Product review: Polaroid 2x3 inch Premium ZINK Photo Paper

This is a review  of Premium Zink Photo paper.  I am using Premium Zink paper in a Polaroid Snap camera. I took photos both inside and outside and they came out slightly blueish. I have used Zink paper in the past and saw no blue cast. When I look closer at the packaging I noticed that the temperature range for the use of the Premium paper is fairly narrow: 68°F to 77°F degrees. It was definitely colder than that for my outside shots, and probably on the border for the inside shots as we keep the house at about 68 degrees in the winter.



Other than the blueish tint I like many things about Zink paper. The image on the paper cannot be smudge as the process uses no ink. The print feels thick and very glossy. Unlike the glossy print I get from my ink jet printer Zink paper does not show finger prints. Pretty neat!



Each paper sheet is 2" x 3". The paper is inserted into the camera with the bar code facing down, shiny side up. The camera takes 10 pieces of paper at a time.



I received this paper for evaluation and review. Bottom line: Premium paper is a cheaper alternative for Zink paper (about 25 cents per sheet as I write this review) if a blueish cast will bother you make sure you plan to use it the recommended temperature range. Unfortunately the temperature range is not shown in Amazon description, only on the foil wrapper of the paper itself.



You can locate Polaroid Premium ZINK Photo Paper on Amazon via this link.





AshopZones review

Product review: Smart phone camera lens Kit 3 in 1: 198 Fisheye Lens,15x Macro Lens 0.63x Wide Angle Lens

The kit includes 3 lenses: a fisheye, a wide angle and a macro lens. Initially I thought I had only two lenses in this kit, but his was because the wide angle and macro lens are shipped screwed into each other and have only one lens cap between them. Fisheye lens has a cap of its own. The side that screws into the holder does not have a lens cap. Another kit I own has caps for both ends of the lens, which is better. The lens holder is a clip. The clip is very nice, it opens easily but holds very tightly. Finally, I like that they come in a case. It helps to keep all pieces together. The case has a carabiner, so I can clip it to my purse so the lenses are always handy.



I included photos taken from the same spot with and without the lenses so you can see the difference. My favorite lens in the kit is the fisheye lens, it allowed me to take very interesting photos that I could not take without it, the photos are always sharp no fussing with the lens is needed. Wide angle lens is also easy to use. The macro lens provides magnification but focus is more challenging and requires a bit of fussing. This typical for a macro lens, so not a knock on this lens specifically.



I received this kit for testing and review. Getting a free product does not prevent me from honestly describing pluses and minuses of my experience.



YOu can find this camera lens kit on Amazon via this link.





AshopZones review

Product review: SINOKAL Elastic Dustproof Luggage Suitcase Protector Cover Fits Most 20" to 29" Bags

What attracted me to this cover is the thought of easily identifying my luggage on the airport carousel. I selected the "dreamy colors" because it was the wildest brightest design which I thought would stand out the most. The colors in the stock photo were accurate and it is as bright and as wild in person as you see in the stock photo.



I tried it on the two large suitcases that I travel with most frequently and both had some fit issues. I am attaching photos for each suitcases and will describe the issues so you can be the judge if they are deal breakers. One of my suitcases is green another one is red so you can match my comments to the photos.



Green suitcase

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. Sinokal's bottom closes with a large Velcro strip and an elastic strap for extra security. The wheels fit fine, the suitcase rolls well. See green suitcase collage photos labeled 1 and 2.



2. The openings for the handles on the side and on top line up well. The handled are positioned in the center of the suitcase and that lines up with holes in the cover. See green suitcase collage photos labeled 3 and 4.



3. The fit problem is with the handle that extends to roll this suitcases. The handle on this suitcase spans the entire width of the suitcase and does not fit into the small opening in the luggage cover. See green suitcase collage photo labeled 4.



The fact that I cannot roll the suitcases when it case a cover on a serious problem. I would need to cut the opening to be bigger if I decide to use this cover with the green suitcase.



Red suitcase

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



1. The bottom closes with a large Velcro strip and an elastic strap for extra security. The wheels fit fine, the suitcase rolls well. See red suitcase collage photo labeled 1.



2. The handle that extends to roll the luggage lines up with the opening of the luggage cover perfectly. The handle is small and off center. It fits into the hole in the cover just right. See red suitcase collage photo labeled 2.



3. The fit problem comes from the position of the handles. The handles on this suitcases are positioned off center, so both the side and the top handles of the suitcase do not line up with the openings in the cover. See red suitcase collage photos labeled 3 and 4. However, they are close enough to the opening that I can reach them through the opening and the handles can be used.



The problems with the handles are minor, I can still use them. So overall, the red suitcase fits the cover better.



