Category: Reviews

Huawei, and their junior brand Honor, continue to make strides in the US market.  The Chinese manufacture has rolled out several phones and tablets over the past year and one of the latest, the Huawei Mate 9, is nothing short of impressive.  The 5.9″ phablet has a stunning display, powerful specs and is running the all new EMUI 5.0, Huawei’s user interface based on Android Nougat 7.0.  Couple this with a dual-camera configuration that leverages Leica optics and a beefy 4000mAh battery, you end up with a device that not only can handle your mobile computing needs but can take some seriously impressive photos while lasting you all day.  It is a pretty complete package and a far cry better than the 2015 Mate 8 (which wasn’t all that bad).

I recently had an opportunity to use the Mate 9 and I’m sold.  If you are in the market for a larger device that can meet your phone and small tablet needs, this phablet should be on your shortlist.  Here’s my review of the Huawei Mate 9.

When it comes to travel, there is always the need for USB wall chargers.  The question is how many you want to carry and if they are really designed for travel.  For me, when I’m on the road, I have a separate charger for my Nexus 6P, my Nexus 9 and my Fitbit Blaze.  That’s a lot of cables and a lot of chargers.  Then the team over at iClever sent me their recently redesigned dual-port USB wall charger.  I now carry one less wall charger.

The iClever BoostCube series is actually made up of several different models but the one they sent me to review, the IC-WB21W, is perfect in so many ways.  It is truly designed for travel with folding AC prongs and a compact design.  Recently the team at iClever sent me this newly redesigned charger to review and I’m quite pleased with what they have done with this simple yet important accessory.

Earlier this week I posted a review of the Nova Launcher for Android.  In that review, I pointed out that if you are looking for a launcher that has a whole load of knobs to turn, it is the best option for you.  But for those of you who aren’t interested in turning all the knobs or, more particularly, are deep in the Microsoft ecosystem, there is a solid option for you too.  The Microsoft Arrow Launcher.

Arrow Launcher doesn’t have the configurability of Nova Launcher nor does it pretend to have them.  Instead, Microsoft has taken this launcher and focused it on productivity.  Contacts, apps and documents are easily accessible from the launcher, getting you editing that Word file quicker and with few taps than opening the app itself.  But it also does all this with speed and battery friendliness that makes it a great option even for those who don’t necessarily use the Office apps.

I’ve been running Microsoft Arrow Launcher on my Nextbit Robin for the past few weeks and I have no problem giving it a thumbs up.  It works great, has enough configurability for those want to tweak a little bit and gets you deep into the Office apps without having to fuss with it.  Here’s my review and thoughts on Arrow Launcher.

Over the course of the past few months, there have been two important changes on the Android launcher front.  The first was the announcement of the Google Pixel and its still exclusive launcher back in October.  Then came news last month that the Google Now Launcher is being removed from the Play Store this month.  This latter bit of news has caused a lot of questions in the Android community with users looking for alternative launchers.  That’s were Nova Launcher comes into the picture.

While there are literally dozens of launchers in the Play Store, Nova Launcher remains one of the most loved and used.  But is it the best?  That’s going to depend on what you want and expect out of a launcher.  If you like seemingly endless configuration and customization, you would be hard pressed to find anything better than Nova.  There are a huge number of configuration changes you can make in the launcher, from how your App Drawer is accessed, presented and even your icons for apps.  It is truly impressive and even if you just want to run things “out of the box” with Nova, you likely won’t be disappointed.

If there is one mid-range Chromebook that exemplifies how far the platform has come, it could well be the Acer Chromebook 14.  This comfortably priced $286 Chromebook has all of the features you expect from a device running Chrome OS but it has something that so many others lack:  Style and panache.  The all aluminum chassis is beautiful, the Full HD display is easy on the eyes and it has the performance to keep up with your day-to-day tasks.  But the added bonus of this particular Chromebook is that it has the ability to run Android apps and it can do it on the main production line of Chrome OS (the Stable channel).  That makes it one of the best all around Chromebooks out there.

I recently picked up the Acer Chromebook 14 and after using it for several weeks, it is hands down the best Chromebook I’ve used to date.  My reliable and fantastic HP Chromebook 11 G4 has been replaced and without giving away the entire review, I have no hesitation in recommending this offering from Acer.  It is just phenomenal to use day in and day out.  Here is my review.

I am apologetically addicted to skiing.  I love tech and my career but at 9 times out of 10, if you ask me what I’m thinking about, I’m going to tell you skiing.  2017 has been a great season for me so far and like many skiers and riders, I want to keep track of where I’ve been, how fast I’ve gone and how many vertical feet I’ve skied in a day.  One of the best and most complete apps for this is Snocru.  The app allows you to track all of these statistics for the day and does it in a battery friendly way.  Snocru also lets you link up with friends who are skiing with you so you can compare stats and share that information with each other or on social networks like Facebook.

I’ve been using the app for the past few weeks to track my skiing and it has quickly become a must-have app for me.  If you are a skier or snowboarder, you will probably find it a must-have app too.