Gadgets – frederikboving

Review: XTAR VX4 Universal Smart Battery Charger and a few AA Li-ion batteries

Rechargeable? No thanks…

A few years back I tried my best to like and use rechargeable batteries. I figured it would be both cheaper and better for the environment. Long story short: I was disappointed. The batteries quickly lost capacity and I found them sitting in the charger more and more, until I gave up and went for disposable batteries.

Disposable batteries - the pile just grows and grows — Disposable batteries – the pile just grows and grows

Since then my use of batteries has only increased. Not only in camera gear, but in all sorts of appliances where a power supply is not feasible. Most recently, I have bought some WiFi enabled digital thermometers for my summer house, and each requires 3 AAA batteries! So it quickly adds up.

Of course I make sure to dispose the batteries correctly so it can be re-used as environmentally friendly as possible, but without being an expert, I would imagine that the industrial process of re-using the content of the disposable batteries would require a lot of energy. Not good for the environment either.

Try again?

So when XTAR reached out to me with the suggestion to test some rechargeable batteries and a charger, my first reaction was not that enthusiastic. But I have seen how battery technology has developed over the years, and the battery in my iPhone 15 is truly impressive. So out of curiosity I wanted to see what a modern rechargeable battery can to.

XTAR kindly sent me 4 rechargeable AA Li-ion batteries. You probably know the different battery sizes like AA and AAA, but the AA is very common and used in many appliances.

Without going too much into the technical details, a Li-ion battery has some features that I really appreciate. First, it does NOT mind partial charging. Other battery types require that you run it empty to maintain the capacity and I find that really annoying, as I never get it done. But the Li-ion happily works with lots of topping up!

Secondly, it self-discharges very little, only 1-2% per month. This is great if you have gear that you use seldom (like a backup flash) where you just want it to be ready when you pull it out from the back of the shelf to help you out.

Third, it charges fast – especially if you do partial charging – going from 20% to 80% is super fast.

And finally it holds a lot of capacity – the ones XTAR sent me hold 2500 mAh, which is 25-50% more than other battery types and disposable batteries. Just to give an example, the battery for my Nikon D4 holds 2000 mAh, or less than the XTAR AA battery, despite being much larger in physical dimensions.

VX4 Universal Smart Battery Charger from XTAR at work

Good news is that the downside is with the engineers! A Li-ion battery is complicated to regulate so it gives the output required, and therefore pretty advanced electronics is needed to make a Li-ion battery work properly. In this vein, it is important that you use a charger designed for the Li-ion battery, and thats why I was happy that XTAR also supplied a battery charger named VX4. This way, I know that the battery will be managed correct during charging – the Li-ion battery is a bit “fragile” due to its advanced nature, so do not stress the battery! Make sure the charger is designed to handle Li-ion batteries.

VX4 Universal Smart Battery Charger from XTAR — Lots of options for different battery types to be charged in the VX4

The VX4 charger can handle several different battery types and I must admit the table on the back side of the tin makes me a bit stressed, but you can see it above to check if your battery type is covered. For me the AA and AAA will cover the vast majority of what I need.

The lower part of the battery contacts is spring laden and can move back and forth to accommodate different physical sizes of batteries.

The VX4 comes with a power supply and a USB-C cable, so you can make use of the VX4 without the power supply and instead connect it to your PC or a power bank or whatever has sufficient “juice” to feed the VX4. If you have read other reviews by me, you know how much I love USB-C, but I will spare you and not elaborate further!

The test

The batteries came charged from XTAR (nice service!), so the first time around did not reveal much about the speed of charging. However, I did learn that the charger has an advanced LCD screen that can show a lot of technical details and the short-and-sweet 2-pager manual explains it all. As I am not an engineer and simply want to charge my batteries, I have not dived into all the aspects of the charger.

VX4 Universal Smart Battery Charger from XTAR showing all batteries being charged

But it gives really illustrative graphics that lets you follow the charge process. And I am happy to report that also I understand what the charger says when it has charged the batteries in full – please see above!

The most brutal and demanding battery test that I can think of (as a photographer) is to use the batteries in a flash! The energy required to recharge the flash fast after it has gone off is simply brutal. Even flashes with built in batteries tend to go tired very fast, so it will be interesting to see how the XTAR AA batteries manages this.

Nikon Speedlight SB-400 and XTAR AA Li-ion

My little beloved Nikon flash SB-400 takes two AA batteries. It is a very simple small flash that fits my Nikon cameras. It’s only “advanced” feature is the ability to turn the flash light upwards to give you more indirect light for your subject. It does not even have a test button (!) so I had to mount it on my trusty Nikon D4 to test it.

Test results

At continuous high release mode where the camera fires rapidly, the flash could keep up with approx 30 shots, and after that it started to miss every second shot or more (i.e. the flash did not fire when the camera shot).

At continuous low release mode, to my surprise, I got the same result approximately. After some time, the flash could not keep up.

In single release mode, firing approximately once every second, the flash managed to re-cycle and be ready for at least 50 shots (after that, I stopped testing – I think it will be able to go on and on…).

After firing 150 shots with flash activated I stopped the test and took out the batteries. They felt warm – not alarming, but noticeable, and to me this is an indication that the test put the batteries to work!

Testing with conventional disposable batteries, I got the same results, and my thinking is that the limit is in the flash’ ability to recycle fast enough (i.e. consume the juice from the battery fast enough) rather than the battery not being able to feed the flash as fast as it asks for.

Recharging the battery, my hope was that the XV4 charger would show me how much was left in the battery, but I could not figure out how to do this and I think it is because there are some limitations to the 1.5V battery and the features around capacity. However, what I can report is that after having fired around 150 shots with flash activated, it only took the charger 15-20 minutes to re-charge the battery to full. That is truly impressive!