I received this luggage cover for testing and review. Bottom line: I love the idea of the luggage cover to personalize my luggage and make it stand out. It also provides protection for the suitcase which to me is secondary. However, the luggage cover is not universal. It fits best the suitcases with the following configurations:

1. the handle that pulls out has to be off center and not span the entire width of the luggage.

2. the handles on the sides has to be in the middle of the luggage.



Other configuration could work too, but you might need to do some sewing to enlarge the holes in the cover to fit your favorite suitcase.



You can find this luggage cover on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review

Product review: Charging results for Nexus 6p, Nexus 5, and iPad Mini with compliant and non-compliant USB 3.1 cables - Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 by Kungix

This listing combines several different chargers. My review is for "Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 Adapter".



This wall charger has one port and has Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 technology. I tested this charger with Nexus 6p (using both USB 3.1 compliant and USB 3.1 non-compliant USB cables) as well as an older Nexus 5 and iPad Mini that do not support rapid charging.



Using Qualcomm Quick Charger

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

' Nexus 5 was charged at optimal rate of 1.02A.

' iPadMini was charged at non optimal rate of 0.93A (which is typical rate when iPad Mini is plugged into a 1A port)

' Nexus 6p is capable of rapid charging when the battery level is low. I discharged the phone to 28% so the phone would do rapid charging if possible.

'Using Tenswall USB 3.1 compliant cable the highest current Nexus 6p was able to draw was 1440A

' Using PECHAM USB 3.1 non-compliant cable the highest current Nexus 6p was able to draw was 2260A



Using another charger without Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 chip

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For comparison I used a regular (non Qualcomm) charger

' Using Tenswall USB 3.1 compliant cable the highest current Nexus 6p was able to draw was 1320A

' Using PECHAM USB 3.1 non-compliant cable the highest current Nexus 6p was able to draw was 1700A



So it looks like that Qualcomm charger did significantly better with a non-compliant cable, but almost the same with a compliant cable. I repeated each test 4-5 times to be sure that the readings are consistent.



What is 3.1 compliant cable? USB 3.1 spec specifies that the termination resistor that advertises the maximum available current should be set at 22K which advertises 1.5A of current. Benson Leung has a series of excellent reviews of Type C cables. Benson works for Google's Pixel group and has pointed out that many type-C cables violate the USB 3.1 specification that states that the termination resistor that advertises the maximum available current has been set incorrectly at 10K which advertises 3A of current rather than the correct value of 22K which advertises 1.5A of current. The "bug" in non-compliant cables can be used as a feature of allowing rapid charging for Nexus 6p. The phone does not draw more than 2.5A so it does not damage the phone. The non-compliant cable could be harmful to devices that are not limited to 2.5A such as the ones that Benson evaluated in his reviews.



Using Qualcomm Quick Charger with Qualcomm Quick Chart 2.0 chip

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One other point of comparison is that Qualcomm 2.0 charger I have allows my PECHAM USB 3.1 non-compliant cable to draw 2500A. I expected that 3.0 charger would give me better or the same results.



I received this charger from Kungix for testing and review. For Android phone without rapid charging it worked the same as a regular charger. For iPadMini it only delivered 1A, so it was below average. For Nexus 6p this charger worked better under some condition than a regular charger, however not better than Qualcomm 2.0 charger.



You can find "Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0" on Amazon via this link





AshopZones review ★★★★☆

Product review: Polaroid Cube+ 1440p Mini Lifestyle Action Camera with Wi-Fi Magnetic Mount

There is large number of small action cameras out there. Many of them are GoPro clones, Polaroid Cube+ is a little different.

I own a couple of GoPro clones so I thought it might be useful to compare the best of the clones to the Polaroid Cube+.



As far as the video quality, I would rank it below the 4K sports cameras. It does not do well when driving directly into the sun. It does quite well in good lighting, and it does well at night. I am attaching a video that shows clips taken under different conditions: into the sun, without sun beaming into the camera, at night on my dash, and at night on my roof.



I got the camera in January 2016 and the audio is working fine (audio is included in attached video). I read older reviews that mention a problem but it appears to have been fixed in the version I have.



The biggest difference between GoPro clones and Polaroid Cube+ is the mounting system. Polaroid Cube+ has a strong magnet as its mounting system. I has driven with it on my roof on the highway without losing the camera. We even hit a huge pot hole at 65 miles an hour and my husband had to hold me down "No, we cannot pull over and see if the camera is still there as we are not going to try to retrieve it if it is not there and get killed." But the cube was still there when we arrived.



Another big difference is the user interface. The GoPro sports cameras have a very intuitive rich interface driven by menus. The cube has one button and talks to the owner in beeps and LED color changes. Green is turned on, red means it is recording. This is a trade off Polaroid made to gain the small size.



