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Speks magnetic desk toys review

REVIEW – Who doesn’t like having fun at work? Our friends at Spek deal in magnet-based desk toys that you can use to get your creative juices flowing, and have a bit of fun while you’re at it. Take a break. It’s time to play. We’re gonna make stuff! To the review!

What is it?

They’re magnetized spheres, blocks, and other shapes that you use to build, create, and fidget at your desk.

What’s in the box?

I’ve got a whole collection of goodies from Speks in my sample kit:

  • 3 packs of the “classic” Speks 2.5 mm magnet balls in different colors.
  • A pack of Super 33 mm magnet balls.
  • A pack of Unblocks magnetic blocks.

Design and features

Spek makes what I like to call “thinking toys.” They’re things to play with while you’re musing on big creative thoughts, pondering important business-type stuff, or just taking a break from all that thinking. These are toys that allow your hands to build and create while the mind wanders off to do more important things.

One of the great things about Speks is how the whole packaging sets the tone for fun from the get-go. You’ll find whimsical little notes on the packaging, a fun little instruction books, and some secret surprises (like stickers) in each pack. I’ll point those out as we go through the review.

The original product are the namesake Speks — a collection of 512 2.5 mm spheres made with rare earth magnets. Your basic kit includes a guidebook, a storage box, a card splitter, and a stand. They’re available in dozens of styles and colors. The pic below is of the Luxe Silver set I got in my test kit.

Here’s the stand in action, with the Cherry Pop Speks from the Duotone collection. It’s a mix of red and pink metallic spheres. You can mash up the spheres in any shape you like and they’ll stick to that stand so that you can show off your creation.

If you’re seeking ideas for what to do with your Speks, the instruction guide provides some sample models you can make. I’m showing it here with the Sky Blue Speks from the Matte collection. There are so many styles to choose from, you’ll be able to find the perfect set to match your office motif.

Now… what to do with all of these little balls of fun? Besides mashing them into shapes, you can create structured forms and sculptures. I laid out those silver Speks on my desk end to end, and came up with a thread 50 inches long.

Then I started forming a flat hexagonal shape. Check out the shiny prettiness. It’s a might trickier to put together than you would think, because all of those little magnetic spheres just want to glom together. But patience brings calm, and calm brings rewards. Observe!

That splitter card helps you to break apart the Speks when you want to change up your creation. You use it to cut into the shape, to split or divide your creation however you like.

I peeled off a slice and folded it back to create a second layer. If you lose patience with geometric forms the whole thing can be mashed and shaped like a bit of clay, too.

You can also extend your build into 3D structures. Tubes, little boxes, helixes… here I turned my blue Speks into a snappy bracelet. With the stand, you can create free-standing figures or shapes as well.

The classic Speks tend to be more of an open-form kind of toy. If you’re the more structured type, fear not! Spek has you covered with a set a more traditional building-block set in the Unblocks collection. Each set comes with two long pieces and two corner pieces, all magnetized to connect as you build your structures.

Did you see that cool little set of stickers? Those were the surprise bits I was talking about. They look great on the back of your Macbook, by the way.

Spek makes these Unblock kits in 8 different colorways, each one featuring two block tones. You could add more kits to your set to build more advanced structures. I’d probably go for two or three sets to start with to expand my options.

If you’re looking for something that’s more of a fidget tool to keep your hand occupied while you’re on that conference call, you can check out the Supers! These are 33 mm versions of the classic Speks, sold in a three-pack. You can get them in gunmetal, gold, or a color called “oil slick” that I have here.

They’re lovely to look at, aren’t they? All that oozy, shiny, colorful goodness. They come with their own stand for display, and those strong magnets allow you to use them to attach stuff if you like. You could use them as a business card holder, or a place to keep those pesky gator clips from wandering off. Sit down, gator clips. You’re not going anywhere.

My favorite use for these, however, is much like those Chinese meditation/stress balls. Just roll them around in your hands while you’re pondering the imponderables.

