Let’s face it: cables are becoming increasingly annoying. They get in the way or catch and snag on things, and when using headphones, usually you’re going to have a bad time. Thanks to the rising quality of Bluetooth headphones, those pesky cables are no longer much of a worry.
State Laws
As you may know, some states no longer allow you to use your phone while driving. Instead, they require that you use a hands-free device to keep your attention off your phone and where it belongs: the road. As someone who lives in Maryland and who has been pulled over for talking while driving, I jumped at the chance to review the Jabra Eclipse. I’m not much for using Bluetooth earpieces, but since I just got a new car, I figured having one would be very convenient.
Small, compact, and charged
The Jabra Eclipse is one of the newest Bluetooth earpieces to be released from a major brand. For background, Jabra is one of the premier manufacturers of Bluetooth headsets, speakers, and just about anything else that involves you talking or listening to someone. What sets Jabra apart from the field is its commitment to providing high-quality products at very competitive prices — all without cutting corners.
The Jabra Eclipse is pretty unique in its own right, and you’ll see why, as soon as you open the box. The Eclipse itself is nestled in an egg which acts as the hub for the Eclipse; you’ll use the egg to charge and pair the Eclipse.
Before getting into the performance of the Eclipse, let’s take a look at the specs:
Weight: 0.19 oz
Charging Case: 1.23 oz
Talk Time: Up to 3 hours in Headset / Up to 10 hours total with charging case
Standby Time: Up to 3 Days
Connectivity: NFC; Bluetooth 4.1 with talk range up to 30 meters (98ft)
Extras: Voice Guidance; Music Playback
Compatibility: Any Bluetooth enabled device (with pairing application)
Setup
The Jabra Eclipse earpiece in all of its glory
Setting up the Jabra Eclipse is pretty easy and straightforward once you’ve downloaded Jabra’s accompanying app from the Play Store. The Jabra Assist application allows you to tweak the Eclipse to your liking, as well as to monitor the battery life of the unit. There are a few other goodies that are built-into the application such as Text Message Read-Out capabilities, and “Find My Jabra/Car”.
NFC Pairing
In addition to being able to pair the Eclipse with your device via Bluetooth and the Jabra Assist application, users can pair their device with the Eclipse via NFC. In order to pair the two devices together without opening any applications, follow these steps:
Enable NFC and Bluetooth on your mobile phone
Dock your Jabra Eclipse in the charging case
Locate the NFC zone on the bottom of the charging egg and the NFC area on your device
Gently tap or slide the NFC zone on your Jabra Eclipse against the NFC zone on your device, and accept the pairing prompt
Jabra really makes it easy to pair the devices regardless of whether your device has NFC capabilities or not.
General Impressions
Once you’ve got the Eclipse paired and set up the way you want, you’re ready to start talking. Not only can you use the Eclipse as a traditional Bluetooth headset, but you can also use it to listen to your tunes while going about the day.
Jabra boasts at least three hours of talk time with the Eclipse, but, in real-world usage, I never actually hit the three hour mark. I would usually make it to about two and half hours, before needing to plug the Eclipse into the charging egg.
Sound and Design
The sound quality was better than I expected, although I had to change out the ear-tip because the one that comes pre-installed was a bit too small. Luckily, Jabra includes three different ear-tips for you to choose from so that you can find the perfect fit. Since the Eclipse can sit in your ear for a few hours at a time, you’ll want to make sure that it’s comfortable.
I’m no audiophile or anything, but I can at least tell the difference between good and crappy sound when listening to music. The Eclipse falls in between, offering decent sound quality for the price. But, it’s worth reminding that the Eclipse isn’t primarily designed to be used for music listening purposes. But if you want to listen to some jams, the Eclipse does the job just fine.
As for call quality, Jabra is on point with the Eclipse. This came as no surprise as its other options for Bluetooth headsets are generally among the best. I used the Eclipse with both the OnePlus 2 and the iPhone 6s on T-Mobile’s network. The call quality was excellent with both devices and I experienced no buzzing or frequency issues with the Jabra Eclipse during the testing time frame.
The only issues that I ran into while using the Eclipse was when I listened to music. Although Jabra’s website says that the Eclipse has connectivity up to 40 feet with Bluetooth 3.0 technology, it seemed that there were issues if my phone was too far away. Unfortunately, that distance was drastically shortened to a few feet in the instances where I listed to music.
Indeed, something was lost in the short span from my pocket to my ear. For some reason there would be connectivity issues, and I would have to take my phone out of my pocket to get everything back to normal again. I’m not sure if this is just an isolated case or if there are bigger problems here, but it’s something I found worth noting.
Charging Case for the Jabra Eclipse
Other than the occasional connectivity issues, the Eclipse is one of the best Bluetooth headsets that I’ve ever used. I have no issue recommending it to anyone in the market for hands free communication.
If you’re intrigued by reading this review, and are swayed enough to pick one up for yourself, you can head over to Amazon and grab the Jabra Eclipse for $129.99 with Prime shipping. This isn’t the cheapest Bluetooth headset on the market, but, it’s definitely worth a look. Jabra makes some of the best Bluetooth headsets around, and is a company I’ve been recommending for quite some time. The Eclipse is just another in the lineup of great Bluetooth devices from Jabra.