Conclusion

My little non-scientific test has convinced me that Li-ion batteries have come a long way and that XTAR both in terms of the batteries and the charger delivers a really solid product. Had such a product been around way back when I first tried rechargeable batteries, I would not have ditched the disposable ones for good a long time ago.

The one thing I have not tested is how the capacity declines over time. But I can say that my iPhone is at 89% of original capacity with more than 400 charging cycles completed. I think you will find the XTAR batteries deliver roughly same performance.

At around 25-28 EUR for four AA batteries, this technology is certainly not cheap. But if you multiply the price for a disposable AA battery with just half the cycles XTAR promises, I think you will find the business case more than justify the (seemingly) tall price for these batteries.

Continued reading

Review: XTAR GoPro battery charger on-the-move

Review: XTAR Camera Battery Charger

Apple Magic Mouse unboxing and review

Apple Magic Mouse

After fiddling with the track pad on my Macbook for months without getting really well acquainted, I decided it was time to cave in and buy a mouse. I chose to stay with the Apple family and got a Magic Mouse for around 100 EUR here in Denmark.

Choosing a mouse for your computer is very much in personal preference territory, so I am a bit cautious to name this blog post “review”, but have done so in lack of a better. I strongly recommend that you test your to-be mouse in real life before purchasing – it is really important that ergonomics works in your favour, especially if you spend many hours in front of a computer.

Apple clearly put form over function when designing the Magic Mouse. The design is slim and minimalistic with visible physical buttons or LED indicators. The mouse can register you touching and tapping it almost like a track pad. The far end of the mouse is one big button that gives a noticeable click when pushed.

Apple Magic Mouse — The box. Notice the low and slim design of the Magic Mouse – clearly form has taken priority over function.

Unboxing and installing

You don’t find much in the box: the mouse, a cable and a super brief user guide. I was happy to notice that the cable has USB-C connectors in both ends as it allows me to charge the mouse using chargers I already have (the lightening connector is slowly being phased out).

This is my 2nd Magic Mouse. My first approx 1 year old Magic Mouse has the Lightening connector, so be sure to check that you get a copy with USB-C if you share my enthusiasm for industry standards!

Connecting and installing the Magic Mouse on a Mac is easy: simply connect the cable to both the mouse and the Mac and everything is taken care of! No installation of software or drivers or the like – it just happens as soon as the cable is connected. How it works in a Windows computer I do not know, but on a Mac it for sure is super easy!

I also tried to charge the Magic Mouse before using it. In my case there was no need for this as the mouse was fully charged, but I did notice that there is absolutely no indicators showing the battery charge level. I could have used a small bar of LEDs telling me how the charging progresses, or just that it actually IS in progress. But no sir, no such help. Also, some will find it annoying that you find the charging port at the bottom of the mouse, so you have to flip it over to connect the cable.

Configuration and use

You’ll find the configuration of the mouse under the bluetooth devices in the settings menu. It is also here you can find the charging level of the mouse – it is shown in the top of the menu “Mouse settings”.

There are several options for configuring the Magic Mouse, and playing with the tracking speed to find the level that works for you is a good place to start. I recommend you turn on the “natural scrolling” option to enable you to scroll just moving your finger up and down the the mouse – this for me is a real time saver! Notice that there is a small animation top left that illustrates how the option you’re hoovering works.

Conclusion

For me the purchase of the Magic Mouse to relieve me of the trackpad mysteries and quirks was a great decision, maybe in part because I know the Magic Mouse from my Mac Mini already! I now struggle to remember my mouse every time I grab my Macbook on the way out the door, but it is a price I am willing to pay, as I can work a lot faster with the mouse. And if I forget the mouse, I can still make it work with the trackpad, albeit at a slower speed.

The Magic Mouse is not for everyone. First the ergonomics has taken the backseat to give room for a very slim and minimalistic design, and if you sut in front of a computer 9-5, you may want to go for a mouse where ergonomics has taken priority. That said, working approx 3-4 hours a day with this mouse works for me with no issues, but as I said in the beginning: test your to-be mouse in real life before purchasing.

I would like to see some LED indicators showing me the charging level, or even if it IS charging, but I guess Apple figured that minimalistic has to go all the way.

I am not so annoyed that the charging connector sits at the bottom of the mouse, but it is a bit annoying that finding the charging level is deep into the settings menu. Also, you get warnings that the battery level is low only when the battery is alarmingly low – it would be nice to get a fair warning a bit earlier.

I find the “invisible buttons” work really well – it is easy for me to control the scrolling in windows just moving my finger up and down the mouse with a light touch. Also the mouse tracks really well even though I use it on a wooden tabletop which is far from ideal.

So all in all I am a happy camper! The price is a bit steep as we know it with Apple, but if design is important to you, this could be a good option to look into. And it comes in different colours, so you can style it to your preference.

From Garmin Vivoactive 3 to 5

From Vivoactive 3 to 5 – but why?

My wifes Vivoactive 3 started to act funny in terms of battery life. Being 3-4 years old, we figured that a repair would be futile and cumbersome or both, and started to look for alternatives. As Garmin on a regular basis pushes out new versions of their products, our eyes caught the Garmin 5.

Here in December 2024 the Vivoactive 5 is on offer, so a good guess is that the version 5 will be replaced by a version 6 anytime soon. This gives some options for getting a version 5 on offer and this is exactly where we ended up. We did not skip version 4 deliberately, but timing wise it just happened that we were in the market for a new Vivoactive when the version 5 seemed to be the current (and soon to be replaced) version.

So in this blog post I want to relay what it feels like to upgrade from version 3 to 5. It will not be a complete and specs based blog post, rather a “what did we notice along the way” kind of post. So not very scientific or systematic, but we hope it will give some insight to what an upgrade is like, and hopefully this can help you, if you sit on the fence and consider a similar upgrade.