Like Chinese meditation balls, I’m also finding them to be very useful for exercising my hands. Those strong magnets make for some work if you try to separate them. While they are not sold as such, I’m finding them to be great for building hand strength and coordination.

Ain’t that fun?

You’ll find more options on the Speks web site, too. The classic Speks come in 1000 piece starter sets if you need more to play with, and there’s a fancy display stand available if you want to show off our creations. There’s also a set called the Fleks that consists of rubbery silicone shapes (rods, wishbones, and X-shapes) that you can bend and connect to each other. I need to get my hands on that one.

Two final notes about safety. These are magnetized toys, so you’ll want to be careful around devices that aren’t shielded. Also, these are adult-oriented playthings that present a swallowing risk to children (and pets), so keep them away from your little ones.

What I like

  • Fun & addicting to play with.
  • Wide range of brilliant colors and styles available.
  • Brain toys to fit every personality type.

What I’d change

  • Not a con, but a reminder: these are adult playthings, and not safe for children and pets.

Final thoughts

We’ve been having a blast with the Spek desk toys. I like to bring them out for creative meetings, conference calls, and thinking sessions as a tool to get the brain juices a-flowin’. Just make sure you have enough for everyone. Some of them may not make it back to your desk at the end of the day.

Price: Prices vary depending on the set, starting at $14.95.
Where to buy: Go to the Speks web site. Also available on Amazon.
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Speks.

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Speks magnetic desk toys review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 4, 2019 at 10:00 am.

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Mesh-It fidget pen review

REVIEW – Remember when fidget spinners were all the rage? Since that time, fidget toys have become popular gadgets for people who need a way to destress, focus, or just waste time. The only problem with most fidget toys is that they obviously look like toys. That means that a teacher might confiscate them and coworkers might become annoyed by them if used in meetings. Today I want to show you a fidget toy that isn’t really a toy at all, it’s the Mesh-It pen with covert fidget powers. Ready, set, fidget!

What is it?

Mesh-It is a ballpoint pen designed by a teacher and inventor from Texas that has a built-in fidget feature that is silent while remaining tactile and satisfying to use.

Design and features

Available in 3 colors, I was sent 3 Mesh-It prototype pens to test. The pens are made of a soft-touch plastic and have a twist mechanism that extends and retracts the pen tip.

The lightweight Mesh-It pens are a little longer than a standard Bic pen at XX inches long, but they don’t feel uncomfortable to hold and use.

The end of the barrel unscrews so you could easily replace the refill, but I’m hearing that refills won’t be offered which means that the pen is designed to use and then toss which is unfortunate.

How do you fidget with it?

At first glance, you might wonder how you can fidget with a pen other than twirling it or flipping it between your fingers. The Mesh-It pen is not that type of pen. The fidget feature of the pen is the nylon braided slots at the top of the pen barrel that provide your thumb and index finger a tactile area to rub. At least that’s all I thought the pen was good for until I actually got one and discovered that there’s a surprise “toy” inside.

Under the braiding, there’s a small round bead that you can slide back and forth in the tube by pinching it between your thumb and index finger.

It might not sound like the simple act of sliding a bead from one end of the pen cap to the other end would be that enjoyable, but it actually is. And the great thing about it is, that you can fidget with the Mesh-It pen and no one will notice because it doesn’t make any noise to cause a distraction. Well, let me take that back. There is one thing about this pen that does make a little noise. That’s the mechanism that extends and retracts the pen tip when you twist the barrel. It does make a clicking noise, but it’s not too loud.

What I like

  • Silent fidget toy

What I’d change

  • Offer ink refills

Final thoughts

Both kids and adults will like the Mesh-It pen because it will scratch their fidget itch to help with anxiety and stress, without causing a distraction to those around you.

Where can I find more info?

