Mono-Live Gadget Review: Mobvoi TicWatch S2

Here’s a budget friendly smart watch up for review. The Mobvoi TicWtach S2 was launched recently with the TicWatch E2. Both are similar except for a few minor differences. The Mobvoi TicWatch S2 has a more sportier feel to it than its predecessor. Overall the Mobvoi TicWatch S2 is good value for money making it an excellent gift to give a loved one this Valentine’s day. Its better than expected battery life, sturdy quality and big enough display make it a worthwhile buy. But enough chit chat. Let’s get more to the specifics of the watch.

Design of the Mobvoi TicWatch S2: 

Just like its predecessor, the Mobvoi TicWatch S2 tends more towards the bulky side of things. The watch is just shy of 13mm in thickness but pulls off that extra bulk well. This is important when it comes to working out in such watches. You don’t want it to be too clunky and get in your way. Its light weight feel, although it does not look anywhere near light weight, is courtesy of the polycarbonate material it is made of.

The Mobvoi TicWatch S2 is definitely a step up from its predecessor when it comes to build. The TicWatch S was more plasticky and felt cheap. Coming to the S2 and E2, the S2 feels a lot more sturdy and well- built as compared to its launch partner. The Mobvoi TicWatch S2 has also got a MIL- STD- 810G rating. This is a mark of durability and ruggedness as defined by the US military. So you know you’re getting the real deal with this watch.

Coming to the Screen Of the Mobvoi TicWatch S2: 

The mobvoi TicWatch S2 comes with a 1.39 inch circular screen. It has a 400 by 400 resolution AMOLED display. This gives you a pretty sharp picture quality for a watch coming in at the price that it does. Ok, if you peer up close to the screen you may notice pixels, but on a day to day basis you won’t see any of them.

The screen is pretty bright and can be seen even while outdoors on a bright sunny day. However the Mobvoi TicWatch S2 does not come with ambient light sensors so you’ll have to adjust the brightness on your own.

The watch also has an always on kinda display mode going on, which displays the time as well as other things when not in use too. This is a step up over what you get in smart watches like the Apple watch that does not display anything when not in use. However you may have to charge this thing often because of this little feature.

Getting to the Software in the Mobvoi TicWatch S2: 

The Mobvoi TicWatch S2 comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 chip along with 512MB RAM and 4GB storage. This is similar to what’s in the Mobvoi TicWatch E2. With this kind of chip in the watch, apps fire up quickly without any delay. However Google Assistant may be a little slow to bring up on the watch.

Mono-Live Gadget Review: Sonnet Will Turn Your Phone Into Off-Grid Life Saver

Sonnet – Off-Grid Hexagon

Sonnet which is an off-grid hexagon tends to connect to your phone providing the potential of sending messages or even maps without the need of a cellular or satellite signals. It is the most advanced off-grid Mobile Mesh network and is like a walkie-talkie for your phone.

 It tends to have global offline maps, together with a panic button to send an SOS signal as well as a 4000mAh battery to charge your phone when it is on low charge. Our phones are dependent on mobile network and are unable to keep the user connected when the mobile network is inaccessible or defective like on instance when one is

• Travelling the backcountry and the network is not available or could have very light coverage 
• Traveling abroad and the network tends to be unreliable or very expensive 
• Attending crowded events where the network tends to be slow and congested having too many users around the place 
• Encountering a natural disaster where the network service tends to get disrupted or totally damaged 

Walkie-talkies have a tendency of functioning anywhere though they could be:

• Massive and burdensome and some may weigh tons while carrying them around the place 
• Complex and unintuitive where plenty of tuning and setup may be needed before it could be utilised 
• Very low-quality audio with no text, image. It tends to have bad audio which may at times lead to miscommunication

 

Sonnet Super Advanced Walkie-Talkie

 
Sonnet being an Off-the-Grid communication device enables the user to utilise their smartphone as a super advanced walkie-talkie which has the possibility of sending super advanced walkie-talkie that can send instant message, image data, voice recording as well as GPS Coordinates in the absence of cellular coverage’s and internet access.

Sonnet is said to bring about the long range wireless communication of the walkie-talkie to your smartphone and connect to the smartphone via Wi-Fi relaying any data sent from your phone to other sonnet devices through the long-range radio wave. This tends to remove totally the reliance of the smartphone on cellular grid and the other network infrastructure enabling it to be utilised when there is no cellular connectivity or internet access. It does not have any frequency to tune or channel to be set. The user could only connect and get started with chatting. One can utilise the Sonnet App just the way as any other instant messengers for:

• One-on-one private messages 
• Private group messages 
• Public messages to any users of Sonnet within the range.