The Garmin Vivoactive series is positioned in the Garmin universe as a budget friendly and feature-rich watch that does not offer the “I’m a triathlete (wannabe)” features of say the Garmin Fenix watches, but on the other hand offers sufficient functionality for the weekend warrier. So my take on the Vivoactive is that it is one of the best options in terms of bang for the buck when we are talking Garmin.

If the whole sports watch universe is new to you, please be aware that a watch is so much more than the watch. You start tapping into an ecosystem that will collect data and metrics about you, and in order to maintain a line of consistency, you probably will be inclined to stay with the brand that you already have. So look at alternatives like e.g. Suunto, Apple and Polar (just to mention a few) before you make the plunge. But given that we are talking Garmin in this particular case, lets dig in.

Unboxing Vivoactive 5

The box with the Vivoactive 5 is light, actually so light that I feared that they had forgotten to put the watch in there! But it was there along with the usual suspects: a charging cable and some paperwork. My fear of missing the watch in the box was perhaps justified, as the spec sheets tells that Vivoactive 5 is only a tad more than 40 grams! That is really impressive!

Garmin Vivoactive 5 — In the box I found the watch itself, a charging cable, safety information and a super condensed getting started guide with a QR code to a more elaborate user manual.

The first thing I noticed is that the charging connector is still the Garmin proprietary one – some things apparently don’t change! I had hoped to find USB-C that even my bicycle light now make use of, but no, Garmin sticks to the Garmin connector.

Appearance

Comparing the appearance of the two, they are rather similar, which is good news, as it is a small and light watch. However, the Vivoactive 5 is more refined. The bezel is smaller and more rounded, the screen seems larger and with better contrast.

Also, then you compare the watches from the side, the Vivoactive 5 seems more elegant and rounded in the design; more discrete if you like.

I was happy to find that the 20mm width of the straps is unchanged, and hence the leather straps that we have bought as an accessory could easily be moved from the Vivoactive 3 to the Vivoactive 5. As you are likely to wear the Vivoactive round the clock in order to get the most data and the best metrics, you may find that your skin does not agree with the constant contact to the rubber straps. If you buy the straps off-brand as we did, this will not break the bank (this blog is not sponsored by any vendor).

Migration

Moving from the Vivoactive 3 to 5 could hardly be easier: the Vivoactive 5 presents a QR code on the display and once you scan that using the camera on your smartphone, a guided process starts that takes you through the migration from 3 to 5. It really could not be easier.

The precondition for this is that you with the Vivoactive 3 were fully engaged in the Garmin ecosystem and have the Garmin app downloaded. As soon as the connection to the new watch is established, data is transferred to the app as with the Vivoactive 3. The biggest challenge is actually to disconnect the old watch in the app!

Whats new?

The biggest difference you’ll notice immediately is the much better display on the vivoactive 5. It is visible in broad daylight and in the dark and appears much improved over the vivoactive 3. This is probably due to improved resolution, but also that the contrast is much better in the newer display.

Feature wise the Vivoactive 5 has more to offer and we have noticed:

Body battery: An index between 0 and 100 that indicates how well charged your body is and say if you have lots of energy to meet a challenging day. It is fun to see how it raises as you sleep and drops during stress or just being active.

Sleep quality: A measure of the quality of your sleep. With different colours the graphics shows if you were sleeping light, were awake, REM etc. And a good nights sleep often goes hand in hand with a large increase in your body battery reading.

Oxygen saturation: Is probably self explanatory. You can measure it on demand, periodically or continuously. It is interesting to follow, but be aware that it requires a lot of light from the LEDs on the back of the watch and hence is taxing for the batteries.

With all these good improvements, we were a bit sad to see the barometer being discontinued, probably in order to keep production cost down. The Vivoactive 5 still provides GPS-based elevation data but it is with less precision than the barometric one. As we live on the 3rd floor, keeping track of staircases climbed is both important and fun!

There are a lot of features shared between the two watches and hence these do not get attention here. You can both pay with your watch and listen to music on both the Vivoactive 3 and 5.

In terms of battery life, we were actually quite happy with the performance of the Vivoactive 3 until the battery more or less collapsed overnight. With the Vivoactive 5 we hope to see roughly the same performance, but we have not had the watch sufficiently long to assess the battery performance.

Summary

We’re happy campers! The much improved display is a pleasure to use and the watch also seems to be a bit more snappy in its response when you swipe and browse through the menus. The body index, sleep quality and oxygen saturation are all useful new features for us. The only real down side is the loss of the barometer, but time will show if the GPS will be able to provide compensating data.

Review: Lexyne Zecto Drive 250+ Bicycle Front Light black

Replacement needed

I’m a big fan of the small compact rechargeable bicycle lights from Lezyne. I have had a front light for years, but the battery was getting a bit tired and the charging was based on min-USB (?) which in my house is becoming more and more seldom. Everybody seems to be moving towards USB-C as the industri standard and I welcome it with open arms. It is a much needed simplification if you ask me and greatly reduces the need for multiple chargers in a household.

Also, the output from bicycle lights has improved massively even over the last few years, and I wanted to tap into this development and see what a brand new light could do.

Zecto Drive 250+ Bicycle Front Light black

Here the Zecto Drive 250+ Bicycle Front Light is to the right and my trusty copy of what I believe to be an earlier model. The pencil is just there to give a sense of proportions.I really like the concept of this Zecto Drive light. It is small, compact (fits a pocket easily) and delivers plenty of run time per charging for my city life needs. But if you need a lot of Lumen output, you may want to look for other options.

Lezyne Zecto Drive 250+

When it arrives, the Zecto Drive 250+ does not make a big impression. It is mounted on a small piece of black cardboard with a few instructions and a QR code for more elaborate instructions and specifications. I welcome this as it minimizes the packaging that I have to get rid of after “unboxing” the product.

Zecto Drive 250+ Bicycle Front Light black — Here the light is mounted using the rubber “belt”. You can easily mount the light using the handlebar or the stem on your bike.