The Mesh-It pen campaign ends on 10/07/19 they are just getting started towards their funding goal of $5,000. You can pre-order a set of 3 Mesh-It pens starting at $18. After the Mesh-It pen campaign ends, rewards are estimated to start shipping in December 2019. Visit their Kickstarter page for all the details.

Source: The sample for this review was provided by Mesh-It.

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Mesh-It fidget pen review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 4, 2019 at 9:00 am.

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SmokeBloq WiFi meat thermometer review

REVIEW – Minding the matter that is on the fire while cooking can be a confusing and difficult task. Sure, you can toss a few pieces of steak or chicken onto a grill and watch it carefully, but what if you’re cooking large pieces for hours? Grilling thermometers have been around for a while, but SmokeBloq wireless meat thermometer has just released one with four inputs that are weatherproof and which connects directly to your Wifi, rather than just with Bluetooth. I was sent a unit to test.

What is it?

A plastic box with a thin, bent metal face with 4 inputs on the back and a round LCD display on the front for monitoring your cooking.

What’s in the box?

  • SmokeBloq
  • Pointed Meat probe
  • Rounded Grill probe

Design and features

The control unit itself is a plastic box 4.25″ x 2.25″ x 3.25″. There is a trap door on the bottom where you insert 4 AA batteries. On the back, there is a toggle switch for off-on and 4 inputs for probes. The probes are ~4 foot long cables with a metal sensor clamped onto one end, and a right-angle earbud-looking .125″ plug on the other. They are made with a metal over-braiding to withstand the heat. While two probes are included in the box, there is a special currently running where you can get another just for mentioning a coupon code. (This is a $22 value – check the link below for details.)

Setup

Setting up the hardware is nothing – insert 4 AA batteries, plug in the probes to the correct ports, and flip the switch. The temperature immediately starts to show on the LCD screen, going from one probe to the other after a few seconds.
The software setup is a bit more complicated. You have to download the software to your device, then join the SmokeBloq’s Wifi network. You then enter your wifi credentials into the software, and this is transferred over to the device, and it should be able to join your network.

 


During setup, I found some issues with iOS 13 beta and the app. There are new privacy safeguards related to reporting the WiFi SSID without asking permission and other parts of the setup that iOS 13 doesn’t allow. (See the circled area on the screenshot above. When done on my wife’s iOS 12 unit, this filled in our WiFi network name automatically without asking permission.) On a random Saturday, I posted a request about this to the company website, expecting nothing beyond an automated reply before the next week. Imagine my surprise when I got a reply and request for more information and had a back-and-forth with the company in less than an hour! I tried the install on my wife’s iPhone 8, which is the only iOS device in the house still running iOS 12, and the experience was flawless. Seeing the difference should help them update the app before this Fall’s release of iOS 13. But still, something to note.

Performance

Once you’ve got the unit synced to your device (it can be connected to more than one), you set up a cook session. This is done by clicking the “+” button, choosing what type of food you’re going to cook, and setting up the minimum and maximum temp for each probe.

Once you’ve set that up (or before, your call), insert the probes into the meat.

I used one for the meat, and one for the oven. I found the temperature varied a good bit between our oven and the probe, however. I’ll need to spend more time with it to get a better feel for how to set things up and how to monitor long-cycle cooking. It’s not something I’ve done very often.

The main unit works very well. If there is only one probe attached, it’s a constant read. If there are two or more, it cycles through them continually.

When you’re looking at the back of the unit, port one is on the right. It’s a little thing, but on the next plastics run, adding port numbers to the mold would be a great help to those of us who forget the starting place.

The temp probes are very accurate and instant-reading, which is great. This can be irritating, however, if you set up a cook session before you’re ready to be bombarded with alerts that your meat is below the minimum temp and your oven or grill is too hot/cold.

Maybe they can have a once-and-done button for warnings for when you open the lid and heat escapes, or for when you’re just starting out, rather than getting a beep every few minutes? Otherwise, be sure you’re ready to get readings before you set up your cook on your device.

