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Kong Jr. Gym Bag review

REVIEW – I have always been in search of the perfect bag.  That means I own many bags for the different types activities in which I participate.  The one activity that I have been unable to find the perfect bag for is for when I go to the gym.  I go to the gym after work so I need it to be able to hold my gym gear plus the occasional small item or lunch bag I may take to work that day.   Let’s see if the Kong Jr. gym bag by the King Kong company worked out for me.

What is it?

The Kong Jr. gym bag is a multi-compartment bag made specifically to carry your gym clothing and accessories to the gym.

What’s in the box?

The only thing in the box was the bag itself as you can see in the picture above.  It came wrapped in a plastic sleeve in a standard cardboard shipping box.  The bag is advertised as being 30% smaller than their standard King Kong gym bag.  The dimensions of the bag are 11 inches tall, by 18 inches wide and 11 inches deep.  The original bag has an extra inch on the height and depth and is 20 inches long.

Design and Features

The bag has several pockets and features that allow you to really organize your gym paraphernalia.  The bag is made of  1000D nylon.  It seems very well constructed with #10 YKK zippers and heavy duty buckles.   Each zipper has a really nice pull tab on it in addition to the standard zipper pull.  That makes it really easy to pull the zippers.  They don’t use plastic on any buckle piece.

From the main picture at the top of this review, you can see that the bag comes with two pockets that run along the front side of the bag.   One is a zippered pocket and the other is a Velcro flap pocket.  The picture above shows both pockets open.  The small black strip you can see at the top of each pocket is where the bag handles are sewn into the main body of the bag.  In the Velcro pocket bag I have my weightlifting gloves and in the zippered pocket, I have some Beats headphones.  I like the separate pockets so I know which pocket has what I need depending on the type of workout I am doing that day.  I don’t wear headphones when strength training so when I do that, I know I just need to go to the Velcro pocket.  There is more room for other stuff in the zippered pocket, but I just did not have anything to put in them.

One one end of the bag is a shoe holder.  The first picture on the left shows my size 9 /12 women’s shoes in the pocket.  The next picture shows my husband’s size 11 shoes.  You can see there is still a bit more room for a larger shoe in the pocket.  The shoe pocket is made with water-resistant 1000D nylon.  King Kong advertises the pocket as a place to store wet clothing in there if you wished to keep your other gym items dry.   My only complaint with the shoe pocket is there are no ventilation holes of any kind in the area.  I have been using the bag now for several weeks and have not had any odor issues, but I see where this could possibly be an issue depending on what you put in there.

The next picture above shows inside the main compartment of the bag.  On the left side are my gym clothes for the day.  I have shorts, tights, shirt socks, and sports bra in there.  The blue bulk on the right-hand side is the shoe pocket with my shoes inside.  Obviously, the larger your shoes, the more internal room they will take in the bag.  I still had plenty of room in the bag to place in there my lunch bag holding a sandwich and chips.  I know on the larger bag folks talk about putting weight belts and other things inside the bag,  There would certainly be room for that if you wanted to use that extra room for more things like towels or the weight belts if you did not put a lunch in there as I did.

Above the shoe pocket, there is a smaller zippered pocket.  I put my Beats case in there so you could get an idea of the depth.  Basically, this pocket takes the top half of the side and the shoe pocket takes the bottom half.

The opposite side of the bag has two nice external mesh pockets you could slip your keys or wallet to if you wished or anything else you might want.

Inside that side zipper is a full sized pocket that has a small zippered mesh pocket where I stored deodorant and comb.    There was more room in that pocket for other things.  This is a nicely sized pocket and could easily hold a gym towel or any other similar sized item.

