IPhone SE Review

The IPhone SE was the last phone release before the brand new IPhone 7 and IPhone 7s. It features many of the same specs as the IPhone 6S: The Apple A9 chip, the M9 motion coprocessor, and supports near field communication for Apple Pay. It features a 4-inch display and a 1.2 megapixel front facing camera and a 12 megapixel rear-facing camera. It also features iOS 10.0+, which will allow you to run the most recent apps.

The IPhone SE is a small phone, with the same dimensions as the IPhone 5 and IPhone 5S. So if you're looking for one of those really fancy, technologically enabled cases for it that you may have seen in any of those clickbait youtube videos, you're going to be a bit hard-pressed seeing as they're made for more recent and larger phones.

Now, I upgraded from a version of the IPhone so old, that it still used the 30-Pin cable, like the IPad does, so take that as a reference. Firstly, the IPhone SE is a huge upgrade from the IPhone 5, 5S, and doesn't have too many drawbacks from the IPhone 6S. The 3D Touch, which is used basically for differentiating the force of taps, isn't going to be useful on an IPhone in many cases, and is better reserved for the IPad for use by digital artists.

As for the second-generation, supposedly faster Touch ID sensor, from my experience the IPhone SE's touch sensor will authenticate your fingerprint within one second of you placing your finger on there. I'm not sure how much faster it can get, but cutting down a literal one second authentication by any amount will not really make that much of a difference for me.

The camera takes really clear photos and if you're not a photographer, you will more than be satisfied by the quality of the pictures that the IPhone SE can take.

The Siri voice activation works well, but can't be used without data or an internet connection, but as long as you have some data and always have it on for Siri, that will not really be a problem. The battery life on this thing is alright, depending on how you use it. You're going to have to charge it fully at least once a day, but will have to charge it additional times based on how long you actively use it. If you're one of those people who are constantly on your phone you may need to recharge it 2-3 times per day.

Overall, the IPhone SE, is the best small-form factor IPhone on the market to date. It's a great alternative from the huge smartphone options provided by the IPhone 6, 6s, 7, and 7s.

The cost is going to be pretty steep for $399 for the 16GB and $499 for the 64GB model from the Apple Store uncontracted and brand new. It's available at most major retailers so go for it. If you're willing to accept it refurbished Amazon's offering them for as low as $355.00 for a 64GB I'll drop some links down below to places with the best prices.

Amazon: 64GB ($355.00)
Walmart: 16GB Straight Talk ($349.00)

Warrior Recon Bluetooth Wireless Earbuds by IHip

Now you may be asking yourself: Why's this entry so lazily done. Well, my lovely reader. I've decided to put about as much effort into the review of this product as the company put into making it in the first place.

These things sucked. No other way to say it. I spent all day charging the things and I decided to test them after an hour and a half, the stated charging time to see if they'd turn on, they wouldn't. Couldn't get in contact with costumer service, so I'm calling this one just plain dead in the water.

A defective single product is one thing, but a company from whom you can't get through to customer service in the middle of the day. Yeah, no, that's unacceptable. I never got to test even a single one of the features that these things claimed to have and I don't really care to anymore.

A complete and utter waste of fifteen bucks. I've gotten better earbuds on Amazon for so much less. That draws the line in the sand, Big Lots officially sucks for getting anything in the realm of  bluetooth earbuds. Go to Amazon or Best Buy for that kind of stuff, bottom line, case closed.

0/5 for both the company and the product

Platinum Series Wireless Bluetooth Stero Headset with Built in Microphone by Travelocity

 Now before anything else you might be wondering why I am using this obviously horribly taken photo. Well the simple fact is that I can't find this product listed literally anywhere online or even on the website of the store that I bought it from. It's practically like these things don't exist under this brand name. Anyway let's get right into it.








This is a Platinum Series Bluetooth Headset, by Mizco, who apparently owns Travelocity according to their website:

So they're the ones responsible for this embarrassment called an electronic device. These thing suppossedly boast "premium sound" a thirty foot range, up to twelve hours talk time, and up to 300 hours of standby time, easy access controls and compatibility with "all device types".