What I like

  • Weatherproof unit
  • multiple inputs
  • Wifi, rather than BlueTooth, gives better range

What I’d change

  • A way to calm the alerts when starting a cook
  • Port numbers for probes

Final thoughts

Spring and Fall call to me to be on the deck behind a grill. I love to grill in Summer, too, but only briefly, and after the heat of the day has passed. Southern winters are short, but there are periods when grilling is possible, but staying out with the items being cooked is a bit rough. Wireless connected grill thermometers have been a thing almost since the first iPhone made touchscreen apps with BlueTooth a real thing. These made real the wonder of grilling while being inside, rather than hovering over the heat. The SmokeBloq folks have created a quality product that can add a lot of flexibility and creativity to your hobby or professional time behind the grill. I hope to be using mine for many seasons to come.

Price: $139.99 (currently includes a free extra meat probe – $22 value)
Where to buy: SmokeBloq Website and Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by SmokeBloq.

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SmokeBloq WiFi meat thermometer review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 3, 2019 at 11:00 am.

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Altair Aerial Outlaw SE Drone with 1080p HD Camera review

REVIEW – I saw a t-shirt on Etsy that said, “A bad day flying is better than a good day working,” and in the middle was a picture of a quadcopter drone.  I love my job, but after a couple of weeks of flying Altair Aerial’s Outlaw SE, I’m inclined to agree with that t-shirt.

What is it?

The Altair Aerial Outlaw SE is a quadcopter with a built-in 1080p HD camera that offers a first-person view (FPV) via a mobile app.  Altair describes it as a “GPS-capable all-skill-levels drone with Return Home & Follow Me functions that offers a professional-grade feature set.”

What’s in the box?

  • The drone
  • A handheld controller
  • A battery and a charger
  • 4 spare propellers with tools for changing
  • A kit for attaching a mobile phone to the controller
  • A quick start guide
  • A manual with 19 pages of English instructions

Hardware specs

  • Camera:  built-in 1080p HD
  • Range:  up to 1950 feet
  • Connectivity:  GPS and WiFi
  • Flight Time:  18-20 minutes
  • Battery:  Lithium Ion
  • Dimensions of body: 10 x 10 x 3 inches
  • Length of each propeller: 7.5 inches
  • Weight:  2.8 pounds

Design and features

The Outlaw SE is a sleek-looking drone in a white, plastic body.  The built-in camera glares out the front of the body, like a cyclops looking for its next victim.

Under the end of each arm is a light that can be green, red, or yellow.  They make it easy to see the drone, especially at dusk, and can be used to distinguish the front of the drone from the back.

Installation and setup

When I opened the box, I was pleased to find that I would not have to assemble the Outlaw.  The only thing not connected out of the box is the battery.  That was easy!

The first thing to do is charge the drone’s battery, which takes nearly 5 hours.  The battery has a small cable tucked into a little space that can be pulled out in order to connect it to the battery charger.  The USB cable is connected into the battery charger on one end and into a USB power source on the other.  I’m a bit concerned about this little cable that connects the battery to the charger.  It’s fairly fragile and rather hard to pull out of the charger.  Short of the crashing the drone—which I did once—I’m fairly sure that this is what is going to break first, and I wish there were a sturdier connector here.  The battery provides 18-20 minutes of flight time, and additional batteries can be purchased from Altair.  The controller also requires batteries, a set of 4 AAs, which are not included.  It chews through these batteries at a surprisingly fast pace, so it might be a good idea to use rechargeable ones.

Altair Aerial has a set of videos on their website that are both instructional and informative, so the next thing to do is watch them all.

The final thing to do is carefully read through the manual, which explains each of the Outlaw SE’s many features. I found the manual to be pretty easy to understand, especially since I had already seen “Mike from Altair” demonstrate what to do in the videos.