Finally one of my favorite things about this bag is the carry handle.  Every gym bag I have owned has always had a Velcro-based handle to hold the two carry straps together. I have had gym bag handles fail over time as the Velcro eventually wore out.  The King Kong bag uses a pair of magnets.  At first, I was skeptical thinking it would not really hold the handles together very well. Well, I am happy to report I was wrong and they do a great job.  I also love how quite they are.  I often open my bag at work to get things out of it and it is nice not to let the whole office know I am opening it due to no loud Velcro sound.

What I like

I love the size of this bag.  It has worked out perfectly for me in that aspect.  Only a couple of times I have wished I had a larger bag, but that was because I was bringing something extra into the office that I would normally not bring that was big and bulky.  This bag will hold just what I need and not feel like I am lugging a big piece of luggage to the gym.  I love the magnetic handle and the large shoulder strap with removable padding.   The shoulder strap is held on with heavy duty swivel buckles so I don’t spend a lot of time untwisting the shoulder handle as I do on bags with fixed shoulder straps.

What can be improved

The only suggestion I have is for King Kong to add a couple of ventilation holes on the zipper flap of the shoe compartment.  I feel that would really help keep the bag smelling fresher in the long run.

Price: $109.95
Where to buy: King Kong Apparel and Amazon
Source: The sample was provided by King Kong

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Kong Jr. Gym Bag review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 4, 2018 at 9:08 am.

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Mujjo iPhone Xs Max leather cases review

REVIEW – You just spent $1249 on an iPhone Xs Max and you want to protect your investment from everyday wear and tear without making it look like a plastic shrouded brick. When it comes to iPhone Xs Max cases, there are mediocre iPhone Xs Max cases and then there are Mujjo iPhone Xs Max cases.

What is it?

The Mujjo iPhone Xs Max Full Leather case and Full Leather Wallet cases are cases that have been designed exclusively for the iPhone Xs Max and are made of high quality materials.

Design and features

The Mujjo Full Leather case is a molded form-fitting vegetable tanned smooth leather case that is available in green, tan, gray, and black and it provides protection to the back and sides of the iPhone Xs Max without adding bulk or a dose of ugly.

The case is lined in a soft microfiber material that protects the back of the iPhone from scratches, fingerprints, and adds some thickness around the camera lens to protect it too.

This case adds extra protection for the sides, back, and even the display with an extra 1mm tall bezel around the screen, all without adding a lot of additional bulk and weight.

Instead of cutouts for the buttons on both sides of the phone, the buttons are molded into the case itself. The look is nice, but it does require a little extra effort to press each button.

The top edge of the case is fully covered, but the bottom of the case has a large opening that leaves the speakers and lightning port uncovered.

The Mujjo Full Leather case is comfortable in hand and offers almost everything you need in a high-end leather iPhone case… well almost everything.

That’s where the Mujjo Full Leather Wallet case comes in. It’s the same case as the Full Leather case, except it’s a wallet too.

Sewn into the back of the case is a credit card-sized slot that holds 1 or 2 standard sized plastic credit cards.

The credit card holder does add some extra bulk, but it doesn’t interfere with charging the phone on a Qi wireless charger, even if you have a card in the slot.

What I like

  • Molded form-fitting design
  • Wallet case doesn’t interfere with wireless chargers
  • Easy to put on and remove

What needs to be improved

  • Buttons are harder to press when the phone is not in a case

Final thoughts

When you’ve spent more than a grand on a smartphone, protecting that phone from scratches, scuffs, fingerprints, and smudges is most likely a priority. One way to do that is to buy a case for the phone, but plastic cases are boring and ugly, so consider a nice looking and affordable leather case from Mujjo.

Price: $43.42 – $53.08
Where to buy: Mujjo and Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Mujjo.

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Mujjo iPhone Xs Max leather cases review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 3, 2018 at 2:52 pm.

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Crazybaby Air Nano and 1S True Wireless Headphones review


REVIEW – I’m on a gadget quest to find a comfortable pair of wireless earbuds that sound as good as they feel. So when I was offered not one but two pairs of wireless earbuds to review from Crazybaby, I had to say yes. Let’s take a look at the Crazybaby Air Nano and Crazybaby Air 1S True Wireless Headphones.