 

Sonnet Equipped with SMA Connector

 
Sonnet App tends to run directly in the browser of the smartphone and hence one need not download or install any app. Sonnet is entirely off-the-grid and functions independently of any network infrastructure which means that Sonnet enables the user to remain in touch with friends and colleagues irrespective of where they may be.

 The usual point-to-point range between two devices of Sonnet is 5 km, around 3 miles. This range could be up to 15 km in case of a line-of-sight such as when the sender and the receiver seem to be on top of two mountains. Besides this, Sonnet is equipped with a SMA connector wherein one can connect their own directional antenna for the purpose of increasing the point-to-point range much further.

The mesh network of Sonnet tends to intensively increase the effective range further than the point-to-point range by relaying the data via the other devices. The data can be relayed by Sonnet up to 16 times in achieving a maximum range of 80 km. To use Sonnet there is no need of a subscription fee and one can send as many messages as one desires.

 

In Emergency – Panic Button

 
If one device tends to have internet connection, the entire network can then have access to it. If Sonnet is placed in a car or base where there is availability of internet, then one can have access to the internet in the backcountry by being in possession of another Sonnet. The Sonnet App had an offline map wherein one can get directions and view points of interest without the internet connection. In an event of emergency, the app which has a panic button comes in handy.

You could long press the button for five seconds to activate the SOS mode, broadcast your prevailing GPS location and your distress message is conveyed to all Sonnet users within range. Being equipped with a 4000 mAh lithium polymer battery, it comes with a USB port and hence one can charge your smartphone with it.

Sonnet tends to charge fully most of the smartphones on the market. Sonnet is said to have a rugged design making it compatible for the purpose of out-door use and is rated IP66 meaning that it is dust and water resistant.

This enables the user to bring the Sonnet along no matter where one may intend to travel. Sonnet is secure and all communications done with Sonnet are said to be end-to-end encrypted with AES -256-bit. Moreover, Wi-Fi link between Sonnet and the smartphone are said to be secure with WPA/WPA2.

Mono-Live Gadget Review: Philips Hue Wellness and Wellner lamp

Wellness & Wellner - Latest Tabletop Offers

some years now. The company’s two latest tabletop offers come from the Wellness and Wellner and both come with White Ambiance LED bulbs that can imitate a variety of natural daylight colour temperature which are meant to assist you in waking up, to relax, concentrate as well as to fall asleep.

 In the case of Hue light, the installation is mostly a three-step procedure. You could screw in the bulb, control up the Hue bridge which is sold separately, then download the Philips Hue app, pairing it with the bridge and bulbs.

 The entire procedure tends to take only a few minutes. You will note that while both lamps tend to come with the A19 White Ambience bulbs, one would need to own or purchase a $60 Hue bridge should the user prefer to control the lights with the app.

 A week was spent on utilising Wellness and Wellner as dedicated bedside table and desktop lamps and since they were aimed at well-being, they were thought to help you get out of bed in the morning, concentrate during the day and thereafter relax and fall asleep at night which was preferred to place them in setting where one could test these claims.

Customizable Lighting - Enjoyable

On setting up the `wake up’ and `go to sleep’ schedules, in the Hue app, both lamps were added to Apple’s HomeKit as well as Amazon’s Alexa and the week was spent on experimenting with light. One would not need to spend winter in Anchorage or suffer from S.A.D. for the light to play a role on your feelings. As daytime animals we tend to depend on precise forces as well as wavelengths of light to indication when one ought to sleep, or when to wake up and when to get about with the business.

Screw up your normal daily rhythm and you will mess with your metabolism, memory, and alertness. The precise effects light tends to have on humans is yet being researched on various façades though customizable lighting is said to be still enjoyable with or without the medical assistances. Phillips Wellner and Wellness desk lamps are said to be similar to f.lux – for real life.

 With regards to the design, both the lamps tend to be inoffensive and unremarkable which could be least partially intentional. They tend to resemble luminous gumdrops which though somewhat weird tend to be much better at blending in to various decors than Philip’s retro-futuristic Hue Beyond and Phoenix lamps.

Establish `Wake-Up’/`Go To Sleep’ Routines

The frosty glass covering both the lamps have done a remarkable job of distributing the light evenly and the Ambience LED lumen output - ~800 Im is adequately bright to light up the larger rooms also. With regards to particular tricks, there seems to be nothing here which the present Hue users are not accustomed to. Once the lamps have been set up, there seems to be no worry utilising Siri and Alexa in turning them on and off and to call up precise scenes.