You can mount the light using the rubberized “belt” that can reach around the handlebar on your bike, or you can use the clip to mount it in a belt or the like.

The first thing I did was to put the Lezyne in the charger – there is no USB cable supplied, but I have plenty already and found an available USB-C cable in my existing park of chargers next to my desktop. When it charges, the green LED on the front of the light flashes green.

When the LED turns on steady green, the charging is complete. A little hinged rubber cover can then be closed in order to protect the USB-C port from the elements. I believe this is a precondition for the IPX7 classification. I am no expert in these classifications, but understand that the Lexyne light can be submerged into 1 meter of water and still be functional. We do have much rain in Copenhagen where I live, but I doubt I will ever make use of this impressive capability!

To turn the light on or off, you press the on/off switch for 2 seconds. This is a smart design, as it prevents the light from being turned on or off by accident when not in use, i.e. lying in a bag or a pocket.

You have to apply a good amount of force to the button before it reacts. I have gotten used to this as I have used the Lezyne lights for several years, but you may want to test this IRL in your local bicycle shop before you invest.

Light modes

If you hit the on/off switch quickly when the light is on, the light toggles through 6 light modes as depicted below. These are not explained in great detail, but as you can see the first 2 gives steady light and the next 3 involves flashing light and the final one pulses between strong and less strong.

The Lezyne remembers the mode you used the last time, so when you long press the light to turn it on, it starts up in the mode you used when you long pressed it to turn it off. This is convenient if you – like me – are a creature of habit and quickly identify a preferred mode.

Without being an expert, I would think that the flashing modes is better if you want to be seen by others in the traffic, whereas the steady modes are better if you drive where there is little other light like a path in the woods. I mainly bike in the city with plenty of light available, so I turn on the flash mode to helps others see me.

In terms of battery life, the Lezyne offers so much more than I need. I bike maybe 5-10 kilometers on the same day and the Lezyne never runs flat with this kind of use.

The light

I’m not a mountain biker riding through pitch black woods for several hours! I am a simple cyclist riding from one end of Copenhagen to the other during winter time. Trust me, a good light is needed in order for others to notice you.

Comparing the old Lezyne with the new, it seems to me that the new light throws much more light to the sides and this must be a bonus for visibility from the sides. Also, the 6 LED’s in the new light gives much more power than the 3 LED’s in the old one.

However, I have read experts say that you need at least 200 Lumens in output for riding a bicycle in the city. And only in one of the flashing modes does the Lezyne light deliver that kind of output. That said, I find the light to be fairly strong but be aware that this light may be at the weak end of the scale in terms of safety. I guess that is the price you pay for the light being so compact and light.

Summary

I found this light on sale for around 37 EUR. Here in Denmark where I live, prices are not exactly low, and certainly not when compared to the US. However, looking at the prices on Amazon here, this seems to be a sharp price. However, there are many bicycle lights out there that you can get in a much more budget friendly price range.

Pros

Small and compact – easy to bring along
Solid build quality
Gives a good strong light, also visible from an angle
Charges via USB-C
Can take some really bad weather and still be operational (IPX7)
Easy to mount on the bicycle
Several options for light mode

Cons

May not be strong enough for your needs
You may find the price too steep
The on/off button requires some force to be operated

Review: Bosch VitaBoost blender MMBH4P3B

Time to replace

My old Kitchen Aid blender started to send smoke signals when used it at high speeds, and although I am not happy about replacing a trusty friend in the kitchen, the last few times I used the blender, the smoke signals became more and more intense at it was time to part ways.

Bosch VitaBoost blender — My 14+ year old Kitchen Aid blender started to send smoke signals, and I figured it was time for a replacement.

After a lot of googling and review reading, I actually gave up for a short while, thinking that the number of options available was simply too overwhelming for me to manage. Only because we came across a hardware store in our local neighbourhood and because they had the Bosch VitaBoost blender (MMBH4P3B) on heavy discount, did we decide to go with this one. At approx 220 EUR it seemed like a budget friendly alternative to many of the more professional / enthusiast blenders out there.

Notice that this blender is the MMBH4P3B one. There are other models from Bosch that look like it and have more programmes (and hence buttons on the front), but they also come with a more steep price. I find that the one reviewed here is a good compromise between features and price. But be aware that my experience with feature – be it dish washers or washing machines or ovens – is that if I decide to pay for features and advanced programmes, I enjoy it for a little while, and then after a few months I am back to using the same few features that I always use. So I have learned my lesson and now try to stick to the basics when I choose my hardware. Your milage may vary, of course!

Unboxing

The tin explains pretty well what you can expect to find in the box and the features the blender offers. Below a picture of the tin that you can study to find all the marketing peoples points. To me, the most important is a powerful motor and sharp blades.

When we bought the blender, our only question to the sales person was if the blender would be able to crunch ice cubes, and this was confirmed, as long as the ice cubes are not alone in the blender jug – there always has to be some sort of fluid to go along.

The promise on the tin: Powerful motor, 3 programmes, 6-bladed knife and a recipe book. I find the Bosch VitaBoost blender delivers on all promises made here.

Out of the box you will find the blender jug and the base unit with the motor, and that is basically it. There is also a lid (black) and a little stick to push ingredients into the blender – useful in the beginning of the blending process.

In terms of literature, you’ll get 3 books. A recipe book, a service contract (have you ever read it?) and a user guide. The user guide looks intimidating at first, but it is actually quite short and sweet. Only because they cover many languages the guide became a booklet. Effectively, I think it it is only 4-5 pages per language and a few shared illustrations.

Please take notice of the safety instructions from Bosch as printed in the user guide. Just to mention a few: Make sure the cover and lid is always attached to the blender and make sure the content is never hotter that 80 degrees celsius, otherwise the blender jug can be damaged.

