I love electric bikes. I’ve ridden a Retrospec Jax around the city since about 2021 and ended up welding the seat post back onto the frame simply because I couldn’t stand to lose access to that beast of an e-bike. That said, I might be ready to part with the Jax if I can get my hands on an Also TM-B.

The TM-B isn’t a conventional electric bicycle. Developed by ALSO, a company spun out of electric vehicle maker Rivian, the TM-B brings automotive engineering, integrated software and a new approach to electric propulsion to two-wheeled transportation. Starting in the $3,000 range, with Performance and Launch Edition models priced at $4,500, it’s designed for riders who want something more capable than a typical commuter e-bike.

First off let me note that the price tag is quite high for something like this but there are a few benefits to the TM-B over something like the Retrospec Jax. First, this thing runs on 60 miles on a single charge. That’s a huge deal. If you use manual mode — meaning you pedal and it offers pedal assist — you’re going to be enjoying that full 60 miles or more. If you’re a throttle jockey like me you’ll see about 10 miles less but you’re still hitting far more than a standard e-bike. Next, as mentioned above, this is the Apple iPhone of e-bikes. It’s well-built, high-tech, and eschews the “make a regular bike and add a battery” nature of cheaper brands. You’re buying an electric vehicle here, not a bike. Would I pay $4,500 for this thing? The answer is a resounding maybe, but it’s well worth the price if you intend to use this as an alternative to a second car for trips around a smaller city.

Back to the bike.

The biggest difference between regular e-bikes and the TM-B is the so-called Dream Ride propulsion system. Unlike traditional bicycles, there’s no mechanical connection between the pedals and the rear wheel. Instead, pedaling generates electricity that powers a custom-built motor, delivering up to 180 Nm of torque at the wheel. The system electronically controls pedaling resistance, allowing riders to maintain a consistent feel whether climbing hills or cruising on flat roads. Regenerative braking captures energy during deceleration and returns it to the battery, helping extend the bike’s claimed range of up to 100 miles, depending on configuration and riding conditions. This “pedal by wire” feature is honestly amazing. Further, it reduces the need for traditional bike parts. The only things moving here are the regenerative disk brakes and the rubber chain. Everything else is self-contained.

The TM-B also takes an unusual approach to construction. Its central magnesium structure houses the motor, removable battery and key electronic configurations for recreation, cargo carrying and more comfortable everyday riding. A built-in touchscreen-style control experience, delivered through Also’s high-contrast Portal LCD display, provides navigation, ride settings, media controls and battery information. You can also change the riding style from automatic to manual. Manual also places the bike into trail bike mode, allowing you for pedal assist while hitting the gravel. There is also walking assist which gives you a boost when pushing the bike up hills and holds the 80 pound beast back when going down them.

Security is another major focus. The TM-B can recognise its owner through a connected smartphone, automatically unlocking when approached and locking when the rider walks away. Electronic motor immobilisation, tamper alerts, GPS tracking and remote disabling add protection against theft. Over-the-air software updates also allow Also to improve features and performance after purchase. While I liked this feature, you’re going to want to lock this thing down with a chain if you’re in a big city.

The TM-8 can hit speeds of up to 28 mph in some riding modes and has great air or spring suspension, depending on the model. The Performance model, for example, has a 100 mile battery and better shocks while the standard model gives you a 500 Wh battery. There is also a system for removing the seat and top frame, allowing you to add a cargo kit or a better seat for trail riding.

The Bottom Line

I rode the TM-B for an afternoon through Brooklyn and found it very zippy with great pickup and excellent brakes. The bikes definitely needed grippier road tires for the leaf and shmutz-strewn Brooklyn bike paths, and because the bike is so well-engineered, I found myself sliding to a stop more than once. Basically, the brakes caught a little too well.

The bike looks like something out of the heyday of hardware startups when companies like Juicero and Canary redesigned the same-old, same-old products with a Silicon Valley edge. They rarely survived.

Also, sadly, might follow in their footsteps.

I want it to survive simply because there is plenty of unique engineering ingenuity on display here, and I love the design, utility, and thoughtful touches like lockdown mode. Is it over-engineered? Absolutely. People are riding around on far worse bikes, and cladding something in white plastic and giving it a cool LCD display doesn’t make much sense for someone who might use this to deliver DoorDash.

But again, this isn’t for the delivery guy. It’s for the folks who want an electric bike and trail bike and also want to look cool. This is definitely the Jony Ive-style e-bike that will make SF denizens salivate, but it might not translate well in the burbs.

Ultimately, this thing is very cool, very usable, and very expensive. What that means to you as the consumer is that you need to decide if you want to ride the iPhone Duo of e-bikes or if you’re fine with the flip phone that you won’t mind crashing into a wall at some point. I know my choice — I’d want something slightly less precious — but your desires might vary.

Holy wow. I’ve been following Fosi for a while (we’ve done loads of coverage), and thus far the quality/price/value ratios for their gear — which have thus far ranged from headphone amps, earbuds, to powerful desktop and living room audio systems — have been excellent. Fast forward to, well, right now, and I’m blown away.

Their latest product, the $99 Audio DISC Nano CD Player, is what amounts to one of the funnest products I’ve used in a long time. It’s basically a portable CD player that outputs to standard audio cable, optical out, or even a balanced headphone output. The whole thing is able to be as big as a few CDs stacked on top of each other.

The most unusual part is its half-exposed disc design. Instead of hiding the CD inside a plastic case, the DISC Nano leaves part of the disc visible as it spins, secured by a snap-lock mechanism. It’s an interesting design choice that makes playing a physical album feel a little more deliberate, although you’ll probably want to be careful about where you put it. That said, seeing the CD spin like a dervish inside this little player is a real treat, a reminder that CDs are, despite the lasers, still physical media.

Inside is a Cirrus Logic CS43198 digital-to-analog converter, a chip normally associated with more serious portable audio equipment. The player includes both a standard 3.5mm headphone jack and a 4.4mm balanced headphone output, along with an optical output for connecting it to an external DAC. It also supports Bluetooth, so you can listen through wireless headphones or speakers without abandoning your CD collection.

Fosi has even added a MagSafe-compatible magnetic mounting system, allowing you to attach the player to a desk stand, refrigerator, or other suitable mount. It doesn’t support wireless charging, but the built-in 800mAh battery recharges over USB-C. Electronic anti-shock protection is included to help prevent skipping when the player is moved.

The DISC Nano supports standard audio CDs, some CD-R and CD-RW discs, and the CD-compatible layer of hybrid SACDs. It measures 102 × 102 × 29mm, making it small enough to slip into a bag, although the exposed-disc design means it probably isn’t something you’ll want rattling around loose with your keys.

What’s appealing here is the combination of old and new. You get the experience of choosing an album and watching it spin, but with Bluetooth, balanced audio, and modern digital conversion.

For a cool $100, this thing is great. It plays CDs, it looks amazing, and the audio quality is solid. Sure, it’s small, sure, it’s silly, but if you have any selection of CDs in your junk drawer, this is exactly what you want: a cute, cool, and affordable alternative to an eBay Discman or buying a higher-end, audiophile solution just so you can hear Tricky like you heard him back in 1998.

Some caveats: the headphone jack is, as mentioned before, 4.4mm balanced, so you’re going to want to get some nice headphones or earbuds. Luckily, the AUX out in the back works fine, and because it has an optical out, it’s great for connecting to headphone amps or receivers. Basically, you get a high-end CD player in a tiny package that looks cool and will work with your standard home audio setup.

The Fosi Audio DISC Nano CD Player is a great product from a great company. If you want to play CDs in your future, buy this $99 gem. It’s honestly a no-brainer, and you’d definitely love how your old discs sound in this modern, if overly exposed, CD player.

When a vape starts to look like something out of Frankenstein’s lab I’m a little wary. That said, with the DaVinci EQ, DaVinci company has made something that is simultaneously cool, cool-looking, and immensely useful, especially if you’re focusing on vaping concentrates. Interestingly, the DaVinci EQ also now supports flower, something that makes this $499 device far more interesting to average folks.