Moreover, the Hue app also enables the user to establish `wake up’ and `go to sleep’ routines to have the lamp to fade in or out, steadily at particular times. One could also opt to only have them pop on and off immediately at certain brightness and colour temperature. Having the Wellness lamp steadily illuminating the bedroom in the morning offers a pleasant way of waking up an individual though it does not seem to be as operational as a smartphone alarm.

The user has the ability of adjusting the lights from a warm 2200K to a harsh blue-white 6500K. It had been experimented with the upper limit which is said to be related with Hue scenes such as `concentrate’ and `energize’ in the Wellner office but was found discordant in spite of the time of the day.

Hue Lights – Compatible with More Physical Smart Switches

The deeper `read’ and `relax’ scenes seemed to be much better for working, which is left to be seen if the same is more productive. There seems to be some things regarding both the Wellness and Wellers which were irrational. The fact is that these are smart lamps though it seems like beautiful conspicuous mistake in neglecting a basic on/off switch for both.

It was also desired that overall, Hue lights would be compatible with more physical smart switches. One is mostly stuck with own dimmer and light switch of Hue if one needs a physical, non-screen and non-voice based way of controlling the lighting.

 It tends to be wonderful in having more of these affordable and less retro-futuristic, desk lamp choices to make from Philips, though it is suspected that most of the individuals interested in the lamps would yet attempt to save $70 and go in to purchase a White ambience LED bulb to be utilised with the prevailing lamps.

Mono-Live Gadget Review: Huawei Mate 9

Huawei Technologies Co.Ltd is a Chinese company who is an well know multinational networking company and telecommunication equipments and services. This company is the largest telecommunication equipment manufacturer in the world; this company has overtaken Ericsson in 2012. Huawei has been quite famous in making smart phones with high tech features. Now in this list joins the new Huawei Mate 9 with an massive 5.9 inch screen and an powerful processor. Before taking about this smart phone we need to understand that every smart phone differs from one other and has different features so while reviewing about a Smartphone we need to check for the quality, display, ram and battery life.

Design of Huawei Mate 9

This phone consists of a big display which would be quite difficult to hold in our hands. The design isn’t quite interesting as this phone is making up of an fully metal body and many people won’t prefer it. The fingerprint scanner has been fitted in the back of the phone which is quite fast and reliable and will rarely mistake your finger prints. The phone has an USB-C connector at the bottom of the phone surrounded both sides with speakers and the head phone jack 3.5 mm is fitted on the top of the phone. Though this phone designs doesn’t attract much but we can be sure that its specs will have an upper hand.

Huawei Mate 9 Display

This large display is very large that is 5.9 inch in size though it may be large but the display quality is quite convincing. This display features an full HD resolution but many Smartphones in market has more resolution and quality than this phone but still the display is not that bad. This Huawei Mate 9 has a pixel density of 373 pixels per inch which will make the pictures or the display look good in our eyes.

Huawei Mate 9 Camera

The Huawei Mate 9 features an Lecia co developed dual lens camera with a sensor. This makes our expectations high on this phone. The software on a phone must be developed in such a way that it can use the phones camera to its potential limit. In the Huawei Mate 9 camera quality is really good and this camera has two lens the top lens has an 12 Megapixel which captures color brilliantly and the second lens which is an monochrome lens which is boosted to an 20 Megapixels. The optical image stabilization will do its job perfectly. This also has a laser autofocus which is quite quick in auto focusing on objects.

Huawei Mate 9 Processor

The new Huawei Mate 9 runs on a Huawei made latest octa Core Kirin 960 processor which has an 4Gb ram. The processor is quite powerful and scores well in the benchmark tests the software change or updating of the phone made is to make the phone or optimize the phone to run on the processor and show its full potential. This Huawei Mate 9 phone manages the background activity and data very efficiently. This Huawei Mate 9 phone is quite easy and really user friendly. The phones loaded apps perform well in the background and doesn’t crash. To be simple the phone looks good for using but only the looks might disappoint a few.

Mono-Live Gadget Review: Powerbeats3 Wireless Headphones

The consumer electronics manufacturers as well as tech firms are working aggressively to build such device which better capabilities and fewer cables when it comes to putting music in the ear. So we got a slew of wireless or Bluetooth headphones coming up each week from variety of labels in amazing range of colors, size and dynamics. All of them share some characteristic feature which includes better sound quality, compact design and smaller batteries which can last longer. But it is Beats which takes all the competition head on with its most authentic and enhanced Powerbeats3 Wireless earphones.