Physical meetings and virtual meetings both work well for business. That is, unless you plan for a virtual meeting as if it were a physical meeting, or plan for a physical meeting as if it were a virtual meeting.
When you plan a physical meeting, you need to take into account purely physical needs, such as the furniture, temperature of room, and lighting. If you’re going to use AV equipment or have participants work at a computer, you need to make sure that everything works properly.
These considerations also matter in a virtual meeting, but not in quite the same way. Participants are able to choose to sit in their own office, in this case. If they are in conference rooms in various locations, however, someone at each site needs to make sure that all of the equipment is set up properly.
According to Inc., a virtual meeting requires additional preparation. It does not have to be elaborate or expensive, though. Even the newest and smallest organizations can use online meeting technology. It requires only some kind of Internet connection, some combination of microphones and speakers for audio, and web cams and some kind of monitor for video.
That being said, all of this equipment puts a layer of technology between participants in different places. Whoever plans the meeting needs to understand how to change presentation and discussion techniques to account for this technological barrier.
Participating in a virtual meeting will require some means of logging into the meeting and may require downloading software. Everyone should receive all of this login information at least a day before the start of meeting. Whether they are going to a conference room or are sitting at their own desks, participants ought to login at least 15 minutes before the meeting starts. That way they can be sure they’re properly connected and ready to go.
Group leadership and membership
If the group is carrying on a discussion, the roles of leader and member are similar in both physical and virtual meetings. The leader prepares the agenda and conducts the discussion. According to an article at the Montana State University Extension, the leader acts as a gatekeeper, insuring that every member of group has a chance to participate. Naturally, some people in the group will be very verbal and confident, while others will be more hesitant and maybe even timid. The leader needs to be sensitive and tactful to make sure all opinions are heard and that the conflict of ideas does not degenerate into a conflict of personalities.
Members also have responsibilities. They should come to meeting prepared, having read whatever literature is made available to them in advance. They should come prepared to develop a viewpoint if they haven’t made their mind up on a matter before meeting. But on the other hand, they must recognize that not necessarily everyone will have the same view. Group members have as much responsibility as the leader to make sure the disagreements don’t degenerate into personal attacks.
Some basic matters of etiquette ought to be obvious. Everyone should be courteous to everyone else. Everyone should speak clearly. Everyone should wait their turn to speak and not interrupt others.
Special considerations for virtual meetings
Because of the technological barrier between people in different locations, everyone needs to keep in mind some special social standards in a virtual meeting. For example, you can’t maintain eye contact by looking people in the eye. You have to look into the camera.
Body movements people would hardly notice in a physical meeting can be very distracting on camera.
You have to be aware, then, of when you’re on camera. Make sure that your gestures are natural, and preferably not too fast. You may need to dress differently. Patterns that may look very good in room full of people can be very distracting on camera. The same goes for jewelry.
In fact, the combination of jewelry and microphones can create distracting sounds. The microphone may also pick up side conversations, jiggling keys in pockets, or any number of other sounds that might not be noticed otherwise.
Just as it’s necessary to learn how to adjust to the camera, it’s also necessary to learn how to speak into a microphone. It doesn’t matter so much if you’re using a boom microphone or a central microphone on the conference table. But if speakers stand at a lectern or pass a hand held microphone around, people in other locations will absolutely not be able to hear speakers who are too close to the microphone, too far away, or not speaking in the right direction.
If all of this technology seems daunting, remember that at least you don’t need to be too concerned about how to set up video meetings. Many video conferencing providers, such as, Blue Jeans, make setup a breeze.
The original Pebble is widely regarded as the first successful smartwatch. Funded through Kickstarter, it quickly became one of the most funded projects of all time, and to date over a million Pebble units have been sold. In late 2015, the Pebble team introduced Pebble Time Round, the company’s first smartwatch featuring a classic round design. As an original Pebble owner, I was very eager to get my hands on the latest offering in all its thin, round glory. After using it for roughly a month, I am convinced that the Pebble Time Round is by far the best smartwatch I have ever owned.
[spacer color=”264C84″ icon=”fa-pencil”]Design
Without a doubt, the Pebble Time Round’s biggest selling point is the design. The team at Pebble clearly put an extraordinary emphasis on the look and feel of the watch, and it shows in every facet of the device. As the name indicates. Pebble Time Round features a round face encased in a 38.5mm stainless steel body. The color e-paper display measures 1.25 inches, and features a decent size bezel around it as well.
The signature 4-button layout is found once again here, and owners of previous Pebble watches will surely find that a welcome treat. The watch band is secured using standard quick-release pins, which makes replacing the band fairly easy. Around the back of the case is a Pebble logo, typical device and FCC information, and the proprietary charging pins that Pebble users will also recognize.
The display itself is covered in scratch-resistant 2.5D Gorilla Glass, and the casing is IPX7 splash resistant. Upgrading from an original Pebble, I will admit I was slightly disappointed that the Time Round is not completely waterproof. But after using it for a month, I have come to accept the small sacrifice in the name of pure, beautiful design.
