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: BSTPOWER Infrared Touchless Stainless Steel Trash Can

This is a medium size trashcan that runs on four AA batteries (not included). I really like the battery choice for this trash can because I have a lot of AA rechargeable batteries and I am running this trashcan on rechargeable batteries. The trashcan has been in use for 2 weeks and I will post an update when the batteries will die.



The outside dimensions of the trash can (with the cover on) are:

12" tall, the base is 8.5" wide

The opening of the lid is 6.5" side to side and 5" front to back.

The finish is stainless silver. It a reflective (i.e. not brushed) finish.



I am using a 6 gallon trash bag.



The cover operates smoothly and closes well preventing odors from escaping. The Trash Can automatic opening mechanism is not too sensitive so it does not open when I just walk by, I need to hold my hand about 3 inches away from the sensor for it to react. If I am 5 inches away it does not move. This is a good thing especially if the trash can is located in a relatively small area.



The Trash Can comes with a handy ring, which allows me to neatly tuck in the trash bag inside the can. It is not totally invisible, but it holds the bag in place without overhang.



The only negative is that the lid, the ring, and trash can do not lock into each other. If the trash can is knocked down the lid and and the ring come off.



Overall I am pleased with this trash can. I am enjoying the convenience of touch-less trash can! It is like having a helpful hand whenever I need it.



This trash can is provided by BSTPOWER for testing and review as part of the new product introduction.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.







AshopZones review ★★★★★

Product review: ZHPUAT Portable Bluetooth Alarm Clock Radio with FM Radio

This is an okay clock. It works but how it works has some issues in my experience.



First, the clock has a lot of long voice prompts. The voice has a heavy accent and some words are hard to understand. I prefer short beeps to long voice phrases as they interrupt the music for a long time and when I hear it over and over it gets repetitive and annoying. I wish there was an option for beeps or voice.



Its speaker is fairly weak. The sound cannot be made very loud. It sounds best when I stream music from SD card and bluetooth. FM radio is okay for voice but some music stations are distorted.



The clock numbers are made out of small dots, and I thought they were harder to see when a solid lines on my oher clocks. People with a perfect vision probably will not mind, but if you are nearsighted this might be a problem.



In my video I show how the clock operates in its various functions, I hope this will give you a better idea of what to expect.



Overall, the alarm clock works but I can't say I love it. It is just okay.



I received this clock for testing and review as part of the new product introduction and sharing my honest experience with it.





ZHPUAT Portable Bluetooth Alarm Clock Radio with FM Radio, Wireless Speaker, Aux-In and TF Card Music, USB Charging, Phone Call, Easy Setting, Convenience for Travel, Fashion Home, Idea Gift (White)





AshopZones review ★★★☆☆

Product Review: Crenova HD 12MP Infrared Trail Hunting Camera Wildlife Camera

I am really enjoying this camera. We see a lot of wild life in our area and we have many bird feeders that are fun to watch. The camera is activated only when something interesting is happening, so every video it captures has something good on it. The battery use is quite good it runs several weeks on one set of batteries while capturing hundreds of short videos every day. I checked that after 1 week the battery level indicator showed remaining battery capacity of 2/3. In attached video you have a sampling of videos with the camera mounted in four different locations. The large birds you see in the first segments are the wild turkeys which come to visit us almost every day.



The camera runs on eight AA batteries (not included) and you need to provide your own SD card (up to 32G in size).



The video quality is highly dependent on lighting. In the day light it is very good, however at dusk or right into the sun the video is okay but not as good as say my SONY NEX5 camera. The wild life camera also takes infrared pictures in total darkness (black and white). I have included a couple of video clips taken at dusk when the camera switched to infrared.



This camera is large, robust, has a great camouflaged case. It is waterproof and has been out in several rain storms without any problems. The camouflaged case is 5.5" tall x 4" wide x 2.5" thick.



The camera can run in "test" mode or real mode. Test mode allows you to see what the camera is recording using the LCD screen. In the test mode you can also change settings via menus displayed on the LCD screen. The interface is intuitive and controls are easy to use.



The camera produces AVI and JPG output. The files appear under the standard DCIM directory on the memory card.



The camera records 1080P video and images up to 12MP.



