I’m an avid Alexa user. I use Alexa to control my lights, my Dyson, and even my air conditioner. I even miss her when I’m staying in a hotel. But until now I’ve been using the Amazon Echo Dots and Echo Taps to boss her around. I also have two Sonos PLAY:1 speakers at home, so when Sonos announced that they are bringing Alexa into their eco-system with the new Sonos One, I was ecstatic.
The Sonos One is nearly identical in design to its predecessor the PLAY:1, but it’s a bit taller, and it houses touch sensitive buttons on its top side. The touch controls let you swipe to skip a track, and tap to turn up the volume. There is also a mute “button” for the mic for when you want privacy. An LED indicator light at the top is also used to indicate when the Sonos One’s microphone is active. But having a similar form factor to the PLAY:1 is where their similarities end, because on the inside, Sonos has completely reengineered the speaker system of the Sonos One. To that effect, on the inside you get two Class-D digital amplifiers, one tweeter, and one mid-woofer, that are complimented by a six-mic array that uses an adaptive noise suppression algorithm.
To make sure your Sonos One is operating at its peak, Sonos has a Trueplay feature in the Sonos app which automatically tunes the Sonos One for the room it’s playing in. So how does the Sonos One sound? It sounds incredible for its size. I’ve been listening to the two and comparing them, and would say that the Sonos One edges out the PLAY:1 in terms of clarity. To that effect, instruments and subtle details can be heard with more detail on the Sonos One. That’s not to say that the PLAY:1 is a slouch by any means, but the Sonos One does sound better than the PLAY:1. Furthermore, it’s worth noting that a single Sonos One sounds very powerful – even when not playing in stereo mode with another Sonos One. That said, we do wish that Sonos would let us pair a Sonos One with a PLAY:1 in stereo mode, and we’re hoping that Sonos will offer that feature eventually through a software update.
Sonos has packed in a 6 microphone array into the Sonos One. As a result, Alexa is super responsive, even while music is playing. Thanks to voice capture technology with echo cancelation, you can call out Alexa and the Sonos One will hear you – even while playing loud music. The experience is way superior to the Amazon Echo Dot and Taps that I’ve been using. So far I have been testing Alexa’s music commands on the Sonos One with Amazon Music. I’ve been telling Alexa to do things like “play Haim”, or “lower the volume” and Alexa on the Sonos One has been very responsive, and in general a pleasure to use. When you do call out for Alexa, the volume on the Sonos one will duck out to a lower volume so that you don’t have to shout.
Sonos is a pioneer and leader when it comes to multi-room speaker system set ups, and Alexa on the Sonos One can be used to control other Sonos speakers connected to your network. So you can tell your Sonos One in your bedroom to play music in another room, i.e.: “Alexa, play Alanis in the kitchen”.
We tested playing music with Alexa through Amazon Music on the Sonos One, but Spotify support should arrive soon, and hopefully before the holidays. The Sonos One will actually be the first third-party speaker to offer Alexa control for Spotify. At present, not all of Alexa’s voice commands work with the Sonos One, such as asking Alexa for a flash briefing, but an update will address this soon. Speaking of updates, Sonos has a great track record with bringing out software updates that continue to improve on their devices, and they are planning on bringing support for Google Assistant and Siri in 2018.
Final Thoughts
The Sonos One represents the next step for Alexa and voice control. To that effect, instead of voice control technology coming first and sonics coming second, the Sonos One offers the perfect marriage of beautiful audio with voice control technologies. And thanks to Sonos’ commitment to software updates, you won’t have to choose Alexa over Siri over Google Assistant. You’ll be able to have your cake and eat it too.
Like its predecessor the PLAY:1, the Sonos One sounds incredible for a $199 Speaker. Plus the fact that it has got Alexa built in makes it a pretty good value. Overall, the Sonos One is another superb connected speaker product from Sonos, and we’re looking forward to future software updates that further unlock its potential.
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Sonos. Please visit their site for more info.
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When we are researching for places to spend our vacation, I always ask Jeanne to make sure that the place where we’ll be staying has internet access. Because perish the thought that I take a vacation where I can’t get a little Gadgeteer work done too.