Weighing in at only 28 grams and measuring 7.5mm thick, this watch is ridiculously thin and light. Pebble touts it as the world’s “thinnest and lightest” smartwatch, and it’s hard to argue that point. Pebble Time Round is so light that after wearing it for a few hours, I legitimately forgot that I was wearing it until I received a notification and the watch vibrated.
That isn’t to say that the Pebble Time Round is too light. I found that after getting used to wearing it all day, the weight actually strikes the perfect balance between being light and durable. Coming from a 1st gen Moto 360, which weighs nearly twice the PTR at 49 grams, it was a noticeable shift.
Pebble Time Round is available in eight different configurations, with two different band sizes and two different band materials. The three case colors include Silver, Rose Gold, and Black. Users can choose leather or metal bands, although the metal bands are only available in the smaller 14mm size.
The 14mm versions come in Silver (with Stone Leather or Silver Mesh), Rose Gold (with White Leather or Rose Gold Mesh), and Black (with Flame Red Leather or Black Mesh). The larger 20mm version is available in Black with Nero Black Leather or Silver with Nubuck Brown Leather.
It is worth mentioning that depending on which configuration you choose, the bezel around the display will have a specific look. Even between the two larger versions, the bezels differ quite a bit. These design choices may play into a user’s choice in size and band material. Being a fan of minimal design (and not a fan of the rose gold trend), I chose the 14mm Silver with Stone Leather version.
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Software
PTR utilizes the Timeline software introduced with the original Pebble Time last year. The UI is fairly simple to use, and I found myself checking on calendar appointments regularly via the Timeline. The video above, courtesy of Pebble, explains in basic form how Timeline works.
In a real usage setting, Timeline is simple and especially useful if you integrate apps into it. For example, I have downloaded an app that gives me a word of the day, right in my Timeline. Another app gives me events in history that happened on a particular day. These are just a few examples of the various apps that are capable of integrating with Timeline.
Beyond the calendar-centric UI, users can access all their apps and default categories by pressing the center “Select” button on the right side of the watch. Out of the box, PTR breaks everything up into seven centers of information: Settings, Health, Music, Notifications, Alarms, Watchfaces, and a Send Text option that does exactly what the name suggests.
Each of these is pretty self-explanatory, likely owing to Pebble’s philosophy of simplicity. The settings seem less cluttered with Timeline than they did with the original Pebble, which was a nice surprise.
As a user who gets notifications regularly, I found that the Pebble Time Round does exactly what it’s supposed to do: show me notifications to save me from pulling my phone out of my pocket every few minutes. While Pebble Time Round may lack a touchscreen and Google integration a la Android Wear, as a smartwatch it performs exactly as it should.
I receive a high volume of emails on a daily basis, which is one of the major reasons I wear a smartwatch almost every day. With the original Pebble watch, I discovered that emails received through Google Inbox (my primary email app of choice) did not show as notifications on the watch. This baffled and frustrated me to no end, because it seemed to defeat the entire purpose of the smartwatch in my case. Thankfully, PTR shows me every notification from every app, including emails in Inbox.
I have also noticed that the commands available for each notification appear to match the expanded commands within the notification on my smartphone. As an example, when I receive an email, I can mark it as “Done” or Reply All through the notification. On the Pebble Time Round, I get the same options. This may seem like a small touch, but for a heavy user like myself, I found it to be a serious time-saving feature.
Notifications will appear on the watch and stick around for roughly thirty seconds if not dismissed or otherwise acted upon. After that time, PTR will simply slide back to whatever the user was previously doing. In most cases, this means that the notification will give way to the watchface.
It is worth noting that the notification may go away on the watch, but unless it is dismissed through the commands, it will still remain in the notifications on the smartphone. For those not familiar with Pebble’s notification system, this may be a shift from Android Wear’s card system. The notification will also rest under the Notifications center mentioned before.
[spacer color=”264C84″ icon=”fa-thumbs-o-up”]The Good
Using the PTR on a daily basis is as carefree and easy as I had hoped it would be. The color e-paper display gets the job done without leeching much power, and it is very easy to see in sunlight. Once the watch was set up, I had no issues with vibration or delayed or missed notifications.
The watch itself is very comfortable, but it also has the benefit of being small and elegant, like a classic timepiece. In other words, I don’t feel as though I have a small computer on my wrist all day. For a smartwatch, Pebble Time Round grabs the attention of people who just admire it as a watch before they realize what it does. I have had many instances of “what kind of watch is that?” and just random compliments on how the device looks.
As a college student who lives off-campus, I drive quite a bit. On my commute, I often use my phone for music. With Pebble Time Round, I am able to skip songs, adjust volume, and pause/play without ever really looking at the watch itself. Since the watch’s music controls utilize the three buttons on the right side of the watch, I can easily remember that the bottom button will skip the song and the top button will go to the previous song.
Luckily this system was carried over from previous Pebble watches, so it is essentially second nature to me. Interestingly, I prefer Pebble Time Round to my Moto 360 for music control, because I would rather not have to fiddle with a touchscreen to open the menu that enables me to control songs. I realized in my time using PTR that I take comfort in being able to use the watch for a specific function without worrying about touching the wrong icon or even looking at the screen.