DaVinci has spent years building its reputation around dry-herb vaporizers, with a particular emphasis on clean materials, flavor and precise temperature control. The Electric Quartz, or EQ, takes that same philosophy into a new category. It is DaVinci’s first dedicated e-rig, one built around a replaceable quartz crucible, glass vapor path, and on-device touchscreen. DaVinci gives it a wide 450°F to 650°F temperature range, customizable Smart Paths, USB-C charging and dual 3000mAh batteries rated for up to 50 sessions.

The centerpiece, though, is the quartz. Instead of hiding the concentrate inside an opaque chamber, the EQ lets you see what is happening as it melts. DaVinci pairs the quartz crucible with a glass bubbler and zirconia mouthpiece and carb cap, an unusually transparent setup both literally and figuratively. The company is clearly betting that people willing to spend this much on an e-rig care as much about what their vapor touches as they do about cloud size. Further, the EQ looks damn good.

Looks great, vapes great

That decision also defines the EQ’s strengths and weaknesses. In testing, I found the lower-temperature vapor smooth, clean and particularly good at preserving the flavor of concentrates. I’ve used a few handheld vapes before — I’ve mostly focused on flower — and this gave far more nuance than similar, smaller device. Heat-up is quick, and having a touchscreen means you can select an exact temperature without memorizing LED colors or pulling out your phone. Further, there aren’t a bunch of difficult lock sequences you have to memorize to get it to start up.

Because it heats from the bottom you’re going to have less of a burnt taste after a few puffs. Further, it’s quite gentle and pleasant. For both concentrates and flower I found the EQ to be superior to stuff I’ve tried from Storz & Bickel and even earlier DaVinci gear.

The Bottom Line

At $499, the DaVinci EQ is hardly an impulse purchase. It’s a serious piece of hardware for people who care about temperature control, flavor and the materials their vapor passes through. The addition of flower support makes the price much easier to justify, especially if you’re looking for one device that can handle both concentrates and dry herb without much fuss.

There are cheaper and more portable options, of course, and the EQ’s glass-heavy design means you probably won’t be tossing it into a backpack. But as a home vaporizer, it’s one of the most enjoyable devices I’ve tested. The touchscreen is genuinely useful, the vapor is excellent and the whole thing feels thoughtfully designed rather than needlessly complicated. It may look like something a mad scientist would keep on his desk, but the results are anything but experimental.

Say, for example, you’re in an apartment without a dishwasher. What do you do? Outside of immediately moving to another place or giving up entirely and perishing, you’re going to want to consider a countertop dishwasher. The model I tried, the Hermitlux Countertop Dishwasher, is an brand with a name evocative of an old man living in a cave who wears Gucci but is, despite that, a solid solution for folks who don’t have the ability to run water and waste lines in their kitchens.

The Hermitlux Countertop Dishwasher has a compact 16.85 x 16.73 x 18.23-inch design that can, theoretically, hold up to five place settings. It’s a practical option for apartments, dorms, RVs and other spaces where a standard dishwasher may not fit. It can hold dishes up to 10 inches in diameter, which means you could feasibly stuff it full of Thanksgiving dishes and let it clean while you relax.

A built-in 5-liter water tank means it can operate without being connected directly to a water line. You can also connect the dishwasher directly to your tap, allowing it to refill as needed. The dishwasher offers seven washing programs for different loads and cleaning needs, while its glass door and interior LED light let you check on dishes during a cycle. Despite its small footprint, it can handle everyday plates, bowls, cups and utensils. The real trick is learning how to load this little guy. Interestingly, it also has a fruit-washing setting that lets you rinse off your produce.

In terms of usage, the system is dead simple. You load it up, place a pod or soap in the washer, and start it. It’s surprisingly quiet, with only a light susurration noticeable from the kitchen when it’s running.

How does it clean? The first few tries left a bit of a soap smell on the dishes until we dialed in the timing and positioning. Ultimately, you need to rinse your dishes fairly well before putting them in the machine, which could be annoying to folks looking for a fire-and-forget solution. That said, the dishes were as clean or cleaner than they would be out of a larger unit.

Who is this dishwasher for? Well, a single person in a smaller apartment will love this thing. If you measure your counter space before purchasing, you’ll be able to place it in an out-of-the-way spot and route the waste hose into a bucket or drain. You’ll then be able to load a day’s worth of dishes, a breakfast plate, a soup bowl, a few plates, and some cutlery, and you’re golden.

For bigger families, you’ll find that this augments your dishwashing setup but won’t really replace a full-sized dishwasher. I’d say a couple that doesn’t eat much, or a couple with one small child, would be about the maximum number of people able to use this comfortably.

The unit comes in a number of styles including a model for narrow spaces at 14 inches. There’s even a “color screen” model with realistic icons on the front.

The bottom line? The Hermitlux has a funny name but works really well. At $299 on Amazon it’s one of the cheapest countertop dishwashers I’ve seen and the build quality is excellent. While it will never replace a Bosch under-counter monster, it’s absolutely a good choice for folks looking to wash a few dishes a night without digging in dirty sink water.

If you can’t fit a bottle of bourbon into your cargo shorts why are you even really wearing cargo shorts? And if your cargo shorts look like something from a Vietnam War cosplay session with bulging pockets and sloppy inseam, should you even wear them at all?

The SCOTTeVEST Hidden Cargo Shorts try to fix both of those problems by hiding most of the cargo. These things are definitely dad shorts but darn if they don’t do exactly what they advertise: they hide everything you’re carrying so well that you’ll barely notice them until it’s time to fish a jar of peanut butter out of your left from pocket.

On the surface, these are $99, 100 percent cotton shorts with eight pockets, including layered and deep pockets that are far less obvious than the huge pouches hanging from the sides of traditional cargo shorts. They have a 10-inch inseam, magnetic closures, and SCOTTeVEST’s expandable “Fiesta” waistband. They can also hold devices like tablets measuring up to 6.4 by 3.25 inches.

Most interestingly, they rarely look like they’re full, even if you stuff large items into the deep side pockets. In fact, SCOTTeVEST has created something that is far closer to a pair of ordinary shorts than a pair of cargo monstrosities.

SCOTTeVEST has always been a strange and useful company. Its basic idea is that clothing can replace at least part of what you would normally carry in a bag. That makes plenty of sense with a vest. Applying the same thinking to shorts is harder because eight pockets full of junk can quickly become eight pockets pulling your pants toward the floor.

The Hidden Cargo Shorts handle this by spreading the storage around. There are pockets inside pockets and deeper sections for things you do not need every five minutes. Your phone, wallet, keys, earbuds, passport, and other small items can have their own places rather than forming one uncomfortable lump in a front pocket.

The hidden aspect is also useful for travel. A passport or wallet can sit deeper inside the shorts instead of sticking out of a conventional back pocket. It is not some magic anti-theft system, but keeping important items out of sight and harder to reach is plainly better than carrying them in an exposed pocket.

SCOTTeVEST also includes magnetic closures, which are one of those small details that make more sense once you start using this kind of clothing. You can get into a pocket quickly without dealing with a zipper every time.

The shorts themselves are refreshingly old-fashioned. They are made from cotton rather than the thin synthetic fabric now common in travel clothing. That should make them feel more like normal casual shorts, though it comes with a tradeoff. SCOTTeVEST’s newer $109 Covert Cargo Shorts use its TEC|Flex fabric, which has four-way stretch and is water-repellent, wrinkle-resistant, and quick-drying. The Hidden Cargo Shorts do not get those features. The Coverts look a little more formal, as well, which could turn off some travelers.

Ninety-nine dollars is a lot for a pair of cotton shorts. But here you are paying for the pocket system rather than some exotic material. If you normally leave home with a phone, keys, and wallet, there is little reason to spend this much.