Once the battery was fully charged, it was time to head out and have some fun.  For my first test, I took my daughter and the dog out to a city park where’s there was a huge parking lot and four baseball diamonds.  I wanted lots of space around me while I learned to fly this thing.  As the videos and manual explains, there’s a set of pre-flight setup steps that you have to go through before flying the drone:  Turn the controller on, insert the battery and lock it in place, and wait for the controller to sync with the drone.

Perform compass calibration by rotating it horizontally and then vertically.  Finally, it was ready, and I hit the unlock button on the controller. Zoom!  The propellers started!

Fun Factor

Flying this drone is a blast!  It’s got a lot of power and moves up and forward plenty fast.  It’s also agile and turns on a dime.  The range is fabulous, and I can easily fly it to the edge of my vision.  My favorite time to fly is just before dusk, as it’s easier to see the lights under the props and know exactly where it’s at and which direction it’s facing.  If you want to have some fun with a quadcopter, this is a great choice.

Controller Features

The controller has a button for automated takeoff and landing.  Once the propellers start, you can tap this button and it will gracefully takeoff for you and ascend to a height of about 6 feet; now you’re ready to take control and fly.  If the aircraft is already flying, you can this tap button once again, and it will automatically land the drone.  The landing process is a bit slow, as the drone descends cautiously, but the result is a landing that is surprisingly gentle.

The Outlaw SE is GPS-enabled, which enables a feature called attitude hold.  Once you turn on the GPS mode via the controller, the drone will hover in the same spot (both altitude and position) whenever you’re not controlling it.  This requires more than 7 GPS satellites to be available—the number is displayed on the controller—and generally, I found that I had 10 or 11.  In my experience, the SE needs anywhere from 10 to 60 seconds of flight time before the GPS hovering kicks in, after which it does an amazing job maintaining its position.  I’ve only crashed the Outlaw SE once, and it happened right after take-off.  There was a bit of wind, and the GPS had not yet kicked in. Before I knew it, the drone blown away from me, hit a tree, careened across a parking lot, and crashed into the road.  Surprisingly, nothing was broken.  Once that GPS kicks in, however, it’s super stable and much easier to control, even with a bit of wind.

When the drone is in GPS mode, it has a return to home capability.  When you press the return button, the Outlaw SE will ascend to a safe height and then head back in a straight line to the location where it first established a GPS connection.  This feature will activate automatically if the drone loses connectivity with the controller or if the battery gets too low and the drone is over 300 meters away.

In an email, one of Altair’s employees wrote, “The Outlaw is our most advanced drone and it is a little more complicated to use than the others.”  Similarly, the manual says, “This aircraft is applicable for pilots aged 14+ who are with skilled flying experience.”  Setting aside the poor grammar in this sentence—the manual could definitely use a good editor—I was a bit concerned that I would not be able to handle this drone, as I had never flown one previously.  I had no reason to fear.  It takes off for me.  It hovers in place.  It comes home when I call it.  It lands for me.  It’s like having a “get out of jail free” card!  These features give rookie pilots like me a lot of confidence that they can get out of a jam and safely land the aircraft.  Even if you are not “with skilled flying experience,” you should find this drone to be very approachable.

The drone has two modes for controlling it, headless mode and normal mode.  In headless mode, the idea is that there is no head (or front) of the UAV.  The pilot faces the same direction as the drone faces when it takes off, and from then on he can fly without worrying about the orientation of the craft.  Forward is forward, back is back, etc.  It’s supposed to be very natural and thus easier to fly.  For whatever reason, it didn’t feel very natural to me, so most of the time I flew in normal mode.  In this mode, the drone has a front and a back, kind of like a car.  You put it in “drive” to go forward and put it in “reverse” to go backward.  You can turn left or right and even rotate left and right.  I really appreciate that Altair designed two different modes; you can try both and use whichever mode feels more natural to you!