Quick Launch is definitely one of my favorite features of the Pebble Time Round. With Quick Launch, users can set two different shortcuts to apps on the watch. These shortcuts are accessed from the main watchface, by long-pressing the up or down buttons. Of course I linked the Music app to one of the buttons, for quick access to the music player. This feature works with the default apps, as well as any additional apps downloaded through the Pebble Store.
As with previous models, the battery life on the Pebble Time Round is a big selling point. Pebble watches appeal to users who want more than a day of usage out of a smartwatch, and PTR is no exception. The team behind the watch claims that users can get two days out of a charge, and I found that to be true in my case. In fact, two days might be a slight underestimation of the battery life. I am usually able to get nearly three full days of usage before the watch needs to be recharged.
Speaking of charging, the Pebble Time Round uses the same proprietary magnetic pogo pin charging system found in previous models. Simply line up the connectors with the pins on the charging cable, and the magnets do the rest. I managed to charge the Pebble Time Round from 0% to 100% in just over 20 minutes, which is very impressive. Pebble claims that 15 minutes on the charger can give a user an entire day of usage, and that certainly falls within my usage.
The Pebble Time Round was launched at $249, putting it in the same price range as some of the more well-known Android Wear watches on the market. As of March 1st, Pebble has permanently cut the price of PTR from $249 to $199. This is a welcome cut, as it knocks the watch into a more reasonable price range. While it is nearly impeccable in design, a $250 price tag was arguably too high to lure customers who don’t want to spend close to $300 on a smartwatch.
For what it’s worth, I managed to purchase my Pebble Time Round during a flash sale via eBay, and it only cost around $190. Pebble regularly has specials and sales, so if the price is a bit steep, I encourage potential buyers to keep their eyes on special promotions for a discount.
PTR brings a lot to the table that makes it stand out in a crowd of Android Wear watches, but not every feature is well-executed or even useful in some cases. For example, the watch is able to dictate replies to messages and emails through voice. The microphone on the face of the watch does decently well with understanding what I want to say, but it simply isn’t a feature I use very often, if ever.
This is true for the voice commands on my Moto 360 as well: I simply don’t feel the need to voice my reply to a message. While I am impressed that Pebble packed a microphone into the watch, the lack of one would not have been a concern for me whatsoever. Obviously this differs from user to user, but voice commands and message replies are not what sell me on a device.
Pebble also included a feature in the Time Round called Quiet Time, and it essentially turns off the vibration for the watch until the user “ends Quite Time” by disabling it. Users can also set schedules for Quiet Time within the settings. While it is good that the watch can be muted in some way, I found it inconsistent with the notification mute systems on most Android devices.
When I set my Galaxy S6 on Do Not Disturb mode (I have it on a schedule for my classes), it does not carry over to the Pebble Time Round. Whatever notifications I receive will still show up on the watch, accompanied by vibrations. It would be much more useful if Quiet Time integrated with Do Not Disturb mode or even the Priority/None notification system in Lollipop and Marshmallow. Of course I can set a schedule for Quiet Time that coincides with my classes as well, but that does not solve the problem for non-scheduled Do Not Disturb instances.
As a nitpicky point, I had issues with my watch band’s clasp when putting on the watch. For some reason, the metal tongue of the buckle (the small peg that goes through a hole in the band) does not move very easily. With most watches, simply pushing the band through the buckle will move this tongue. But with my particular watch, I had to physically move it myself before passing the band through the buckle.
This is by no means a huge issue, but I found it frustrating in rushed situations. It is worth noting that it may be a fluke in manufacturing with my specific unit, or it may be limited to the leather band that came with my watch configuration.
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Summary
Pebble Time Round is the first round smartwatch from the company, and it certainly does not disappoint. While a few of the software features may be slightly inconsistent (or niche-based, like the voice commands), it is an incredible watch in both form and function. Battery life isn’t as astounding as previous Pebble models, but three days with heavy usage is still impressive in my book.
The build quality and design are excellent, and the watch feels premium in every sense of the word. In stride with previous models, the Pebble Time Round does exactly what it needs to do. For users who want a useful smartwatch with solid battery life, a simple OS, and an abundance of design choices, PTR is definitely worth taking a look at. The price is a bit high considering the competitors in the market, but in my usage with the device, I concluded that it was worth every penny.
You can purchase a Pebble Time Round directly from Pebble.com here.
Verizon is now carrying the PRIV on its network. Starting today, March 3, you can buy the phone online or wait until March 11 to buy it in a physical store.
First announced at CES 2016, the PRIV is Blackberry’s attempt to stay relevant in a mobile world dominated by Google and Apple. When it was first revealed it was exclusively available on AT&T, but shortly after it spread to T-Mobile, and launched in global markets like Italy, Spain and India.
The PRIV, which is short for both “privacy” and “privilege”, is marketed as a secure Android phone. It uses a modified version of Android 5.1.1, with a hardware-based cryptographic key, a hardened Linux kernel and a Dtek security app to monitor user activity.
Verizon is offering extra deals as well. Customers activating a PRIV on Verizon Plan XL or bigger will give you 24 GB of extra data per year, for life. And if you switch to Verizon from a discount carrier, or a carrier with a bad network, you’re eligible for up to $650 towards your old contract.
The PRIV is also available for Verizon’s enterprise customer base, which makes sense as Blackberry has always focussed on enterprise customers. As you deploy PRIV in your organization you can upgrade to BES12.