The documentation that comes with cube is as minimalist as the user interface. You get a leaflet with several pictures. No words. This documentation is enough to turn on the camera and take pictures or video. However, there was no documentation with the name of the app and no documentation of how to turn on WIFI. When I turned on the camera I saw a new hotspot on my phone. I attempted to connect to it and it asked me for a password. Because I set up many WIFI on sport cameras I tried several variations of common passwords and guessed it correctly on the third try. I found the app by taking a guess and searching Google play on "Polaroid CUBE+". In my video you can see what the app looks like. Once I started the app it told me the default password for the hotspot. Once connected to the hotspot, the app connected the camera and WIFI without problems. The app name and the password should have part of the documentation. There is no excuse for making the user guess such basic things.



The camera comes with a bumper case. However, it somewhat decreases the strength of the magnet and I don't use it because I rather use all the magnetic power I have to make sure I don't lose the camera.



You can use the camera without changing configuration, but if you want to change config you need to run an app which is included on the micro sd card of the camera. If you want to run the software you will need to attach the camera to a computer (Windows or Apple). For Windows the name of the application is PolaroidCube.exe, for Mac the application is called app.zip



Configuration can change:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

' Whether the camera overwrites old files when it runs out of space (the default is no)

' Whether you want to see a time stamp (the default is no)

' The volume of the buzzer (the default is good if there is no noise around, if you are using a camera as action camera it might be too low)

