knew when each key was pressed. Each press of the key was also a tiny bit quicker, which I tested by putting the keyboards side by side and pressing the keys at the same time.

While my gaming hasn’t improved due to the keyboard, it certainly hasn’t gotten worse. I experienced no issues with multiple key presses, keys not registering, or key presses being slow to register. Typing is just as easy as it was on the previous keyboard. The click each key makes when typing is about as loud as most other mechanical keyboards that I have tried. It may annoy someone trying to sleep in the same room as the keyboard while in use, but it shouldn’t annoy them if they are on their computer as well.

Another thing I like about the Vulcan 120 AIMO is the volume/multimedia wheel. Yes, I can press FN and use the number keys to control volume, but it is just so much quicker this way. The location they added it, on the top right, also is out of the way yet easy to access if needed. I only used it for volume controls, but pressing the FX button next to it offers access to the multimedia functions if desired.

The aluminum top plate gives the keyboard an overall sturdy feel. It has resisted/hidden dust quite well compared to the black plastic areas. The palm rest is also made of quality plastic since I have tested it by it dropping on the ground several times on accident. There are rubber pieces on the bottom of the keyboard to prevent it from sliding around and it worked well. Also, on the top of each side there is a flip-up foot that is a little wider than some of the other keyboards I’ve tried out, and I prefer this because not once has it accidentally flipped down when moving the keyboard around.

What I like

  • Very easy/quick to press keys
  • Dedicated volume controls on the keyboard
  • Customizable colors on each key
  • Easy to set up and use

What needs to be improved

  • The magnetic wrist rest needs a stronger magnet.

Final thoughts

Overall, I really liked the ROCCAT Vulcan 120 AIMO mechanical keyboard. It worked great for both gaming and everyday use and is customized to my own style. Each key gives a light click when pressed, and it does not seem as loud as some of my previous keyboards. Alas, it has dethroned its old ancestor, and I will be sticking with this one in the future. If you are in the market for a fully customizable keyboard, the ROCCAT Vulcan 120 AIMO is one I would recommend taking a look at.

Price: $159.99
Where to buy: Best Buy
Source: The sample of this product was provided by ROCCAT.

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ROCCAT Vulcan 120 AIMO mechanical keyboard review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on February 6, 2019 at 10:00 am.

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