What is it?

The Crazybaby Air Nano and Crazybaby Air 1S are Bluetooth earbuds and are what Crazybaby calls true wireless headphones because they don’t have a cable that connects the left earbud to the right earbud.

Crazybaby Air Nano True Wireless Headphones

Since Crazybaby sent me two different styles of their wireless earbuds, I’m going to talk about each pair individually starting with the Air Nano earbuds.

What’s in the box?

Crazybaby Air Nano earbuds
3 sets of ear tips
2 sets of ear wings
Charging case
USB-C charging cable
Quick start guide

Design and features

The Crazybaby Air Nano Bluetooth earbuds come in a shiny plastic case that reminds me of a giant pill. Available in 10 colors, I was sent black. Not exactly an exciting choice but it’s the sound quality and not the color of the earbuds that is important, right?

You might be wondering if the pill-shaped case will roll off a flat surface. Luckily, it won’t as long as you set it down on the surface instead of tossing it.

The capsule pulls open to reveal two earbuds nestled in their charging cavities.

The Air Nano earbuds are held in place with magnets as is the case itself which slides shut with a satisfying thunk sound.

The earbuds themselves have a bullet shape but the ear tip part that goes into your ear canals is angled to provide a better fit than similar brands of wireless earbuds, or that’s the intent.

In the image above, you can see the two charging contacts on the side of each earbud. These contacts match up with the contacts in the charging case to make an electrical connection for charging.

Each earbud is clearly marked with an L or an R so you’ll know which ear they go in and the outer surface of each earbud is a multi-function button. Pressing and holding the buttons on each earbud will toggle power and illuminate the LED band in white.

The multi-function button on each earbud has its own set of functions:

Left earbud – One press will either answer a call or end a call, two presses will initiate Siri or Google voice assistants.

Right earbud – One press will toggle between play and pause for audio, two presses will go to the next track, and three presses will go back to the previous track.

To charge the Crazybaby Air Nano earbuds, you connect the capsule to a USB port using the included USB-C cable.

While the earbuds are charging, the LED status band will glow red and will turn off when charging has completed. There’s also a tiny status LED on the end of the capsule that glows amber while charging and turns off when charging has finished.

Fit and comfort

As far as fit and comfort are concerned, it’s really going to depend on each person’s ear shape. For me, the right earbud fit fine and felt comfortable for an hour or so of constant wear. The left earbud, on the other hand (ear?), felt uncomfortable very quickly due to the multi-function button edge pressing against my ear. Everyone will have a different experience with the way these earbuds feel, so I can’t say they are horrible or wonderful. I’ll just say, that they weren’t the most comfortable in my ears.

It’s interesting to note that the headphones come with two sets of wingtips. The weird part is that you’ll have to take the wings off if you want to place the earbuds back into the charging capsule. That means you’re going to need a way to store the wings when you’re not using them. Hence – weird.

But how do they sound?

I wasn’t blown away but the sound quality, but I didn’t throw them across the room in disgust either. They have decent bass and treble, but overall music is a little muddy. But as long as you’re not a snobby audiophile, you’ll probably think they are just fine for listening to most types of music.

I tested the earbuds while paired with my Pixel 2 XL and listened to tunes using Spotify and videos using Netflix. I noticed no issues with video and audio syncing while using Netflix.

Battery life and connectivity

The Air Nanos will play for about 3 hours straight on a charge and can play another 90mins after just a 5-minute charge in the capsule charging case which will provide an additional 5-9hrs of playback time.

As far as connectivity, I didn’t have any problems pairing the Crazybaby Air Nano wireless earbuds with a Pixel 2 XL or with an iPhone Xs Max. Both phones also worked well with the buds for making and receiving calls. No one asked if I had fallen down a well while I was using them in a conversation.