First use

After cleaning the blender, I decided to make a simple lunchtime smoothie consisting of spinach, carrots, avocado and juice. And just using the manual dial to control the speed.

I was happily surprised by a few observations:

the blender stands very still even in the initial phases of crunching the ingredients,
it is more quiet than my previous blender and
I only used a fraction of the full power to crunch the ingredients into a smoothie.

I don’t know about you, but when I use a tool for the first time, I find that first impressions last. And this was a VERY good first impression, so I was relieved. It looks like a good investment! The only negative side I found for the first time use is that the black lid is a bit difficult to remove. I am sure it will improve as I get to know the blender a bit better.

Cleaning

Cleaning is never the fun part, right? But there is a programme that the blender offers (one of 3) where you simply fill the blender with 1.25 liter of water and a drop of soap, and then the cleaning programme takes care of it. Of course you have to rinse the blender jug and lid in water afterwards, but the base cleaning is done after running the programme. I really welcome this feature, as ease of cleaning is also an important part of me continuing to use the blender in real life.

Don’t add too much soap. Just a drop. Otherwise you’ll have foam all over your kitchen even with the lid tightly in place! How do I know this? Hard earned experience…

If you are more careful than me in terms of cleaning the blender, you may want to run it via the dishwasher after running the cleaning programme, but I often find that I use the blender more often than I run the dishwasher, so I try to keep it simple and rely on the cleaning programme.

Hot soup straight out of the blender?

This was news to me: Apparently the friction between the blades in the blender and the food in the blender generates so much heat that you can use this for heating up the content to around 5-70 degrees celcius! The “only” precondition is that the speed in which the blades moves through the soup is very, very high.

This is where the 1600w motor and the sharp blades show their impressive capability: simply throw the ingredients into the blender, put on the lid and turn on the soup programme (bottom right button), and after approx 5 minutes the blender will present a hot soup, straight out of the blender jug!

Trying the programme for the first time, I simply emptied the fridge and kitchen for whatever I found useful in a soup: potatoes, onions, carrots, etc. And then the blender did the rest! The blender is working hard when the soup programme is on and it is noisy – not sure my neighbours appreciate the noise level when running the soup programme! Also, be aware that a lot of air is pushed out on the back side of the blender – I think a lot of cooling is required to cool down the engine when working this hard.

But, the result is wonderful! Season the soup with salt and pepper and add a slice of good bread and you are in for a healthy (and hot) treat!

Conclusion

I’m happy! This is an excellent tool that delivers exactly what I need without breaking the bank. Yes, there are more advanced versions out there, but they also come in a different price bracket. The blender is steady under operation, not too noisy, performs really well for my simple use and helps me cleaning it after use via a cleaning programme.

The true test is in the long term performance! Will the blades be dull over time? Will the motor start sending smoke signals in 2 years time? Who knows. But we’ve had a good start, Bosch and I, and that is all I have to report right now. Thanks for reading this far.

Review: TP-Link Tapo C100 WiFi Camera

With a price around 30 EUR (Europe), my first thought was that this little WiFi enabled camera could not be of much quality. But I was wrong! Read on to find out why!

I find the market for WiFi cameras very difficult to “read” – there seems to be so many vendors and so many options from each vendor, that it is overwhelming. Also, I know that once you get “stuck” in the eco system of a particular vendor, it can be an investment – both in terms of time and money – to switch to a new vendor. So after a few weeks of trying to find some way to navigate in this universe, I simply gave up and went for this relatively cheap camera just to see what it would do. And I was positively surprised.

My use case is simply to be able to follow what is going on in my summer house when I am not around. My plan is to start in-door – I may add outdoor cameras later. But I decided to start small and take it from there.

The TP-Link Tapo C100 camera is delivered in a small box with the camera itself, a small template to mount the 2 screws to hold the camera, a power supply and a super short user guide. The latter is more or less just a QR code to get you started downloadning the associated app. Once you have drilled the two supplied screws into the wall using the template, the wholes in the mount plate hook the camera to the wall and the major part of the HW installation is done. The TP-Link Tapo C100 camera comes with a small power supply that needs to be connected to the camera, so you need a location for the camera where a power plug is not too far away.

I was pleased to find that the TP-Link Tapo C100 camera is small – I have seen other cameras designed for outdoor usage that are much larger and dominating. I feared that the video and lens quality would be sub standard because of the low price and the small camera, but it is not – the camera delivers a both wide and sharp image. Of course it is only 1080p, but on my iPhone (15) it looks really sharp and clear. You can zoom in by double tapping or pinching. As it is a budget camera, there is not mechanical tilt or panning available – the lens sits and gives you the view as you left it at the installation.

Hooking the TP-Link Tapo C100 camera up to my WiFi was easy – after you have installed the app, it will guide you through the installation process. It follows the same process as many other gadgets where you are asked to join the WiFi network the camera provides, and from here the camera does the rest.

The camera has surprisingly much functionality – you can listen to what is going on in the room, and you can talk to someone in the room via the camera. The sound quality is not impressive, but if you want to say hello to your cat sleeping in your sofa, the sound is useful but far from beautiful.

It also allows you to be alerted every time someone steps into the view of the camera. This is of course very useful to keep burglars out (you can shout at them via the speaker), but after 20 notifications triggered by my cat, I decided to turn it off. But it works really well, although it can be fooled by a ray of sun dancing on a wall, if the size of the sun-ray is sufficiently large.

Some of the more expensive cameras has a privacy mode where the camera mechanically blocks the lens. The TP-Link Tapo C100 camera cannot offer this mechanical privacy mode, but does offer a more digital one where it electronically turns off the camera and also the red LED in the camera, to show it is not recording. I would feel more comfortable with the mechanical privacy mode of course, but find that the option the C100 offers is ok taking the price point into consideration.

The camera delivers colour images during daytime and black and whites during nighttime. In the example above you can see a screen copy from the app during nighttime. I find the night view useful – the camera can actually see more than I can during nighttime!