Designed to impress

Powerbeats3 comes with a unique giant adjustable hooks present at both sides which effectively wraps over the ear. This helps in giving a table and comfortable feel to the users. In short users can wear Powerbeats3 wireless headphone for a longer period of time without feeling pain or heaviness on the ears. Secondly Beats has worked efficiently non the inline remote and microphones present in both the buds which are able to pick up calls and can communicate with smartphone’s AI with ease and grace.

Most of the users find it difficult to pair their wireless headphones with Apple devices. In order to overcome this issue Beats has include the W1 chip which allows users to pair with Apple devices in an instant without much hassle. It has a huge battery backup of 12 hours which means users will have to charge just once or twice a week. Beats products are known for bigs and lows and so is true for Powerbeats3 and it doesn’t mean that the sound output is awful rather it has the Beats touch in it.

Ease of use and simple design coupled with amazing sound quality

The best thing about Powerbeats3 is that it can be paired fairly easily than any other available wireless device. Users are simply required to press the button on earphone and keep it closer to the device they wish to pair it with. Powerbeats3 was paired with a huge a number of devices where it acted like an instinct and connected within a relatively short time without any hassles. The play/ pause button works amazingly fine with this wireless earphone as it is able to pick up input without fail.

Sound quality output is the best part of the Powerbeat3 as it offers a refreshingly awesome and sublime experience. It brings the one-of a kind true sound isolation feature which drown all the sound you in a remarkable fashion. The only downside found in this Powerbeats3 wireless gadget is that it charges with MicroUSB when whole the world has moved onto USB-C and Lightning ports.

Powerbeats3 comes at a huge price tag of $199 which is the case with all the offerings from Beats. If you are willing to shell such an amount then you will be greeted with amazingly sound quality, sublime design or else you can go with other offerings available in the market.

OnePlus 3 Review

OnePlus 3 Termed – Apple Killer

OnePlus has gradually grown to become a most wanted in spite of it being considered a loser to Samsung and Apple. The introduction of its OnePlus 3 would bestrengthening this reputation. OnePlus has been termed as an Apple killer and though it is doubtful of toppling the Californian behemoth, its new handset could take away a huge fraction of its loyal supporters. The OnePlus 3not only looks to be a good device but feels much more expensive than the price tag of £309. Similar like the HTC One Series together with several other modern smartphones, the OnePlus 3 is designed from a single piece of aluminium with attractive anodised finish having its back somewhat curved.

The metal edges are slightly rounded with slim diamond-cut chamfers which tend to catch the light just suitable giving our a reflective glimmer now and then. Due to its heavy aluminium alloy body, it tends to feel sturdy from the plastic casing of similar valued Android phones like the LG G4. The OnePlus 3 will be delivered with a pre-installed screen protector for additional shield. With a thickness of 7.3mm it is significantly thinner than the 9.9mm OnePlus 2 and its 5.5-inch 1080p Optic Amoled display tends to have `one of the thinnest bezels in the world’.

Bezel – Fine/Slim

This exceptionally thin bezel means that the phone does not feel big than the iPhone 6S and does not tend to feel as large as the 6S Plus, in spite of the nearly similar measurements. However, on the shortcoming, the thin bezel means that holding the phone could be problematic. The user would frequently select menus as well as app on the edges of the screen by mistake and having to hold it as it is delicate weakens away from the sturdy first impression.

While indoors, with the brightness set at around 50%, the screen tends to look quite bright. Its bezel seems fine and slim and hence the content on the screen seems to control the front panel. The screen is covered by Corning Gorilla Glass 4 which is so thoroughly laminated that the contents seem to practically float on the surface of the glass. The OnePlus 3 tends to run OxygenOS which is this years’ version 3, built above Android Marshmallow.

Dash Charge Technology

A noticeable thing regarding OnePlus’ software is that it tends to look and feel just like the regular stock Android though with some few twists. Within the OnePlus 3 is a top-of-the-line Snapdragon 820 process and it is quad-core. It has been paired with a huge 6GB RAM to make sure that one may never feel that the phone is lethargic. As the 6GB RAM tends to be yet new in the Android section, OnePlus has merely improved some of its built-in module to make use of it, in order that most of the time the complete memory will not be utilised.

Like several other Marshmallow phones, Google’s Doze mode means one could leave the OnePlus 3, overnight in standby mode and would only lose around a few percent from the battery level. Moreover, if the OnePlus 3 tends to run out of juice, it has the Dash Charge technology which seems to work the way VOOC flash charging does, which is used by the OPPO F1 Plus.

You could get around 60% charge from a 30 minute of charging on plugged in the wall while using the phone simultaneously. Charging from zero to full, in some cases, takes about 75 minutes and can be done without the phone heating too much, which is due to the thick USB cable that dispels heat as it tends to pump 20W of power to the phone.