' Light frequency (50 Hz or 60 Hz). Default is 60 Hz

' The date/time



OPERATION

~~~~~~~~~

There is one button on top of the camera that controls everything

' To turn on the camera press the button for 3 seconds (green light turns on)

' To take a photo press once (red light turns on briefly as it saves the photo)

' To start video recording press twice (red light starts blinking as it records)

' To turn of video recording press once (red light stops blinking)

' To turn off press to the button for 3 seconds (the light goes off)



OUTPUT FORMAT /

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The video output is generated in MP4 format. Some cameras break up video in many files which are written out every several minutes. Polaroid CUBE+ writes out one large file for the entire trip. I personally like the small files approach better. If a file gets corrupted you don't lose the entire video, you lose just a segment. With that being set so far all videos I have recorded are playable, I had not bad files. I am using class 10 micro sd card that came in the package.



GENERAL OBSERVATIONS

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

' This camera is very small. It is 1.25" cube.

' The lens on the camera is a wide angle (124 degrees)

' The battery is sealed in the unit and I don't see a way to replace it if I ever need it. At some point this will become a problem. When the camera goes down to 10% charge it beeps a warning. I am getting approximately 1.5 hours of continuous recording from it with the fresh battery.

' The camera can record while it is plugged in. The camera has an option to cycle, so it can overwrite old videos when it runs out of space.

' The camera has only a magnetic mount (there is no 1/4 mounting screw).

' The camera does not come with any other mounts, however I found that the packing box (which has a magnet) makes a nice stand that I can use on the dash of my car.

' The camera comes with a class 10 micro SD card.

' The camera charges with a regular micro USB cable. It works in all my chargers include a car charger.

' The camera comes with a short data cable. This cable allows you to transfer files from the camera to the computer. If you decide to use your own longer cable (which I am doing) make sure you are using a data cable not a charging cable (the cables that come with external power banks are often the charging cables). In a charging cables the two data connections are shorted together (rendering the cable useless for data transfer), but this fools devices to see the cable as an AC power connection and thus the battery accept a higher current for charging. For moving data from the camera to the PC you need a data cable.



Even though the video is not as good as my 4K sports camera, its unique mount is fun to use and gets unique views and sounds.



This camera is provided by Polaroid for testing and review. Getting a free product does not prevent me from pointing out short coming of the camera as I have done in this review. The camera is better than OK rating of 3 star, but maybe a little short of 4 stars. What improvements I would like to see? 4K video, 1/4" screw mount in addition to to the magnet mount, and better documentation.



You can find "Polaroid Cube+" on Amazon via this link





AshopZones review ★★★★☆

Product review: Rantopad MXX Gaming Mechanical Keyboard 87 Keys, Blue Switches with White Backlight, Pure Aluminum Top Cover Blue Rantopad MXX Gaming Mechanical Keyboard 87 Keys, with White Backligh

This keyboard could have been great if the manual was in English and if manufacturer did not choose form over function in a couple of default settings. Over time I figured out how to change the visual effects I found annoying, I hope this will help someone else as there is no English manual that tells you how to do it. The seller did provide some instructions in the Amazon description but it took some experimenting to get the keyboard to work as I wanted.



I am a through back - I love the feedback of the mechanical keyboards and before I switched to this keyboard I was using a very old DELL keyboard that I loved above all other keyboards I have tried prior to this one.



So here is what I like about this keyboard as well as what I don't like.



I LIKE:



1. Excellent mechanical feedback, as good as my old DELL. I can type fast, my touch is very light, yet this key boards picks up every character I type and gives me a loud click feedback and a mechanical feedback to my finger.



2. I like to work with dimmed lights and my old keyboard did not have backlighted keys. This is the main reason I switched to using this keyboard. It took some work to get the lighting effects to work the way I wanted but once that was done I really like it.



3. The bottom of the keyboard has rubberized keys and they form great tracking with my wood desk. It does not move at all.



4. It has a standard layout of keys (and I mean all special keys not just letters). The only thing it does not have that my old DELL has is the numeric keypad on the right. However, this makes the keyboard smaller and it fits better on the keyboard tray of my computer desk.



I DON'T LIKE:



1. By default the back-light effect is not steady on, instead it shows waves of light that light a small section of a keyboard at a time. I found this lighting effect to be annoying and often I had to sit and wait until the side of the keyboard I needed lights up. Sure, have this funky lighting effect for whoever likes it, but it would have been better to make the steady light be the default. Below I give the steps on how to change the default.



2. The company logo is bright and blinking. I find it very distracting when I look at the screen. I was able to slightly dim it via available control but I was never able to fully turn it off. I solved this problem by taping over the logo with a black electrical tape. I show what this looks like in the video.



3. The manual is entirely in Chinese. The only information on how change back-light modes is in the Amazon description. I have tested this keyboard on both Windows and Linux and the function key combinations work on both.



FN+F1'Calculator

FN+F2'Sound Off

FN+F3'VOL Down

FN+F4'VOL Up

FN+F5'My Computer

FN+F6'Media Play/Stop

FN+F7'Previous

FN+F8'Next

FN+F9'Normal mode/Game Mode (Indicator Light G will light up) Disable WiN & Alt'Tab

FN+L' Adjust"MXX"LOGO Light [*my comment* can change brightness but not turn it off]

FN + F10'Opt Default lighting Mode/User Defined Mode

FN + '/''Adjust the speed of dynamic light effect [*my comment* can change how fast effects move but this does not stop flashing]

FN + F11'Backlit Turn Down [*my comment* can change brightness but this does not make it steady on]