If you want to, you can buy a micro SD card and install it in the camera. This enables you to capture up to 16 days of live capture (claimed). I have not tested this part as I have no use for this feature, nor did I sign up for the cloud solution Tp-link offers to capture data. I would imagine these solutions to be helpful if you want to be absolutely sure to capture footage of potential burglars. You can initiate a video capture from the app and store it on your phone, but I would imagine this is more relevant for short videos for fun rather than surveillance videos to be used as evidence.

Summary

I have found the TP-Link Tapo C100 camera to be exactly what I needed – a simple camera that can help me keep taps on what is going on in my summer house when I am not around. The camera has more features than what I need so I did not really miss anything. If you are in the market for a more advanced camera or maybe an outdoor camera, TP-Link has plenty of additional models in their lineup for you to explore.

Plus
– Price point
– Image quality (considering it is 1080p)
– Nighttime view
– Ease of installation (both hardware and WiFi)
– Ease of app user interface

Minus
– Camera is fixed – no option to pan or tilt remotely
– Requires a power plug close nearby (and no battery backup)
– Motion detection can be fooled by sunlight or shadows moving
– No mechanical privacy mode, only digital

Not tested
– Alexa and google interface
– Micro SD card storage
– Cloud storage

Shopping link

If the TP-Link Tapo C100 camera has caught your interest, this affiliate link will take you to Amazon. Notice that transportation and import taxes may apply.

From iPhone 14 Pro to iPhone 15 Pro – worth it?

I recently upgraded from iPhone 14 Pro to iPhone 15 Pro, despite the fact that I previously have jumped at least two generations to make sure I would notice the difference. Somehow the new features of the iPhone 15 Pro got me convinced – let me elaborate!

Same same but different

First of all, the similarities between the iPhone 14 Pro and the iPhone 15 Pro are many more than the differences: the screen is the same, battery life is the same, water resistance rating is the same, the size is roughly the same with the 15 Pro being a little shorter and a little more slim, etc.

The first thing I noticed was that the iPhone 15 Pro is somewhat lighter than the 14 Pro, as Apple switched from steel to a combo of titanium and aluminium. It dropped from 206 to 187 grams, and although you may think this is a small change, the relative difference is around 9% and I was surprised to learn how noticeable those 19 grams are!

Further, the 15 Pro comes with a newer chipset (A17) that boosts performance both CPU and GPU wise, but unless you are using some very demanding (game?) applications, I doubt you will notice the performance difference. Maybe some more demanding future applications will highlight the difference between the chipsets, but for now I really doubt you will notice at all.

The little slide button top left on the iPhone 14 has been replaced by a push button in the same position. This button is configurable, but out of the box it does the same as the old one – switch between ring and silent. I like this change for sure, but a revolution it is hardly.

Industry standard (in EU at least)

One of the big changes from 14 Pro to 15 Pro is the switch from the lightening port to USB-C. I was hoping and waiting for for Apple to make this change already in the iPhone 14 generation, but I was disappointed. Not this time around, though!

If you like USB-C or not is of course personal preference, but owning an iPad for several years where USB-C is the norm, I really welcome the USB-C connector. I have lots of chargers and cables that use USB-C and being able to reduce the number of cables an chargers I use is a very welcome change.

I use a lot of different cameras where the more modern ones have made the switch to USB-C for both charging and data transfer. But not the older ones. If you knew how many different chargers I have owned over the years for proprietary charging systems and batteries, you would also welcome the simplicity and standardisation of USB-C!

Serious video camera!

The iPhone 15 Pro is indeed a very serious video camera: ProRes LOG in 4K at up to 60 frames per second (fps)! Wow! Not all newer dedicated video cameras can keep up with this! The ProRes LOG format gives you lots of headroom and options for editing in post to color grade and edit your footage. If you just want the video to be ready out of the camera, then ProRes LOG is not for you, but if you want to do serious editing and have as many post processing options available for you, this is the format you want to use!

Now, here is where the iPhone 15 Pro really stands out: if you want to shoot ProRes LOG in 4K at 60 fps, then you need to make use of an external drive or storage facility to transfer the required amounts of data fast enough! If you drop to say 24 frames per second, you can make do with the internal memory. But for 60 fps, the internal memory transfer speeds can’t keep up! And this is where the upgrade to USB-C comes in handy: it offers transfer speeds to support this demanding flow of data!

With an external drive, the iPhone 15 Pro turns into a professional level video camera and if you consider buying a dedicated video camera or a capable hybrid camera, then the capabilities of the iPhone 15 Pro may save you this investment! Of course, if you are planning to use long lenses on a video camera, then the iPhone can’t keep up, but for most other applications the iPhone 15 Pro with an external drive may well be all you need!

Conclusion

I am currently evaluating the video performance of the iPhone 15 Pro, but so far – a few weeks in – I really like what I seen and I am seriously considering switching from system hybrid cameras to the iPhone 15 Pro for video recording. And as such, I find that the iPhone 15 Pro is a really interesting offer and alternative to a dedicated video or hybrid camera. And that is what drove me into the arms of upgrading to iPhone 15 Pro. The USB-C is a nice bonus, other than being a precondition for the high data transfer speeds required for recording in ProRes LOG at 60 fps.

If you have no ambitions for shooting video and the proprietary flash connector does not bother or annoy you, I doubt that the move from iPhone 14 Pro to 15 Pro is worthwhile.

Review: Hengwin Leather Belt Pouch

Every spring when the weather get warmer I face the same recurring issue: My winter coat has a lot of nice pockets for me to store my wallet, keys and phone, but when summer comes and it is all t-shirts and shorts, what then? When I stuff my pockets with all my gear, I often find that my shorts get more and more interested in saying hello to my angles!

I have sometimes made it with a small backpack, but on a hot summers day, a backpack may not exactly be what you want to keep your back even warmer!

