Barrier X is a simple, fast-paced game where you dodge obstacles and continue as long as you can.
Developer: PinkApp
Cost: Free (In-app purchase for no ads)
Review
This is one of those games that fall into two categories. The first category is well known to
Start Screen
everyone as a “Doctor’s Office game”. A game you can pull out anytime anywhere you have a few minutes and play. The second category is one I made up called “Just one more time”, where you’re playing it, you die, then you say, “OK, Just one more time”. Of course, “one more time” happens about a million times before you actually put it away.
The graphics are very colorful with very techno like music that compliments them very well. There are two words before and after game play; Barrier and Crashed. Each letter represents a level that you must click to enter the level, which is a very cool and minimalist way to keep up with the levels. The game does have ads, but they aren’t intrusive nor interrupt your game play. Overall, a very well-designed app that is easy to navigate and understand.
Game Play
The game has very simple controls; tap left or right to dodge obstacles or enemies. There are seven levels, which you think that you will fly thru, but you won’t. As you play, every 15 seconds you speed up and after 30 seconds the next level is unlocked. Once you have completed a minute, that level is complete.
Conclusion
This is a very hard game to play right out of the gate. If I had to complain about anything it would be nice if they started you out a little slower to get the hang of it, but that’s nitpicking. Overall this game is very well-designed and easy to understand. It also can be addicting, so watch out.
Are you looking for a new USB type-C cable for your phone? Are you appalled by the prices on Amazon for seemingly substandard cables? Well, Monoprice is here to help. They’ve recently announced a brand new line of USB type-C cables that are up to spec and USB-IF compliant!
The new Palette Series from Monoprice features cables of different sizes and colors starting from as low as $3.99. These aren’t just the same old dull black 3-foot cables. Right now you can grab cables in red, blue, white, grey, black, green, purple, and pink in 6-inch, 18-inch, 3-foot, and 6-foot lengths.
Monoprice are known for their high quality, yet fairly priced products. But, it’s nice to know that you’ll have the retailer’s lifetime warranty and tech support in case anything pops up.
Here’s a breakdown of comparable cables on Amazon. All of the Amazon cables have been reviewed by Google’s Benson Leung.
In this less-than-scientific test, we can see that Monoprice’s cables are coming out on top in price. Add that in with USB-IF compliance and you have a pretty unbeatable combination. Will you be picking up any Monoprice cables? Let us know down in the comments.
Your plane went down. You’re the only survivor. There is a pack of wolves who are intelligently hunting you down. What do you do? Let’s assume that you’re out of range of cellular towers. You may have some apps that can help, such as a compass, maps, first aid guide, etc. But what happens when your battery dies? Smash your phone apart.
The Hardware
Your phone is full of wires, metal, plastic and glass. If you’re really in a bad situation, it’s possible to take it apart and use the components as tools.
Battery: The lithium-ion battery in your phone is probably the most important resource in your toolkit. Due to the fact that lithium is an alkali metal with a high reactivity, it typically bursts into flames when exposed to air.
Gather some dead branches, dry leaves, grass, pinecones; whatever you can find. Arrange the sticks into a cone (teepee), with a wide base and short top.
This is an efficient method because it maximizes air flow. Place the battery at the bottom of your tinder and stab it with a sharp stick or rock. There is an element of danger of course, but it will make a roaring fire.
Unfortunately, you can only use this method once. Another idea is to use the camera lens as a tiny magnifying glass to concentrate the light onto flammable material and try starting a fire that way.
Screen: If the screen isn’t too cracked from smashing the phone apart, you could use it as a signaling mirror as many phone screens have reflective material on the back. By using another sharp stick or rock, put a small hole in the middle of the material. This will help you aim the light better.
Hold the screen up to your face with the circle about one inch from your eye, and look through the hole (but not directly at the sun). Reflect the sun (or full moon) onto a nearby target, like a boulder or even your hand. When your eye is in line with the target and the hole, you’ll see a bright spot. Move the screen toward the object you want to signal, whether it’s a boat, a distant house, or an airplane. As you move, keep the bright spot in view, and when the dot is on your target, the reflection will be too.