FN + F12'Backlit Turn Up [*my comment* can change brightness but this does not make it steady on]

Fn+F10 twice into user defined mode

Fn+delete to edit.



HOW TO CHANGE FLICKERING BACK LIGHT TO STEADY BACK LIGHT

----------------------

I found a way to change flickering back light into steady back light.



Fn+F10 into default mode then Fn+page up/down to select one of the six modes. I just kept hitting FN-page up until the entire keyboard lit up. The key is to do Fn+F10 and then immediately after if FN+page up/down.

----------------------



Initially I thought only half of each key had backlight, for example on numeric keys I could see the upper part of the key (the special characters) not the numbers. The same was true for the period, comma, and forward slash. However, I was able to resolve this issue by increasing the amount of backlight and now I can see both parts of each key.



The keyboard comes with a braided USB to USB cable. It is a heavy duty cable and I like that it is nylon braided and long (70"). In video I show this keyboard on top of my dell keyboard for size reference. It is 14" long and 5" wide.



Overall, this keyboard was good enough for me to change from a keyboard I used for many years, but it is not perfect as I outlined above. I was able to cover up the logo and changing the default for lighting effects.



This keyboard is provided by Rantopad for testing and review. I hope the tip on changing defaults will save someone time.



YOu can find "Rantopad Mechanical Keyboard" on Amazon via this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★☆

Product review: Z-Edge Car DVR Dash Cam

Through the years we owned a few dash cams which gives me a chance to compare Zedge with other car dvrs. Zedge video quality is pretty decent, the colors seem to be a little washed out, but the clarity is good during the day and during the night. The suction cup worked well even on very cold days (it never let go and fell off). The user interface however was not as intuitive as other dash cams. It has a menu driven interface which I like, but the navigation though the menus were not as intuitive or easy to remember.



' This camera comes with a 32G Class 10 micro sd card, and will work with 64g gig card.



' I had no technical issues of any kind. All files were readable. The camera writes out video frequently, by default it saves a file every 1 minute. The size of each segment in my video was about 125.9MB. Writing small files improves overall reliability. It is much better than writing one large file at the end of the trip.



' The dash cam uses stands micro USB cables, the package includes a charging cable and a cable with car port charger.



' Audio is recorded clearly, the default setting is to record with the microphone turned on. It can be turned off with one button push on the side.



' Motion activation mode/parking mode is very sensitive. I hear the camera turning on and off without any particular reason. I am not sure what is activating it. As a result there is a lot of uninteresting files saved in 'event' mode. On the positive side it records even with the car not running.



Overall, I thought this dash cam falls in the middle of the pack. The video is reasonable although not the best, user interface is menu driven and logical but navigation through menus is not as simple as other dash cams.



I received this camera for testing and review. Getting a free unit does not effect what I say. The review is based purely how the dash cam worked in my experience based on my experience with a variety of different car dash cams. So far after two weeks of use the dash cam had no issues. I will post an update if it dies prematurely as I saw some people reported problems after more extended use than the 2 weeks I had with it so far.



You can find Z-Edge dash cam by following this link to Amazon.



AshopZones review ★★★★☆

Product review: Wegreeco Bamboo Reusable Sanitary Pads

Let me start by saying that Amazon stock photo shows the pad clipped the wrong way. The gray part goes towards the body. The pads come without instructions, so I looked at stock photo to see how it meant to be clipped. I first used it with the colorful part towards the body and was extremely unhappy because it felt cold, wet, and did not seem to do the job at all. I was about to write a 1 star review and was in process of doing a video to demonstrate that it absorbs liquid very slowly I saw that it does not absorb any water at all. It is waterproof! When I flipped it it was working much better - it absorbed the liquid and the colorful part was working as a protective barrier.



Once I clipped them on correctly (the opposite way from Amazon photos) the pads work quite well: they are absorbent, they latch on tightly, and I do not feel the snap as I sit. I ordered the large size. The large pads are 10 7/8" and 3" wide. With the wings spread it is 7 1/8" wide, from snap to snap it is 6.5".



I tested the pads for colorfastness and they are colorfast. After washing them in the washing machine they did not shrink and came out wrinkle free. I carry a ziplock bag to store the used ones if I am not home. If you overload them they get quite wet and unpleasant (they feel more wet than the disposable kind at that stage).



This listing include 5 pads. At the time when I am writing this review this works out to just under $6 per pad, and feels a little too pricey. I would liked it to be a six pack, as I typically need 3 a day and they take a day to dry.



These pads were provided for testing and review as part of a new product introduction. Getting a free product does not prevent me from pointing out flaws. I included both positives and negatives of my experience and I hope the tip on how to use them will save someone having my initial bad experience.



You can find "Wegreeco Reusable Sanitary Pads" on Amazon via this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★☆

Product review: Cozy Products CT Cozy Toes Carpeted Foot Warming Heater for Under Desks

My feet get really cold in the winter and I purchased this heated mat as one more option to keep my feet warm. I like it! In about 4 minutes after turning on the carpet I can feel it through my slippers. It does not feel hot to touch yet there is enough heat to keep my feet warm. I like it better than Mastex electric booties which really get hot and I cannot keep them on for too long.



The color of the mat is gray. The stock photo looked a little greenish to me but I was happy to see it has no green in it at all. The mat is 17.5" x 17.5". It is okay to use on top of the carpet and on top of wood. It does not get hot enough to damage either surface. When I was shopping for a heated mat I considered another mat but it could only be used on concrete or tile floor as it gets warmer and over time can discolor other surfaces.