Hengwin

To the rescue comes Hengwin, a Chinese brand laser focused on small bags and pouches, practical solutions for carrying essentials without breaking the bank. You can find their homepage with all their products right here. The bag shown here will set you back around 30 USD. If you used the code “frederikboving” you’ll get a discount and if you order more than one, you may be eligible for free shipping! Make sure to check that you are not subject to import taxes.

The leather belt pouch that I have in review here easily takes an iPhone 13 pro, my little wallet and my keys. I could also easily have fitted my sunglasses in there along with the iPhone.

Carrying

The pouch gives you 3 options for carrying:

Attached to your belt via a belt loop attachment
Attached to your clothing via clip-ons and
Carried in a cross-body adjustable strap

I must admit that I prefer the 3rd option, as it for me has a little more street credit, but also because I find it a more safe option – I am not sure I would notice right away of someone stole the bag when hanging on my hip! But that is all personal preference! It is nice that Hengwin gives options to choose from!

Hengwen — Although designed to attach the pouch to your belt, I find that attaching my keys to the snap hook works really well in combination with the cross body strap.

Build quality

I have not yet long-term tested the pouch, but judging from the initial look and feel, the build quality seems to be very good, especially when you factor in the price point. Both the leather, sewings the zippers seem to be of good quality.

I would have loved if the adjustable strap had been made of leather like the pouch itself, but I also appreciate that a long strap of leather also has some disadvantages when age sets in!

Summary

I think this is just the solution I have been looking for to keep my bits and bobs in one place. And even though I may carry a backpack when going to work, the Hengwin is probably with me as a bag in the bag, so I can always find my keys and phone. The build quality seems fine and if the pouch stands the test of time, I think you will find this to be a handy product without breaking the bank.

Video link

Review: Oral-B IO series 8

At the last routine check my dentist was rather insisting: “You got to clean especially your gums and the room between your teeth much better than what you do today!” She was unusually upset!

There is a thing with me an dentists: I never get any praise, rather the opposite! But this time around the dentist was a bit more insisting that usually! I thought I was about to get a little bit of praise having replaced my trusty old classic toothbrush with an electric toothbrush, but no, she apparently wanted more!

“You got to go and buy a Oral-B, the IO series, and it has to be at least number 8!” – “Ok”, I thought, that was pretty direct instructions, and after having checked she herself did not sell it (and hence her advice might have been a bit biased) I headed towards to local hardware store to get as prescribed.

Unfortunately the local shop only had series 4 and 5, and the instruction was to get IO 8, so I had to order online to get my copy for around 220 EUR! Not cheap, but what do you not do to make your dentist happy!

The Oral-B IO 8 has two buttons only: One to switch on/off and another to change between different programs for brushing your teeth.

I do not have a full overview of the Braun Oral-B series of products, but my best guess is that they get more and more expensive and advanced as you move up the number series. The IO 10 is the top of the pop, but apparently I could do with a version 8.

In the box

Brain Oral-B IO 8 — In the box: A little pouch (top), a plastic box to hold 2 brush heads, the brush head and a magnetic charger (right). Of course also the brush itself, which is not shown here.

In the box you will find the brush itself, a charger, a brush head, a container for 2 brush heads and a little pouch for the brush and accessories.

The manual is actually only a few pages in many different languages, so it is quickly read, and it is supplemented by some graphics that are easy to understand. You’ll be up and running in no time. One of the most important features is the backlit ring at the bottom of the brush head – this ring will tell you if you apply to much, to little or just the right amount of pressure to the brush when holding it against your teeth and gums. I was surprised to learn that apparently I apply way too little pressure! Another thing is that you have to brush your teeth in front of a mirror, so you can continuously monitor that you apply the right amount of pressure.

App and bluetooth

Braun Oral-B IO 8 — App and brush. The app will guide you though the brush process and give you real time feedback on your performance. And of course keep stats on all your tooth brush sessions!

Of course this toothbrush has an app that will give you guidance and tell you how well you are doing in terms of brushing all your teeth and brushing them well! The most complicated in terms of getting to know the brush was to download the app, but I found it in the App store almost immediately. The brush and the app hook up via bluetooth when within close range. You just shake the toothbrush, and it will activate the bluetooth connection.

During the process, the app will colour from blue to white according to your progress with brushing your teeth clean. I find it a little bit difficult to both keep an eye on the colour on the toothbrush itself (right amount of pressure) and an eye on the app (brushing completeness).

Daily routine

Charging is as easy as it can be: simply leave the brush on top of the charger and it takes care of the process. The battery is a Li-On battery and that usually means the battery will last for a long time without charging – I have not stress tested this specifically but it easily does my tooth brushing for several days with no need for recharging.

In your bathroom cabinet you will find that the toothbrush takes up very little space. It is tall, but otherwise takes up less space than say a tube of toothpaste.

Using the brush is not complicated, but it did take me some time to learn to brush my teeth in front of a mirror in order to read the pressure colour ring.

Conclusion

I do not know yet if I have passed the exam, as I have to visit my dentist yet one more time to understand if she is happy with my work with the new brush. I will say though that it does feel like my teeth are more clean than ever, and the app and the brush has provided much guidance and feedback that I would not have got with a more basic electric toothbrush.

The price is steep, but if you look at it as insurance money intended to protect you from some nasty dentist bills coming your way, then you might find that in the long run the Oral-B IO 8 is worth every EUR, and then some.

Review: HORL 2 knife sharpener

What is it?

The HORL 2 knife sharpener is a manual grinding solution that applies a new principle: where the traditional principle is to have a fixed stone you drag the knife across, the HORL flips these two. Here the knife is held in check with a magnet and instead the stone is rolled back and forth along the knife blade to sharpen the knife.

HORL 2 review — The traditional way: The stone is fixed and the knife is moved. The HORL 2 flips this logic and fixes the knife with a magnet and moves the stone by rolling it.

