Xiaomi Mi Band 2

This was the second part of the bundle from banggood I purchased. However this one was to replace the Vidonn X6 which was getting wrecked from my life of running and its lasted me on a night out you know. But with new plans, I had to have a smarter one that was more durable, Xiaomi was the answer and for almost the same price (cheaper since it was from Banggood) then Why should I say no. Amazon also have it as well. The video is below:

The Packaging. 

Xiaomi really make it simple here with a White box and simplistic designs and a photo of the product. Which for this is no harder to understand than a billboard for a shop. The Mi logo is more fitting to the box than the logo they use mostly and the back has a lot of small print. Since this is technically not a global edition, it is mostly in Chinese which makes it off putting for some people but if you buy from Asia, you will get this happen to you. But Enough said. 

The bundle if your wondering

The top of the box 

The stock barcode Bangood 

The mi logo on the top 

The back of the box with the details on the band

A Lift inside

Now the presentation of the Mi band inside is spot on, very similar to the Redmi with the tab to pull it which makes it easier to get to underneath the band for the accessories The mi band is hard to get out of the box in all honesty but its only cardboard, lets not be too petty about it. Then we can get to the starp which the manual is showing underneath as a fold out booklet. Then we have the very short charging cable which one of those petty people will say "its too short" which these days can be solved with a power bank or a USB extension Cable. Then we have the nice strap which is a decent black and also gives a better fitting to the wrist. 

The Mi Band in the box

Lift the tab open and this is what you see

The strap itself 

The very short charging lead

How the bottom of the strap looks

Part of the Manual

The manual in further

We now get to the last part of the manual

The Setup

Now we cry, this is usually hard, well if you don't charge it first, then yes it is. Since it was shipped with only 1% battery which stressed me out (not the thing itself, more time to get this done quicker) so I had to charge it while walking rosie which defeats the point of  Smart Band like this. But once that was done, I installed the Mi Health App from Play Store (its not actually in the Redmi 4 China rom either if you really do care) and then let the app set up, Its the usual sign up for a Mi Account  then put in your health details, you know height in cm and weight (its in kg so don't guess like i did else it means a 30lbs weight gain for normies is a nightmare for the feabie life, well don't get wet). then you can sync it and the Band will update firmware first then once thats is done, you should be able to use the app and get it going with syncing it to google fit, starting intense workouts and more.

How the connector looks

When you can't change the weight

This is the nomal screen you will have 

This will be appearing from time to time, from firmware to fonts

You can see here how Google Fit integrates with the Mi Band

Testing some heartrates to see how it feels

Conclusion. 

Now from the testing i've done which is my normal life, it really does have a better accuracy to the band life which for me is ideal, I can know when i'm pushing myself and also know when I need to push myself more. Which for the half marathon coming up in April (its actually a shorter distance than the time it took me to run to Tavi Morrisons from Mutley Plain/Goodbodies) then i need to see what my best is without doing more than I already do. That and the Vidonn had a misleading app which means it never recorded my sleep properly. But from an easy purchase to much more information about myself shown to me, I'm impressed. 

omracer's Rating: 8/10

The Good Points: 

• Good Value for Money
• Google fit works with the app
• Easy to change strap since it detaches
• Heart Rate Monitor
• Easy design and setup in App
• Clear screen. 
• Strap looks stronger material than Vidonn
• No issues with Tile for Bluetooth

The Bad Points: 

• This isn't the global edition (for people who really care about English writing on the boxes) 
• The USB Cable to charge it could be longer 

And thats that, now I have to wait for Xiaomi to unlock the Bootloader for the Redmi 4 before you can get a decent review of that phone. But for now, i'll might fill in some short reviews if they take their time,

omracer

Google Glass Explorer Edition

Well, i can't say much on the back story except i've wanted this for a long while, then i saw a chance to get it at a good price, then i bought it. £800. But with a speedy delivery and the product looking pristine, it was a time to give it a review. Enjoy a video review. The blogpost will go into some more detail than what might be shown.

The packaging and contents.

So this is quite a wide box as well as a very plain design, of course with googles design and font but very basic. Which might put people who didn't know what this was off, but with the explorer edition, it is a very niche product, so the packaging shouldn't be something to be focusing on. Yes, the contents isn't as much as you would expect but it all fits in nicely. You get with this: 

• Google Glass 
• A pouch which is hardened to give it extra protection 
• 1 small mono earphone for better communication with busy areas 
• some nose handles which are different sizes
• a pouch with a quick FAQ and also the above (it was always in the pouch)
• A unique style micro usb cable (thats all, no mains charger with the item)

XE - eXplorer Edition

A Blank side

Glass at the top of the box

The opposite side of the XE logo which has all the trademarks, EAN codes and serial numbers

Unrelated note, as i was reviewing this, my cat decided to play with a bag 

The bottom of the box

The inside of the top of the box, which explains how to set the thing up

Glass itself. With all the labels of what each button does

Underneath the space glass is, is the cable and the pouch which includes the FAQ and spare nose buds

A short guide on how to use the pouch

This is the guide of how to use the mono earpiece, with the top side of the earpiece

The bottom side of the earpiece, yes its also a micro usb connection

One side of the pouch, the top is where my thumb is 

The other side, there isn't any difference 

The spare nose pads with different sizes

Part one of the FAQ

Part two of the FAQ. 