I have been using this mat for 2.5 months. It is placed on top of a silk area rug and I see no changes in the rug.



I am quite pleased overall. Would I like to see any changes? Yes. I wish it was available in more colors so I can match it to my carpet better. I would like it to have a light to indicate that pad is on as a reminder for me to turn off at night or when I am not using it to save electricity. Despite these two minor things my feet are definitely happy.



You can find "Cozy Carpeted Foot Warming Heater" on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★☆

Product review: Bull Titan Women's Twinface Shearling Lined Foldable Winter Snow Boots

My shoe size is 7.5 and I got these boots in size 8. Sometimes Asian sizes run a little small but these boots are true to size. Size 8 is a little large on me with a thin socks and perfect with a thick wool sock. This is exactly how a size 8 fits me.



The boot is 8 inches tall when measure on the side the sole to the top of the boot with the sheepskin folded down. The shearling lining extends all the way down into the boot and the sole. The sole is made out of synthetic rubber. The sole has some bumps for traction, but it does not provide great traction. For a winter boot I would have liked to see a bit more texture on the sole, The boot does not have much arch support. I am slightly flat footed and plan add my own liner with a bit more arch support. The liner fits well because as I mentioned earlier I got a slightly bigger boot than I need.



I am finding the boots very comfortable and they look similar to UGG boots, but with less traction on the bottom of the sole. I hope the video gives you a better idea of what they look like.



A sample pair of boots is provided by Bull Titan to test the fit in American market. Asian sizes can be tricky but these boots are sized correctly. I used a chart under stock photos to determine the right size.



You can find these boots on Amazon by following this link





AshopZones review ★★★★☆

Book review: Large Print Adult Coloring Book by B. Paulson

This coloring book contains a nice variety of designs birds, butterflies, dragonflies and flowers. The designs are pretty and done with large clear lines. There is a total of 31 different pictures and 65 pages. For each images there are three pages of text. I like the designs, but I did not like that back of the image is not a blank page but the text with an inspiration saying which are visible. If you want to transfer the design to another piece of paper with a lightbox to keep the book clean or to use designs as a templates for other crafts (stainless glass or quilting) the text makes it difficult.



The paper take pastel pencils very well. Wet markers do bleed through a bit to other side of the page. The designs are well suited to coloring - they do not have a lot of shading of their own (if there is a lot shading it makes difficult to color). None of the design are too small to introduce coloring.



I like the templates for the bookmarks with designs at the end of the book. The page on the the bookmarks also had writing. So if someone wanted to cut the bookmarks out they would have a pretty design on one side and cut up text on the other side.



Overall, beautiful designs. The change I would make it leave the back of each design blank and have less text overall.



I was provided a copy of this coloring book for evaluation and review.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.









AshopZones review ★★★★☆

Product review: aLLreLi USB 3.1 Type C Charging Cable for Nexus 5X / 6P

This listing combines several products, my review is for aLLreLi Type C to USB charging cable. I am using this cable with Nexus 6p.



I have been following Benson Leung reviews of Type C cables for a number of weeks prior to buying Nexus 6p. Benson has pointed out that many cables, including this one, violate the USB 3.1 specification that states that the termination resistor that advertises the maximum available current has been set incorrectly at 10K which advertises 3A of current, the correct value should be 22K which advertises 1.5A of current. However many Type A USB chargers are rated at 2.5A and some as high as 3A which are safe to use with this cable. I tried using this cable with a number of different chargers and the Nexus 6p phone. All of the chargers were self limiting to their specified capabilities, i.e. if the charger port is labeled as 1.5A that's what it approximately delivered, and charger ports that were labeled as 2.4A delivered approximately 2.4A.



To identify the maximum draw of the phone, I charged it with depleted battery using Type-C to Type-C cable and a Type-C charger provided by Google. My Nexus 6P has never drawn more that 2.5A when charging from the Type-C Google provided charger. Charging with aLLerLi cable and my various chargers stayed under this number as well. So I feel that the aLLeLi cable is safe for use with the Nexus 6p and a QUALITY charger. I don't want to say that it's safe for all combinations of devices, laptops like the Chromebook Pixel and the Apple Macbook draw more current than a phone, and there may be badly made chargers that lack current limiting and might burn themselves out. However with a quality charger that's rated for higher currents this cable will charge faster than a USB 3.1 compliant cable.



Below are the details of my tests. All test were done keeping all conditions the same: same level of charge for the phone, same apps running, keeping the screen on so I can see the results.



1) Type C to Type C cable that came from Google in Nexus 6p package with the phone discharged to the level at which is does rapid charging to see maximum draw

The phone draws 2300 mAh, the status indicates that it is charging rapidly. The phone battery level is at 61% to 62%.



2) aLLreLi Type C to Type A cable with several wall charger. I am using a current monitor to see how much it draws and compare the results with the cable received from Google in Nexus 6p package

With the battery level at 76% to 78% the phone does not use rapid charging. With non-rapid charging both cables behave the same

- aLLreLi cable 1.32A, Google cable is 1.31A



3) aLLreLi and Google cable with several different car chargers. The phone battery is at 58%, at this level it uses rapid charging if possible.

- aLLreLi cable using Bolse 3 port charger, 2.4A port: 2.31A (charging rapidly), Google cable on the same port 1.73A (charging)