If you are the person who leaves home with a phone, wallet, keys, AirPods, battery pack, cables, sunglasses, a bottle of bourbon, vitamins, and a small kitten, the argument becomes much stronger.

Again, these are for travelers. I love SCOTTeVEST for that simple reason. Rather than making bigger, bulkier pockets, the company has turned your shorts into a storage system. I’ve been wearing their gear for years, and I love being able to slide phones, keys, and whatever else into the deep, deep pockets and know that when I sit down in the car, I’ll be dealing with things slipping out onto the seat. Instead, I’m secure in the knowledge that my shorts will always be vaguely dad-esque but amazingly useful and surprisingly cool.

Buy Now

For those of a certain vintage, the Pebble Smart Watch was a fascinating product. Designed to act as a simple, e-ink-based reminder system, the watch predated the Apple Watch by two years and became an afterthought when Apple flooded the market with their fancier timepieces.

But the Pebble was like the BlackBerry or the Palm Pre: people loved it. Enthusiasts kept theirs running for years after the company shut down in 2018, and the so-called Rebble community kept the devices going long after that.

Fast forward to today, and I just opened up the Pebble Time 2, a $225 e-ink smartwatch that recaptures the original Pebble charm in a package that is lighter, smaller, and more readable than most smartwatches.

Inside the box

The Pebble Time 2 brings the original Pebble formula back with some serious hardware improvements. It features a 1.5-inch, 64-color e-paper touchscreen set inside a stainless steel frame, with four color options. The e-paper display helps deliver solid battery life, currently rated at up to 30 days, while remaining easy to read in daylight.

Inside, there’s a heart-rate monitor, step and sleep tracking, microphone, and speaker, and water resistance. More important for longtime Pebble fans, it runs the open-source PebbleOS and has access to more than 10,000 existing watchfaces and apps through the Pebble Appstore. It’s a modern Pebble that still sticks closely to the simple, low-maintenance smartwatch idea that made the original so appealing.

The packaging is minimalist, and I had no trouble getting the devices started. To use it, you simply download the app to your phone and pair your Pebble. The watch starts up right away, and you can send watch faces and apps over instantly. I was able to add a few fun faces and a compass app without any trouble.

If you recall the first Pebble, the real draw was the notifications. This device is no different, although I found the constant beeps from my phone to be distracting. Apple does a much better job of hiding notifications, but obviously, they have a direct line into the iPhone, whereas Pebble has to do whatever other Bluetooth smartwatch does, which is suck down the device’s activity feed. Luckily, the Time 2 lets you mute notifications for apps you don’t care about.

How do I like it so far?

The Pebble is a blast from the past. It’s a great idea that got snuffed out by a huge competitor, and the company didn’t stand a chance surviving past the onslaught of the hi-resolution smartwatch market. E-ink was a nice gimmick, and it saved on battery life, but when your competitors are Samsung and Apple, you’ll never win.

I will start wearing the Pebble, and I’d love to see how useful it is in the smartwatch context. Obviously, it does what everyone else does — heart rate, step tracking, health, Taco Bell purchase tracking — but it also does a few things that are specifically Pebble-y, including some lovely animations between screens and support for an arguably overwhelming number of apps and watch faces.

I wanted this to exist, so I backed it a long while ago. I’m impressed that they finally shipped. Time will tell if this watch could replace, say, the Kospet Pulse 2 and similar “bargain basement” smartwatches, and while it will never replace the Apple Watch in my arsenal, it’s definitely a contender for a smartwatch that eschews the bells and whistles for solid design and a great pedigree.

3D printers have changed drastically over the years. Starting out as toys, they slowly improved and became professional prototyping tools akin to a CNC machine or other industrial tooling. That said, 3D printers are also a commodity with cheap ones hitting the $100 mark and the most expensive ones topping out at $1,000. This means manufacturers have to do more with less.

ELEGOO, a Chinese company that has been making STEM gear and 3D printers since 2015, is fairly well known in the hobbyist community. Their printers, like their latest Centauri Carbon 2, are rugged, well-built, and offer some amazing features at a price point that is more than acceptable. The Centauri Carbon 2 is no exception.

The Specs

The Elegoo Centauri Carbon 2 Combo is a desktop filament 3D printer built around a CoreXY motion system. The frame is rigid and square, the gantry moves smoothly, and the machine feels solid when you set it up. The build volume is 256 × 256 × 256 mm, enough space for most hobbyist and prototyping parts. Printing at higher speeds is possible because the CoreXY layout keeps motion stable, and Elegoo rates it up to 500 mm per second. In real use, you will dial that back for quality, but the system handles acceleration and direction changes without vibration becoming a problem.

Setup is a bit tricky with a number of screws needed to put the whole thing together. The core of the system is the quad filament driver that allows for instant color changes during the build. This requires four separate spool holders, which are a bit tight as you begin working with the system. After a while, however, the spools will loosen up and start spinning freely, reducing the number of snags.

The hotend can reach 350°C, and the heated bed gets up to about 110°C. That lets you work with standard polymers like PLA and PETG, and also with tougher filaments that need more heat to stick and flow well. The bed has a magnetic, flexible surface that makes removing parts easier. The printer also comes with an automatic bed leveling feature that reads multiple points and compensates during printing. This is a baseline feature for most printers at this price, but here it works quietly and reliably without much fiddling once you set the offsets.

A distinctive part of this model is the multicolor filament system. It holds four spools and manages filament paths with guides and sensors. The software handles filament switching on its own when you print parts with multiple colors or materials. The system has RFID tags on the filament and a basic tangle prevention setup so that the printer can check that you loaded the right type before you start. It does add complexity, but once you get into the habit of preparing the files and managing the spools, it is straightforward, and you can see the layers shift color without stopping and swapping manually.

The interface is a 5-inch touchscreen that responds without lag, and the menus are simple to follow. You can connect via Wi-Fi or USB, and it will take standard G-code files. The partially enclosed case helps keep the chamber warmer for filaments that do better with less draft and more consistent temperature. Connectivity and controls are not cutting edge, but they are solid and don’t get in the way when you are printing the parts that matter.

The interface and software are surprisingly good. Usually, manufacturers would skimp on the software and user interface simply because the hobbyists wouldn’t complain if they had to jerry-rig their setups to match their printers. The Slicer ELEGOO recommends allows for automatic plate organization and a fast slicing time, which means you can download a model and print it in about a minute.

ELEGOO also uses a site called Nexprint that contains thousands of 3D models, including some that showed off the Centauri Carbon 2’s powers. Except for a few complex models, everything printed in under an hour. Longer prints failed a few times because of filament snags, but interestingly, the printer was able to pick up where it failed without much damage to the object. In fact, one project took about eight hours and stopped overnight. When I restarted it again, I figured it would delaminate where the head stopped, but instead, it made a seamless continuation of the previous work.

In daily use, the Carbon 2 feels like a printer you can rely on. It is not perfect out of the box, and you will take time to tune the settings for your filaments and parts, but those are the same issues you find on all printers in this class. Once you have a routine dialed in, the prints come out consistently. If your work spans simple functional parts, multicolor pieces, and tougher materials, this machine gives you the room and heat capacity to handle all of that without changing hardware. It does not make decisions for you; it gives you tools and leaves the choices to you.

The Good

The printer is more than capable of large and complex objects. It prints quickly and produces prints that are far better than the previous printers I’ve used, including Makerbots and Bambu systems. The four-filament system is particularly interesting and allows for some truly impressive prints. I love having access to multiple colors (even if it results in little lumps of filament popping out every time it changes color).

In short, this is a heavy-duty, high-quality printer at a sub-$500 price, which is honestly amazing.

The Bad

The only issue I had with the printer was a multitude of filament snags. While this wasn’t a deal breaker, I did have to fix the spool quite often, resulting in longer-than-normal print times. Otherwise, everything else about this printer was smooth and extremely impressive. Even the network and software capabilities were light years beyond devices I’ve used in the past.