Now this was quite a fair bit, with CLEAR instructions which is a bonus for anyone new to this type of this, (yes that is including me). But it was ina a amazing condition and well its nice to see how much effort google has put in for this product, even if it technically a beta (not fully finished).

Glass itself and setting up

So. Glass looks nice, but did it feel right, well i can say. Sort of, it wasn't a too loose fitting but it was so tight that it blocked my nose, which is a good thing but in high action situations, it could prove dangerous. to both me and glass. Also GLASS IS NOT WATERPROOF. So just be careful of when it rains. There was actually something in the FAQ saying about scuba diving, which made it clear its not waterproof.

A look at glass from the top left

#GoogleGlass #selfie

So with it fitting and all, setting it up was not too bad. Sure i had to make the battery charge, but you need to have it turned on before you can (No offline charging). Which while i left it off during lunch, it was not charging. 

After a tutorial on how to use the touchpad and also using MyGlass to pair it up. It was done via bluetooth, it did look like it was going to fail, then it worked and connected to my main gmail. No problems there. Then when i took a photo, the app on my phone let me know there were photos taken. 

The app on my phone (yup the zp810) it was quite clean looking. 

Also the lockscreen is simple to use and you can control the interface with either voice or with the touchpad. You can just say "ok glass" then it lists you some of the options to say what to do. Searching google, call someone, check the battery (with an app in glassware), take a photo, record a video and much more. Oh and you can get twitter and facebook for this, i've not tried it yet but i might do soon. But i'll list what apps i DO have on there below:

The apps i've got installed on there. 

The photos and videos.

Now this is one of the cruical things i wanted google glass for, which will help my vlogs look better. and from what i've done on glass currently....they do.  The pictures are not 16:9 which is a slight pity but i can't do much from there without a launcher and a 3rd part camera, which i'm not ready to do just yet. But the video is a nice 720p, the audio is ok but i do here some distortion, but nothing to be shocked about. I'll show you details of the quality and the images below:

The first image with google glass, this was done while recording the review

This is the info of the above file

Another indoor pic

The details of the above pic

A pic of the garden

Details of the above pic.

Now the video quality is pretty good as well. 720p at 4mbits (DVD quality some people would call it). Now here is a instagrammed clip and the details of the original file before uploading. 

Oh and at this point, if you copy the orginal file from google glass to an android phone then upload to instagram. it directly accepts it and uploads it. So NO conversion required. Sadly since its too good of a quality for snapchat sharing, you have to convert it.

Info for the orginal clip before it was instagrammed 

With that in mind, it makes importing to video programs like iMovie and Movie Studio easy to use with less hassle. Again, you might hear some distortion in the audio, which is a very minor flaw, also there is no light on the front, so there isn't a torch function to use.

The Potential.

With this you can do alot more than what people think it can do. The Glassware store has plenty of unique apps which either are games (including a Zombie running game) to fitness apps to even the news, the actual news of NYT or even the Guardian. Since this is running a variation of Android 4.0.3 (If you notice the guide on setting up sideloading, it mentions 4.0.3 ). There is a fair whack of apps that can load that even though are not supported, they might run. There are alot of test but i will check on what it could run soon. Since there is a touchpad, navigation isn't too much of a problem with apps from the normal playstore (to a degree). But there are some apps that need to be added. Such as an app for Airplane mode. Now this isn't for that exact reason (going on an airplane) but it does give it the best battery life if i want to get decent vlogs on this.

Installing adb wasn't too bad, Following this Guide was simple. But when it came to getting the drivers for glass installed, that turned out to be simple too, but adb just wasn't recognising it, uninstall wiping the drivers and reinstalling from windows update worked. But then it was the trouble of being unathorized. Which then finding THIS had made it work. Also i found a good screen monitor for Android in General. ASM its called.

Sadly after various attempts, i was unable to get airplane mode to work. Maybe since XE21.x is out, it might be too new for the Airplane mode app and even Launchy doesn't work properly, it won't let you change apps via the touchpad at least, voice it might be but i was quite quiet. But its things like this that give it alot more potential.  

The Part conclusion. 

So with the device working, the design looking neat, the features slightly packed and the quality of content is pretty high, it is sort of a vloggers ideal, with easy record features, as well as a personal assistant right within eyesight. But the cost is the most putting off factor, which if i didn't save up enough, i would of avoided it altogether. With that being a major gripe, it sometimes makes you regret forking out for it, but it will change my mind when its put to good use. 

The Pros: 

• Slick design.
• Easy to use.
• 720p recording.
• Pairs with your phone so you can call and text people if need be via bluetooth or wifi. I noticed my texts appeared without me realising.
• Quite nice fitting on the nose to keep it stable.