- aLLreLi cable using Bolse 3 port charger, 1.5A port: 1.76A (charging rapidly), Google calbe on the same port 1.52A (charging)

- aLLreLi cable using Bolse 2 port charger, 2.1A port: 2.13A (charging rapidly), Google cable on the same port 1.51A (charging)



Attached are images from my tests that show the results with both cables.



The aLLreLi cable is 40 inches long. The cable inserted without a problem on the phone with a silicone skin on.



I received this cable from aLLreLi for testing and review. Bottom line: aLLeLi cable is not USB 3.1 compliant and does behave differently from a USB 3.1 compliant cable provided by Google in "rapid charging" mode however I see no harmful effect on the phone with good quality self-limiting chargers and I am using this cable on regular basis.



YOu can find "aLLreLi USB 3.1 Type C Charging Cable" on Amazon by following this link







AshopZones review ★★★★☆

Product review: NewNow 20000mAh Power Bank Portable

This external packs turned out to be larger than I imagined from the stock photos. Its size is 5.75" x 1.75" x 0.75" and it weighs slightly over a pound. The power pack has two ports, both of them are 1A. The external pack as a small built-in flashlight. It generates a very small beam of light and is not very bright.



The external battery performed very well charging with my Android phone. It did not perform at am optimal range for IPad Mini. My current monitor showed that neither of the ports delivers over 1A, which is required for an optimal charge for Apple devices.



To see how well different chargers and external batteries charge my mobile devices I use a Nexus phone and an iPadMini to test each of them. The current drawn from the battery depends on each device using the battery. I always use the same two devices and I do my tests with the devices charged to the same level, running the same applications and using the same cables to keep everything the same. This allows me to do a relative comparison of each battery and identify the ones that do not perform well. Note that these tests are not testing for the maximum current each device can draw on each port as neither of my devices can max out the port.



I also tested to see if the battery supports pass-through charging (i.e. whether the battery can charge mobile devices while it is being charged). This battery does NOT supports charge through charging. It can not charge while being charged.



Samsung Nexus phone:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

port 1: 1.02A/5.05V (excellent comparing the performance of the same device with other chargers)

port 2: 1.00A/5.04V (excellent comparing the performance of the same device with other chargers)

(for comparison the best charging monitor result for this phone is 1.00A/5V)



iPad Mini tablet:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Neither of the ports delivers over 1A, which is required for optimal charge for Apple devices.

port 1: 0.93A / 5.08V (average for 1A port for the same device with other chargers)

port 2: 0.93A / 5.10V (average fpr 1A port for the same device with other chargers)

(for comparison the best charging monitor result for this tablet is 1.70A/5V)



Summary:

' size: 5.75" x 1.75" x 0.75"

' weight: 1 lb 7 oz

' number of ports: 2 - both ports are 1 Amp

' flashlight: yes

' pass through charging: NO (i.e. the battery CANNOT charge while being charged itself)

' cables: 1 charging cable



Since neither of the ports produced more than 1A this battery is best suited for Android devices, MP3 players, portable speakers etc. Just not devices that work best with 2A ports such as Apple devices.



This battery pack is provided by NewNew for testing and review. Getting a review product does not influence what I say, I run tests and report what I see purely based on a performance of the product.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★☆

Product review: Nitecore HC30 1000Lumens CREE XM-L2 U2 LED Headlamp Handheld Flashlight

This is a unique headlamp. It is a band that accepts a small flashlight, which can be used by itself or as part of the headlamp. I really like the flashlight, but using it in the headband was not ideal. First, I am not able to shine the flashlight down because the light gets into my eyes if the flashlight is pointed down. This does not happen in a typical headlamps which have a light that can be ratcheted down because the casing shields the light from the eyes. The ratchinging mechanism gives me a better control over where the light is aiming. The flashlight is larger than a typical headlamp light and it makes the headlight more top heavy than my other headlights.



The flashlight itself is very nice. It is relatively small - 4 inches long and it weighs 4.5 oz (with battery installed). The flashlight has 5 brightness levels: Turbo, High, Mid, Low, Ultra-low.



Lux meter readings:

At 12 inches the lux meter showed

' 13840 lux on turbo high setting

' 7210 lux on high setting

' 2050 lux on medium setting

' 45 lux on low setting

' 4 lux on ultra low setting

' For comparison, a 60 watt fluorescent bulb at the same distance produces 1119 lux.



It runs on one 18650 battery which is included. The battery was totally discharged when I received and required a full recharge before it would work in the flashlight. The elastic band is adjustable.



Overall, I like the standalone flashlight more than when it was in the headband.



This headlamp is provided by Nitecore for testing and review. Getting a review product does not influence what I say. The review is based purely on my experience which had both positives and negatives.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★☆

Product review: Eye-Fi Mobi Pro 16GB WiFi SDHC CARD

I am using this card in SONY-NEX5 phone and Android phone. The set up was incredibly smooth. All I had to do was install the the EyeFi app, it came up and told me "insert the SD card and take a picture". That's it! No hotspot to connect to, no need configuration of any kind. I took a picture a 1 minute and 5 seconds later it appeared on my phone. After the initial upload the images were uploaded a little fast, videos took a little longer.



EyeFi app also allows some basic operations such as deleting files, sharing, and a few other basic operations. It is easy to use.



Is it perfect? No. After using the card for a couple of weeks I ran into several practical issues. They are not deal breakers for me but prevent it from being a perfect experience:



1) It uploads ALL photos, so if you shoot a lot of photos in raw format this can fill up the phone memory.



2) It would be nice if there was an option to delete images from SD after a successful transfer. Such options does not exist and SD card needs to manually cleaned up - either periodically or when one runs out of space.