The Bottom Line

The Centauri Carbon 2 is now the printer to beat. It’s a solidly built, highly adaptable printer with a lot of great features and a great interface. It’s quite big, but if you’re looking to build large things — cosplay items, prototypes, and models — it’s definitely an important addition to your design arsenal.

Rugged smartwatches tend to fall into two camps. You either get a cheap fitness watch that looks tough but feels disposable, or you spend several hundred dollars on something built for serious outdoor use. Or, barring that, you spring for an Apple Watch or Google Pixel device that does way too much for way too much money.

The Kospet Pulse 2 sits smack in the middle.

Priced at $79.99 on Amazon, it is clearly aimed at people who want a watch they can wear hiking, running, camping, swimming, or working outside without worrying about every bump and scrape. It is not trying to compete with a high-end Garmin or Apple Watch Ultra. Instead, it gives you a lot of the features people actually use outdoors at a much lower price.

The hardware is the first thing that stands out. Kospet uses a zinc alloy bezel, a polymer body, and Gorilla Glass over the 1.96-inch AMOLED display with a claimed peak brightness of 1,000 nits. The watch has also been tested against 12 MIL-STD-810H standards, along with 5 ATM water resistance and an IP69 rating for water and dust. These ratings mean it should be comfortable dealing with rain, sweat, dirt, swimming, and the usual abuse that comes with wearing a watch outdoors.

The more interesting feature is its GPS system. The Pulse 2 supports dual-band L1 and L5 positioning across six satellite systems, something that is still unusual on a smartwatch this cheap. There are also more than 170 sports modes, including 13 modes with more detailed tracking. An upgraded optical sensor handles heart rate, blood oxygen, stress, and sleep monitoring, with the data collected and managed through Kospet’s Apexmove app.

Kospet has also added a few features you don’t normally see on an inexpensive fitness watch. There’s an LED flashlight built directly into the watch with five brightness settings, along with a short-range walkie-talkie system that supports groups of up to four people. The flashlight can run for up to seven hours, according to KOSPET, which makes it potentially useful for camping, late-night walks, or simply finding something in the dark without pulling out your phone. It could also be used for emergency signaling, especially given its long life.

Finally, there’s the battery. The 450 mAh cell is rated for up to 15 days of normal use, 11 days of heavier use, five days with the always-on display enabled, or 23 hours of continuous GPS tracking. I was able to charge the watch and let it set for almost two weeks and it still hasn’t fallen to 35 percent usage. In short, the battery is amazing.

Those figures will obviously depend on how you use the watch, but even a fraction less would put the Pulse 2 well ahead of many mainstream smartwatches. At $79.99, you’re getting a bright AMOLED screen, dual-band GPS, long battery life, solid water resistance, and some genuinely useful outdoor features without paying several hundred dollars for them.

There are also quite a few outdoor tools built in. You get a compass, weather information, sunrise and sunset data, moon phases, tide information, and environmental alerts. These all depend on a smartphone connection to at least set the time and date but except for the weather and notifications you can use this watch without a phone for most outdoor activities.

Health and fitness tracking runs through KOSPET’s Apexmove app. The watch tracks heart rate, blood oxygen, sleep, stress, and mood, along with more than 170 workout modes. That is more sports modes than anyone realistically needs, but the broader point is that the Pulse 2 covers the usual fitness basics.

That makes the Pulse 2 especially interesting for travel and weekend trips. You can throw it in a bag, use GPS for a few hikes, track workouts, and probably get home before you need to think about the charger.

There are obvious limits. This is still a $80 smartwatch. The software, sensors, app, and long-term support are not going to match what you get from Apple, Garmin, Samsung, or Google. Instead, you get a useful and interesting alternative to a Casio G-Shock fitness watch or similar rugged smartwatch. In fact, I’d argue that Kospet has done more and better work with the Pulse 2 by adding great features, a nice screen, and excellent battery to a family of timepieces that rarely receives that level of attention.

In short, the Kospet Pulse 2 is interesting because it covers the features most people want from an outdoor watch without asking them to spend several hundred dollars. You get a bright AMOLED display, dual-band GPS, strong water resistance, a tough case, long battery life, and enough health tracking to cover everyday workouts.

For hikers, runners, campers, travellers, or anyone who is hard on watches, it makes a strong case for itself. At this price, you can actually wear it outside without treating your wrist like you’re wearing a smartphone. Instead, you’re carrying a nicely designed, inexpensive tool watch that just happens to mimic all of the best parts of the smartphone and stays alive longer than even the best traditional smart watch.

Buy Now

We’ve reviewed a number of different audio devices (usually headphones or earbuds), and have even dealt with the occasional bone conduction headset. Today, we’ve got something that’s a good deal different from anything we’ve tried out before - the Jabees PEACE Pillow Speaker.

Jabees PEACE Pillow Speaker: what it is

This is pretty straight-forward. It’s a small speaker that’s charged up via USB-C. How small? Well, it’s about the size of a credit card, and as thick as a slice of bread. In other words, easy to slip under a pillow, and not really notice it there. In terms of playing sounds, you’ve got two options. The familiar one will be bluetooth, which can connect to your phone, tablet, or even (we presume) your smart TV (presume, as we didn’t test this out).

If you don’t like having your phone in the room, though, you’re not out of luck. There’s a microSD slot that will allow you to load on whatever audio you might want, and play sounds self-contained to the speaker. In fact, they’ve got a version of the speaker that ships with a card installed and preloaded with nature sounds, perfect for calming down and blocking out noises around you.

Why the Jabees PEACE Pillow Speaker?

If you’re wanting to listen to something - say, an audio book or some peaceful sounds - as you’re winding down at night, you do have options. You could just play it using your phone’s speakers, but then you’re potentially disturbing someone around you. Well, what about a pair of headphones? Those are bulky, so you’re stuck with just laying on your back. Now, there are sleep-specific earbuds, but not everyone likes that sensation of in-ear buds. Plus, earbuds or headphones, if you fall asleep, you’re dealing with those being on all night.

The Jabees PEACE Pillow Speaker solves for all of that. For one, it’s a small speaker that goes under your pillow, so the sound isn’t filling up the room. It’s also not stuck in (or on) your ears, so no harm if you fall asleep. Especially if you enable the timer on the speaker, where it can automatically shut itself off after 30, 60, or 120 minutes.

Putting it to the test

As soon as the Jabees PEACE Pillow Speaker arrived, I knew how I was going to test it - I wasn’t going to test it at all. You see, my youngest is absolutely hooked on listening to audio books. During the day, that’s done with an earbud, but at night, that becomes more difficult to do. So, we set the Jabees PEACE Pillow Speaker up to connect to her iPad, and let her put it through the paces.

So, the good news here, the speaker works as designed. Audiobooks were able to be listened to, and no one else was able to hear them, even when you were in the room. It was also small enough to not be obtrusive or uncomfortable under the pillow. The one thing she noticed was that, if you moved around too much, it could be more difficult to hear things as clearly. So, if you’re restless going to sleep, this might not be a great option.

Wrapping things up

If you’re looking for a way to listen to audio - be it a book, nature sounds, or some other calming tracks, the Jabees PEACE Pillow Speaker is a super-affordable bit of tech to try out. You can buy the the standard version for $35.99, or go for the one with a 1GB SD card with nature sounds on it for $39.99. The fact that it can be self-contained and shut itself off automatically marks it as a win in our books. Check it out, and order yours, over at jabees.com

Tech Specs

• Driver Units: 2 x 16.3mm bone conduction driver

• RMS: 0.5W 8ohm

• Frequency Response: 300Hz-14kHz（-6dB）

• Audio Modes: Bluetooth, Micro SD memory card

• Supported File Type: MP3, WAV

• Music Play Time: Up to 10 Hours

• Battery Charge Time: About 2 Hours

• Product Dimension: 86 x 57.8 x 13.7mm (3.39” x 2.28” x 0.54”)

• Product Weight: 45g / 0.1 lbs

There’s no denying the fact that certain facets of consumer electronics get their corners cut. Fortunately, there are easy ways to improve some of that with simple add-ons. If you’re finding the wired sound out of your laptop or tablet to be a bit lacking, the iFi GO link 2 is a simple, easy to transport, way to improve things.

iFi GO link 2: what it is

Well, it’s a digital-to-analog converter (aka a DAC), albeit much simplified from the iFi Zen DAC 3 that we reviewed. So, without all of the buttons and knobs, how is it going to make your audio better? Basically, it’s all about the DAC chipset that is in the dongle. With it, it can take all of the high-quality, lossless audio that streaming services are serving up, and take and pump that right into your wired headphones.