* Image Sensor: 12.0 Mega Pixels

* Picture Size: 12MP=4000x3000 / 8MP=3840x2160 / 5MP = 2944x1656 ,2MP=1920x1080 (JPEG)

* Video Size: 1920x1080 (15fps), 1280 x 720 (30fps), 848x480 (30fps), 640 x 480 (30fps)

* Memory: SD-card up to 32GB

* IR flash effective to 20 meters (65 feet)

* Motion detection: center 30-40°, side 30°, all three sensors 120°

* Lens: F=7.45; FOV=55°

* Trigger distance: up to 20 meters (65 feet)



In addition to the camera in the case, the package include USB cable for TV hookup, a mounting bracket, and a user manual. The user manual is pretty good: 25 pages with diagrams.





You can find it on Amazon by following this link.







AshopZones review ★★★★★

Product review: BUREI Women's BL-3029LA-01E Swarovski Crystal-Accented Black Ceramic Bracelet Watch

I never had an all black watch before and I really like how it looks. Both the black band and the crystals make the watch look very dressy. Yet the crystals are not overdone, the watch looks elegant. It has a stainless steel body. The band's maximum width 8.75". The package includes a tool to take out links out of the bracelet for a custom fit but I would not recommend doing so. I have a lot of experience taking out links but on this watch it was very difficult because each spring is made out of two parts (a pin and a head), and required more effort than bands without a head.



The face of the watch is 1.346" wide and the watch is 0.332" thick. The back of the watch states it has Japanese quartz movement. The watch is water resistant to rain and splashing but cannot be submerged into water.



This watch is made in China but includes an English manual. I found the controls to be simple, everything is controlled by the position of the crown. It can be pulled out into two position, the first position allows change the day of the month, the second position moves the arms to adjust the time.



Overall, this is a very attractive classy looking watch. It comes in attractive package, the box has a pillow and include a gift bag.



You can find it on Amazon by following this link.







AshopZones review ★★★★★

Product review: Campark ACT70 WIFI HD 2560X1080 Action camera

My initial impression of CamPark was very good. Day time video is very good, it does well even in the very sunny situations and does not overexpose. The video during the night under very low light conditions was acceptable. Live video works well. Menu-based interface is well organized and easy to use. The documention is quite good and has a lot of details. The camera comes with a large variety of accessories, including a suction window mount, waterproof camera, and a remote control. I was very pleased for several days.



However, after a few days of usage the camera crashed and was stuck on the first screen (I could not turn it off or proceed to the next screen). I "fixed" it by removing and then reinserting the battery. Initially, I thought this fixed the problem as the camera recorded for another 30-40 minutes. But when I got home I saw that after the crash all recordings were in slow motion. I fully recharged the batteries and tried a few more recordings. They were all in slow motions. I went through all the menus and contacted the manufacturer. The manufacturer was responsive and provided me a software update to install on the camera. However the download is very large and needs to be downloaded from a Chinese site. I have attempted to do this download many times, some of the downloads failed others reported success but unzip utility failed reporting a corrupted zip file. I have not been able to test if the upgrade resolved the problem or not.



In attached video you see examples from the videos before and after the crash. Note that Amazon compresses video so this degrade the video quality in the clip.



Here are my notes from set up:



1. The name of the camera hot spot is "amba-boss".

The password you need to enter to connect to the hot spot is included in documentation.

To put the camera into WIFI mode you need to press the right most button on the top of the camera.



2. The name of the app is "LinkinEyes". This app shows live action from the camera, as well as allows to change camera configuration.



In my video I show live video. It looks good! The delay between the action and display is minimal, it is better than another small camera I have with live video capability.



CamPark supports micro SD cards up to 32GB, Class 10 is recommended (the micro SD card is not included).



It runs on 900mAH and I get slightly over an hour on one charge. To recharge the camera takes about 2 hours from empty. For the fastest charging the camera should be turned off when charging, however it can record while charging if desired.



I received this camera for evaluation and review as part of a new product introduction. Getting a free product does not effect what I say. My reviews reflect only my experience with the product and reviews are good or bad only based on how well the product works. If you have questions on something I did not cover post a comment and I'll do my best to answer it.





You can find it on Amazon by following this link.







AshopZones review ★★☆☆☆