Product review: UEB Portable 4 Ports USB Car Charger - used with Nexus 6p

  

We usually travel with a lot of gadgets so a 4 port car charger is very useful to us. However, the key question how well it performs with Nexus 6p which is used for navigation, so it needs to be able to charge at an optimal rate. Nexus 6p has a capability for rapid charging, which means it can draw up to 2.5A when the battery is low. Rapid charging is incredibly fast, it is such a nice feature that any charger that cannot support this rapid charging is disqualified.



Prior to testing the charger, I read the specs of the charger and I was disappointed to see that it has very rigid specs for each port (best chargers have a smart chip that allow each port of a charger to work equally well with different mobile devices).



The spec listed the following information:

iPhone port provides 1 A/5V

iPad port provides 2.1 A/5V

Samsung port provides 1.3 A/5V

Android port provides 0.6 A/5V



Fortunately, when I tested each port the spec information proved to be incorrect and each port is not limited to stated limits.

I tested Nexus 6p with both 3.1 compliant and 3.1 non-compliant charging cables.



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.



Nexus 6p, charge level 46-51% keeping all other variables the same (at this level Nexus 6p uses rapid charging if possible)



* Using Tenswall USB 3.1 non-compliant cable

Android port_.._.._.._.._.._.._ 2430 mA (excellent)

iPhone port_.._.._.._.._.._..__ 2320 mA (excellent)

iPad port_.._.._.._.._.._.._.._ 2330 mA (excellent)

Samsung port_.._.._.._.._.._.._ 2310 mA (excellent)



* Using PECHAM USB 3.1 compliant cable

Android port_.._.._.._.._.._.._ 800 mA (bad)

iPhone port_.._.._.._.._.._..__ 1280 mA (ok)

iPad port_.._.._.._.._.._.._.._ 1330 mA (ok)

Samsung port_.._.._.._.._.._.._ 1320 mA (ok)



With a rapid charging non-compliant cable Nexus 6p is getting rapid charging on every port. With a compliant 3.1 USB cable I am not getting rapid charging, but it performs reasonably on every port but the port labeled "Android".



I received this car charger for evaluation and review. Getting a free product to review does not effect what I say. My review and opinions are purely my own based on testing and my experience with many different car chargers.



You can find UEB Car Charger on Amazon via this link.



AshopZones review ★★★★☆

Product review: K&F Concept® Full HD 1080P Car Video Camera 2.0" Mini Car DVR Dash Cam

The video quality that KF concepts camera records is pretty decent especially at night, however I ran into several problems with it. First, the camera is shipped with the default language set to Chinese. The manual is not detailed and has no information on how to change the language. I had to manually select every option on the menus one by one remembering what I already looked at by position (I do not read Chinese) until I found a menu choice that allowed me to switch the menus to English. I show where that option is located in my video. The second problem was the mount does not stay on the windshield during cold weather. We had a cold stretch of weather (12°F in the morning) and the suction cup mount does not stay on the windshield at this temperature. In the afternoons when the weather warms up I am able to mount it and stays for as long as I need. So if you live in a cold weather this dash cam will not work well for you. The mount is custom made for this camera, so you cannot replace it with another better mount.



On the positive side I like that the dash cam's compact size (2.25" x 2.25" x 0.75"). It does not block much of the windshield. The video quality is fine. It is not as good as 4K cameras, but quite reasonable and it does quite well at night. My video includes snippets under various conditions - day and night. 170° wide angle lens gives a good view of the entire road.



It turns on as soon as it gets power so you don't have to remember to turn it on. It can be turned off manually if desired. It is powered by a regular mini USB cable. The package includes a 32GB Class 10 micro SD.



When the dash cam writes out files to disks it saves them every few minutes, this is good, because if there is a problem you lose just a small segment not the entire video. I have not had any corrupted files with camera, but from experience with other cameras I now it can happen. I should note that the camera does not write out files to a standard directories. It creates three directories: event, jpg, and video. It uses JPG directory instead of DCIM for photos.



I received this camera for testing and review as part of a new product introduction. Overall, the camera has its pros and con. Hopefully, the manufacturer will fix the default language in the future versions of the camera, and I provided some help in how to do it now. So the only serious issue here is for the folks in the cold climates is the issue with the mount.



YOu can find K&F Concept Dash Cam 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: KEHAN KH903-50VP Super HD 2560*1080 Car DVR Dash Cam

Through the years we own a few dash cams which gives me a chance to compare Kehan with other car dvrs. Kehan video quality is on par with the best and it has a couple of unique features. Note that the video included with this review is highly compressed and does not represent what you get straight out of the camera.



♦ The unique feature I value most is that it works with 64G micro SD cards (where as my other dash cams could only do 32G).



♦ The second difference is that the dvr itself is very compact both in thickness and overall size. The buttons that control the action are on the bottom of the camera. The labels are on the front of the camera above the controls. This configuration decreases the dimensions of the dash cam, which I like because it covers less of the windshield.



♦ One other small but nice thing is that I did not have to set the time, the dash was automatically set using GPS as soon as I turned on the camera for the first time.