Is it stuck in time?

That’s the other thing with our hardware - we’re used to being able to apply new updates and firmware to bring new functionality, right? How will that work on a small dongle like this? Well, no worries: the iFi GO link 2 brings the GO lineup into compatibility with the iFi Nexis app, which means you can apply firmware updates on the go, as well as fine tune what the DAC is doing to your audio files.

Wrapping things up

If you’re looking for an easy way to upgrade the sound output of anything with a USB-C port on it, the iFi GO link 2 seems like a very simple way to go about just that. Not only that, it’s actually very affordable as well. You can pick it up for just $59, directly from ifi-audio.com

Features

• ​Plug-And-Play Performance: Instantly upgrades headphone listening from any USB ​device.

• Smaller Than Ever: iFi’s most compact DAC to date — 8% smaller and 29% lighter
  ​than the original GO link.

• ESS Sabre DAC Inside: Unlocks up to 32-bit/384kHz PCM and native DSD256
  ​audio.

• Dynamic Range Enhancement: Expands the gap between the quietest details and
  ​the loudest peaks for greater contrast and impact.

• THD compensation: Lowers distortion by up to 62% compared to the original GO
  ​link.

• iFi Nexis App Support: Selectable digital filters and over-the-air updating* via
  ​mobile.

• S-Balanced Output: Reduces channel crosstalk by 50%, for cleaner audio
  ​separation.

Fosi’s BT20A Max is a compact desktop amplifier that aims to do a lot in a small package. It combines great power, Bluetooth 6.0, multiple inputs, subwoofer support, a switchable equalizer, and remote control in a chassis that is clearly meant to stand on its own rather than fit neatly into an older Fosi stack. After extended use, the result is mostly very good. The sound quality is the main reason to pay attention to this amp. It sounds open, detailed, and spacious, with strong stereo imaging and enough power to drive even large floor-standing speakers without strain. In daily use, it feels like a serious step up from what many people expect from a compact desktop unit.

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A desktop amp like this one is designed to be compact and unobtrusive. You’re supposed to leave it on your desk or bookshelf, connect two or four passive speakers and a subwoofer, and send audio to it via computer headphone output, turntable output, or Bluetooth. Essentially, it’s a pared-down version of those high-end receivers that we all used to have in our listening rooms and is actually designed to be an inline amp for nearly any type of audio device, including televisions.

The design is new for Fosi. The front panel is more rounded than earlier models, with all four corners softened and a decorative strip across the top. The control layout is simple. You get a power button that also selects among three input channels, status LEDs, an equalizer control, a remote sensor, and a motorized volume knob. Around back, the BT20A Max includes two RCA inputs, a subwoofer output, speaker terminals, a high-pass filter switch for 2.1 use, a trigger input to shut down other equipment when the amp is off, a Bluetooth antenna connection, and the power input. The speakers connect via banana plugs or standard speaker wire. The feature set is solid, especially for people who want one small amp that can handle both wired and wireless listening.

On paper, the output section is amazing for a unit this size. The BT20A Max is rated at up to 300 watts per channel into 4 ohms, with a more realistic continuous output of 180 watts per channel. In practice, that translates to plenty of headroom for most home setups, including larger speakers. Noise is kept low, with a signal-to-noise ratio of at least 112 dB, and distortion is specified at 0.003 percent or lower, which aligns with what you hear in normal listening, clean output without obvious artifacts.

Bluetooth performance is one of the highlights. The Bluetooth side is handled by a Qualcomm QCC3095 chipset with support for aptX, aptX HD, Adaptive, Lossless, and LDAC, so wireless playback holds up better than expected, both in stability and detail. Music played from a phone remained detailed and clean, with good instrument separation and a convincing sense of space. That matters because many small amps treat Bluetooth like a side feature. Here it feels like a real part of the package, which is probably why most people will buy it in the first place.

The strongest point, though, is still the core sound. This amp delivers a light, clean, roomy presentation with very good control and plenty of reserve power. While this is a smaller amp, the audio that comes out of this thing is quite impressive. That is a serious compliment. The BT20A Max does not sound like a compromise product. It sounds like a genuinely capable amplifier that can work in a main home setup, not just on a desk or in an office. At a mere $249, it’s a great entry-level amp for folks who are slowly building out their audio environment, whether it’s connecting to speakers via your phone or laptop or playing music and video through here. It’s definitely comparable to similar offerings from Schiit or RSL, and given Fosi’s recent quality record, I’d say this is currently the better deal.

The equalizer and subwoofer support also add useful flexibility. The high-pass filter sends bass below 80 Hz to the subwoofer output, which makes the amp easy to use in a simple 2.1 system. The equalizer can be bypassed, making this the kind of practical feature that makes a compact amp more useful over time.

There are, however, a few design choices that will bother some users. The biggest complaint is the cooling fan. The BT20A Max includes active cooling, and while the fan is relatively quiet, it is still audible at close range during low-volume listening or in pauses between tracks. For some people, this will not matter. For others, especially people who listen quietly in a near-silent room, it could be a real annoyance.

The second issue is the motorized volume control. This is not a problem in every setup, but it becomes one with hotter source outputs. When used with fixed-output DACs or streamers, the volume rises too quickly, making fine adjustment difficult at lower listening levels. With normal sources, the problem is less severe. A slower, more gradual control would have made the amp easier to live with.

There are a few smaller complaints as well. The speaker terminals are easy to grip and tighten, but they do not fully accept standard banana plugs, which feels like an avoidable flaw. The remote control works well with the amp itself, but does not extend control to certain matching Fosi components, which limits convenience in a wider system. And because of its dimensions, the BT20A Max does not stack neatly with several other Fosi products. That will not matter to everyone, but it does make the unit feel slightly separate from the rest of the company’s current lineup, although it could be a reason to upgrade.

On the technical side, the BT20A Max is well equipped. It includes Post Filter Feedback, has separate power supplies for digital and analog sections, uses Elna capacitors, and offers strong rated output.

Taken as a whole, the BT20A Max looks like one of Fosi’s most complete compact amplifiers so far. It sounds excellent, offers real flexibility, and makes a strong case for itself whether you plan to use Bluetooth or not. The main weaknesses are not about sound quality. They are about user experience, especially the audible fan and the overly quick volume behavior with high-output sources.

The bottom line is simple: if sound quality is the main test, the BT20A Max passes easily. It is powerful, clean, spacious, and versatile. If Fosi can refine the cooling and volume behavior in a future revision, this could be an easy category leader. Even as it stands, it is a very strong compact amplifier and an easy one to recommend, with a few clear caveats for very picky listeners.

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I’m very loyal when it comes to travel backpacks. I wear them into the ground, and I usually destroy them. My last pack, a Knack Series 2, was solid, but no matter how little I put in it, it always felt too heavy because of the design and pocket layout. When a Knack zipper finally gave out, I went looking for something new.