Circuit Board: The motherboard or logic board is made of tough silicon plastic. This can be ground down and shaped into all manner of things, like a shiv, spearhead or even a fishing hook.
Breaking it apart with your hands or grinding it with a rock will take time and effort, but the results could save your life, especially if you can shape it into a fish hook. If you have headphones with you, you can use them as a fishing line.
Speakers: Most, if not all speakers, whether smartphone or otherwise, contain a magnet. This can be used to make a rudimentary compass. If your phone has wires inside of it containing iron, you can use the speaker to magnetize the wire.
Touch the magnet part to the wire, and start rubbing the wire from one end to the other. Make sure to only rub it in one direction. Whichever end is in the direction you’re rubbing will become the end that points north. If there is some undisturbed water nearby, you can put the wire onto a small leaf and float it on the water. It will automatically orient itself to point north.
Conclusion & Rescue
Hopefully, these methods can help you in the wilderness, and may even save your life. If you have an old phone lying around, take it with you on your next camping trip. Maybe you can test the methods without needing to risk your life. Don’t use this article as an excuse, though. It’s important to carry a standard first aid kit around, and survival kits are easy to create using better tools. But if you’re unprepared, try using your phone.
Verizon Wireless on Tuesday confirmed it will begin offering pre-orders of the HTC 10 starting from April 29.
The actual launch of the handset is not expected until some time in early May; Verizon did not outline a hard date. Moreover, it’s not clear what price Verizon plans to tap the phone with as it stopped short of any real concrete details. As a reference, the unlocked HTC 10 can be had from HTC’s website for $699.
To sweeten the deal, Verizon has a number of promotions available for current and prospective customers. For instance, the carrier will give buyers three months of HBO Now, offer credit for trading in old phones, will pay off early termination fees for those who switch from another provider.
Customers interested in trying out the HTC 10 can swing by a Verizon retail store starting from April 29 to get some hands-on time with the phone.
Here at AndroidGuys, we love phone accessories. Cases are the most popular type of phone accessory, everyone seems to have one! Today we’re going to be taking a look at the product lineup from one of the biggest brands in the world, Speck! Speck was gracious enough to send over some of its Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge cases, so let’s get to it!
CandyShell Grip
If you recognize the name Speck, the Candyshell Grip case is probably what comes to mind. The raised rubber ridges on the outside of the case are designed to help you hold onto your phone while giving the case it’s iconic look. The dual tone cases come in three color combinations: white with black lines, black with slate gray lines, and sand gray with aloe green lines. They’re all beautiful and can start a conversation.
The Candyshell Grip cases meet or exceed military standard MIL-STD-810G, which is designed to test products falling from various heights. This doesn’t mean your phone won’t ever break while in the cases, but it does mean that it has a greater chance of surviving. Everyone knows it’s possible to break your phone while it’s still in the case if you slam it onto the ground the correct way, so Speck can’t guarantee anything, but I feel much safer with my phone in one of these cases.
Speck markets the CandyShell Grip cases as “slim” cases, but I’d have to disagree. I suppose it’s all a matter of perspective, but I think they add just the smallest amount of bulk. While it isn’t nearly like an Otterbox case, I did feel like my phone went from the definition of sex-appeal to an instrument meant to carry out tasks. I have a theory that it could be the ridges messing with my perception because the case wall is only 0.16″ thick according to Speck.
Finally, I’d like to point out a couple of things that Speck absolutely nailed. First off is cutouts. I don’t have to tell you how frustrating it is to not be able to use your favorite headphones or third party charging cable because the cutouts are too small. Ugh. It frustrates me just to think about. Luckily, Speck did a fantastic job there.
One more area I’d like to focus on are the buttons. A phone case that has mushy buttons is pretty much useless to me. Not because it won’t protect the phone, but because I won’t keep it on the phone long enough to protect it!
Speck’s CandyShell Grip cases have raised buttons just far enough to move your finger along the side of the case and find the button, but not so much that they stick out an unwarranted amount. Clickiness and travel are both excellent. Speck knocked it out of the park.
CandyShell Clear
The Speck CandyShell Clear case shares a couple traits with its tougher brother but focuses more on showing off the looks of the phone, rather than showing off the looks of the case. The CandyShell Clear is, as you can guess, a clear case that you can also get in a tinted Black Onyx color (which is what I have).
