Welcome to the weekend! We’re now in the dog days of summer. The temps (and humidity.) are on the rise but we’re not letting that get us down. Today, we have some really awesome tech to tell you about. We’re looking at a couple pairs of really nice and affordable headphones, a great precision stylus, and more. And the best part? Everything on this list is under $100. Tech is great, but it is even better when it’s affordable too.
Without any more delay, let’s take a look.
Anker Soundcore Space NC
A lot of people are beginning to catch on to the fact good phones are getting cheaper and cheap phones are getting pretty good. But, a lot of people are missing that trend happening in the audio world too. The case used to be that you’d have to spend a week’s paycheck to get a pair of premium noise-canceling headphones. Not anymore!
Anker shipped over the Soundcore Space NC headphones recently and we’re in love. Yep, that NC on the end of the name does sound for Noice Cancelling and it is a lifesaver on long trips or during the morning bus ride. We were blown away by just how effective the noise cancellation actually was on these $99 headphones.
Noise cancellation or not, these things sound awesome. We loved the bassy beats and the soaring vocals in our favorite pop songs. Rap, R&B, and electronic music were also standouts, but honestly, these are going to be great for anything you’re listening to.
We also loved the touch panel controls on the side of the device. It’s incredibly easy to answer a call, advance the track or turn up the volume without much thought. Battery life is another standout with a 20-hour rating playing in wireless noise canceling mode. If you go wired, you can last up to 50 hours. Obviously, those numbers are going to be lower if you’re really bumping these things LOUD, but that’s still pretty impressive.
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Baseus Fast Wireless Charging Car Phone Holder
I’m one of those people who can never find the right spot in my car for my phone. Whether I’m using the Note 8 or the OnePlus 6, no spot ever quite fits. The phone rolls around too much in a cup holder, it’s not secure in the door handle, and it falls out of my pocket if I leave it in there. So, what’s a guy to do?
Well, the answer is pick up one of these Baseus Fast Wireless chargers. This awesome car phone holder hooks onto a vent in your car which puts your phone in the perfect spot to use Google Maps. I recently used this on a ~ 500-mile journey and absolutely fell in love with it.
The killer feature here is the fast wireless charging. Most wireless chargers are pretty slow, but some devices like Samsung’s recently flagships and the Apple iPhone 8, 8 Plus, and X can take advantage of fast wireless charging. This puts it about on par with regular wired charging which should keep your battery level consistent while navigating.
I was also pretty impressed with the clamp on my phone. It uses the phone’s own weight to secure it! Once you slot your device in, the bottom bar skins down and pulls the sides together. You can’t use this in landscape which is kind of a bummer, but I never felt like my phone would fall out of the holder when I hit a pothole or had to hit the brakes hard. In the next revision we’d love to see landscape support and maybe USB C instead of micro USB, but overall we really enjoy this car holder.
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Novoo AC Power Bank
If your phone doesn’t have Qi wireless charging and you need something for the car, you might want to consider this Novoo AC Power Bank. It’s designed to fit in a cup holder and features one USB C and one USB A port flanking an AC port. Yep, you read that right, you get an AC port to charge up your laptop or other devices that may require AC power.
We recently took this guy on a weekend away and it was really a lifesaver. Sure, it isn’t the most convenient thing to carry around (it’s round and heavy!) but sitting at the kitchen table playing cards or riding in the car, we were able to charge up three devices at the same time with no sweat. We also loved that the power bank supports Quick Charge 3.0 to get those devices charged up as quickly as possible.
Like most premium power banks, the Novoo AC Power Bank has a 20,100 mAh capacity. That’s enough to recharge your MacBook or a couple of flagship smartphones multiple times. The power bank comes with a couple of cables in the box and a charger. We’d love to see an option to recharge this guy with a USB C cable in future revisions to cut down on the number of cables we need to keep around.
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Adonit Droid Stylus
You might be surprised to know that we do a ton of work here at AndroidGuys on phones and tablets. I’ve been searching for a fantastic stylus for years and I finally came across one that I really like. The Adonit Droid Stylus is a premium stylus that is constructed from premium materials. It feels fantastic in the hand and looks classy too. The clip makes sure you can hold onto this bad boy in your pocket. If you’re one who loses pens on the regular (guilty as charged!), you’ll be thankful for that little clip.
The real magic of the Adonit Droid Stylus is the micro-sized disc on the tip. It measures in at less than 5 mm so you can be pretty precise when you’re writing, drawing, or coloring. I tried out a few coloring book apps with this stylus and came away pretty pleasantly surprised at just how well I was able to stay in the lines. I was initially worried about how it would fare when going up a screen protector, but it handled my tempered glass screen protector like a champ. Plastic screen protectors may be a different story.
Overall, it felt very natural to write and draw with the Adonit Droid Stylus. If you’re looking to pick up a premium stylus with a micro-sized pad on the tip to protect your screen, you should definitely check this one out.
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iDeaPLAY Active Noise Canceling Headphones
Proving that our theory of active noise canceling headphones are becoming a trend, we have another pair on our list. This pair comes from iDeaPlay and sports a more retro look. They remind us a lot of headphones we’d have seen in the 70’s or 80’s and we absolutely love it. With every pair of headphones out there looking the same, these offer a subtle difference that we really enjoy.
Not only do we love the look, but we love the sound too. Heavy bass and clear vocals are a real highlight. Add that to the active noise canceling and you have yourself a recipe for success. You can use these headphones in both wireless (Bluetooth) and wired mode. iDeaPlay claims 24 hours of battery life with ANC turned on, which would be pretty impressive. We’ve not used the headphones quite that long but we definitely haven’t had to charge them during our review period.
These headphones come with a nice hard carrying case and a 30-day money back guarantee, along with a 12-month manufacturer’s warranty. If you’d like to check them out, you can do so without breaking the bank as they’re just $80!
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