3) I wish it had is a switch that allows me to turn off WIFI on the card (at a hardware level). I have this feature on my old WIFI SD card and do use it when I do not want uploads to occur.



I received Eyefi sdcard for testing and review. It exceed my expectations for ease of use and set up. I have no problem using, although after several weeks of use some functionality that I would have found useful is not available.





You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★☆

Product review: CHUWI HI8 8" inch Windows 10 + Android 4.4 Dual Boot

This is a good budget tablet. I rank my overall experience as good (i.e. pleased overall, but it does have some weak points). The strongest point points of this table is the high resolution screen (1920 x 1200 resolution). I can fit a lot on the screen while maintaining clarity. I set the font to large to make it easier to see the text. The weakest points are battery life, WI FI performance and the speaker.



In some low cost tablets the total memory is divided into two partitions restricting the amount of memory available for installing apps. I was happy to see that it is not the case with this tablet. I show the storage layout in my video, where this restriction appears if it exists. I show th storage after I installed about a dozen of the applications that I use all the time.



WI FI performance is not stellar. To test its wireless capabilities I run OOKLA speed test app. I ran the test 5 times and then repeated the test on my Samsung tablet. The old Samsung tablet performed significantly better. Chuwi tablet results ranged from 14 Mbps to 27 Mbps for download, and 10 Mbps to 19 Mbps for upload speed. By comparison, my Samsung tablet did 37.88 Mbps download and 33.67 Mbps upload.



Some budget tablets do not support bluetooth functionality. Chuwi tablet does support bluetooth. I am using a bluetooth speaker and a bluetooth keyboard with it, both work smoothly. In attached video I show pairing and using the bluetooth speaker.



The tablet is running Android 4.4.4 (Kit kat) operating system. I tested many of my favorte apps and so far have not found any that did not work. Here are example of the apps I am using on on Chuwi tablet: Battery widget, OOKLA speedtest, Tune-in Radio, iHeart radio, Nexflix, Firefox, YouTube, OI notepad, OI file manager, iPerf, OTG disk Explorer, Dropbox, Kindle, camera. I also tried a few of my favorite games and they all work.



This tablet also supports Windows 10. By default is starts as an Android tablet and under settings there is an options to "Switch OS". Windows comes up in a minute or two. To return back to Android OS there is an Android icon on the tool bar.



I found the touch screen to be very responsive. Using on-screen keyboard generates good feedback.



The built-in speaker is not great and cannot be made very loud. However, because the tablet has bluebooth capabilities when I want to make it loud I use a bluetooth speaker.



The battery life on the tablet is less than the other tablets I own. I can run my iPad Mini or Samsung tablets for more than I day without recharging. This tablet needs to be recharged every day even when it is not used constantly.



The tablet has an uncommon size (8 2/8" long and 4 7/8" wide). I am yet to find a case that fits it well.



Bottom line? A pretty a decent tablet. In attached video I included a variety of short snippets of running various apps such as Netflix, Tune in radio, Pandora and others.



This tablet is provided by Chuwi for testing and review as part of the new product introduction. Getting a free product does not influence what I say. I always cover pluses and minuses as I did in this review.





You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★☆

Product review: SmartSockets 5-AC Outlet + 2 USB Outputs Round Power Strip

I use a lot of battery chargers (AAA, camera, photo lights) that take up more than one outlet, the round shape of this strip seemed idea for it. And yes, I can fit them all next to each other no problem. However, there is a design flaw that does not make this strip ideal for the larger chargers. The sloped sides of the strip make the prongs pull out under their own weight. If the charger was flat on top this would not have been a problem. Aesthetically sloped edges look better but for practical purposes I wish it was flat on top.



In addition to 5 AC outlets this charger has two USB ports. I tested both USB ports with a current charger and was impressed with their performance, each one delivers 2A and provides optional charging to both Android and Apple devices.



I still like this power strip because I can fit 6 plugs in a smaller place than it would take for a strip. I just could not off load all my battery charger to it as I hoped.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★☆

Product review: Jackery Crew 5-Port High Speed USB Charging Hub

' size: 2 1/2" x 3 3/4" x 1 1/8"

' weight: 6 oz

' number of ports: 5 ports

' cables: AC port is 54.5"



The best chargers have a smart chip in them which charges all devices to their optimal charge on every port. This charger does not have this chip. This charger performs very well for my Apple iPadMini tablet. For Android phone it works, but does not charge the phone as fast as other chargers. I captured results of the tests in attached photos for those who are interested in the details of the tests.



To see how well different chargers and external batteries charge my mobile devices I use a Nexus phone and an iPadMini to test each of them. The current drawn from the battery depends on each device using the battery. The port rated with maximum capacity of 2A does not always deliver 2A, what is actually delivered is controlled by the device based on many factors such running apps, level of charge, and so forth. I always use the same two devices and I do my tests with the devices charged to the same level, running the same applications and using the same cables to keep everything the same. This allows me to do a relative comparison of each charger and identify the ones that do not perform well. Note that these tests are not testing for the maximum current each device can draw on each port as none of my devices can max out the ports.



In addition to testing the devices individually, I tested to see if the charger is capable of charging 5 devices at the same time (2 phones and 3 tablets). I monitored each device with the current monitor and I saw that each devices was drawing the same amount of current when it was the only device charging as when it was one of 5 devices charging. This is good.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★☆