The Clear case also meets or exceeds military standards, just like the Grip. It shares the same thickness (0.16″), clicky buttons and great cutouts. Where the cases differ are in two main categories: no ridges and bulk.
I described the CandyShell Grip as feeling like it adds a little bit of bulk even though it’s only 0.16″ thick. The CandyShell Clear does not have this problem. The Clear actually feels like one of the thinnest cases I’ve ever used. It’s amazing how much perceived thickness the ridges on the Grip add.
Due to the CandyShell Clear lacking those ridges, the aesthetic is completely different. If you bought the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge due to its sex appeal, this might be a better fit for you in terms of your protection.
The Clear case doesn’t cover up the design, it adds to it. The phone is visible through the case and the Black Onyx blends in perfectly with the color of the phone. Speck nailed it here. Due to the material used, there is still a fair bit of grip added to this case, but not as much as the CandyShell Grip case.
Fingerprints can be a bit of an issue. I definitely noticed that the case picks up some finger smudges (I made sure you can see them in the pictures of the back), and it’s very hard to get rid of them. I generally keep my hands pretty clean due to the work I do, but it was still a bit of an issue with the CandyShell Clear.
Overall, I don’t feel like this is a big enough issue to avoid the case. If you like the aesthetics and drop protection the CandyShell Clear provides, definitely grab one.
Conclusion
Speck has once again proven why it’s a huge name and retailers like B&H Photo and Best Buy carry their cases. Speck doesn’t make the cheapest cases you can pick up on Amazon, and it shows in its quality. The Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge feels like an exceptionally risky phone to own because of all the glass, but I felt safe with mine in these cases at all times.
There are some disadvantages since nothing can be perfect, but the main thing to remember here is that the positives massively outweigh any negatives I could come up with. The cases don’t interfere with edge functionality but still provide grip and protection there.
Remember the children’s game where one player holds out their finger or hand, and can only retract it once the other person attempts to tap it? To pull out early is to risk being called a coward. To wait too long is to have your finger/hand being struck.
While playing it, it takes a simultaneous sense of calm and anticipation to balance the patience and quickness needed to succeed. The anticipation can be overwhelming, making it pretty difficult to keep your composure waiting for the right time to withdraw. If this sounds like a fun trip back to your childhood, I recommend Bite Bite, from the developer Rainbow Shell. You can download here for free from the Google Play Store. After downloading and opening, you can choose to link your Google Play Games account if you so choose.
Gameplay
Gameplay is pretty self-explanatory, though if you need some practice there is a training stage where you can hone your timing skills. Once in the game itself, you simply travel from monster to monster; each has a different look, a slightly different and more challenging array of bite sequences, and an increasing number of successful ‘escapes’ needed to transition to the next monster.
While battling each monster through the requisite number of bites, you have three lives (hearts in the corner of the screen). You hold your finger on your device’s screen, within the mouth of the monster, and wait.
After a random amount of time, the monster will bite down on your finger. You job is to remove your finger before its teeth touch you and you’re ‘bit’ (with a nice little finger amputation animation thrown in). Getting bit once or twice won’t cost you, but after the 3rd bite the bite countdown resets and you begin anew at completing the level. Once you do get through all the bites, that monster is “caged” and you move on to the next.
Overall the levels are not that difficult; it‘s really a matter of remaining calm coupled finding a sort-of ‘zone’ where you can see/hear/feel/sense the next bite beginning. I did get myself in trouble fighting the 40-bite monster. I was cruising along, but once I crossed the 10-bites-left threshold, I tightened up and quickly burned through my three lives. This is where the addictiveness of the game kicked in; I couldn’t put the game down until I at least finished that level.
What we Like
Simple gameplay
Fun color palette
Room for Improvement
More bite variety
More level variety; give each monster a unique personality.
Conclusion
Bite Bite does exactly what it says, and does it well. The only thing is, what it does isn’t all that much. Still, it is a fun game that takes you back to your childhood.
Portable batteries are a dime a dozen on Amazon.com. They come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, materials, and charging technology. Most importantly, they all keep you going when you’re away from a wall socket.