A friend pointed me to Aer, so I picked up the Aer Travel Pack 3 Small Ultra. The “Small” designation is important because I’d say the standard size is too big. This bag holds 28 liters and weighs 3.5 pounds. It uses Ultra400X by Challenge Sailcloth, a light, waterproof fabric with a matte look. A padded, suspended pocket fits a 16-inch laptop, and the lay flat main compartment makes packing simple for clothes and shoes. You get quick access top and side pockets for small items, an expandable bottle pocket, and a hidden smart tracker pocket. Compression straps with magnetic fasteners steady the load, while load lifters, an internal framesheet, and handles on all sides keep carry comfortable and controlled. Lockable zippers add security, there are attachment points for a removable hip belt, and a luggage pass-through plays well with rolling bags. At 19 by 13 by 7.5 inches, it stays compact without feeling cramped.

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I like this model because it is not too big, yet it carries a lot without dragging you down. On recent trips I fit shoes, clothes, a laptop, adapters, and a watch case without trouble. The structure helps it slide under a seat or into an overhead cleanly, and the built-in bottle holder is a real plus. The Knack lacked a bottle holder, and I missed it.

The striking part is the price, $279. It matches similar bags by size, though it sits on the high side for travel gear. Given the durability of the sailcloth, the zippers, and the thoughtful design, you can spread the cost over five years and feel fine about it. In short, you will not need to upgrade any time soon.

Aer is obviously an Instagram brand, one that follows you once you click a link, but I like the Designed in SF look, and I like the materials. It is half a pound heavier than the Knack, and I think Aer’s design and build make the whole package feel more compact and wearable. I have tested too many bags over the years, we used to run Bag Week at TechCrunch and review dozens in seven days, and this is one I plan to keep for a few years, until I finally wear it out.

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See that handsome devil up there on that iPhone case? Want to see his face, or anyone else’s, every time you pick up your phone? Then take a look at the XTREM INNO, a clever iPhone case with a full-colour e-ink display built into the back. It turns your phone into a tiny digital picture frame that never needs charging and lets you swap images whenever you feel like it.

Oh, and read on, because I’ve got a little giveaway at the end.

I really like the idea behind this case. It’s one of those products that immediately makes you smile because it takes a mature technology and uses it in an unexpected way. Instead of treating the back of your phone as dead space, XTREM turned it into a canvas. The catch is the price. At $69, this isn’t an impulse purchase. You have to really like the idea of carrying a personalised phone around every day. Still, after spending some time with it, I found myself warming to the concept more than I expected.

The case communicates with your phone using NFC, so there are no batteries to charge or Bluetooth connections to fuss over. You simply download the companion app, choose a photo, and tap it to the case. The transfer only works while the phone is actually inside the case, but the whole process takes less than a minute.

The app is surprisingly rich. Beyond simply displaying your own photos, it includes an AI remix feature that can transform portraits into cartoons, illustrations, and other stylised images. My youngest son immediately began experimenting with it, eventually turning our dog into something that looked like it had wandered out of a nightmare. The results ranged from charming to deeply unsettling, which is probably exactly what the developers intended.

The AI tools use a credit system, but you don’t need to spend anything if you simply want to display your own pictures. Upload any image you like and the app automatically resizes it and optimises it for the limited resolution and colour palette of the e-ink display. The conversion process works better than I expected, preserving enough detail that family photos, logos, artwork, and illustrations all remain recognisable.

The display itself is the real star. Unlike an LCD or OLED screen, an e-ink panel only consumes power while changing the image. Once the picture has been transferred, it stays there without draining your phone or requiring its own battery. It feels almost like putting a printed photograph inside a transparent case, except you can change it whenever the mood strikes.

The audience for something like this is admittedly pretty specific. My youngest son loved filling it with ridiculous photos of himself and the family. I could also see anime fans, artists, photographers, or anyone who likes personalising their gear enjoying the ability to change the artwork every day. It feels more like an accessory than a piece of technology.

The XTREM INNO won’t appeal to everyone, particularly at its current price, but that’s almost beside the point. It’s one of those rare gadgets that exists simply because it’s fun. In a world where most phone accessories look identical, that’s worth something. I found myself changing the image far more often than I expected, and every time someone noticed the display, it started a conversation. That’s probably the highest compliment I can give it.

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Free gift!

Now here’s the best part: I’d like to give one lucky U.S. reader an iPhone 16 Pro case that the company sent me. It has my face on it (see above), but you can easily change that. All I ask is that you share this newsletter with a friend somehow (I’ll trust you) and drop me a line with your address at john@biggs.cc with the subject like XTREM CASE. I’ll ship out to one lucky reader I pick at random.

Since reviewing the Anbernic RG Rotate, I thought I was finished emulation handhelds. Who needs a multiple emulators lying around unless you have kids who want to steal them?

Then I bought 2024’s $74 Anbernic RG35XXSP.

I was smitten.

The RG35XXSP is a Nintendo Gameboy Advance styled handheld designed specifically for early game emulation. It can emulate nearly everything, from NES to PSP, but this device is primarily for D-pad and four button games. It succeeds because it does something completely different. Instead of chasing power, Anbernic focused on making a handheld that feels great to carry, great to hold, and ready to play at a moment’s notice. I think it’s the second best device the company has made.

Part of that comes down to the clamshell design. Close the lid and the screen is protected. Toss it into a backpack or jacket pocket without thinking about it. Open it and you’re back in your game within seconds.

The hinge feels solid and snaps into place with a click. The controls are equally satisfying. Modern handhelds often favour soft, almost silent buttons, but the RG35XXSP goes in the opposite direction. Every press has a crisp mechanical feel that suits retro games perfectly. The shoulder buttons deserve special mention too. They’re large, easy to reach, and much sturdier than the awkward triggers found on many inexpensive emulation handhelds.

Around the edges you’ll find everything you’d expect from a modern Anbernic device. There’s HDMI output for playing on a television, Bluetooth audio and controllers, a headphone jack, dedicated volume buttons, Wi-Fi, and dual microSD slots for expanding your game library.

The RG35XXSP is especially nice because you can play games immediately. I supports two SD cards and you can copy ROMs into various folders and have them up and running instantly. The stock OS is just fine although you can add a number of other OSes including my favorite, Garlic OS.

The stock interface isn’t especially beautiful, but it gets the job done. Favourite games are easy to organise, RetroArch is front and centre, and everything is laid out logically. I’d still like to see a search function, particularly if you’ve filled both SD cards, but that’s a relatively small complaint. It was super hard to find Legend of Zelda, for example, in my stockpile of classic NES games.

Performance lands exactly where it needs to. Without analogue sticks, this isn’t really the handheld for Nintendo 64 or dual-stick PlayStation games, even if the hardware is capable of running many of them. Instead, the RG35XXSP shines with systems that were designed around a D-pad. Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, SNES, Mega Drive, PC Engine, Neo Geo, and the original PlayStation all feel right at home here. The display isn’t OLED, but it’s bright, colourful, and an excellent match for pixel art.

One feature I didn’t expect to use was HDMI output with Bluetooth controllers. Hook it up to a television, connect a pair of controllers, and suddenly you’ve got a compact multiplayer machine. Super Mario Kart, Bomberman, Street Fighter II, and dozens of other classics are immediately more fun with another person in the room.

Older Anbernic handhelds always left me looking for a charger sooner than I wanted. The RG35XXSP lasts long enough that I simply stop thinking about it. I can play for several evenings before needing to plug it in, and that changes how I use the device. Instead of living on my desk, it lives in my backpack. I was able to play the original Zelda over three days without having to recharge, which is great.

Who is this for? If you love classic games then the RG35XXSP is something you can slip into a coat pocket, take on a train, or pull out while waiting for a flight. It boots quickly, plays the games it was built for exceptionally well, and then disappears until you need it again.

Given the $74 price tag, the amazing battery life, and great features, this is definitely a handheld that is going with me on my travels when I positively, absolutely have to beat Metroid one more time.

We’ve been able to spend a lot of time with a variety of the headphones and earbuds from 1MORE, and their over-ear headphones have been coming with a very compelling balance of functionality and pricing. Their latest, the 1MORE SonoFlow Pro, give a solid upgrade to battery life, as well as including a handy wired accessory.