Burner is an application that, for a small fee, allows you to create a temporary “burner” number that lasts anywhere from 14 days to 30 days. Burner provides a unique service in that it allows you to have a second, temporary number, without having to buy a new device and purchase a carrier plan.
Cost: Free (Supported by In-app purchases, Free Trial Available)
Highlights
Fantastic user interface
Affordable pricing
Easy to setup and use
Multiple service packages available
Setup
Burner is incredibly easy to setup. Once you install the app from the Google Play Store, open the app, read through the introduction, register your phone number and then create your burner number. When creating your burner number, you have the option to choose your own area code or you can have the app choose one for you. A word of caution: if you enter an invalid area code too many times, the app will disable the ability to create a burner number for approximately 1-2 minutes.
I have to start by saying that Burner is single-handedly one of the most unique mobile applications I have ever used. It is also the best.
Never have I used an application that is so unique and so well designed. What I thought would be difficult to set up and cumbersome to use actually turned out to be quite the opposite. I found Burner incredibly easy to setup and a sheer delight to use.
Burner’s greatest feature is its ability to provide you with a second number without the need of purchasing a new device and a new carrier service plan. Burner accomplishes this through providing its own unique, built-in dialer and built-in text application. Any call or text you send from Burner will be attached to your burner number and handled natively by the application. Any incoming calls or texts to your burner number will also be handled by the application. Burner’s ability to segregate itself from your device’s default call and text applications is superb and eliminates a lot of potential confusion.
Burner also offers you the ability to link your burner number to several applications including:
Slack
Dropbox
Evernote
Sound Cloud
During my time with Burner, I linked my burner number to the AndroidGuys team’s slack account and it worked quite well.
Field Testing
In order to give Burner a proper review, I had to find a way to use it. My solution? Craigslist. I’ve had a bunch of stuff sitting around that I’ve wanted to put on Craigslist but I’ve just never gotten around to doing it. I also just plain don’t like doing business on Craigslist. It’s dangerous and unreliable.
I really appreciated the sense of security Burner provided me when leaving a phone number for potential buyers to contact me at. Years ago, I made the mistake of leaving my personal number on a craigslist ad. For several weeks after publishing that ad, I received prank calls. Needless to say, I’ve never left my personal number on Craigslist, since.
Burner gave me the convenience of being able to provide a phone number for potential buyers to contact me at while also eliminating the risk of having my personal phone number compromised. If some ne’er do wells decided to prank call me, no problem. I’ll just burn the number. Problem solved.
Burner passed my field testing with flying colors.
Pricing
Burner is priced very reasonably. Burner numbers are purchased using credits which you can buy from within the app. Credit packages range from $7.99 to $11.99. This may seem a bit steep, but compare Burner’s cost to the cost of buying a new phone and purchasing 1 month of prepaid service. You can’t compare the two. The most you’ll spend for one month of Burner is $11.99!
Burner’s pricing structure is as follows
Packages
Mini Burner – 3 credits
60 texts, 20 minutes call time, auto-burns in 14 days
Standard Burner – 5 credits
150 texts, 50 minutes call time, auto-burns in 30 days
Picture Burner – 8 credits
100 texts (includes multimedia messaging), 50 minutes call time, auto-burns in 30 days
Unlimited Burner – 8 credits
Unlimited texts, unlimited call minutes, auto-burns in 30 days
Text-only Burner – 5 credits
250 texts, 0 call minutes, auto-burns in 30 days
Premium Line – $3.99 /monthly
Unlimited Calls and texts, burner number auto-renews, can change burner number once per month
Credit Packages:
3 Burner Credits – $1.99
8 Burner Credits – $4.99
15 Burner Credits – $7.99
25 Burner Credits – $11.99
User Interface
I love Burner’s user interface. It’s aesthetically pleasing and very easy to navigate. By default, Burner uses a red color scheme, which I found quite appealing. If red doesn’t suit your style, Burner has you covered. There is an option in settings that allows you to change Burner’s color scheme to whatever color you like.
Burner has many options and tweaks available and they were all very logically nested and organized in appropriate menus. Even with its breadth of options, Burner never felt overwhelming or confusing. Its design is impeccable.
I trust Burner enough to show you the number it gave me
That being said, I do have one humorous anecdote.
One night while playing around with Burner, I accidentally blocked my wife’s number. According to the app, I should have been able to unblock her number in settings. Despite my best efforts, I could not find a way to unblock my wife.
She doesn’t know this happened. Sorry honey.
Conclusion
Burner is wonderful. Plain and simple. For what it offers, you cannot beat Burner’s cost to value ratio. If you’re looking for a secondary number, why spend $75+ on a cheap phone and a month of prepaid service when you can spend, at the most, $11.99 for a month of burner? Protect your personal number and your wallet and give Burner a try.
Boost Mobile is offering a big discount to new users. If you’re a current customer of T-Mobile, AT&T or Verizon and switch to Boost Mobile, you can get a 50% discount on family plans. You’ll get 10 GB of high-speed data per line, and plans start at two lines for $60/month.