What I like

  • Small size
  • USB-C charging case

What needs to be improved

  • Can be a little uncomfortable
  • 3hr battery life seems short
  • No place to store the wingtips when they aren’t being used

Final thoughts

I’ll say that the Crazybaby Air Nano earbuds sound better than the last pair of Rowkin earbuds that I reviewed, but they aren’t quite as comfortable to wear as the Rowkins.

Price: $99.00
Where to buy: Crazybaby and Amazon

Crazybaby Air 1S True Wireless Headphones

What is it?

The Crazybaby Air 1S are Bluetooth earbuds designed for sports with an IPX 6 waterproof rating and are what Crazybaby calls true wireless headphones because they don’t have a cable that connects the left earbud to the right earbud.

What’s in the box?

Crazybaby Air 1S earbuds
3 sets of ear tips
3 sets of earbud covers
Charging case
USB-C charging cable
Quick start guide

The Air 1S earbuds also store in a giant (even larger than the Air Nano) pill-shaped charging case. But unlike the Nano’s case, the 1S case has an aluminum shell that is available in either star grey or space silver. I guess I was sent star grey although it looks more like gunmetal blue to me.

The earbuds themselves are larger and have a teardrop shape and a color that matches the charging case.

Each earbud has two electrical contacts that match with the contacts in the charging capsule. The buds have a slightly indented multi-function button on the front that is easier to press than the buttons on the Air Nanos. You also hear an audible click when you press the buttons which have the same set of functions as the Air Nanos:

Left earbud – One press will either answer a call or end a call, two presses will initiate Siri or Google voice assistants.

Right earbud – One press will toggle between play and pause for audio, two presses will go to the next track, and three presses will go back to the previous track.

Fit and comfort

Again, my experience with the fit and comfort of these earbuds may or may not match your experience because everyone has differently shaped ears and ear canals. That said, these buds are even more uncomfortable for me than the Air Nanos which is really disappointing because I really like these earbuds. Just like with the Nanos, the left 1S earbud is more uncomfortable for me than the right earbud. But the right earbud is pretty uncomfortable too. I think my ears are a little too small for these earbuds which sucks because they look kind of cool when the status LED glows… kind of like the earbuds have eyeballs.

The Air Nanos came with wingtips which I thought was weird and the Air 1S earbuds come with what appear to be full body earbud covers with integrated eartips. I guess this is for people who want to use them while they are working out and don’t want to bathe the earbuds in ear sweat. Ick. But just like the Nanos, you’ll have to remove these covers when you want to charge the earbuds in the charging capsule.

But how do they sound?

I tested the earbuds while paired with my Pixel 2 XL and listened to tunes using Spotify and videos using Netflix. I noticed no issues with video and audio syncing while using Netflix. For music, they have really good bass and treble, with a nicely balanced tone. I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed listening to music with them.

Battery life and connectivity

With a single charge, you can listen up to 3 hours and talk up to 4 hours. But you can use the charging capsule to recharge the earbuds for a total of 12 hours of music playback or talk time up to 14 hours.

As far as connectivity, I didn’t have any problems pairing the Crazybaby Air 1S wireless earbuds with a Pixel 2 XL or with an iPhone Xs Max. Both phones also worked well with the buds for making and receiving calls. No one asked if I had fallen down a well while I was using them in a conversation.

What I like

  • Good+ sound quality
  • I like the multi-function button design

What needs to be improved

  • Comfort for people with small ears
  • 3hr battery life seems short
  • No place to store the earbud covers

Final thoughts

I like the Crazybaby Air 1S True Wireless Earbuds quite a bit as far as how they look, sound, charge, etc. It’s just too bad that they hurt my ears to wear them for very long.

Price: $159.00
Where to buy: Crazybaby and Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Crazybaby.

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Crazybaby Air Nano and 1S True Wireless Headphones review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 3, 2018 at 9:00 am.

