Liansing Ultra-Light Wireless Bluetooth 4.0 Headset

 

We’ve all been there. Needing to take or make a call while on the road. And we’ve all wrestled with just how much of a necessity it is because let’s face it: Not only is it illegal out here to be using your phone while driving, It’s dangerous and stupid too. So, while I’d had one of the first bluetooth headsets back when the Motoroloa RAZR was new (Don’t judge me), I’d quickly decided that those big, awkward, unusual things were not for me, because speakerphone. But, fumbling with your touch-screen device without looking at it is not good either. So when I got a chance to try this Liansing Ultra-Light Bluetooth Headset, I was game.

Well, set and match! This thing works like gangbusters, and isn’t huge, obnoxious, or heavy on the ear! Getting the unit to pair with our devices took a little help from Liansing, as the printed instructions are incorrect about the amount of time to hold down the main button to make the device discoverable (about 7-10 seconds). Once that was out of the way, every device we have paired quickly and easily. The sound is adequate, not spectacular, and the microphone easily picks up my voice while filtering out low ambient noise. Not the HD voice I’ve been used to with my 4G service and device, but not distorted or robot-like, so it’ll do nicely. It comes with a variety of soft silicone rubber earbud covers that can be turned and set for a more customized fit, a removable ear hook to secure it, a short USB 2.0 charging cable, and in a nice touch, a second wired earbud that can make your handsfree headset into a true stereo bluetooth headset as well. Well played, Liansing.

It’s not all wine and roses, though. The aforementioned issues with pairing should be noted immediately on the Amazon info page. Liansing said they are working with the supplier to get the instructions amended, but until then they need to be a little more proactive, as I was about to return mine as defective. Next, and most glaringly, is the (what I assume to be Chinese or Mandarin) foreign language that it uses to notify you of an incoming call. Quite unexpected and somewhat startling. There is no way that I’ve found to turn this off, and while it isn’t a dealbreaker for me, there’s really no reason to have this and not make it toggleable, as some might find it bad enough to say “No, Thanks”. All in all, for around $12 (at the time of my order) shipped you get quite a bit of value and while it’s not perfect by any means, it is perfectly adequate for my and many other’s simple needs of being safer on the road when you absolutely must take or make a call. Most of the functions necessary to make or end a call, as well as adjust the volume (or even control your music!) are right there on the headset, too! It seems to be made well enough for light to occasional use, it holds a charge for quite some time and does the job it’s designed for admirably.

I received the above product(s) free of charge from Liansing. I am not obligated to provide a positive or favorable review, just my honest opinion. My review is based on my experience with the product and/or brand, which may differ from yours.

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I received the above product(s) free of charge from Liansing. I am not obligated to provide a positive or favorable review, just my honest opinion. My review is based on my experience with the product and/or brand, which may differ from yours.

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PulseAudio Vitality Wireless Bluetooth Stereo Headphones

Every once in a while you come across a product that you didn’t know much about and didn’t see much use for, until you try it, and suddenly understand what all the hub-bub is about. That’s exactly what happened to me with these PulseAudio Vitality bluetooth headphones. I now don’t know how I ever got along without them. Come with me as we explore why.

Let’s be honest, there’s few things on this earth more annoying than having your earbuds ripped out of your ears. It’s somewhere between “nails on a chalkboard” and ” loud high-pitched whine”.  And we mostly do it ourselves because our earphone cord hangs down and gets caught on whatever (Or whoever) is nearest. I’m here to tell you that with PulseAudio’s Vitality bluetooth earbuds, that’s a thing of the past. And it doesn’t mean sacrificing every drop of sound quality either. Because the sound? It’s quality. It’s not like it’s reference quality, but I’ve paid more and gotten less when it comes to the sound, and they weren’t bluetooth either. And lest you think that means some giant ungainly boxes over your ears like the old FM radio headphones of yesteryear (Full disclosure, I actually owned some of those. Not to date myself here or anything!). No, these are fairly small, fairly light, but set securely in your ear and have plenty more to offer still. They are BlueTooth 4.1 compliant, and also offer NFC wireless capabilities, so all your latest devices are guaranteed to work. They come complete with a nifty little travel pouch, a charging cable, and multiple sizes of silicone buds/stabilizers for all ear sizes and types!

See, these also have controls for volume, and can double as a hands-free headset for your smartphone! Honestly, I’m shocked they managed to cram so much in such a small package. Powered by lithium-polymer batteries, they have plenty of power (Up to 8 hours!) to last you pretty much all day. If I had a nit to pick, it would be that a couple of the buttons were hard, if not nearly impossible to get to easily by our resident sausage-finger, aka, Hubby. The price is pretty steep too, considering that rival bluetooth earbuds could be had for less than half the cost, but without knowing the quality of the sound of these rivals, I can’t say, dollar for dollar, if they are truly a value. Also, at $59.99, they could have included a wall charger instead of piggy backing on one you already own, or your handy USB charging hub. But they do include a 1-year warranty, so that’s a major plus as well. So overall the positives far outweigh the few minor negatives, and I’m very happy with these PulseAudio Vitality headphones.

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I received the above product(s) free of charge from PulseAudio.  I am not obligated to provide a positive or favorable review, just my honest opinion.  My review is based on my experience with the product and/or brand, which may differ from yours.

Pecham 12,000mah 3-Outlet Portable Power Bank

In this digital age, we only go as far and as fast as our various sundry devices’ power allows. Sometimes we fall a little short. Especially when short-sighted manufacturers decide to not make our devices with removable batteries. So we have become increasingly dependent on power outlets, wireless charging, or portable power banks. One such goody is Pecham’s 12,000mah Power Bank. Yes, you read that right. Twelve thousand milliamp hours. This power bank is no slouch, and can easily power your phone, tablet and .mp3 player all at once! Or be the belle of the ball and power you colleague’s cell phones along with your own! There is plenty of juice to go around!

No content with the single outlet offered by the majority of power banks on the market, Pecham decided that 3 was the way to go. Not all of them are “full power” though. One is a 2.4A outlet, the other two 1A outlets, which are sufficient for trickle charges. I was able to successfully charge both Hubby’s Nexus 7 and our LG l90 to full power, together at once, and the Pecham Power Bank still showed some juice available. That’s pretty cool in my book.

While it’s a touch on the large size (about the size and thickness of a 5″ screen cellphone), the lithium-polymer battery gets the job done and looks pretty stylish doing it. It has a rubberized non-slip finish on the body, and a bright white ring around the outside edge. There is a blue lit LED ring at the power button that actually gives you a readout of approximately how much power is left in the bank. 4 blue mini lights tells you you have 75-100%, 3 is 50-75%, 2 for 25-50%, and one for 0-25%. I love this feature because before, with most of the power banks I’ve used, I had to hope there was plenty of power left to get a decent charge. No more guessing with the Pecham Power Bank. Included in the box is a three-head charging cable, that serves double duty to not only charge the bank via micro USB cable, but has connectors for any available 5V device on the market! It has smart circuitry that automatically shuts down if overcharging (voltage/current), over-discharging (voltage/current), short-circuits, or overheating occurs. It will also automatically shutdown if the device has finished recharging. At $21.99 (at time of this writing) it’s competitively priced with other power banks with similar features, but has almost all of them beat by having 3 ports instead of the standard one or two. No risks, all rewards. Sounds like my kind of gadget!

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• Get yours here now, shipped free with Amazon Prime!

I received the above product(s) free of charge from Pecham.  I am not obligated to provide a positive or favorable review, just my honest opinion.  My review is based on my experience with the product and/or brand, which may differ from yours.