Photos and Videos

Flying the drone is a blast, but it can also take pictures!  The drone has a built-in camera, and the only thing that you need to take stills or video is a memory card, which is not included.  The manual says that it requires a “TF card,” an outdated term for a micro SD card, so I popped in my 64 GB Samsung EVO Micro SDXC card.  While flying, you can press a button on the controller and take a picture.  Although the controller beeped each time I pressed the picture button and the photo icon flashed on the controller to let me know that it took the picture, when I brought the drone home and put the SD card into my computer, there were no photos. I tried a handful of things, but I couldn’t get this to work.  Eventually, I went to Altair’s contact page, found their support email, and sent them four specific questions about taking photos.  The good news is that their support team was quick to reply; the bad news is that they would not answer all my questions, even though I asked a couple of times.  I had to do some extra experimentation in order to figure out how to make this work. The bottom line is that you need a class 10 micro SD card that is 32 GB or less—no hope of using that new 1 TB card—and format it card as FAT32 on a Windows 10 machine.  If you format it as Journaled on a Mac, or if you buy the wrong type of card, it won’t take any pictures.  It would be nice if the controller gave some sort of indication of an error when it can’t record a picture; it’s a bit frustrating to return home and find an empty card.  To use the SD card, flip the drone over and insert it into the SD slot in the bottom.

The Outlaw SE takes 1920×1080 still pictures.  The quality of photos is ok but not great.  They are a bit fuzzy, presumably because there is no image stabilization.  Occasionally there is a horizontal line through the picture, such as in the picture below of the houses in my neighborhood.  It also appears that the drone uses a wide-angle lens, as there is some distortion.  Don’t expect the pictures to look as good as those taken with your new Samsung or Apple phone.

On the other hand, can your mobile take pictures from 400 feet in the sky?  I don’t think so!  The key to great photos is getting shots that you simply can’t get without using a drone.

The same button used to take photos is used to take video, except that you press and hold for a second to start recording and press and hold again for a second to stop.  The video icon flashes on the controller while video is recording.  The resulting video is similar to the photos:  It’s not the highest quality, but the views can be simply amazing.  Note that the videos do not have any audio, so you may want to use a video editor to add a soundtrack or do a voice-over.

Mobile App Features

The drone can also be connected to your mobile phone via WiFi. The manual says that your phone requires 5G WiFi, which is a term that means that your phone should support 802.11ac. If your phone was made any time in the last 5 years, it supports 5G WiFi.  (Confusingly, this is not the same as a 5G phone, which is a reference to a cellular standard.)  The manual has QR codes to the Apple and Google app stores, where you can download the X-DRONE app.  Oddly, the app in the Apple store is developed by “zhaoxuan cai,” not by Altair Aerial; it appears that they are recommending the use of a third-party app instead of developing their own.  During the pre-flight setup steps, just before doing compass calibration, you can connect your phone to the Outlaw’s WiFi.

The angle of the camera is fixed, so by using your phone as a preview, you can see exactly what the camera is seeing.  This makes it easier to fly and easier to photograph.

While the app is undoubtedly cool, it’s UI is rough around the edges, and unfortunately, the Outlaw’s manual provides no help on how to use it.  The English in the app is broken, and the only instructions that the app itself provides is one screenshot that is a bit hard-to-read and rather cryptic.

I honestly don’t know what all of these mean, and it’s tough to try and figure things out while flying, especially when you only have 20 minutes of battery life.  Consider this to be a challenge:  You’ll get to explore all of these features for yourself!  Here’s what it looks like while in use.

The best part is the buttons on the right (Shoot and Photo/Video switch), which make it easy to take photos and videos.  Additionally, you can save photos and videos directly to your phone; this saves you from having to buy a micro SD card, assuming you have the extra space on your phone.

The icons in the upper right are mostly informative, and some are duplicates of what is displayed on the controller.  Try as I might, I couldn’t get some of the buttons to work.  The Point of interest, Follow-me switch, and Tapfly buttons all gave me an error, “Your aircraft is not in hovering status or GPS signal is weak.” I don’t understand this error message, since the drone was in GPS mode at the time and was hovering in place while I was pressing buttons.  Perhaps some things don’t work because it’s a third-party app?  I’m not sure.