Compatible with devices like the Samsung Galaxy S6, S6 edge, S6 edge+, Note5, S7, S7 edge, LG G4, and Nexus 6
Dimensions: 5.68*2.76*0.66in
Design and Usage
I’ve been using the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge for about a month now, and one of my favorite features it has is Qi wireless charging.
“Qi (pronounced chee; IPA: /tʃiː/, coming from the Chinese word meaning “natural energy“) is an interface standard developed by the Wireless Power Consortium for inductive electrical power transfer over distances of up to 4 cm (1.6 inches).” – Wikipedia
Wireless charging is great, because you don’t have to worry about cables. You also don’t have to worry which direction to plug them into your devices. Simply place your Qi compatible smartphone, in my case the S7 edge, onto a charging pad or wireless battery and let the two work their magic.
The VicTec Qi Wireless Portable Power Bank runs $25.99 from Amazon.com, and offers 7000mAh of power. To put that into perspective, the S7 edge has a 3600mAh battery which means you should be able to get about two recharges out of it. The battery has a large rubbery “plus” symbol on top that acts as a grip for your device. Two full-size USB output ports sit in the front, with the input microUSB slot in between them. There’s a simple power button on the front as well, with a four LED power indicator off to the left.
Plainly put, the VicTec Portable Power Bank is just like every other battery, yet this one has wireless charging built into it. That makes it special.
It’s incredibly easy to recharge my smartphone with this battery since I don’t need to bring a cable along with me. The power bank does not have fast wireless charging technology, but that is easily overlooked considering the ease of use. I get just over one and a half full charges using this battery – wireless charging is less efficient than wired charging. What is also great is the size of the VicTec battery as it is roughly the same size as my Galaxy S7 edge. It’s extremely pocketable, light-weight and comes with me when I know I need more power.
Conclusion
The VicTec 7000mAh Wireless Portable Power Bank is a bargain at just $25.99. It’s not made from fancy materials like aluminum or glass, but it is well-built for the price. With wireless charging it’s nice to not have to carry cables around with me, but with two full-size USB output ports, I can charge up other devices as needed. Wireless headphones, cameras, smartwatches, and similar devices are all compatible with this battery.
Coming in on the heels of Facebook, YouTube has announced today that it will begin offering 360-degree live streaming. 360-degree videos were first announced back in March 2015, but that degree of live streaming has been unavailable until now.
In addition, spatial audio is being released for on-demand YouTube videos. This will give people a truly immersive experience as they watch via virtual reality device. YouTube is working with industry creators like VideoStitch and Two Big Ears to help make their software compatible with 360-degree streaming.
Demonstrations are available at all YouTube Space locations worldwide, so creators and viewers can test drive the technology. Android users can also check out this YouTube playlist for experiencing spatial audio.
Continuing the lesson on smartphone photography, in the last article we covered basic tips and tricks, such as the Rule of Thirds, and Android apps that are great at post-processing. In this article, we’ll list some great mobile photography equipment to use, like lenses, tripods and more.
Lenses
Olloclip: Olloclip mostly caters to iPhone users, but does offer external lenses for the Samsung Galaxy S4 and Galaxy S5. The lens is a 4-in-1 solution, with 1 Macro x10, 1 Macro x15, 1 Fisheye and 1 Wide Angle lens. SAMSUNG GALAXY S5 4-IN-1 LENS – $69.99
Aukey: Aukey is an affordable lens system that works for iPhones and Android phones. It’s a 3-in-1 clip-on lens with a 180-degree fisheye, 10x macro and a wide angle lens. AUKEY 3-IN-1 LENS – $14.99
Afaith: The Afaith 10-in-1 lens system is a massive photography kit that will serve all your needs. It comes with a 10-in-1 Camera Lens Kit, 8x Telephoto Telescope Lens, Fish Eye Lens, Wide Angle, Macro Lens, Selfie Stick Monopod, Bluetooth Remote Control, and Mini Tripod. This works for iPhones and Android phones, and costs only $19.99 on Amazon.