We went on our last vacation knowing that there wouldn’t be any internet at the cabin we were renting, but I stuffed down my panic because I knew we’d only be gone for 2 full days. And as luck would have it, I had a secret weapon to take with us… the Skyroam SOLIS 4G LTE Global WiFi Hotspot.
What is it?
The Skyroam SOLIS is a portable 4G LTE WiFi Hotspot and 6000mAh power bank that provides unlimited daily internet connectivity by using Skyroam’s proprietary global WiFi network which uses local SIM service from nearly 200 carriers. It partners with the best providers to offer a seamless mobile WiFi experience for world travelers in over 100 countries using a virtual SIM, which automatically picks up the cellular connection in your area.
Using Skyroam means you don’t have to mess around with changing your existing wireless plan or worrying about roaming and overage charges.
What’s in the box?
SkyRoam SOLIS
USB Type-C cable
USB Type-C to USB adapter
Quick start guide
Design and features
The SOLIS looks like a bright orange hockey puck that has a power button on the side and a WiFi button on top.
On the back of the SOLIS is a USB Type-C connector that is used to charge the device which can run for 16 to 20hrs on a charge. The Type-C connector is also where you connect the Type-C to USB adapter so you can use the SOLIS as a back battery for your other gadgets.
The bottom cover of the hotspot can be removed to provide access to the battery compartment. In an age where our gadgets are usually sealed, it’s refreshing that the Skyroam SOLIS has replaceable rechargeable batteries.
Let’s get online
As mentioned above, I was excited to receive the Skyroam SOLIS the day before we were planning visit Turkey Run State Park where I knew that there would be no WiFi at the cabin we’d rented.
I made a mistake of not setting up the SOLIS before we left figuring I could do it when we got to our destination. That was almost a fatal mistake because the first thing you have to do to set up the SOLIS is to create an account – ONLINE. Our Verizon phone barely had a signal, which made getting online to check my email for the account info almost impossible.
After several tries and some patience, I was able to create the initial account and the SOLIS began the connection process. You have to sit through this loading screen every time you disconnect from the SOLIS hotspot and reconnect. It can take several minutes.
Luckily, SOLIS gives you 20 minutes of free time to set up the hotspot, but without a reliable connection where we were staying, it took a few tries to get it up and running.
Once you’re fully connected, you can buy your daypasses. The SOLIS comes with one pass and each additional pass after that is $9. Each daypass gives you unlimited internet access for 24 hours.
Note that you can’t turn off the SOLIS an hour after initiating a daypass, wait a day, turn it back on and expect to still have 23hrs of access left. Each daypass only lasts for 24hrs no matter if you use it during that time or not.
Also, if you travel to different countries within a day, the time left on the daypass will be calculated from the time of the location where you activated the device.
You can always see the status of your connection and time left on your daypass by logging into the Skyroam dashboard.
Each Skyroam SOLIS can support up to 5 connections. While we were staying outside the park, we had our phones and my MacBook connected to the SOLIS. The speed was pretty slow and sometimes the dashboard said it was only a 3G connection because there was barely any coverage for Verizon, AT&T or T-Mobile. But whichever wireless carrier that the SOLIS was using at the time, it was good enough for surfing, emailing, and some light Gadgeteer work.
Just be aware that the Skyroam SOLIS is not a magic internet puck. One of their partnered cell providers has to have coverage in your area for it to provide WiFi access.
Skyroam even works great while driving which means it comes in handy for long road trips where you might not want to use your phone as a hotspot.
Fast forward a few weeks… As I’m writing this review, I’m back home now and am connected to the SOLIS in my basement and have the connection speed that you see above. That probably looks really slow to a lot of you, but it works fine even for watching YouTube and Netflix videos (after some buffering time).
But is it too good to be true?
When we were at the Turkey Run State Park, the speed of the Skyroam SOLIS felt noticeably sluggish, but I was just happy to be able to surf and respond to emails so I wasn’t complaining. I thought the significant slowness of the connection was due to the fact that the cell providers in that area had very weak coverage. But as I was working on this review, I stumbled upon info that was buried in the Skyroam support pages and it made my heart sink a bit.