The green refresh icon in the upper left can be used to resync the display, which can be necessary when the Outlaw gets too far away.  It’s worth noting that while the range of the drone is over 1950 feet, the range of the mobile is limited by the use of WiFi; in my testing, I only got about 50 feet worth of range before the app would disconnect.  It’s best to use the app for close-range flying, perhaps when you’re trying to do something very precise, like checking your gutters for leaves.

Although I was underwhelmed with mobile app, I don’t feel like it’s a significant loss, as you can totally have fun and take pictures and videos without it.

Rules and Regulations

One quick note for new operators:  Many states have rules for flying drones, so make sure that you read up on the rules for your locale before flying.  For example, here are the rules for recreational operators in the state of North Carolina, which is where I live.

What I like

  • Great performance and range
  • Lots of features that make it easy to fly
  • Built-in camera that’s easy to use

What I’d change

  • An explanation in the manual of which micro SD card to buy and how to format it
  • An error message (or beep) when a picture cannot be taken
  • A better-designed mobile app

Final thoughts

I was a bit nervous about flying my first drone, but between the instructional videos, detailed manual, and great safety features, Altair Aerial has made certain that I have nothing to fear.  I enjoyed flying the Outlaw SE and enjoyed taking photos with it.  It’s a well-designed gadget.  There are a lot of drones that you could buy, but if you’re in the market for a mid-ranged drone, the Outlaw SE would be a great choice!

Price: $264.90 ($33.80 for each extra battery)
Where to buy:  Altair Aerial’s online store and Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Altair Aerial.

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Altair Aerial Outlaw SE Drone with 1080p HD Camera review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 3, 2019 at 9:00 am.

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Soundcore Flare Mini Bluetooth speaker review

Soundcore Flare Mini

REVIEW – What, another Bluetooth speaker review, you ask.  How many of these things exist, you ask.  What makes this one different, you ask.  Your answers, in order: Yes, Infinity plus one, and read on…

What is it?

The Flare Mini from Soundcore (an Anker brand) is a smaller, lighter version of the Flare Bluetooth speaker.  While it shares a lot of the same features as its bigger brother, there are also some trade-offs that help this speaker to come in at a lower price.

What’s in the box?

  • The Flare Mini speaker
  • Charging cable
  • Instruction booklet

Design and Features

The Flare Mini is an attractive and attractively small Bluetooth speaker.  It claims to have a full 360 degree sound so that you can place it anywhere and still hear as if you were standing in front of a traditional speaker.  Soundcore says that it is IPX7-rated so you could drop it in your pool and not have to run out and buy a new speaker.  And it says it has a light show that keeps time with the music.  We’ll take on these claims, but first a comparison in size:

Flare Mini size comparison

Only slightly bigger than your average soda can and weighs about the same, too.

The first question to ask in a crowded market like this is “how does it sound?”  In a word, spectacular.  The claim to 360 degree sound is accurate – I placed the speaker in the middle of our large open floor plan, cranked up the volume and wandered around.  No matter where I was in the space, the sound followed me as if someone was pointing the speaker in my direction as I moved.  This is thanks to twin speaker arrays that cover 180 degrees each and pump out 5 watts of sound per array, the music pours out in every direction.  Nice touch, and one that guarantees you’ll hear everything no matter where you are.

Getting the sound there is only half the battle, though.  When the music (or podcast or Gregorian chants) hits your earspace, it has to sound good as well.  This is where the Flare Mini really shines.  Thanks to the Bass-Up technology built-in, the lows are vibrant – you can feel them at volume, and it isn’t a muddy thumping like the low-cost cousins.  The mids are clear and bright, and the highs are anything but shrill.  To put the speaker through its paces, I played a bunch of reggaeton music because it has everything – great bass lines, guitar riffs, and vocals in all ranges.  So, for an hour we had a Latin dance party on our back patio: Gente de Zona, Enrique Iglesias, Daddy Yankee, Luis Fonsi, CNCO/Meghan Trainor.  Each song came through perfectly, giving the impression we were listening to a much more expensive sound system.