I/O Magic: This kit is more expensive, but in photography lens quality is the most important feature. This 5-in-1 system comes with a 20mm Circular Polarizer Lens, 10mm Macro Lens & 120 Degree Wide Angle Lens in 1, 22mm Telelens (2x ~ 10x zoom on iPhone 5), 180 Degree Fisheye Lens, Carrying Case with Microfiber Cleaning Cloth. All of this costs $59.99 on Amazon.
Tripods
Acadia: This tripod comes with bendable legs so you can wrap it around poles, branches, bike handles, etc. in order to help you get the very best shot. It’s small so you can carry it anywhere, has 360-degree flexibility, works with most smartphones and small cameras, and includes a Bluetooth remote. The Acadia tripod is only $16.95.
Joby: Another flexible tripod, the Joby GorillaPod Stand comes in two sizes for small and large smartphones. It has universal phone compatibility, flexible joints that wrap around objects, and rubber foot grips for maximal stability. The GorillaPod starts at $15.99.
CamKix: This tripod is perfect for taking selfies and handheld video shoots. With the Bluetooth remote control, this tripod offers a range of 30-foot wireless capability. Big enough to be used for tablets as well as phones. The Camkix premium tripod is $17.99.
Selfie Sticks
Flexion: This monopod selfie stick is easy to use and extendable to 31.5 inches, and adjustable to 270-degrees. Comes with a Bluetooth remote and costs $14.99.
Afranker: This monopod can be extended to 90cm, with adjustable phone holder clamp and thumb screw of monopod locks for multiple angle shooting with 1180-degreeposition. Adjustable phone holder fits all phones width between 5.6-8.5 cm. Starts at $7.99.
Selfie World: This selfie stick was made with USA technology, secures phones up to 3.5 inches wide, small and compact for portability, and since Selfie World supports Sightsavers International, your purchase will go toward a charity devoted to restoring sight in children and adults in developing countries. Costs $23.95.
Lens Cleaners
XSories: This tool is useful fo cameras of all kinds, like smartphones, tablets, GoPro and more. It has a soft brush on one end and a microfiber lens cleaner on the other end. Comes with a 1-year warranty and costs only $4.99.
GreatShield: These luxury brown microfiber cleaning cloths work for glasses, screens, cameras, watches and anything else you want to clean. This is a 10-pack of cloth at $5.99.
Monoprice: For use with cleaning cloths, this universal screen cleaner is an alcohol-free liquid that cleans dirt and fingerprints from screens, cameras and more. Some screens have a special coating that can be damaged by certain cleaning solutions, but this cleaner is safe for any screen. Costs $8.21.
You know, when “wireless” earphones began to flood the headphone market, I was somewhat confused. They still had wires. Shouldn’t they be called semi-wireless? That fact kind of killed my interest in them all together. I wanted the real deal. Straight up earpieces, no cables.
Fortunately, a company came along that recognized that problem as well. Bragi envisioned a true wireless earphone design, called the Dash, but needed help to make it a reality. Therefore, like many startups, it utilized Kickstarter (the most popular crowd-funding site). After a couple years, the Dash finally made its way into the hands of fans. But was it all it was cracked up to be? Let’s find out.
Design
The Dash are unlike any headphones you’ve seen before. The earpieces are rather bulky, actually, but this is because they’re the entire wireless headphone. Everything (the Bluetooth component, battery, audio driver, etc.) is stuffed in the little spaces.
The build is plastic, but it’s split almost evenly between a glossy and matte finish. The contrast is appealing to me, and the unit feels solidly put together. The glossy part does show fingerprint smudges, but I do like the shine that it gives off.
Each earpiece has these unique-looking contact points on their underside. This is how the Dash charges. The packaging comes with a cradle that has a microUSB port on the side. Plop the earpieces in their respective slots (finding the correct orientation can be tricky at first) and you’ll feel the magnets lock them in place.
Bragi includes a short microUSB-to-USB cable and no AC adapter, so you’ll either have to charge from your PC or just use your smartphone charger. The cradle also serves as a carrying case, so there’s a really nice cover that slides over it to keep the earpieces safe.