Well let's start with "premium sound". That means nothing, literally everyone says that their headphones, or earbuds, or headsets provide quality sound, premium sound, the best sound ever. And the sound I got from these things was entirely mediocre. It actually sounded worse than most of the others I've used because the "noise reduction technology" in this device is terrible at best, and a lie at worst.

"Thirty foot range". Yeah...no.. Outdoors maybe, but indoors and through walls you don't even really get a third of that. Maybe a quarter but definitely not a third...I measured.

"Twelve hours talk time and 300 hours standby". Well I can't say yes or no to this, because even with the included charger, I couldn't get this thing to fully charge. The battery in this device simply refused to allow itself to fully charge. When I connected this thing to my IPhone after the red light went away it only showed about 60% charge. If I can't even charge it fully to test out the battery life then I'm calling bullshit and assuming it's not there.

"Easy access controls" was their most truthful statement. The device features two sets of buttons. One side for skipping and playing back music, and another side for making and accepting calls, and raising the volume. I've never gotten that much simplicity on a pair of Bluetooth earbuds and let me say that it isn't bad on an idea. Too bad it came on such a horrible product.

"Compatibility with all device types". Well I don't literally have "all device types" but I can tell you second time I tried to connect it to my computer it had a "driver error" and then the device stopped working all together.

Now my biggest problem with this device. Within a day of usage the device itself now refuses to turn off, that's right. It refused to literally shut off. No matter what I do, no matter what state the switch is in. on or off, the device won't turn off and won't connect to any of my devices

The good news is that it comes with a "1 Year Limited Warranty", but screw that. This thing malfunctioned within a single day, I'm not going to give the time of day to any product that lasts less than twenty four hours from the time that I began using it. Nope, no way, screw that.

I give this product a 0/10. It didn't last a day, didn't live up to it's promises, and wasted my time. Yeah no link for this one, if you honestly wish to torture yourself with this, you can find it at Big Lots.

ScotteVest: The Q.U.E.S.T Vest

This, is the ScotteVest's Q.U.E.S.T Vest. What the hell does Q.U.E.S.T stand for well, I don't know. What I do know is that this thing has an absolutely ridiculous number of pockets and amount of pure storage space.

The ScotteVest QUEST Vest comes jam packed with 42 pockets, including IPad pockets, a pocket for your smartphone, an RFID pocket, magnetically concerned front pockets and a side pockets on the front that can hold a full size water bottle in one. and the piece de resistance a gigantic back storage pocket that is large enough to hold a full-sized laptop. Believe me, I've tried it.

You could hold off a small army with the things the things that you could probably carry in this vest. This thing has so many pockets that someone would need a map to mug you.

The vest also included a hood stowed away in the collar,  I haven't needed to use it yet, but the hood feels pretty large and somewhat thin. It'll most likely hold back rain, but I doubt it'll beat back the cold. The jacket itself doesn't seem to be very insulated (I wore it with a bit of difficulty all day today ) so I wouldn't count on it on cold days, but I'd have to test it to make sure.

It comes included with ScotteVests patented Personal Area Network, which helps you keep all of your cords in line inside the vest. Beyond all that, it looks straight up sexy. If you've never gotten complimented on your dress, well, the first day you wear this you will probably get one. The vest also seems to include some vents near the large back pocket that you can unzip to keep cooler.

If your love being organized, this vest is for you, if you love looking good, this vest is for you, and if you are just a weirdo who absolutely can not get enough of all these god damn pockets, well god damit this vest is for you too.

And now the price, the only thing that could ever keep someone from this vest. The price tag on it regularly is $175.00. Yeah, that's really steep, but when these go on sale their prices drop 20%- 40% with certain codes you can get from sponsored videos on Youtube you can also get a 20% deal.

Their last sale for the year just passed us all by, so bank on those Youtube codes if it's just out of reach for you.

What rating do I give the ScotteVest Q.U.E.S.T Vest. 10/10. This is the one and only piece of clothing that I have ever, so far, felt the need to actually give a review on. And it is well-deserved.