Skyroam markets the SOLIS as a 4G LTE unlimited global hotspot. Which it is. BUT (and it’s a big but), you don’t really get unlimited 4G speeds with this device. After you use 500mb of data, the speed throttles down to 2.5G speeds for the rest of the 24hr daypass. When I asked Skyroam to explain this wrinkle, Cory Jones, Skyroam’s Vice President, Global Marketing & Product, responded with:
“Our goal is to deliver convenient, omnipresent global connectivity for international travelers at a great value. To deliver that, we’ve optimized our service to give Skyroam customers the best performance across our global footprint of 100+ countries. Most users experience the fastest speeds possible since the majority don’t reach 500mb in 24 hours. For those that exceed 500mb in 24 hours, data speed changes to 2.5G for the remaining period of the 24-hour daypass, which compares favorably in the telecom market.
Many find the simplicity Skyroam offers to be a lifesaver – WiFi on-demand data at one rate worldwide. You can even use one daypass in multiple countries, as well as being shareable with travel buddies and among your gadgets with five devices simultaneously. We focus our service on global travelers who see the value through that lens.”
Well, that stinks.
So I created a test. I checked my speed BEFORE using 500MBs of data (see above) and then I started downloading a 512MB test file.
I thought that I had already hit the 500MB threshold before I started the test download because my MacBook reported that it was going to take 2-4 hours to download the 512MB file. Yikes…
But 30MBs into the download, I was still getting good speed using speedtest.net. So I worked on other things (using the Chrome browser with the same WiFi connection to the SOLIS) and let the test file continue downloading in the background.
I watched a few Youtube videos, surfed some of my favorite sites, read news using Feedly, answered emails, and worked on this review.
Everything slowed to a crawl when the test file download hit the 220MB mark. At that point, other tabs in my browser would not refresh. I paused the test file download and did another speed test and got the results shown above. OUCH. I waited 10 minutes and ran the speed test again with almost identical results.
Just to be sure, I checked the Skyroam dashboard to confirm that I was still connected to 4G. I was. I then decided to toggle power on the Skyroam SOLIS, connect back to it and do another speed test.
Same speed.
That speed might look much too slow to do anything worthwhile on the net, but right now I’m watching a YouTube video while I’m writing this. Granted, it took a minute or so for the video to start playing but once it started, it was fine. Low res, but viewable. So is reading and writing emails, reading my news feeds using Feedly through a browser, and even writing this review.
Bottom line: I do think that the >500MB throttling information should be highlighted for potential buyers instead of hiding it in the Skyroam FAQ pages. What do you think, does a 500MB 4G speed cap make the SOLIS less desirable?
Final thoughts
If you are an avid traveler – especially an international traveler who likes to stay connected, the Skyroam SOLIS Global WiFi Hotspot is an affordable way to have internet access where ever you travel (see the country list on the Skyroam site) when you can’t use your mobile phone as a hotspot.
As long as you can live with slower 2.5G speeds after using 500MB of data, I think the SOLIS is a useful gadget for on-demand internet access that at an affordable price.
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Skyroam. Please visit their site for more info and Amazon to order.
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If you feel compelled to take your phone out of your pocket to snap pictures and record videos throughout your day, a device like the FrontRow camera might save you a lot of time because this camera automatically records your adventures so you can leave your phone in your pocket.
What is it?
FrontRow is a camera that you wear around your neck that can capture snapshots and video either manually or automatically throughout your day to create condensed time-lapse videos called stories. The camera can also be used to live stream to Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube.
Hardware specs
Main camera: 8MP, f2.2, 1080P, 30fps, optical image stabilization
Back camera: 5MP, f2.0, 1080P, 30fps, optical image stabilization
Display: color touch screen, 640 x 572 resolution
Memory: RAM 2GB, Storage 32GB
Battery: Standby 50hrs, live streaming 1hr 45min – 1hr 55min, recording 1hr 50min – 2hr, fast charging via USB TYPE-C
Connectivity: Bluetooth and Wifi
What’s in the box?
FrontRow camera
Magnetic clip
USB cable with adapter
Adjustable lanyard
Microfiber cloth
Quick start guide
FrontRow logo sticker
Design and features
The FrontRow camera looks like a stopwatch that a coach might wear around their neck.