1MORE SonoFlow Pro: what they are

Obviously, the 1MORE SonoFlow Pro are a set of over-ear headphones. These are wireless, most of the time, but they can also be wired, as they have a 2.5mm jack in the right earcup. This is where the accessory comes in. While it definitely is a wired cable, it also packs in a play/pause button, which is handy to use.

It’s with this wire that we start to see some differences from the non-Pro version that came before. With the 1MORE SonoFlow Pro, you do have to have the headphones charged to use them in wired mode. Why is that? Well, it’s because you can actually use ANC while wired, which is something the prior version did not allow (that said, you can the non-pro version wired even with a dead battery). So, you’re going to be worried about battery life, right?

Not really a concern here. Battery life is drastically improved, with an estimated 100h (with ANC off; 65h with ANC on) as compared to the 70 hours that the non-pro version offers. How did they accomplish that? There may be other things they’ve done, but our hunch is that the move from Bluetooth 5.0 to 5.4 allowed for a more efficient radio to be in the mix, help extend your time between charges.

Wrapping things up

At the end of the day, the 1MORE SonoFlow Pro headphones are very, very similar to the non-pro version. They both are styled similarly, and both come with a hard-shell travel case and charging cable. They both perform simililarly (as judged by my non-calibrated ears), and offer the same levels of comfort on the head.

However, the Pro does bring that extended battery life, which is nothing to sneeze at. They also seem to have worked on the hinges in the headband and the earcups, which helps cut down on the creaking you sometimes here. And, yes, there’s also that wired cable that adds in the play/pause button.

What’s interesting here is how these are priced. Funnily enough, when you look at the list price, the 1MORE SonoFlow Pro is actually a few dollars cheaper than the non-pro version. However, with the current discounts they have, the 1MORE SonoFlow Pro comes in at $87.99 (vs $74.99 for the non-pro). To us, that slight premium is well worth it for the improved battery life. However, if you need to be able to use the headphones in wired mode even when the battery is depleted, you’ll want the non-pro version. You can get yours directly from 1MORE, or over at Amazon (where the current coupon drops the price to just over $70!)

Tech Specs

These days, we have no shortage of options when it comes to setting up security cameras. Do you want to be wired or wireless? Do you want to hard-wire your cameras, or do you want them battery powered? What about video clip storage - do you want that on-camera, in the cloud, or somewhere else? For us, we like the idea of storage being local, so we retain control over the data. That’s where the Reolink Home Hub comes in.

Reolink Home Hub: what it is

The simplest way to think about the Reolink Home Hub is that it’s a WiFi router that plugs into your network. By that, we mean it sets up it’s own WiFi network that you can then connect the security devices to. This allows you to keep the cameras on the property from interfering with, say, your tablet’s connection, and vice versa.

What it also brings along is some additional storage. We’ve taken a look at a few Reolink cameras (and have a few more reviews in the works), and they’ve always done a good job of putting a microSD slot right on the camera, for you to then retrieve recordings from later. Well, what if someone absconds with your camera? You’re up a creek - unless the Reolink Home Hub is in the mix.

The Reolink Home Hub comes with two microSD slots built in, allowing it to have up to 1TB of storage, safely tucked away in your house (it ships with a 64 GB card). So, even if your camera is damaged or otherwise disappears, those recordings are elsewhere. Still local to you, just not local to the camera.

Setting it up

That image up above really shows the steps - they’re pretty simple. Once it has power and a hardwired ethernet connection, you set the hub in in the Reolink app on your phone. Then, you can get your existing cameras moved over from your home WiFi network to the new Reolink-specific one the hub creates. You can choose if you want it to spin up 2.4GHz or 5GHz bands, and you can name them as well as set your customized passwords on each. Additionally, you can setup encryption on the records the Home Hub stores, for extra piece of mind.

Wrapping things up

The Reolink Home Hub can handle up to 8 cameras (we presume to manage the networking and storage), or you can go to the Pro version with handles up to 24 cameras. For me, the Reolink Home Hub adds some additional piece of mind - and redundancy - to my home camera setup. No, you don’t need it to run many of their cameras (they’ll happily communicate directly to you via the app), but I think it’s a good addition to the eco system. Particularly if you’ve decided that you’re going all Reolink, and not a mix of products.

The Reolink Home Hub is available now, with an MSRP of $139.99 (the Pro version goes for $339.99, and adds in wired camera support). However, they often have deals, and right now, it’s at 20% off, so a price of $111.99. You can get it from Amazon, or directly from reolink.com

Storz & Bickel sounds like a Swedish law firm, but they’re best known for making some of the best and most rugged vapes around. Their flagship, the Venty, is a $449 behemoth with huge batteries and a clever LCD readout. The $249 Veazy, on the other hand, is a lower-cost but not lower-quality solution for the discerning paper.

The Veazy sits in the middle of the Storz & Bickel lineup, and it feels designed for people who want the company’s engineering without the bulk or price of its flagship devices. It is smaller, lighter, and more direct in how it works. You load it, press the front button, and inhale. You can boost and super-boost the temperature by clicking the button twice after each increase in temperature.

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Under the hood, the Veazy uses the same basic idea that defines the rest of the brand’s products: a mix of convection and conduction heating. That means it heats both the air moving through the herb and the chamber itself, which helps extract flavor evenly without burning. The result is dense vapor that stays consistent from the first draw to the last, without the harshness you get from combustion.

What stands out right away is the airflow. The draw feels open, almost effortless, and that changes how you use it. You are not fighting the device or trying to time your pulls. You just inhale and it responds. That ease makes it more forgiving than older portable units, especially for people who do not want to think about technique.

The Veazy is also built for portability. It is compact enough to carry without planning around it, and it heats quickly enough that you can use it in short sessions. It is not chasing maximum power or long session endurance. It is trying to be something you actually pick up and use throughout the day. It’s also nice because it doesn’t look like a robotic lung. Instead, it looks more like an old-timey microphone, and it’s small enough to hide in a pocket or bag.

There are limits. You do not get the raw output or deep customization of higher-end models like the Venty. The controls are simpler, the power is lower, and the experience is less tunable. But that is the point. This is a device that trades edge-case performance for consistency and ease.

The vape comes with a complete cleaning kit and instruction booklet, and the company notes that it’s not for tobacco use. I’ve found S&B to be consistently high quality, so I have little concern that this rugged little vape will keep ticking even under heavy use.

In practice, the Veazy trips the vape category back to its basics and executes them well. If you want a portable vaporizer that delivers clean flavor, steady performance, and minimal friction, this is exactly what it is built to do.

I like throwback clothing. Not costume pieces, not Go Go boots or Nehru jackets. I mean gear that pulls from old workwear and military issue, things that were built for a job and still carry a little cool. The Fieldworth Type 45 Flight Jacket fits that mold. It looks like something you would dig out of a dusty Army Navy store, but it lands with cleaner lines and better materials.

The Type 45 takes its shape from the CWU-45P, first issued in 1972 to U.S. Air Force pilots. Those jackets were made for cold, harsh conditions, often worn in unheated aircraft where function mattered more than comfort. The name itself, Cold Weather Uniform, says it all. Thick nylon shell, bulky insulation, bright orange lining for visibility. Fieldworth keeps the outline but removes the excess. This version is lighter, easier to wear, and built for the street rather than the cockpit.

The biggest change is the fabric. Instead of nylon, it uses cotton Bedford cloth. It has a dry feel and a visible vertical grain that gives it some texture without looking busy. There is a bit of stretch woven in, just enough to make it comfortable without turning it soft or shapeless. It still feels structured, which is the point.

The details stay close to the original pattern. A zip front with an interior wind flap. Snap-adjusted hem. Flap pockets at the waist and a zip pocket at the chest. The stitching is solid, nothing flashy, just built to hold up. Inside, a cotton poplin lining keeps it breathable, which matters because this is not meant to be a deep winter jacket.

