Category: Gadgets & Tech

Jisulife Portable Handheld Fan

Armdog

During a recent extended trip, our group purchased several of these portable fans made by Jisulife. We actually didn’t all plan on buying the same fan, but three of us all gravitated towards this one on Amazon due to the price and excellent reviews on Amazon. The fan folds into itself for portability and is roughly the length of a smartphone with the thickness of a small flashlight. The blades are a flexible plastic and are pretty safe – the fan stops automatically when it hits something. The fan has…

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Crown Shades Pop Up Canopy

Armdog

We recently took a trip to the beach and wanted to find a portable canopy or shade we could take with us. We initially considered either getting beach umbrellas, or possibly renting something. But we had about seven people in our group, so I figured it would be a more cost effective solution to purchase our own pop-up canopy. Since renting things at a beach can cost like $25-35 per day, it seemed like this would just about pay for itself over the course of the entire trip. The key…

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Treva Bug Repellent Fan

Armdog

This bug repellent fan is one that actually surprised me a bit. I purchased it on a whim after my sister-in-law told us about a restaurant she went to that had these at every table on their patio. This was a purchase that I fully expected to be a waste of money. I figured I’d buy this, use it a couple of times, then stow it in a closet for years. I was very wrong! It actually seems to work as advertised. Apparently, flies are really not interested in this…

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Spigen Thin Fit Smartphone Case

Armdog

This review is broadly about Spigen’s “Thin Fit” smartphone case series, but I will also discuss the Samsung Galaxy S20 Thin Fit specifically. From the top I’ll say this to help you see how much I like these cases; by default, I use a Spigen Thin Fit for every phone. I originally started using one with my Google Nexus 5 like six years ago. With every new phone, I try other cases and always end up coming back to these. I have a fairly counterproductive situation with my phone use…

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Book Safe with Combination Lock

Armdog

I had this combination lock book safe on my Amazon Wish List for a long time; it’s one of those things that I don’t really need, but still thought was sort of cool. Pretty standard “gadget” type interest for me. My wife bought me one last Christmas, so I finally had a chance to try it out. The verdict is: It’s fine. Not amazing, but it works and seems a good value for the money. My version of this book safe is by Kyodoled or Jssmst (not actually sure which),…

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Axloie Portable Bluetooth Speaker

Armdog

My kids and I have been spending a lot of time outside lately. A couple months ago, I decided it would be nice to have a portable bluetooth speaker for when we’re out there playing. After some research, I came across the extremely well-reviewed Axloie bluetooth speaker. For a roughly $25 speaker, this is a really impressive device. It has surprisingly good volume and I wasn’t expecting such respectable bass. The speaker’s sound quality is crisp and clear, definitely impressive for something at this price and size. It also seems…

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Apple Smart Keyboard Folio 12.9 Inch

Armdog

When I decided to purchase a new iPad Pro, I had some pretty extensive internal debate as to which keyboard case to use. I watched quite a few YouTube videos on the subject, and ultimately it came down to a decision between the original Apple Smart Keyboard Folio and the newer Apple Magic Keyboard. I pretty quickly discarded the idea of a less expensive 3rd party keyboard due to less convenient bluetooth connection and possible battery/charging concerns. My prior experience with Samsung’s keyboard case was overwhelmingly positive, with a seamless…

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Samsung Duo Plus Flash Drive

Armdog

Recently, I decided to start a YouTube channel to share some portrait art progressions and various other things. I have a few smaller flash drives laying around, but decided I needed something bigger to move files around between my PC (USB 3.1) for uploading, Samsung Galaxy (USB-C) for video, and iPad Pro (USB-C) for video editing. I came across this Samsung Duo Plus, which has both USB 3.1 and USB-C connections, so I decided to give it a try. I got the 256GB version, which seemed a lot cheaper than…

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Knockoff Foldable Smartphone Stand

Armdog

I originally bought this on a whim based on an Instagram ad. I normally don’t click ads, so I’m not sure what came over me this time. It’s basically a credit card sized smartphone stand that unfolds from its card form. It’s like a little Transformer robot, but so much worse. The general idea seems sound to me, but the implementation is poor in this case. In defense of the concept, it seems I bought a cheap knock-off and there is an authentic version sold by pocket-tripod.com. I purchased my…

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Fossil Hybrid Smartwatch HR Collider

Armdog

This is not a perfect smartwatch, but it fits my needs/wants better than any other on the market right now. Looking at the big picture, it’s got everything I want in a smartwatch – great battery life (about three weeks on a charge), basic notifications, and tracking (sleep, HR, steps, activities). It also looks really good. I’m very happy with it overall. But, I did have some issues early on. The battery life is pretty much as advertised, depending on how consistently I wear it, I’ll get somewhere around 20ish…

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