It comes in black and will also soon be available in white with rose gold. The camera has a premium look and feel due to the metal casing and a glass touchscreen display. The display faces against your body when it’s being worn. Above the display is a 5MP reverse camera which has an 85-degree viewing angle and below the display is the home button.
The front of the FrontRow camera has the FrontRow logo and the main 8MP camera which has a 147.5-degree wide-angle lens.
On one side of the camera is a small media button and a longer power button. On the opposite side (not shown), is a speaker and a tiny status LED that blinks in blue while charging, is solid blue when fully charged, and blinks red while video is being recorded.
On the bottom edge of the FrontRow camera is a USB Type-C port and to the left of the charging port is a microphone.
The top of the FrontRow is designed with a detachable clip. The camera comes with a lanyard clip and a magnetic stand clip.
The clips are made of metal with hooks that latch securely into the top of the FrontRow camera.
The magnetic clip can be used to attach the FrontRow to a metal surface. Be aware that the magnet isn’t very strong, so I would be wary of using it to hold the camera high above the ground.
Other mounting options in the future may include a car mount so you can use the FrontRow camera as a dash cam.
Setting up the FrontRow
The first thing you will need to do before you can start using the FrontRow camera is to charge it using the included USB Type-C cable. While the camera is charging, you can install the iOS or Android FrontRow app on your mobile device.
The app and the camera itself have an easy to use interface that provides access to images, video, and stories that have been captured with the camera as well as an interface to change settings and initiate recordings and live streaming events.
Almost everything that you can do through the app, you can also do right from the camera. This includes manually capturing video from either the main or reverse cameras.
You can also view images and watch videos right on the FrontRow’s color touchscreen display which by the way is crisp, clear, and vibrant. It’s also surprisingly fingerprint resistant.
In addition to taking snapshots with the FrontRow camera, capturing video, making time-lapse videos, and live streaming to social sites like Facebook, the FrontRow camera has a few other interesting features like a stopwatch, language translator, and a Spotify player.
Using the FrontRow as a camera
To take a snapshot with the FrontRow, you just click the media button once. If the FrontRow’s display is on and the camera is not in story mode, you’ll hear a shutter sound to let you know that an image was just captured.
If the screen is off and the camera is not in story mode, you’ll feel three vibrations with the last vibration signifying that the image was just captured.
If the FrontRow camera is in story mode, you can still snap images by pressing the media button and you will feel one vibration to let you know that the image was just captured.
Click the example images above to see the image quality. You’ll notice that the first three images are a little blurred and that part of my jacket was in the way of the lens for one of the shots. Only the selfie was sharp and clear. I noticed the blurring issue with most of the images that I manually captured. Due to the problem with blurring, I wouldn’t want to use the FrontRow as my only camera. As a live streaming camera, video camera, and time-lapse camera, it does a good job, but as a stand-alone snapshot camera, I prefer my phone.
Using the FrontRow camera to capture video and create live streaming sessions
The FrontRow camera has both optical (OIS) and electrical (EIS) image stabilization which is supposed to keep your action videos looking smooth instead of choppy. But these stabilization features won’t help if you’re wearing the camera around your neck and are walking or running around while you’re trying to capture video. Here’s a quick example of me wearing the camera around my neck while walking normally around my house.
Not very smooth is it? It’s not the fault of the FrontRow though. I don’t think any amount of OIS or EIS can help smooth out video when the camera is swinging from your neck as it’s recording. FYI: The video sample was saved in SD (720p) quality and the weird audio is due to it being a really breezy day.
Live streaming video quality works very well as long as you have a WiFi or good connection to the net through your phone. The first time I tried to do a live stream was in my car and it would not work. It kept asking me to connect to WiFi. When I asked FrontRow about this issue, they responded with:
The Facebook livestream API requires speeds greater than 50kbps. If speeds do not meet this requirement Facebook will end the stream (or not allow a stream to begin until speeds meet the required level). FrontRow suggesting to connect to a wi-fi networks is a result of needing to satisfy these speed requirements.
Here’s an example of a live stream to Facebook while my phone was connected to my home WiFi.
Note that copies of your live-streamed videos are NOT saved on the FrontRow camera or on your phone.
Using the FrontRow to capture time-lapse “stories”
Live streaming is cool, but my favorite feature of the FrontRow camera is the story feature. Stories are a group of clips that are condensed and turned into time-lapse video recordings of your day or special events. By default, stories don’t include audio, but you can add background music using the FrontRow app.