The advantage is that the angle between the stone and the knife can be held constant. An amateur knife sharpener like me struggle to keep the angle constant and that is the safe route to failure. So here the HORL 2 comes to my rescue with a solution to keep the angle absolutely constant during the grinding.

Horl 2 cruise — The HORL 2 cruise comes with a grinding disk, a magnetic angle support and two guides: a quick guide and a more detailed instruction manual.

The solution itself is therefore simply a little magnet to fix the knife and a grinding stone on a rolling device. Thats basically it, along with a quick guide and a more detailed instruction. The image above shows what I found in the box from HORL.

Price

I find the HORL 2 to be quite expensive, so I went for the budget version named HORL 2 Cruise, which here in March 2023 set me back 120 EUR. I think it is a lot of money for a knife sharpener, but my logic is that I have around 10 knives which makes up a significant investment, and as I do not have the skillset to maintain the sharpness of the knife with a traditional sharpener, the value of my knife portfolio is steadily declining. My hope is that the HORL will bring my knives back to tip top shape, and in that light, I can justify the investment.

I thought the main downside of the budget version was the replacement of delicious oak wood with plastic, but it turned out that the budget version only comes with a 20 degree angle (and not both 15 and 20) and that the grinding disc cannot be exchanged! Take note of this, as many especially Japanese knives are born with a 15 degree angle, and hence you may want it to stay that way. The ability to change grinding disc is mainly an issue if you want to shift between different “strengths” of grinding – the disc should not need replacement due to wear according to the instruction manual.

Use

I find the use of the HORL 2 to be easy. It comes with a good instruction manual and also the quick guide quickly gets you going. Also, if you google a bit, there are a lot of YouTube videos that shows how to use the HORL.

HORL 2 Cruise Review — There us both an instruction manual and a quick guide. The use of the HORL 2 is not complicated at all.

As I am not an expert when I comes to sharpening knives, I did not really pay much attention to the fact that the HORL 2 has both a diamond grinding disc AND a stainless steel honing disc. In other words, you need to use both sides of the HORL 2. This is important to get a good result! I figured that the honing side did really not have that much influence on the sharpness of the knife, but judging from what experts say, the honing side is just as important as the grinding side to get a good and sharp result! I wish the instruction manual had underlined this point.

In terms of how long time to sharpen the knife, there is very little guidance, other than “between 2-5 minutes” or something vague like that. So what I do is that I count the number of times I move the HORL 2 back and forth, and then I make sure to apply the same number to both sides of the blade. And if the result is not as satisfying, I simply repeat the process. They say that once you have sharpened the knife, a re-sharpening only requires a few movements. I have not tested this claim, but it would be nice if it is the case.

Be prepared to be dirty! The grinding will result in small metal particles and metal dust that will be all over the place in no time!

The rubber that the HORL 2 rolls on when you move it back and forth can leave small marks on the surface you use. My kitchen table is a bit sensitive so I generated several “tire tracks” from rolling the HORL 2 back and forth. So you may want to be more smart about it than I was.

Result

The result is … okay. I am not excited. I really thought I would get super sharp knives, and they do get better, but to my surprise it seems to be a little random still. Some knives becomes very good, others less so.

One of the reasons is that I find it hard to sharpen the part of the knife that is close to the tip. I think it is because the angle changes slightly. Also the magnet cannot cover the entire range of the knife and obviously gives the best support where it is mounted. So I find that I have to move the magnet a bit back and forth to get the support I need.

Despite all my attempts to vary the position of the magnet etc, I cannot seem to get the far end of the knife sharp. The part close to the handle: excellent! Not so much the other end. The difference is so noticeable that my wife commented on the difference in sharpness unsolicited!

The instruction manual gives guidance to both narrow blades and so called “extremely broad blades”. Apparently my knifes are not in any of these extremes, as I have been able to use the HORL 2 Cruise on all my knifes with not problems. Except for my ceramic knife, that obviously does not work with the magnet.

Conclusion

I’m a bit divided here. Intuitively and looking at the design, this solution should work! It does take the biggest uncertainty out of the equation for manual sharpening of knives: the angle between steel and stone. It should turn an amateur like me into a pro. The problem is, as they say, that reality does not always follow armchair logic. And this is one of those cases.

I do think that this solution is as good as it gets when you cannot hold 15 degrees manually and need help from the HORL. And maybe my problem is that I was hoping for more than I got. But I still have this idea that my knives can be sharper than they are right now, and I am not sure the HORL 2 is the solution that will fulfil that ambition.

Afterthought

After using the HORL 2 for some time, I ended up buying a more traditional sharpening steel. The sharpening steel is actually built into the HORL 2 solution, so it may seem like a superfluous step. But I did find that I got better results if I used the sharpening steel from a more traditional solution. I still use the HORL 2 stone for the initial sharpening but finish off the job now with a traditional sharpening steel. I now get results that even my wife praise. And you know what they say: Happy wife = happy life.

Rechargeable? No thanks…

Try again?

The test

Test results

Conclusion

Continued reading

Apple Magic Mouse

Unboxing and installing

Configuration and use

Conclusion

Other Apple posts

From Vivoactive 3 to 5 – but why?

Unboxing Vivoactive 5

Appearance

Migration

Whats new?

Summary

Further reading

Replacement needed

Lezyne Zecto Drive 250+

Light modes

The light

Summary

You may also like

Time to replace

Unboxing

First use

Cleaning

Hot soup straight out of the blender?

Conclusion

Further reading

Summary

Shopping link

Same same but different

Industry standard (in EU at least)

Serious video camera!

Conclusion

Related reading

Hengwin

Carrying

Build quality

Summary

Video link

Related reading

In the box

App and bluetooth

Daily routine

Conclusion

Related reading

What is it?

Price

Use

Result

Conclusion

Afterthought

Related reading