The Frixion Erasable Pen

The Frixion Erasable pen is an erasable gel pen. The Frixion uses thermochromic ink in order to "erase". Included in it is a hard, rubber tip at the end. The heat from the friction (hence the name) generated using the rubber tip is used to heat the ink until it turns clear.

Well, does it work is the question? Yes. It writes fairly well, and with a bit of pressure will write without much skipping at all. However, if you are looking for an erasable pen that acts more like liquid graphite then you might want to beware of this pen.

It's very hard to get thinner lines with the Frixion that you can get out of a sharpened pencil or lead pencil because trying to write that lightly will cause more frequent skipping. This means that this pen would also be a bit of a problem for anyone who's trying to use it to ink a sketch or do any detailed inking.

The pen also had a tendency to let out more ink than needed, however, it's usually only a small drop and doesn't affect it's performance, although I'd recommend anyone using it have a quick writing hand. The pen erases pretty well, provided that one didn't press too hard, and manually warms up the eraser before erasing the ink, it basically erases clear, with little to no shavings to brush off the page.

Overall the pen gets a 3.7/5. Better than most "erasable pens" which become permanent over time, but not enough to replace a standard pencil

You can catch them in a pack of 6 for $12.20 on Amazon here

Climate Keeper 12" Oscillating Desk Fan

The Climate Keeper 12" Desk fan is...well, a fucking fan.

It's got a nice, sleek look to it, and is stylish enough not to be out of place in an office or at a home desk set up. It comes with three different speeds easily controllable through buttons at the base. The fan has the ability to rotate a full 90 degrees from it's farthest left or right position.

The fan is powerful, but when set to rotate. The fan is slow to pan from side to side on low and seems to be a bit faster on it's highest setting.

Beyond that, there isn't much to say about the fan. As I said before, it's basically just a fan. It's not particularly small, or portable, and requires some minor assembly. It fits on most desks and dressers. In summer this thing will keep you cool but like most fans, is useless in winter.

All in all...it's meh. Nothing really special about it, but it doesn't have any real drawbacks either. After having it for a while, would I buy it again? Sure, if it was in my local store, but otherwise, no. I wouldn't go out of my way for this product.

I'll give it a 3.4/5. If you really want to buy it for some reason you can pick it up at Big Lots or on their website

Evolution Power Plus

Disclaimer: Everything written here is from personal experience and experimentation. Take it with a grain of salt. Well, now that I can't be sued for writing this, let's get on with the review shall we?

I'm just gonna come out and say it. This thing is, in my opinion, a piece of shit. Outright. The seller claims a 2600mAh capacity. On an IPhone 4, which I own and have tested this on, there is a battery that has a 1420 mAh battery.

When I attempted to charge my phone battery, after completely charging this power bank. The stored power in the power bank ran out around 52%. This means that I only got back about 710 mAh, but worse than that, It also means that this thing is approximately 27% efficient. What the actual fuck?!

This thing also heated up pretty intensely while it was charging which makes me think that indeed, it is highly inefficient. I've seen gimmicky "solar power banks" on Youtube with higher experimental efficiency ratings than this thing.

To this thing's credit, the rest of the claims on the manufacturer's website hold up. It does charge phones and small electronics, albeit not very well, in my opinion ,it looks nice with the metal finish, and the LEDs accurately indicate how much power is left in the thing.

But with that said, power banks don't have to be that durable. Call me crazy but generally, treat your power bank as carefully as you treat your phone's screen and it'll be more than fine. The two are usually not far when you're out and about. A power banks entire job is to store power and give it back to you when you need it.

This thing, in my experience, sucks at its job. The best attribute of this power bank is being able to take a beating that it, in most cases, it shouldn't be suffering in the first place. This is a power bank that fails at it's one and only job, and succeeds at the one it will never be given.

Avoid this product if you're looking for a power bank that can fully recharge your IPhone, Samsung etc. If you have a flip-phone, slider, or really any "dumb phone" then go for it. Actually, don't any other power bank is still a better choice.

Found it going for $29,99 on Amazon (who are they shitting come on we all know it's $30) and $34.99 on the manufacturer's website as of the day of this posting. You wouldn't want to buy it, so i'm not going to link it.