Stories are a fun way to relive your day without having to manually record a video yourself. Just put the FrontRow around your neck turn on story mode and it will do the rest.
You can customise the video clip capture length from fast to slow. The exreme left side of the slider = 3sec/clip, bicycle symbol = 5sec/clip, walking symbol = 8sec/clip, cloud symbol = 10sec/clip, extreme right side of the slider = 20sec/clip.
I decided that using the FrontRow to capture a day at Turkey Run State Park would be a worthy test. I set the camera to the walking symbol, put it around my neck, started the story mode, and we went about our day at the park. You can check out the 14-minute video below.
As you can see from the video, sometimes the clips are a bit blurry. The idea isn’t to have a perfect video of your whole day but to be able to relive the memories of the day and I think FrontRow does that quite nicely.
It’s also important to keep in mind that the FrontRow is automatically capturing video snippets all the time and that after a short while, you’ll forget that you’re wearing it. That means that the camera might capture scenes that you might not want to see or have others see like when you’re in the restroom. That’s why you can pause the story anytime you like by double clicking the media button. When you’re ready to start capturing the story again, you just double-click the button again.
Your stories will also probably include a lot of boring parts that you can cut out using the editing features in the FrontRow app. You can also add background music to your stories using the included instrumental tracks from the app.
Stories use a LOT of storage. The 14-minute video above used more than 2.5GB of space on the camera which does not have expandable storage.
Battery life
The camera has good battery life but the recording time will depend on the resolution and the speed that you choose. The video sample I included above was set to the middle speed and was able to capture a time-lapse from 9:30 am – 5 pm which is pretty impressive.
The camera also has a fast charging feature, so you can semi-quickly charge it up for your next adventure and you can live stream while charging.
Final thoughts
The FrontRow camera is the type of product that most people won’t use every day and that makes the $400 price a bit steep. That said, it is a fun gadget to have for vacations, trips, and special events because you can wear it around your neck, start the story mode and enjoy the day or event without feeling like you have to take out your phone every few minutes to snap a picture or record a video.
Source: The sample for this review was provided by FrontRow. Please visit their site for more info and Amazon to order.
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My favorite type of gear bag is a backpack, especially if you need to carry your items around for long durations of time. My favorite type of backpack is a high-quality leather backpack and thus, I was eager to review the Pad & Quill Roll Top Leather Backpack. While using this backpack over the last few weeks, I found that it is very well made using high-quality materials and holds all that I need to carry. It may not have many external pockets and getting things out of the backpack takes time, but the main compartment’s quick side access zippered slot is available to help alleviate some of those troubles (if the items are small enough to fit through the zippered access that is). This backpack has easily become my favorite bag!The Pad & Quill Roll Top Leather Backpack came with a “Welcome to the Family” card attached. This card states the following:
Welcome and contact information – if you have any questions about your item, contact Pad & Quill at SayHello@PadandQuill.com.
100% satisfaction guaranteed – “For the first 30 days, if you are not 100% satisfied with you Pad & Quill item, no matter what it is or why send it back in like new condition for a refund.”
25-year leather warranty – “If one of these [leather] items fails during the next two and a half decades due to a manufacturing defect, we failed – which is why we pledge to make it right with an exchange or repair.”
Leather and canvas care – “For cleaning, simply use a damp cloth to remove dirt or diminish scratches. Occasionally refreshing the leather with our Pad & Quill Leather Oil & Balm will help increase its lifespan as well.”
Design & Build Quality
When I received the Pad & Quill Roll Top Leather Backpack, I eagerly opened the box and was greeted with the wonderful scent of leather. The Whiskey colored backpack is a beautiful dark brown color when viewed indoors (upper photo) and has a lighter brown color like that shown in the lower photo above when viewed outdoors (other available colors: Chestnut, Chocolate, Galloper Black). This backpack is made using full-grain, tumbled American bridle leather; parachute-grade, UV resistant nylon stitching; hand-pounded copper rivets; and solid nickel hardware according to the Pad & Quill website. Its outer measurements are about 12″ wide x 16″ long x 4.7″ deep. The tumbled bridle leather of the backpack is soft and supple to allow for easy rolling and unrolling of the main compartment closure and yet it maintains its ruggedness. The roll-top closure is also weatherproof.