Bragi cut out a slit so that you can still see the status LED on the earpieces. And speaking of which, the Dash indicates its battery status: green for plenty of battery, orange for medium battery, red for low battery, and blue for fully charged. I really like how Bragi implemented the light. It glows and pulses, appearing somewhat futuristic, which totally complements the earphone itself. This is the headphone of the future. If the Dash aren’t in the charger, just give ’em a shake and the light will glow for a couple seconds.
Like most earphones, the packaging includes a variety of silicone ear tips. But unlike most earphones, three of those pairs are a sleeve/tip combo and one is the just ear tip.
I was kind of confused when I laid them out. Although the sleeves are labeled small, medium, and large, they all look the same size to me. But the ear tip does go deep within the ear canal, so maybe there’s a very slight difference in size between them. If you don’t care for the protection, you can use the pair of just ear tips (I don’t know why we don’t have three sizes of these as well).
I have a slight rant with the silicone material/finish that Bragi used. It clings on to lent like no tomorrow. It’s almost impossible to keep them nice. And this doesn’t exclude the ear tip from collecting ear wax. Eww.
Usability
When you first get the Dash, it can be a little intimidating to get started. There’s no buttons on it like on typical wireless earphones. Bragi tries to make it simple with easy-to-follow directions (provided on the box or how-to’s on its website). Basically, the top surface of each earpiece is touch-enabled. For instance, to pair, you just hold your finger down on the right earpiece for five seconds and the Dash will become discoverable.
However, in my experience, it wasn’t as hassle-free as in theory. Something I found out the hard way is that the touch pad isn’t on the entire top surface. It’s only a small area towards the bottom. I naturally began touching the middle of the surface and got frustrated because nothing was happening.
I eventually got it to be discoverable after a few tries (it nicely dings and a voice tells you that it’s ready to pair), then pairing through the phone’s Bluetooth settings is easy. Something I found out as I took the earpieces on and off is that it’s almost impossible to not give it a touch input while you’re adjusting the Dash in your ears. I would’ve much preferred if Bragi put the touch pad on the center of the surface. Usability of the touch controls is also a mixed bag for me. Sometimes you have to swipe just right for it to work.
One time I went to adjust the right earpiece in my ear and the music paused. I tried doing a lot of things for it to resume playing and nothing worked (I had to just hit play from the phone). Then I went to see if I could make it pause again and I couldn’t. It’s supposed to be just one tap on the right earpiece to play/pause, but the tap response on my unit was just a mess. You have to hit it at just the right spot, and the taps don’t register 100% of the time.
Another issue I ran into is when a call interrupted my music, and I dismissed it, the music wouldn’t resume. It was still playing on my phone, but I heard nothing out of the Dash. I had to mess with it to finally get the music to come back. Bragi has more ironing out to do. These random issues make me feel like this is an unfinished device.
I know I started on a negative note, but functionality is not all bad. Once you do learn all that you can do with different touches, it is impressive. I like how Bragi gave each earpiece a separate set of controls.
The fit is also impressive. Just looking at the design, I thought the Dash would easily be able to fall out of your ears. Not so. The earpieces are lightweight and somehow have a snug fit. Maybe it’s the shape that allows your ear to cradle it. I don’t know, but it works. I can move my head around all I want, they don’t go anywhere. This means that they’re excellent for exercising. I would say that it’s the best wireless earphone for exercising. Having no cable whatsoever is something special.
Something unfortunate (but not totally unexpected) is that the battery life of the Dash is sub-par. The 100mAh capacity gets you around 3 hours of playback (at max volume, I got exactly 2 hours). In comparison, the JayBird X2 (a popular wireless earphone) get about 8 hours. BUT, Bragi redeemed themselves with the included cradle. It’s not just a charger but a battery pack. It has enough capacity to get the Dash through five full charges. This was a very smart idea. Still, the fact of the matter is that you’ll run out of juice quite often (if you use them a lot), so that needs to be something you’re okay with. Charging them up from an empty battery takes an hour.
Features
So assuming that you can work through the iffy controls, the Dash does pack an impressive array of functionality. This area is also where Bragi’s ambition shows, and keeps my heart open to them despite my usability complaints.
First, as I’ve touched on before, the Dash is built with sport-use in mind. It sits surprisingly securely in our ears, but can also withstand the elements. The Dash isn’t just sweatproof but waterproof (up to a meter). Therefore, you can use it while swimming.