In addition, for every line that a customer brings to Boost Mobile, they’ll receive a free smartphone, or a $50 device discount, up to four devices. The 10 GB of high-speed data offer is valid from March 3 to April 5, while the free phone/discount offer is valid from January 12 to April 5.
I love how DACs come in all different shapes and sizes today. They’ve historically been reserved for the niche audiophile market, but as of late, the appeal of a dedicated sound processing unit has grown considerably. Mainstream headphones now have audio prowess and streaming services are pumping out truer tunes. Even some phone manufacturers are jumping onto the bandwagon by tacking on HiFi-capable internals, such as with the LG V10, ZTE Axon Pro, and HTC One A9. The newly announced modular LG G5 even has a HiFi DAC module add-on.
But all DACs aren’t created equal. Some sound drastically better than others, which can be super frustrating. It’s not like they’re readily available for us to test out in stores. That leaves us with only word of mouth. Therefore, at AndroidGuys, we’re ramping up our audio coverage, to give y’all some informative insight and help those tough buying decisions.
Today, we have one of the best DACs I’ve personally tried – the iFi Micro iDSD.
The company, iFi Audio, comes from the Abbingdon Music Research (AMR) family of HiFi gear (that can run upwards of $10K). The iFi team has taken that AMR expertise and trickled it down to more affordable devices. Seems that was a good move, because its flagship mobile DAC has hit the audiophile scene pretty hard and won the hearts of many. I wanted to see what all the hubbub was about and iFi Audio was kind enough to send me a review unit. It’s not the most compact device, but I’m recommending it for audio lovers nonetheless. Let’s go over why that is.
Design
The Micro iDSD is a big slab metal. Other than the smooth, anodized finish, the design from every angle is industrial and raw. And that’s perfectly fine. Metal is premium and robust all on its own. There’s machined edges and lines all over, so its definitely not boring either.
As I mentioned earlier, the Micro iDSD is on the large-side for a portable DAC, but iFi did in fact make a portable unit here. It has its own battery and can interface with an Android device (via OTG) for the music source. I think the reason for its girth is because iFi puts audio quality and features above all else. We’ll get to the sound impressions later, but as a hint, I’m convinced that the size is worth it.
Let’s continue with the tour. There are I/O on both ends and switches for unique features all around the device (which I’ll get to in the next section). While the Micro iDSD is a mobile unit, iFi built it with flexibility. That’s why on the left end you’ll see A/V ports for SPDIF In/Out and coaxial Left/Right channel outputs for an entertainment system.
Here is also where the audio source goes in. Strangely, this Digital Input port is a full-sized male USB connector. That means to hook up your source, you’ll be using a cable with a female USB connector on one end and the respective male port on the other (USB, micro-USB, Lightning).
In the packaging, there’s a female USB to male USB cable included (for connecting to a computer), but unfortunately no cable for any mobile devices. So you’ll have to hit up Amazon or something for a micro-USB compatible cable.
My third-party female USB to micro-USB OTG cable
The other end of the unit is where you plug in your headphones and control the volume. The headphone jack is full-size (6.3mm), but thankfully iFi included a 3.5mm adapter in the box. If you prefer to send analog audio into the DAC (rather than digital), there’s also a 3.5mm input here.
The volume knob is rather large, but I appreciate that it allows you to finely tune the attenuation. It firmly and smoothly rolls to suit your sensitivity. It’s also serves as the power switch. Rotate the knob clockwise from the starting position and you’ll hear a click that turns the DAC on.
You’ll spot a USB opening on one of the sides. This allows you to draw power from the Micro iDSD’s hefty battery (4,800mAh) to charge your mobile device. That’s one benefit about the bulk, it can also be a power bank.
Lastly, there’s a tiny multi-color LED light on the top of the unit. It does typical indication, like a Blue light for charging or Red for low battery. But iFi goes a step further and uses its other colors to indicate the format of the audio signal. The Micro iDSD supports three different encoding technologies – PCM, DXD, and DSD.
Features
Another benefit of the Micro iDSD’s beefy size is that it can pack a lot of features. Some of these are features you won’t find in another DAC. On the end with the headphone jack and volume knob, there are two switches for audio enhancement – XBass and 3D Holographic. What they do is self-explanatory (XBass extends the bass response and 3D recreates a holographic sound field), but an important thing to know is that they add to the analog signal (after it’s converted from digital). iFi doesn’t want to mess with the true, original signal or risk negatively impacting other sounds.
On the underside, there’s generous feature called IEMatch. It’s pretty common these days that earphones (aka In-Ear Monitors or IEMs) are sensitive, meaning that it doesn’t take much volume before they get too loud. That can be annoying depending on the volume control of the source. Therefore, iFi threw in two different levels to help tame the volume – High Sensitivity and Ultra Sensitivity.
Behind the scenes, these are probably two degrees of attenuators (or can be thought of as gain reducers). The important thing is that they keep the sound true (something that resistors typically struggle with; so iFi probably had to work some magic there). I have super sensitive IEMs, the Shure SE846, and on the Ultra Sensitive setting there is zero noise (hissing) and I for the first time have adequate control over the volume level.
The other features are a bit more technical, but I’ll briefly run through them:
Power Mode: Three different power settings (Eco, Normal, Turbo), to accommodate differing types of headphones, from sensitive (Eco) to more demanding (Turbo) hardware.