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Ten One Design Stella illuminated laptop charging cord review

REVIEW – Have you ever seen a new product and thought wow, why didn’t someone think of that a long time ago? That’s what I thought of the first time I saw the Stella illuminated laptop charging cord from Ten One Design.

What is it?

The Ten One Design Stella illuminated laptop charging cord is a premium charging cable that has the coolest feature you never knew you needed – a built-in light.

Design and features

The Stella laptop cord is currently available in two versions. One for Apple MacBook charging adapters (as you can see above) and some iOS adapters rated for 10 watts or higher and another version made for Windows laptop charging adapters with 2 prong cables. Soon Ten One Design will offer another PC version of the cable for 3 prong Mickey Mouse style power cables. You can also buy the Stella cables in either blue (like the one I’m showing here) or aqua.



The cord itself is a thick but flexible 6-foot cord with a soft braided nylon cover. The 2 prong plug has a polycarbonate shell that is attached to the cord at a 45-degree angle and has a built-in LED above the prongs.

On the opposite end of the cord is the connector that attaches to the Apple MacBook charging adapter. This connector has a slide out clip that is designed to hold the end of the cord when it has been wound around the charging adapter.

Installing the Stella cord

To use the Stella cord, you just take your Apple MacBook charging adapter and remove the 2-prong folding adapter attached to it.

Your existing MacBook folding 2-prong adapter slides out of the charger for easy removal.

Then the Stella adapter attaches to the MacBook adapter with a perfect fit.

Witchcraft or science?

The magic happens when the Stella plug is placed near an outlet. The LED above the prongs on the plug lights up.

The light provides just enough illumination so that you can see to plug in the cord when you’re in the dark or a dimly lit environment. But it does this without the aid of a battery. It’s like it’s using power from the air… and actually, that’s exactly what it’s doing. Stella uses patent-pending technologies to detect faint electrical fields present near common household electrical receptacles. I found that it will even light up sometimes when you’re not even near an outlet. Or maybe I just have an electrical personality!

You’re probably wondering if the LED stays lit when the cord is plugged into the outlet. No, it doesn’t. It just lights up for about 5 seconds and then automatically turns off.

When you’re not using the cord, you can use the built-in clip to keep things neat and tidy.

What I like

  • Works like magic without batteries
  • Provides light so I can see to plug in the cord when it’s dark

What needs to be improved

  • Expensive

Final thoughts

Ten One Design Stella illuminated laptop charging cord is definitely cool as heck but is it worth paying $35 to switch out your existing power cord just to get a little light? That’s the obvious question, isn’t it? It all comes down to if you use your laptop charging adapters in dimly light areas on a frequent basis and if you have problems orienting the plug into the receptacle when you do. I’m trying to figure out the last time I needed light to plug in a cord and I nothing comes to mind but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t people out there that could use a cord like this every day. If you’re one of those people, the Stella cord might be perfect for you. But most people will probably just think it’s cool and move on.

Price: $34.95
Where to buy: Ten One Design and Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Ten One Design.

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Ten One Design Stella illuminated laptop charging cord review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 2, 2018 at 12:00 pm.

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TREBLAB X5 Earbuds review


REVIEW – As the beat goes on along with what has now become my obsession with finding the absolute best wireless Bluetooth earbuds that work for me, I jump at every opportunity to test and review these devices. Here is another experience. Let’s see what happened!!

What is it?

The Treblab X5 Bluetooth Wireless Earbuds are similar in function to other such devices, but these have a form factor that is more like the Apple Airpods design, and they use Beryllium speakers to produce their sound.