What’s more, the Dash is built with fitness tracking abilities. You’ll get live feedback about your steps, the duration of your activity, and even heart rate (there’s a heart rate sensor built in). Because of the versatility, the Dash can tune its fitness tracking for the activity that you’re doing. For instance, if you’re running, then it knows to monitor your steps. But if you’re cycling or swimming, you’ll get heart rate and duration information.
How is this information relayed, you say? Bragi developed an app.
Home screen of the Bragi app.
It’s pretty simple; the status of the Dash is shown up top (tap on them for a quick peek at their controls) and the features are along the bottom. Activity displays the fitness information.
Macros is pretty neat. It’s essentially motion gestures for a quicker way to execute functions. Unfortunately, it’s not very expansive at the moment. All you can do is nod your head to accept a call or shake your head to reject it. Bragi says more will be added in future software updates.
The Sound settings lets you adjust the volume or turn on/off Audio Transparency. You can do both of these things on the Dash (with the touch controls), but these are shortcuts if you’re already in the app. Audio Transparency is pretty cool. It amplifies the external sound around you. This is nice if you’re outdoors and there’s something going on that you need to hear, or if someone starts talking to you.
But wait, there’s more! Bragi even managed to cramp 4GB of internal storage into the Dash. Yeah, you can dump mp3’s into the earpieces and play music directly from them. Simply dock them into the cradle and connect to a computer. You’ll see a folder reserved for the music. It’s organized by four playlist folders that you switch between on the Dash.
Sound
To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much in regard to sound quality from the Dash. There’s so much technology packed into the tiny spaces and I figured that wouldn’t leave much room for competent acoustics. Bragi was fortunately smart about it and used Balanced Armature (BA) drivers. These drivers are tiny and used in many high-end earphones today, because it allows audio manufacturers to stuff several of them in a small space (for instance, the Shure SE846 has four BA drivers per earpiece).
I liked the sound quality for the most part. There’s more bass than I would have thought. I expected a thin sound, and that certainly wasn’t the case. It’s not a boomy Beats-like bass, thankfully. It’s impactful without being over-done. But don’t expect depth like wired in-ears at the same price.
The whole reproduction is satisfyingly balanced actually. The treble is crisp and plenty of detail comes through. The mid-range is also prominent (not recessed). Vocals and instruments sound natural and encompassing. Suffice to say, Bragi surprised me. The Dash should sonically satisfy most users.
It’s not a perfect picture, though. Unfortunately, the Dash picks up noticeable background hiss. I’m guessing that Bragi struggled with this; there must be a great deal of electrical interference to tame. Hopefully it gets addressed in the next version. Things like this happen with first gen devices.
Final Thoughts
The Dash is a mixed bag, and I recommend that consumers give it a fair amount of thought before dropping $300. The price is high for a headphone that isn’t close to perfect, but you have to consider how ambitious this project was. Before the Dash, a true wireless earphone (no wires) was unheard of. It’s the headphone of the future, and it has to start somewhere.
That makes it a tough spot for a reviewer. I want this device to succeed, sooo bad, but can’t quite recommend it until all the usability issues are ironed out. I’m also looking at that steep price tag when I think about it. But at the same time, I want people to buy it, because then Bragi will eventually dish out a sequel that will be the true product.
The Dash does do some great things already, though. The fit is impeccable and the sound quality is solid. The battery case is also well-thought-out. If you can manage with the touch controls, there are functions galore. I applaud Bragi for being so ambitious and hope it can continue.
A shout out to my buddy, Miguel Calderon, for letting me borrow his Dash unit! He supported the Dash on Kickstarter from the beginning. Thanks man!
If this sounds like a fun trip back to your childhood, I recommend Bite Bite, from the developer Rainbow Shell. You can 
‘s really a matter of remaining calm coupled finding a sort-of ‘zone’ where you can see/hear/feel/sense the next bite beginning. I did get myself in trouble fighting the 40-bite monster. I was cruising along, but once I crossed the 10-bites-left threshold, I tightened up and quickly burned through my three lives. This is where the addictiveness of the game kicked in; I couldn’t put the game down until I at least finished that level.
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