One of the tricks the Flare Mini has up its sleeve is the ability to “pair” with another Flare Mini.  Although this is called stereo, it is really a way to have two Bluetooth devices consume a single source and keep the sound synchronized between the two speakers.  Instead of a true left/right split, you get the same sound from both devices.  I wish I had a second speaker to test this as it sounds like a great feature.

Our dance party came to an abrupt end when the massive rain storm moved in.  In a matter of seconds we were drenched – and so was the Flare Mini.  The music never stopped, though.  And the speaker was not in any way adversely affected by the sudden storm.

Flare Mini charging port

On to the design.  Other than the branding on the “front” of the speaker, the nice fabric cover is only disrupted by the charging port on the “back”.  This uses a mini USB cable to charge.  Using an Anker wall charger, I was able to get just shy of 13 hours playtime at half volume from a 2 hour charge.  As you can see in the picture, though, this is a Bluetooth-only speaker.  There is no line-in jack, most likely to squeeze in more speaker and battery.  Still, be aware of this omission if you are old school on your connections.

The Flare Mini uses the Bluetooth 4.2 standard, so theoretically you can have your sound source up to 66 feet from the speaker.  In practice, a lot will depend on the material between your phone and the speaker.  For example, I could leave the Flare Mini on the patio in the backyard, go into the house to the opposite end of our “great room” the music would not miss a beat. That’s about 30 feet with a brick wall in between, a scenario you would think would be terrible.  On the other hand, I left the speaker in the master bedroom and went into my office – in between there is an open bathroom and a walk-in closet but no brick walls.  The connection to the speaker was flaky at best – the connection would drop and then almost immediately reconnect.  To be expected for sure, and not an ordinary example by any means.  Just remember that the connection is only as good as the stuff trying to stop the connection is bad, and open space is always the best for distance.

All of the controls for the speaker are on the top.  There is no microphone so you can’t take/make calls from the speaker.  But then, why would you want to?

Flare Mini controls

You have the usual set – on/off, Bluetooth pairing, volume up/down, play/pause/next/previous control.  The last two are not lit up, but they are raised so you can find them easily.  If you have 2 Flare Minis, pressing the Bluetooth button on both simultaneously “pairs” the two speakers – only 1 is connected to your device, the other is connected to the “anchor” speaker.   The last button on the right side controls the light show – you can turn the lights on/off, leave on a single color, or allow the bass to drive a light show.

The room has to be pretty dark for the light show to be effective.  While this might be a great feature for kids, it represents a battery drain to me – more light equals less music, so pass.

The most important question you asked: what makes this different than all the rest?  There isn’t a single thing, but rather the sum of all things.  Build quality is amazing at this price point – it feels substantial and looks smart.  Long battery life means fewer interruptions to the music.  The 360 degree sound lets you worry less about where the speaker has to go.  And the sound in those 360 degrees is akin to a speaker that costs much more.

What I like

  • The sound – all around, this is the best-sounding budget speaker I have ever seen
  • The design – small, smart-looking and waterproof for any environment (even my backyard)
  • Battery life

What I’d change

  • This speaker is not supported by the Soundcore app – probably a cost-saving measure, but something to be aware of if you are familiar with their app
  • The lights – gimmicky and unnecessary

Final Thoughts

Full stop, at this price point you are just not going to find a better built, better performing or better sounding speaker than the Soundcore Flare Mini.

Price: $49.99
Where to buy: Amazon

Source: The review unit was provided by Soundcore.  For more info, visit the Flare Mini product page.

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Soundcore Flare Mini Bluetooth speaker review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 2, 2019 at 9:31 am.

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