There is a quick side access zippered slot that allows you to insert or extract your smaller items without having to unbuckle and unroll the backpack. From this angle, you can see the zipper better.
This is a high-quality heavy-duty zipper and measures 8.75″ long. The other side of the backpack does not contain any pockets.The back of the backpack shows how the shoulder straps and the quick-grab handle are sewn into the top of the backpack and reinforced with hand-pounded copper rivets to help increase the strength of these stress points.The bottom of the backpack is about 12″ x 4.7″ (outer measurements) and 11.5″ x 4″ (internal measurements) as shown in the photo above.
The lower front of the backpack sports the tasteful Pad & Quill logo. You’ll also notice that the leather loops used to hold the straps close to the backpack are attached using rivets.
All of the straps of the roll top backpack are very thick. Each strap is made by sewing together two strips of leather, each of which measures about 2mm in thickness and thus the straps are 4mm thick. You’ll also notice how all of the leather edges are raw edges (not burnished) as shown above. This is true throughout the backpack.
The shoulder straps consist of two leather sections connected by copper rivets. The length of the shoulder straps can be adjusted using the buckles located on the lower sides of the backpack. The buckles used to adjust the shoulder straps are attached with rivets and stitching to leather pieces which are sewn into the lower sides of the backpack.
The front of the backpack contains a small pocket which measures 6.75″ x 4.75″ (internal measurements) but will only hold materials that are about a couple of centimeters total in width. You’ll notice that the pocket is fastened using a leather strap and a metal ball stud fastener. This pocket strap is easily unfastened by sliding the strap off the ball stud. There is a small thin strip of leather used to keep the pocket strap close to the backpack. That small strip is fastened to the front pocket using copper rivets.The inside of the pocket has raw leather on the front side and finished leather (from the front of the backpack) on the other. You can also see the rivets within this pocket and thus you might want to use caution when placing a small device in here as it might get scratched.The thread used to assemble the backpack is a heavy duty parachute-grade, UV resistant nylon stitching. The above photo also shows how the buckles used to close the roll top opening are attached to the backpack using stitching and rivets as well. Roll top leather backpacks use a lot of leather making the backpack look rather long when opened (it’s about 24″ tall when opened).The roll top also makes the interior look rather cavernous/voluminous. You’ll also notice the rivets inside the backpack used to attach the loops and buckles on the outside. Again, you’ll want to be careful if you are placing any of your devices inside here because they could get scratched. Looking inside the backpack, you’ll notice that there is a nice internal leather pocket available to store a tablet or a small laptop (although it is not padded). This pocket is about 10.5″ wide x 12″ deep (internal measurements). The Pad & Quill website states that this pocket will hold up to a 15″ laptop (I do not have a 15″ laptop to test this).
The tablet/laptop pocket has attached to it a small pocket which is enclosed by a zipper. This pocket measures 6.5″ deep x 6.5″ wide (the zipper is 6.5″ long but the pocket is actually almost 8″ wide internally).
Use
I was able to pack two one-inch binders, two paper folders, my portable keyboard (in the tablet/laptop pocket), and my pencil case inside the backpack. When the backpack is this full, the quick side access zippered slot is difficult to use unless the items are small enough and placed right in front of the zipper (like a bottle of water or pencil case). I was also able to store my small zippered pouch (which measures 6.25″ long x 4.5″ wide) and my Nexus 6 phone (6.375″ long x 3.375″ wide with the case on) in the front pocket. With just these two things, this pocket was full.
The backpack fits well and is comfortable to wear for short periods of time (I haven’t yet tested it over a long period of time). It fits all of my materials that I need to carry around with me in a compact way and feels like it will last a long time. It takes a bit of time to access my materials in the main compartment but I consider that a minor inconvenience. The quick access zipper closure on the side of the backpack is useful if I have to quickly extract a small item from inside, but I don’t usually have to do this. One of the benefits of the Pad & Quill Roll Top Leather Backpack is that its roll-top closure allows it to easily adjust to tall or small items and still be closed using the adjustable buckles.