Filter: Three digital/analog filters for different audio use cases (Bit-Perfect, Minimum Phase, Standard).
Output: The Micro iDSD can pre-amplify the signal before sending it out of the RCA output (up to a gain of 9dB).
Sound
When I look at the size of the Micro iDSD, I’m like, “This thing better bring it!” Personally, I’ve only used the more typically-sized portable DACs, which are roughly the size of playing cards. They already sounded great to me, so I was suspicious over iFi’s beefy strategy. But boy did I get a reality check with this one.
There are two things that hit you straight away on the first listen – Clarity and Fullness. By clarity, I’m talking crisp, crystal clearness in details you may not have even noticed before. I also mean it in terms of separation. Even when there’s a lot going on, the enunciation of the instruments, vocals, etc. just come through beautifully. And when the music calms and you hear only one or two elements, this allows your brain to focus and adore the minute nuances. You can hear whispering from voices or damping of instrument vibrations. It’s also an eye-opener when you realize what your headphones can really do.
I notice the entire spectrum being more impactful and richer than with other DACs I’ve used. The overall sound is more encompassing (like from a sound system), which of course makes the experience more engaging and fun. The sounds are balanced, and elements only hit hard when the recording asks for it. I can tell that iFi does its best to honor the recording and artist’s intent.
The whole presentation is so tight and controlled. I get the sense that iFi knows what it’s doing, in terms of precision and equal amount of enjoyment. I usually find something that I don’t like about a reproduction, but the Micro iDSD really makes it difficult to not call it perfect. I could say that sometimes I wish the low-end hit harder, but then there’s the XBass setting (which adds on the extra oomph).
Final Thoughts
So there you have it. The superb sound reproduction of the Micro iDSD just left me awe struck. So much that so that I stopped caring about the size – I need this thing in my life.
The Micro iDSD won’t be for everyone. It really depends on your headphones and your budget (it’s not cheap, at $499). But if you’re at that point and looking for the best of the best, you cannot gloss over this DAC. The Micro iDSD is seriously going to be hard to top, and now I’ll think twice before I consider a small DAC.
I must mention that iFi does have a more compact solution – the Nano iDSD. It obviously doesn’t pack as many features as the Micro, but it makes iFi’s expertise more reachable with a price of $199.
Virtual reality was definitely a huge hit this year at Mobile World Conference 2016. Facebook, Oculus, Google, Apple and HTC are looking to pioneer the next wave of media that is sure to be a hit.
What is VR?
According to Wikipedia virtual reality “replicates an environment that simulates a physical presence in places in the real world or an imagined world, allowing the user to interact in that world. Virtual realities artificially create sensory experiences, which can include sight, touch, hearing, and smell.”
In a nutshell, VR is a video experience that is brought to lige with some sort of display that you wear to cover your eyes. When you put it on and turn your head the video instantly responds to your movement like it is simulating a real life experience. I can’t think of a single consumer VR headset that offers touch or smell yet, but sight and sound are definitely the options available.
VR has been threatening to take hold in the consumer market for the past few years now. But with little support from content providers VR has been slow to take off. As Google, Facebook, Samsung and even Apple invest more money into development of media, third party VR headset manufacturers are finally seeing a place to make a profit.
Samsung offers its own VR headset, Gear VR, which costs $100 and is a superior upgrade to Google’s attempt called Cardboard. Google Cardboard is meant to introduce users to the world of VR. At $15 it may be one of the most expensive pieces of cardboard you might ever buy. It comes as a flat piece of cardboard which you assemble with the printed on instructions. Once assembled you can download apps immediately to experience what VR is all about.
BlitzWolf VR headset on the left. Cardboard VR headset on the right.
Before I tried Google Cardboard I thought VR was a gimmick. And then I tried it.
While Cardboard was not designed for immersive experiences that were meant to last more than five minutes at a time. The Cardboard was designed without a head strap which means you have to hold it up to your face. And it is made out of paper.
While this is perfect for an introduction to VR, it is not conducive to long term use making Cardboard an expensive investment at $15 since you’re only going to use it for a few minutes.
And that brings me to the BlitzWolf VR headset offered by banggood.com, which is designed for smartphones with displays 3.5-6″ large. I’m here to tell you not to waste your money on Cardboard or Gear VR, and instead spend just $28.99, with shipping included, for a high quality VR headset that should last you a long time.
Design
The BlitzWolf VR headset is a lightweight ABS shell with an elastic headband. It is designed to fit phones no larger than 154mm long by 82mm wide – phones like the Nexus 6 (159.3mm x 83mm) and LG V10 (159.6mm x 79.3mm) will not fit. Their bodies are just too darn wide. But phones like the Honor 5X and Nexus 5X will fit just perfectly.
The ABS plastic body is well built and has comfort features designed to fit small, medium and large heads. The head strap is fully adjustable and the eye pieces can be moved to allow for differences in nose bridge width. Each lens can be adjusted for focusing similar to binoculars.
It also has a leatherette pad which is soft and supple. There is a spring loaded mechanism which clamps down on a variety of different sized smartphones.
In total there are 59 parts that go into making this headset. In comparison, there are less than ten total parts on the Google Cardboard. BlitzWolf packed as many features they could into its headset.