What’s in the box


1 x Pair of Treblab X5 Earbuds
1 x Charging Case
3 x Pairs of Ear-fins
3 x Pairs of Eartips (I got 6 pairs in my set)
1 x Micro USB Charging Cable
1 x Instruction Booklet
1 x Warranty card

Design and features


Specifications:

  • Bluetooth 4.2
  • Chipset: CSR Qualcomm
  • Noise-Cancellation: Passive, cVc 6.0
  • Playtime: up to 6 hours + 4 additional charges with Charging Case
  • Charging time: 2 hours
  • Water resistance: IPX4
  • Phone Calls: Built-in Mic
  • Signal range: 33 feet
  • Frequency response: 20Hz-20kHz

The earbuds come in a nice compact charging case, that has internal contacts for charging and an on/of button for charging the earbuds. With the case facing you as in the picture below, the right earbud charges in the left slot and the left in the right.


Each earbud has 2 charging contacts and 2 function buttons.


On the front of the charging case from left to right, there are 2 charging indicator LEDs, one for each earbud, a micro USB port for charging, and an on/off button.

Performance

These earbuds arrived fully charged. I took them out of the case and turned them on while holding down the power button the right earbud that put them into pairing mode. Pairing is straightforward and easy.

Functions:
Right Earbud:
Power button (+): Power On/Off, Play/Pause, Volume Up/ Answer Phone Call
Mode button (-): Volume Down, Reject Phone Call, Hang Up Phone Call, Siri/ Google Voice Assistant

Left Earbud:
Top button: Power On/Off, Play/Pause, Previous Track
Bottom button: Next Track

These earbuds are really great sounding. the highs, mids, and lows are well balanced, and there is enough of a volume range for just about every type of listening situation and genre. I tested them with jazz, easy listening, gospel, soul, rock, and reggae and they were outstanding in every way and for each genre, There is very little to no distortion, at least none that was the fault of the earbuds. One important factor to enjoy the full potential of these earbuds is to make sure that you try the various ear tips and choose the right ones that not only fit comfortably but also provide a seal with your ears. Not only will this allow you to enjoy the full frequency range of the music and potential of the Beryllium speakers, but also you will gain the full effectiveness of the Noise Cancelling ability.

Treblab specifications boast playtime up to 6 hours with 4 additional charges via the charging case. It has been my experience, that the specs are not only true, but I likely got a bit more out of each charge. The X5 earbuds are also water resistant. Contrary to my personal issues with using earbuds for phone conversations, these earbuds performed well for me and I was able to not only hear the other party clearly, but they could hear me albeit that I had to speak a bit louder than my normal volume. I always reiterate in my reviews that I think my issue with earbuds and phone use are personal and not truly reflective of the ability of most earbuds.

The picture below shows the case while being charged with the earbuds in it also being charged. The blue LEDs oscillate back and forth while the red LED remains steady.


The following is a video showing the LEDs movement back and forth as both the earbuds and the case are being charged. If the power button is pressed off to stop charging the earbuds, the red LED remains on indicating that the case alone is being charged.

What I like

  • The number of included ear tips to accommodate comfort
  • The sound
  • Did I mention the sound?
  • The compact size and weight
  • Charge lasts a long time

What can be improved

  • The form factor is still a bit dorky much like the Airpods
  • Could be slightly more comfortable: Because of the form factor, you always feel their presence in your ears

Final thoughts

When I first saw these earbuds, I was intrigued because of the design, and the similarity in style to the Apple Airpods. I have to be completely honest, that based on the price and the brand name that I had never heard of, I did not expect much. Boy!! was I wrong!! These earbuds come with enough ear tips to ensure a perfect fit, and they sound absolutely amazing for anything less than what is considered to be “true” Audiophile. So far on this testing journey of mine, I have reviewed some major and well-known brands and models. While several of them are really good, when comparing them in categories like “most reliable connectivity”, and “sound”, these most reasonably priced earbuds have edged out all others to currently occupy the pole position all by themselves. Very well done and two thumbs up!!

Price: $79.97
Where to buy: treblab.com  or Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Treblab.

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TREBLAB X5 Earbuds review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 2, 2018 at 9:00 am.

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