Final Thoughts
The Pad & Quill Roll Top Leather Backpack is a fantastic, beautiful, well-made, very high-quality leather backpack that sells for $319. I love using it. It is made using 2mm thick full-grain, tumbled American bridle leather; parachute-grade, UV resistant nylon stitching; hand-pounded copper rivets; and solid nickel hardware. The Pad & Quill backpack fits well, allows me to carry all of my necessary materials, and has a 25-year warranty. It is important to note that it takes time to extract your materials from the backpack even with its quick side access zippered slot, but I found this to be a minor inconvenience. This backpack is now my favorite backpack and I highly recommend it.
Source: The sample used in this review was provided by Pad & Quill. Please visit their website for more information or to purchase one for yourself.
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As someone who travels a lot I often find myself in situations where my phone or other device is low or out of power and a wall outlet is not readily available. Before I travel, I meticulously charge my phones (I carry a personal and a work phone), my headphones, iPad, and computer. Where these plans fall apart is when I get to the airport and begin draining my batteries while waiting to board my flight. I don’t know how I made it this long without a supplementary power supply but now that I have the ROMOSS Longuard Power Bank, I will never travel without it. (Picture is the Longuard next to an Apple iPhone 7 plus)
The size (2.4 x 4.06 x 1.18 inches) is very manageable and easy to tuck away when not in use and the 0.69 pound weight is what you would expect from a battery that can deliver 10000 mAh. Included with the battery is a USB to micro USB cord for charging and a padded mesh pouch with drawstring closure for storage and protection.
This power bank features dual 2.4A outputs allowing you to charge two devices at once. Many other external battery packs only offer one output, putting this in the front of the pack. ROMOSS’ proprietary Quick Charge technology automatically optimizes the power delivered to your device so you get the fastest safe charging rate. It performs self-diagnostics to protect your electronics against overcharging, overheating, short circuits and excessive current. If it detects a problem, the Longuard will turn itself off in order to protect anything you have connected to it.
From empty, the Longuard can be fully recharged in 4 hours and after testing, I found the recharge time to be slightly less than this. The same battery technology that is found in today’s electric cars can be found in the Longuard. According to ROMOSS, there are 26650 battery cells in the device and have been certified for over 1000 charging cycles, 60% more than other leading power banks on the market. There is just one button on the Longuard on which the four LED power level indicator lights can be found. 10000 mAh will charge an iPhone or Galaxy 2 to 3.5 times depending on which device you own. For my needs, the balance of size and power capacity makes this just right for me.
I was using this for the first time in the field on a flight with some coworkers. I hadn’t planned on talking about it or asking my colleagues if they had an external power bank but as soon as we took our seats, 3 of the 5 people traveling with me had taken out their own batteries and were charging their devices. This began a show and tell session that led to everyone explaining why theirs was the best, even though nobody knew anything about the other batteries. This is what you come to expect when you work in an industry with a lot of alpha personalities and everyone, including myself, thinks that we are all electronics gurus despite our need to call IT in a panic whenever the slightest thing goes wrong with anything that has a power button. After a brief show and tell I realized that not every power bank has 2 outputs and charge in 4 hours. Without even trying, one person used his in-flight WiFi to head to Amazon to pick up a Longuard so it was waiting for him when he got home.
One of the things that amazed me was how the price of these power banks have come down from what I remember. With a price of $23.99, this is an absolute no-brainer for me to recommend for people looking for a power bank that is reliable, versatile (2 power outputs) and small enough to bring with you anywhere. If you plan on being away from a power outlet for an extended period of time, you will likely need something more than 10000 mAh. For those times where you just need to get you through a day or two or have a backup in case you forgot to charge your device, the Longuard will not disappoint.
Source: The sample for this review was provided by ROMOSS. For more information or to purchase please visit their website or ROMOSS. For more information or to purchase please visit their website or Amazon.
Very affordable at $23.99 on Amazon; 2 power outputs; quick charging; long battery life (1000+ charge cycles); protects your devices from overcharging or other kinds of damage.
Cons:
I honestly don't have any criticism of this power bank. Should I come up with anything after more use I will provide an update.
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That’s why you can pause the story anytime you like by double clicking the media button. When you’re ready to start capturing the story again, you just double-click the button again.
