Category: Reviews

Finding a sports Bluetooth headset can be challenging.  Either you get stuck with sub-par sound quality or have to pay a reasonable percentage of the cost of your actual phone for them.  I’ve noted on other products that iClever has seemed to have found a balance between these too challenges.  I’ve reviewed multiple products from them over the past year and they always seem to pack a lot of punch for the price.  The iClever BoostRun headset is no exception.  With outstanding audio quality, solid battery performance and a lightweight, don’t-really-notice-it-is-there design, the BoostRun meets the need for a resilient headset that you can use in the gym or on a run.

Recently the iClever team sent me the headset, which by their product name is the IC-BTH06, for review and after using them for the last few weeks, I have no problem in recommending this headset if you need a lightweight headset for your workout.

Like many accessories for Android phones and tablets, desktop stands are, as they say, a dime a dozen.  Everyone it seems makes one but like so many things, you do get what you pay for in most cases.  I say most because the team over at iClever have made an excellent stand that is certainly a good value for this type of accessory.  The iClever Adjustable Stand, as the name suggests, is not just a fixed stand for your phone or tablet.  Rather, it has an adjustable plane where you phone rests that can be rotated 270-degrees.  It makes the stand easy to use no matter if you are viewing your device in portrait or landscape mode.  Plus, it is made of aluminum so it looks great and is rugged enough to handle a drop from your desk to the floor.  Backed with a lifetime warranty, this $13 stand is well worth the consideration if you like desktop stands for your devices.

I recently picked up two of the IC-CS01 stands on Amazon to replace two aging stands that had lost their ability to hold my devices securely.  What appealed to me was first the iClever name (I’ve reviewed many of their products and have always found them to be excellent in price and performance) but also the non-skip pads on the stand’s base and phone plane to hold my Nexus 6P and Nexus 9 securely.  That do that and do it well.

If you equate the power and performance of an Android phone based on the screen size and device size, you need to stop.  Now.  The reason is that the recently announced Sony Xperia X Compact destroys your paradigm.  This 4.6″ device is a powerhouse with a phenomenal display and dare I say unbelievable camera.  Seriously, it rivals a digital SLR in image quality and color correctness.  I’ve been using the X Compact the last few days as my main phone and while getting use to the smaller size compared to my Nexus 6P was a bit tricky at first, the performance and design of this phone is exceptional.  I’ll be doing a full review of the phone over the course of the next few weeks but here are my initial thoughts on the Xperia X Compact.

When the Nextbit Robin was released earlier this year, I purposely held off on review it.  My logic was two fold.  First, at $399 I felt for what the phone had to offer, it was over priced.  I appreciate it has some unique features and by buying it you are supporting a new American-based startup, but facts-are-facts.  The current price of $299 feels a bit more accurate.  Second, I knew that it would have issues.  And it did.  The initial build of Android running on the Robin was buggy with numerous reports of the camera being poor and slow and battery performance to match it.

Fast forward seven months and the world is a much happier place for the Nextbit Robin.  The price is down to where I think it should be frankly (and it has run as low as $199 on Amazon a couple of times which is an absolute steal) and after a couple of major updates that included a bump up to Android Marshmallow, the Robin is now a solid performing phone that has great features.  I’ve been using the device as my primary phone over the course of the last few weeks and I have no hesitation in recommending it if you are looking for a well appointed handset that is in the low cost/budget category.  In fact, for what it has to offer, you will be hard pressed to find an equally well appointed phone.  Here’s my review.

Android Nougat represents the 7th major version of Android, Google’s mobile Operating System. While terms like evolution are appropriate for this release, I think a different word is more appropriate.

Refinement.

While there are some new features that make Nougat a worthy update, by-and-large it is safe to say that this version of Android is refining many of the features that made their appearance in Marshmallow. That, in my opinion, is a very good thing.  Improvements in this release of Android come in various forms from UI updates to under-the-hood changes that make it perhaps the most refined version of the Operating System to date.  My point is, if you are looking for massive changes between Marshmallow and Nougat, you may be disappointed.  There are changes, to be sure, but not polar-shifting, orbit altering changes.  More subtle changes… or refinements.

Here is my review.

I’ll be honest: I have an on again/off again relationship with Fitbit.  I’ve been using their trackers for 6 years now and while my first tracker (the Ultra) was rock solid, the two subsequent models (the One and the Flex) have been less than stellar.  I found neither of these tracked exceptionally well and with the One in particular, I was constantly fighting to keep it connected to my Nexus 6 or 6P as the Bluetooth was just not reliable.

Initially, in an effort to find a tracking alternative, I started using Google Fit and my Moto 360 smartwatch to track my activities.  It was, shall we say, painful.  Syncing was not accurate nor were step and exercise tracking.  While Fit has grown up a lot, it still has some growing up to do.  That experiment lasted about three weeks and that was all I could really handle.

Finally I had enough and I decided to step way out of the bounds of what most people consider for a fitness tracker.  I picked up an Microsoft Band 2 and I have to say, it is a solid performing device that is very accurate in tracking your fitness information.  In fact, after two weeks of using it, my Fitbit One is now quietly sitting connected to its charging cable on my desk – untouched and likely not being touched for a while.  I’ve deleted the app from my 6P and moved to Microsoft Health for my exercise and step tracking.

To be sure, the Microsoft Band 2 is not perfect.  It has some things that need improvements, most notably how it tracks stairs and the overall weight of the device.  That said, I’m comfortable in recommending it.  It integrates nicely with Android thanks to the Microsoft Health app (and there is one for Windows 10 users too).  It ties in with other services and apps like Lose It!, MFitnessPal, RunKeeper and Strava, and it has a battery life of a couple of days.  That’s better than most smartwatches today which, in a limited way, the Band 2 can perform for you.

Here is my review of the Band 2 and the companion Microsoft Health app.