♦ The video quality is very good. Attached video shows the camera under different conditions: overcast, sunny, driving into the sun, driving when it is totally dark. It has done well even under challeging condition, driving into the sun and at night it was able to adjust for high contrast better than the other dash cams.



♦ I had no technical issues of any kind. All files were readable. The camera writes out video frequently (not one large file at the end as some cameras do) which improves overall reliability. By default the camera writes out files every 2 minutes, each file is 188.9MB when shot in 1920 x 1080 (the default).



♦ This camera has an excellent suction cup mount, stayed on even on rough roads.



♦ The dash cam uses stands micro USB cables, the package includes a chargine cable and a cable with car port adapter. One minor quip is that the USB cord just reaches the usb charger in our car. I would have liked it about 3 inches longer, but replacing a USB cable is so easy that this is really very minor.



♦ The cam has an LED display so I can tell that the cam is aimed correctly, by default displays on so I can see the camera is capturing.



♦ Audio is recorded clearly, the default setting is to record with the microphone turned on.



♦ Keehan camera has an auto turn on/auto turn off feature. It turns on as soon as it gets power so you don't have to remember to turn it on. It can be turned off manually if desired. When it is turned on and turned off it greets you and when you turn it off it says good bye. For me it is a don't care, but for some reason my husband really likes it and talks back to it!



♦ The user interface is straightforward and the manual is one of the better one I have seen explaining every function in a grid table.



♦ Here are a couple of notes on usage that were not in the manual.

- To see the menu you need to hit "ok" to stop recording first

- To get to settings you need to hit the mode button followed by the menu button, then navigate with up and down keys

- While you are driving the microphone can be turned on and turned off by pressing "mode" button, which is the second one from the right when looking at the screen



Overall, I was impressed with the camera and the video it captured.





You can find it on Amazon by following this link.







AshopZones review ★★★★★

Product review: AUSDOM Dash Cam Recorder, All-in-One Automobile Car DVR

We own a couple of dash cams and this one does pretty well compared to the others:



1) video quality - decent during the day day and during the night. You can see the video it took during the day in the sun and at night. The colors are a little bit washed in the sun, and at night the oncoming lights are slightly overexposed in order to capture video in the dark. Both are acceptable for a car dash cam, although I would not use it to capture a special occasion as I would want the colors captured better.

2) This camera has an excellent suction cup mount, stayed on even on rough roads.

3) The dash cam uses stands micro USB cables, the package includes two cables long (47") and longer (138").

4) The cam has an LED display so I can tell that the cam is aimed correctly, the displays does turn off while I am driving and so far I have not found an option that would allow it to stay on permanently.



Ausdom cam records video, GPS, and audio. It has an auto turn on/auto turn off feature. It turns on as soon as it gets power so you don't have to remember to turn it on. It can be turned off manually if desired.



This video recorder has many options: video quality, recording in a loop or stopping when disk is full, recording all the time or only when motion is detected, and so forth. The camera records full HD 1080p video, the clarity of the video is very good.



In attached video I show video of the Ausdom cam as well as the video recorded by the cam.



The Ausdom package includes the camera, two mini USB cables, and cigarette lighter USB adapter.



The user interface is straightforward and even though the manual does not contain details for each button and each option, it contains a picture where each button's function is labelled. I found the manual sufficient to configure my video cam. All defaults were very reasonable.



Overall, I was impressed with the camera and the video it captured.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.







AshopZones review ★★★★★

Product review: AVANTEK In-Car Universal Wireless FM Transmitter Radio Adapter Car Kit

I have been using FM transmitters in my car for many years as I like listening to audio books in my car. I have used several FM transmitters in the past and this one falls in the middle of the pack.



First thing you need to know that this transmitter is not bluetooth enabled. You can use either with an audio cable to connect to the phone or MP3 player or by streaming audio from a USB memory stick. So this transmitter is ideal for MP3 players that are not bluetooth enabled and my favorite method USB stick, but I don't see it being particularly useful with a phone that is bluetooth enabled.



As you see in the video it works the memory stick well. The sound is as good as your car speakers, of course. The main job of the transmitter is to stay in contact with an empty FM station for a clear sound, and this transmitter allows you to select any station you want - no limited number of pre-sets as some of the other FM transmitters I encountered.



To find vacant FM stations in my area I used a web site "radio-locator (dot) com/cgi-bin/vacant" where you can enter your zip code and get a list of stations to try.



Once the station is selected Aventek remembers it even when I unplug the transmitter and then plug it back in.



Since I listen to audio book having a bookmark capability (i.e. ability to return to exactly where I left of last time) is key. My favorite FM transmitter by Satechi has a bookmark capability, Aventek does not. This feature is most useful to audio book listening, for music it is not all that significant.



Aventek fits my cigarette firmly. It does not move even when I go over bumps. However its neck is pretty short and it is a little awkward to reach in my car as the car port is very close to the floor. Satechi has a remote control so I don't have to bend down and touch the unit, Aventek does not have a remote.



At the time I am writing this review Satechi transmitter is twice as expensive as the Aventek. So for the music lover who does not need bluetooth the feature difference is not significant, if you need bluetooth or you listen to audio books that the bookmarking feature might be worth the extra money.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.





AshopZones review ★★★★☆