At $138, it sits in an odd place. It is not cheap, but it is not trying to compete with high-end reproductions either. Most modern bomber jackets drift past $150 without much thought, so this comes in just under that line. You can find older flight jackets online for less, if you are willing to deal with wear, sizing issues, and whatever history they carry. This one gives you the look without the guesswork.

There is always a part of me that prefers the real thing, something that has been worn hard and carries its past with it. But that comes with tradeoffs. Fieldworth is not trying to fake history. It is taking a familiar form and making it usable now. That is a safer move, but in this case it works.

Gaming headsets usually look like gaming headsets. They’re usually made of glowing plastic, features odd angles and enough visual clutter to make you embarrassed wearing them outside the house, and sound like something a bomber pilot would user in 1945. The $199 SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 Gen 2 avoids most of that nonsense. It looks restrained, is surprisingly light, and does almost everything well enough that you stop thinking about the hardware and just use it.

The Arctis Nova 7 Gen 2 sits in the middle of the SteelSeries lineup, below the Nova Pro but above the cheaper entry-level sets. It is designed as a multi-platform wireless headset for PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, and mobile devices. The main selling point is versatility. You can run low-latency 2.4GHz wireless and Bluetooth at the same time, which means you can game on your PC while taking a call from your phone without switching devices. It includes audio cables for connecting directly to your computer or audio device as well as a dedicated wireless dongle for phones.

The design is familiar if you have used SteelSeries gear before. There is a suspended elastic headband, breathable fabric ear cushions, and a retractable microphone that disappears neatly into the ear cup when you do not need it. The construction mixes matte plastic with a metal headband and avoids the cheap creaking feel that plagues a lot of wireless gaming gear. Mute and volume controls are on left side of the headset with the microphone and there are power and bluetooth controls on the right side along with a slider to manage “ChatMix” which brings the game or the in-game chatter to the fore.

Battery life is one of the biggest improvements in the Gen 2 version. SteelSeries claims up to 54 hours on a charge, which is a substantial jump over the older Nova 7. In real-world use, I saw solid battery life of about 40 hours before I needed to charge the headset. In fact, battery life is so good you might end up forgetting to charge your headset.

The sound signature leans clean rather than exaggerated. Bass is present but not absurdly boosted, and the headset works well for music in addition to gaming. SteelSeries also pushes its Sonar software heavily, offering game-specific EQ presets and parametric controls for people who want to fine-tune things endlessly.

Remember: this is not an audiophile headset. You will absolutely noticed a difference between this headset and, say, a properly powered and amped audio-only headset. Drum and Bass and game music sounded great on this headset, but you’re absolutely going to notice a bit of tinniness when listening to fiddly guitar or treble sounds. Interestingly, these cans offer excellent noise repression thanks to their cushy ear pads and closed cups.

What’s most important thing is that these headphones are comfortable. I wore them for a good eight hours one day and barely noticed them. I love the analog wheel for volume and the retractable microphone is extremely handy. Again, this is a gaming headset so the question here is comfort in front of a screen instead of comfort on a train or plane.

The weak point is probably the microphone. It is usable for Discord, multiplayer games, and casual calls, but several folks noted that it sounds thinner and less natural than competing headsets in the same price range. That said, most people buying a headset like this are not recording podcasts or streaming professionally. For normal gaming use it gets the job done.

Another interesting addition is SteelSeries app that allows you to control a number of audio features and even tune the headset for certain games. As someone who rarely, if ever, downloads the app for a pair of headphones I probably would never use it but it’s nice to know they’ve thought of all audiences.

What I like most about the Nova 7 Gen 2 is that it does not scream “gamer.” You could wear these on a train or in a coffee shop without looking like you are about to join an esports tournament. The headset folds into daily life fairly naturally, and that matters more than most gaming companies seem to realize. SteelSeries even lets you swap out the decorations on the ear pads, something quite clever. The company sells “Booster Packs” from different designers and you can pick them up for about $20 to customize your headphones.

SteelSeries has spent years refining this design rather than reinventing it, and that is probably the right call. The Nova 7 Gen 2 is not flashy but it definitely works. Because it includes a number of input and output methods, you can use it with your phone, your laptop, your console, and your gaming PC with equal success. And at $199 you’re getting something that sounds acceptable even when you’re not stabbing aliens on a deserted space station.

A $129 DAC doesn’t sound like it could do very much to your music. The iFi Zen Air DAC 2, however, is something different and, dare I say, well worth the price.

Basically, this is a USB-C DAC for your desktop. It supports RCA out for speakers as well as 1/4-inch and balanced headphone outputs. When you plug in a pair of good headphones or monitors you essentially get a surprisingly good audio system with lots of headroom and plenty of detail.

Housed in iFi’s familiar curved desktop chassis, the ZEN Air DAC 2 strips away some of the premium materials found in the company’s higher-end models while retaining the core audio technology that made the original ZEN series popular among headphone enthusiasts. Basically it’s a plastic box clad in rubber which doesn’t give a premium vibe but is definitely cool looking.

At the heart of the ZEN Air DAC 2 is a Burr-Brown True Native DAC chip paired with a 16-core XMOS USB processor. This combination allows the unit to handle PCM files up to 32-bit/384kHz, native DSD256, DXD, and MQA content. Unlike many entry-level DACs that convert everything to a single format internally, the Burr-Brown architecture preserves the original data stream, helping maintain the character of the source material.

The ZEN Air DAC 2 functions as both a standalone DAC and a headphone amplifier. A front-mounted 1/4-inch headphone jack is paired with an analog volume control, while rear RCA outputs allow the unit to feed powered speakers or an external amplifier. PowerMatch gain adjustment helps users match the amplifier output to different headphones, whether they are using sensitive in-ear monitors or more demanding over-ear designs.

One of the most useful features is XBass+, iFi’s analog bass enhancement circuit. Rather than using digital signal processing, XBass+ adds low-frequency weight through an analog circuit that can help compensate for headphones that sound thin or lack extension in the lower registers. The effect is subtle enough for daily listening and can add welcome warmth to smaller headphones without overwhelming the rest of the frequency range.

In use, the ZEN Air DAC delivers the smooth, slightly warm sound signature that has become associated with iFi products. Vocals sound natural, instruments retain good separation, and the presentation avoids the harshness sometimes found in budget DACs. While it lacks the outright power and refinement of more expensive desktop amplifiers, it offers a substantial improvement over the audio outputs built into most laptops, desktop computers, and gaming systems.

I compared the Zen Air with the Fosi Audio ZH3 and there was honestly no contest. Bass was deeper, resolution was better, and, as you’d expect, the ZH3 was $100 more expensive than the Zen Air. That said, the Zen Air performed admirably in comparison to the ZH3 and an older tube DAC I use but, in the end, you get what you pay for.

The ZEN Air DAC is aimed at listeners taking their first steps into dedicated desktop audio. It combines broad format support, solid headphone performance, and useful analog features in an affordable package. For anyone looking to improve their listening experience without building a complicated audio system, it remains one of the strongest values in the entry-level DAC and headphone amplifier category. The bottom line? Plugging this into your computer and adding a nice pair of entry-level headphones will change your life when it comes to digital audio. It’s a great first step for anyone wondering what the fuss is about when it comes to dedicated audio hardware and it’s well worth the price of admission.

Specs

DAC

Bit-Perfect DSD & DXD DAC by Burr Brown

DIMENSIONS

158 x 117 x 35 mm

6.2” x 4.6” x 1.4”

DNRLine Section:

>113dB(A) @ -60dBFS

FORMATS SUPPORTED

44.1/48/88.2/96/176.4/192/352.8/384kHz PCM

2.8/3.1/5.6/6.2/11.2/12.4MHz DSD
353/384KHz DXD
MQA

INPUT

USB2.0 B Socket

INPUT VOLTAGE

DC 5V/2.5A

NET WEIGHT

315 g

0.694 lbs