The Cons:

• Relies on a network connection thats reliable, with tethering to phones or wifi. 
• No GPS, so you can't have tracking software without the above.
• no 16:9 picture option.
• \THE PRICE OF IT, MORE THAN A CAR. 
• You might get evil or weird looks or even kicked out of some places (not confirmed)

With all this in mind. I'm considering giving it a 6/10. But this will give for some amazing FP (First person footage). Firework displays will be easier to capture the moments and it could also be like having your friends always there for you. 

Lets see what the future with glass has in store for me. 

omracer

Chromecast

So, about 2 months ago, Google released a TV dongle called Chromecast. Now this was a device that would make it easier for people to share things online to a TV. Either a video on Youtube, a Film or TV show on Netflix or even just a website.

Now it was a nice and simple device for a simple price, $35. BUT AND THE MAJOR PROBLEM SO FAR, it hasn't released in the UK, which is a major shame. But after checking eBay, there were some UK importers who knew they could make a quick ££ from buying some from the us and bringing it over to here.
Now i found one for £60 (£55+£5 P&P)  and i bought it on Friday, it arrived the next day after running home from work, as i usually do.

So here goes my review the video review is below:

The packaging. 

Now the packaging is simply, easy to understand and very neatly packaged. It gives the look of a google product straight away, with the font and everything. Pics of each of the sides of the packaging is below:

The front of the box. With the dongle itself and a simple summary of what it does.

The rear of the box, the summary of what it can do and a picture of it. It also shows the services it supports. Google Chrome, Youtube, Netflix and Google Play. Also the small print mentions the OS'es that are supported

The side of the box, to show how simple the device is meant to be to get going and use. The watch icon is exactly the ont you need to look for when wanting to stream to the chromecast.  

The front of the inside of the box, A very clear guide to get started. including the URL to go to

The rear of the dongle itself, this might be a bit blurry to see the text.

The top of the dongle and HDMI connector, also a indicator which lights up on the left of the dongle.

After taking the dongle cardboard piece out you have the following. A Micro USB cable a manual underneath, a HDMI extension cable, A US (Non CE Approved) USB Charger. Just a simple amount to see in the box.

As you saw, the packaging is nicely done, although i'm never a good cable tidier, it still fits nicely. Now after unboxing it, its a simple case to set it up as shown in the manual.

Using the Cast and Setting it up

Now the set-up is quite a simple process. Just plug the dongle into a hdmi port, plug a micro usb cable into the dongle and a standard usb 2 or 3 port, then switch the TV to use the HDMI input. Wait for it to boot and then go to the chromecast setup page or get the chromecast app. After installing it, the setup is simply check if the code shown matches, then name the dongle, set up the wifi and then its "ready to cast".

The "Ready to cast" screen which has a nice background every time, the time, the chromecast name as the Network Name. Simple but beautiful.

If you using chrome on OSX, Chrome OS or Windows, you will need the chrome extension, it will ask you to install it if you used the setup page. Otherwise your fully ready to go. 

But if you do want to change some settings, the options you can choose from is below:

The Chromecast app on PC, it will list any chromecasts that are on the network

The Settings for Chromecast, Changing the timezone, the name and if you want to reset the dongle.

With android, Google have NOT made the official Chromecast app, available on the UK Play Store. There is a link to get the APK itself, Which works fine and dandy :)

The Chromecast App, Exactly similar to the PC app, but suited to Android

The settings page on the Android app, this has a different option thats not listed on the PC app, but that can't be changed, since it is a US Play store App

Now if you want to cast, you can simply press the cast icon on the Youtube App on android, in Chrome or in the Youtube Player. Then wait 1 minute and its playing in 720p HD. Thats it. If you look at the triangle before you click the name of the dongle, you can decide whether you want just the web page or the entire Windows screen. So you can use this for Powerpoint presentations or make tutorials, but beware there is a slight delay, depending on the performance of your Wi-Fi router (N150, N300 or newer will handle it fine). An example of how it streams, using a instagram client is shown below. You can use 720p in a "high bitrate mode" but that is a risk you can take if needs be.

A basic concept of being able to show a webpage using chromecast. Ink361 in this case, the detail can be slightly off on bigger screens which can handle 1080p or higher, this is in standard 720p mode.

Conclusion

As you saw in the video review, the quality of the video is really as HD should be. Especially from the Beyond Two Souls Trailer or my recent upload of PAC-MAN CE DX+. I saw minimal quality issues. even on a broadband connection that is under 20mbps. 

One downside of the Chromecast is the fact you are unable to stream Local media easily, for example you want to show a home video off to your family on Christmas thats on your PC or Tablet. Officially, for now you are unable to do so easily. You can copy the location of the video into chrome as a url and play it but that can be a bit dire for the simplest of users.

omracer's Rating: 8/10

The good points:

• Simple to setup
• Streams any page on chrome and also any PC screen
• Very good quality for a small dongle

The weak points

• Only available in the US in the official stance (Like i mention, check eBay)
• Not as easy to stream local media
• The SDK is still in a preview stage so there are not many apps that can handle true Chromecast support just yet

Now this will be a nice temporary bit of fun until PS Vita TV has arrived, i probably will sell this and order it from Japan. But for now, hope you enjoy and if you find a chance to get one of these, i would recommend it

See you in the next review

omracer