Reviews

For Christmas last year, I decided to splurge on myself by buying the Apple Watch. This was long before we even knew when an Apple Watch series 2 would make its debut, and I wasn’t willing to wait. I got it and quickly fell in love with all (well, most) of its features. Sure, apps loaded far too slowly, but I rarely used it for third-party apps. Having directions on my wrist when driving, skipping songs in two taps from the watch, and easily tracking activity throughout my day were the features I used and loved the most. But I got really tired of constantly being in touch. Honestly, I don’t need half the functions the Apple Watch has and I always feel slightly weird wearing one in public, “Walking Apple nerd, coming through.” So this Christmas, I decided to simplify. With a desire to improve my fitness in the coming year, I looked for a wearable that focused more on health tracking and less on everything else. I set a budget of a hundred dollars and required the wearable also be waterproof. Hello, Fitbit Flex 2 ($99.95). Here’s my five reasons I’m replacing my Apple Watch with a Fitbit Flex 2 this year.

These days, anyone can be a weather nerd. There is so much information from so many good sources that we can plan our vacations and outings with greater confidence than ever before. Using our iPhone weather apps, we know when the sun will rise and set, we can see the paths of impending storms, and we can even see whether lightning is striking the ground or vice versa. What we love about having access to all of this information is that there is a weather app for everyone. Between free weather apps and paid weather apps, there is no limit on the information available for the casual user or the full-on weather enthusiast. So here are our picks for each category.

Protecting Privacy with Password Managers

Creating and monitoring unique passwords for different websites used to be a major hassle. Writing down confidential account information on sticky notes, paper notebooks, or unprotected spreadsheets used to be the norm. However, as the world has become more sophisticated and bad-actor hacking efforts have raised the vigilance bar, using a password manager not only makes security sense but is practically a requirement. With that in mind, I’ve broken down the best password managers available for the Apple platform to help find which ones best suit your digital security needs.

Now you can print photos directly from your iPhone, either wirelessly or by docking your iPhone on the PD-480 Photo Printer Dock PD-480 ($139.99) from Kodak. The dock can even charge your iPhone as well. Kodak also sells an Android version, although the iPhone version has a microUSB to Lightning adapter, so that may be the only difference.

Who says you can't print videos? The folks at Lifeprint sent me the Harry Potter Magic Photo Video Printer ($149.99) to review, probably because they know I'm a fan of Harry Potter, but they didn't know that I've been using ZINK photo printers and instant cameras for years. In fact, I've been using Polaroid cameras since they came out decades ago, and this new device brings back some of the magic, literally, from those early days of instant cameras.

I can’t say enough good things about the new line of iPhone cases and case accessories and mounts from Hitcase. They have truly raised the bar when it comes to creating rugged, durable, waterproof cases, which in and of itself would be noteworthy. However, Hitcase has taken things a step further by crafting an extensive lineup of custom-made accessories that perfectly fit its iPhone cases. These accessories include a selection of top-quality photo lenses, as well as a selfie stick, a chest mount, and a handlebar mount, to name a few.

With the incredible video-processing technology embedded in Apple's latest iPhones, the optics and 4K video capture make them highly capable video cameras. Unfortunately, the most significant limitation of the iPhone's portability is the reliance on its embedded iPhone microphone to capture audio. AmpRidge has addressed this constraint head-on with two external microphones for iPhones. Let's take a closer look at what each iPhone mic has to offer iOS videographers.

As entertainment and mass communication redefine themselves in the age of social distancing, the tools to create your own professional-level content have never been more affordable. Anyone who has decided to finally start that podcast or livestream will be faced with a bewildering number of choices. Setting up a mixing board with high-end mics and cameras like those of successful professional podcasters and streamers will cost thousands of dollars. Until your podcast or stream attracts the same listeners and viewers as those top tier shows, it's hard to justify the initial cost to match those studios. At the same time, if your audio sounds like it was recorded on a cheap USB headset mic, listeners won't tolerate your content for very long. Elgato, a company that has reinvented itself as a digital broadcast equipment company, has, in my opinion, created one of the best microphones for aspiring podcasters and streamers without costing a fortune. Read on to discover why I'm giving Elgato's Wave:3 Microphone ($159.99) premium microphone and digital mixing solution a five star rating.

For everyday uses, the iPhone has a decent built-in microphone. But if you want to get any level of professional sound, whether it be to film a movie, record a song, or conduct an interview, you’re going to need an external mic for quality sound. There’s a wide variety of options, but it’s definitely the type of product where you get what you pay for.

Valentine’s Day is nearly here. Sure, you could buy your sweetheart the traditional flowers and chocolate but the best gifts are either handmade or personally selected. If your love happens to be a tech lover as well, why not get them a gift they’ll both use and adore? For him and her, we’ve got a list of awesome V-day gifts for the tech lover in your life from the Keyboard Waffle Maker to a coffee pot you can start from anywhere.

Before the recently enhanced Apple TV was introduced, rumor sites speculated that Apple might actually make large-screen television sets and embed its Apple TV intelligence into them. I was never a fan of that strategy. TV sets are fragile and bulky, and Apple doesn't need to get into that business. For several years, I have relied on an Epson projector connected to an Apple TV for my home entertainment. I've never looked back since I set up the home theater system. My screen is as large as my wall, which is far bigger than any TV set at Best Buy. I mounted the Epson projector to my wall and painted the screen-side of the wall with a special paint to make the image even better.

Whether you have a road trip coming up, a long commute to work or just a series of errands to run around town, it's nearly inevitable that you'll spend some time every day in that home away from home: your car. No matter what your destination, there are a few Apple accessories that can help make daily driving more convenient, safe, and pleasant. We've included reviews of a magnetic phone charger, an iPad car mount, a portable jump starter, a mobile air purifier, and even more cool car accessories you never knew you needed (until now.) Read on for our car-tech roundup, where we'll introduce you to six of our top picks for auto accessories this year.

I have reviewed a number of gaming controllers from GameSir but the i3 Gaming Case ($39.90) the company sent me to try breaks the iPhone Bluetooth game controller mold. Instead of a plastic Xbox-like controller fitted to work with and house an iPhone, GameSir started with an iPhone case and added buttons to it. 

If you're not all-in on Apple Arcade, and still use a dedicated gaming console like the Xbox One, you might want a gaming headset that can support chat via a removable boom microphone. But before you spend nearly $200 (as much as or more than the console) you should get one that also works with your iPhone. LucidSound sent me a review unit of their LS35X Rose Gold Wireless Gaming Headset ($149.99) to try and Apple users who like to game will find it is a perfect fit, especially if they use Rose Gold Apple gear.

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