Usage
The BlitzWolf VR headset is hands down well worth every penny, especially when you compare it to other headsets that have the same function. At just $28.99 it shames the Samsung Gear VR which is solely designed for its Galaxy phones and costs over three times as much.
It is lightweight, extremely well built, and has a wide range of options for making the perfect fit. I have an abnormally large head according to my friends, but the simple explanation is my brain is massive. Nonetheless the BlitzWolf VR headset easily fit my head with some adjustments. I also had my nieces try it on who are half my size. While the headset did appear huge on their heads, with some adjustments it did fit just fine. They were oohing, ahhing and giggling with the content I put on for them.
Rather than try to explain in words what it is like to experience VR, click on the YouTube video below.
If you’re on a computer, grab the screen with your mouse and drag the video to spin. Or you can also click the four arrow cursor at the top left to move around. Now imagine that through a VR viewer and that’s what you get with virtual reality.
I included a music video below. VR isn’t limited to nature or skydiving – all kinds of different content can be experienced.
Now that you have watched the videos above, imagine what that is like through a viewer. It is immersive and makes you feel like you are there.
Now do you want to experience VR with a little piece of cardboard that your Amazon shipments arrive in? Or do you want a high quality experience that allows for visual and physical adjustments? While some of you may prefer Cardboard, I find the BlitzWolf VR headset to be the ultimate experience when you factor in the low price of just $28.99.
What I liked
Build Quality
Price
Adjustment features
Head strap
Heat ventilation for extended usage
Support for wide range of phones
Comfort
Light weight
What I didn’t like
Couldn’t come up with anything
Summary
The BlitzWolf VR headset is an amazing deal at $28.99. When you consider what Google put together for $15, it’s pretty ridiculous what you can get for a little more money. While Google Cardboard is meant to introduce you to VR, the BlitzWolf VR headset is meant to give you a full VR experience.
With adjustable eye pieces and a comfortable head strap, it can fit heads of all sizes. And with a comfortable pad for your face you can wear it for hours in comfort. Banggood.com offers the BlitzWolf VR headset for just $28.99 with free shipping included.
Leave cardboard for your packages that come via UPS or FedEx. Experience VR with a high-quality headset like the BlitzWolf VR headset instead.
Head on over to banggood.com to learn more about the BlitzWolf VR headset. For a limited time save 10% off this headset by using discount code 12blitzw at checkout.
You can also purchase the BlitzWolf VR headset at Amazon.com with discount code 11PCTALL to save 11% off the total price.
Perfect Screen Shot is my app choice when making images for AndroidGuys. PSS lets you import screenshots and places them in the frame of an existing smartphone of your choice, complete with a classy background.
Ultra version creates complementary colored backgrounds.
Setup –
Next to nothing, here. The only step that requires attention is to download the assets of the phone frames you want to use. The steps to do this are as follows:
Swipe right from the left side of the screen to open the menu.
Tap “Devices.”
Check the boxes next to each phone of which you’d like to download assets.
Once this finishes, you can use any of the frames you downloaded.
Originally I used Screener for all my screenshot needs, but grew disillusioned when I realized it couldn’t properly handle Landscape screenshots. PSS, however, automatically detects the orientation of the shot and properly orients the frame to match. There are a number of backgrounds to choose from, including a custom image, custom color, or a very handy auto-detecting feature that takes complementary colors from the image and presents you with a number of options to make your shot pop. Really cool stuff.
You can export your screenshots to nearly any other app you want (I use DropBox, personally), making it ridiculously easy to share your fancy screenshots to the world. Perhaps the one thing I would add is the ability to have different styles of frames for each phone – a 3/4 view and a minimalist view are options that Screener has, for instance. In all, PSS is a very good screenshot app – I understand that not everyone has a use for it, but someone, somewhere does.
If you want to make your screenshots look nice and purdy, Perfect Screen Shot is your app. It’s versatile, pretty, and has some really great options that are really simple to use.
Financial technology has been on the rise for the past year or so, bringing more ways to exchange money and manage personal banking on your smartphone.
Google’s latest experiment shows it’s always looking for the next edge in mobile banking and payments. To make mobile payments even more convenient than holding your smartphone next to the register, you don’t even have to take it out of your pocket anymore. This new initiative called Hands Free wants you to be able to pay for your purchases simply by telling the cashier “I’ll pay with Google.”
Sound familiar? That’s because Square did something similar back in 2011 with Card Case, except Google’s experiment works a bit differently. Pali Bhat, Google’s senior director of product management, said:
“We believe we have some very unique assets and technologies that we’re bringing to the table…one of the things is this combination of technologies we’re using to ensure that a user’s near the store, the other piece that’s as important is all the things we’re doing on the security side. Those are pieces of technology that we feel are very critical and defensible.”
For now, this initiative is taking place as a pilot program in the Southern San Francisco Bay area to collect user feedback. Additionally, it’s only available in a few stores like McDonalds and Papa Johns. You’ll need to download a separate app to use this feature. It’s unclear if it will be baked into Android Pay or Google Wallet in the future, or if there’s a separate app just as part of the pilot program. The app is available for Android 4.2+ and iOS.
