August WS150 wi-fi speaker

Rating: 4/5

Review:
Excellent build and functionality with decent sound

August sent me this wi-fi speaker for review, and I think it's very good.  The WS150 is the smaller sibling of the WS300; it has all the same functionality and electronics as the WS300 but is around half the size and only one third the weight.  This is great if you need an easily transportable wi-fi speaker, but the sound isn't as special on the WS150.  However, it looks good, the build quality is excellent, it works really well and the sound is still very decent.
 
Functionally, it's very good. Connection via Bluetooth (NFC and conventional pairing) was simple and gave a good solid connection up to at least 8 metres. AUX wired input also works fine, and the stylish, simple controls on the top are very good. Wi-fi set-up was pretty simple, too, even for this novice. The app downloads and installs without difficulty and connection was pretty easy after that. (When the app says "Press WPS button," it means the button on the speaker, not on the router, by the way!) Once connected, you can stream and play your own music via the app and it works very well.

The wi-fi gives real flexibility. If you have more than one speaker you can put them in different rooms and choose which to play, configure them to act as left and right channels or wireless stereo and so on. It all works very nicely, and once I'd got used to the app (which didn’t take long) it was all very simple.

The sound is good but it's not spectacular.  It's important to break in the speaker with at least an hour's playing at low volume (I played it for three hours before trying anything louder).  Thereafter, the WS150 gives a nice, balanced sound with very good tops and middles.  The bass is very decent for a speaker of this size, but the real depth and richness of bass in tracks like London Grammar's Hey Now isn't quite there.  I have played a lot of music through this now, from 16th-Century choral music to modern rock and acoustic music with most things in between and it all sounds good. In classical music, individual instruments and voices are clear and excellently articulated, rock has a decent punch and it goes loud enough to fill a medium-sized room with no distortion.

The larger August WS300 is an outstanding speaker, I think, and if you don't need the convenience of a small, easily transportable speaker I'd say it was well worth the extra twenty quid to get the WS300.  For sound alone at this sort of price, the Audio Dynamix Pulse V4 or the Archeer A320 are better (especially in the bass) but they're not wi-fi, of course, and for a small, high-quality wi-fi speaker this is still very good.  August have built up a reputation over several years for quality products and this lives up to that reputation. I can recommend it.

Amazon page  HERE

AMP USB to Micro-USB and Lightning cable

Rating: 5/5

Review:
A versatile, good quality cable

AMP sent me this cable for review and I think it is excellent.  It's extremely well made and does the job very well.

The cable is simply but decently packed.  It has standard micro-USB plugs, with a neat extra Lightning adaptor which fits neatly over the micro-USB plug to make this suitable for Apple devices, too.  It is plainly very good quality, with very solid, stylish plugs with a lacquered metal finish and an oval cross-section.  They are very solidly anchored on the cable, which has a good-looking black-and-white woven outer cover.  The construction prevents tangling and the whole thing has a robust feel.  The cable has good shielding and data transfer is quick, so it does the job well.

There's not a lot more to say about a USB cable.  This is a good one and comes from a very good company - AMP were known as Audio Dynamix and are very well respected for quality.  If you need a good, durable USB and Lightning cable, I can recommend this one warmly.

Amazon page HERE

August EP720 Active Noise-Cancelling earphones

Rating: 5/5

Review:
Very good ANC earphones

August sent me these EP720 earphones for review and I think they are very good. They are well made, they have effective Active Noise-Cancelling and the sound quality is very good.

The earphones are well packaged and come with a good User Manual, extra silicone tips to fit smaller or larger ears and a standard micro-USB charging lead.  There's no carry-case, which is a shame but not a big problem.

Functionally they work well.  There is a neat in-line panel (with a shirt-clip, a nice little feature) which has a microphone, a simple control button for music and calls and an on/off switch for the Active Noise Cancelling.  The ANC is remarkably effective: general background noise is very significantly reduced and almost vanishes much of the time. I can still hear when someone speaks to me and they don't keep out sudden, loud noises, but they perform as well as any noise-cancelling I have ever tried – including my Bose QC2 over-ear headphones which I have relied on for many years and a couple of more recent in-ear sets, too. They also work fine as passive, unpowered earphones with the ANC turned off.

The sound is very good, especially for this price range, with a good, deep bass and clear, bright tops and middles. The articulation crisp and the overall sound is very pleasing. I have a Test Playlist which I use for audio products beginning with 15th Century choral music, ending up with The Rolling Stones, Leonard Cohen and London Grammar and going through most things in between; these perform well throughout.

I have tried quite a lot of earphones and as ANC earphones I think these EP720 are very good and represent very good value.  They're not quite as stylish as, for example, the Chafon H100 which have been recently released, but the sound is better, the ANC is at least as good and they're around half the price. In short, these are very good quality earphones which give very good sound and have very effective noise-cancelling. I can recommend them warmly.

August WS300 Multiroom Wi-Fi Speaker

Rating: 5/5

Review:
An excellent wi-fi speaker

August sent me this wi-fi speaker for review, and I think it's absolutely excellent.  It looks good, it works really well and the sound is terrific.

I'll start with the sound, because if you're paying this much for a speaker (it costs a hundred quid at the time of writing) you expect very good sound – and you'll get it.  It's important to break in the speaker with at least an hour's playing at low volume (I played it for three hours before trying anything louder) and after that it's really, really good.  It's beautifully balanced with crystal clear tops and middles and a very firm but not over-dominant bass.  It responds very well to EQ adjustment, too.  I have played a lot of music through this now, from 16^th-Century choral music to beaty, bassy modern stuff with most things in between and it all sounds really good.  In classical music, individual instruments and voices are clear and excellently articulated, rock has a terrific punch and the deep bass in things like London Grammar's Hey Now is all there.  In short, I'm delighted with the sound.

Functionally, it's very good, too.  Connection via Bluetooth (NFC and conventional pairing) was simple and gave a good solid connection up to at least 8 metres.  AUX input also works fine, and the stylish, simple controls on the top are very good.  Wi-fi set-up was pretty simple, too, even for this first-time user.  The app downloads and installs without difficulty and connection was pretty easy after that.  (When the app says "Press WPS button," it means the button on the speaker, not on the router, by the way!)  Once connected, you can stream and play your own music via the app and it's excellent.  Because it's wi-fi, lossless really means lossless and music from places like Tidal sounds great.

The wi-fi gives real flexibility.  If you have more than one speaker you can put them in different rooms and choose which to play, configure them to act as left and right channels or wireless stereo and so on.  It just works, and once I'd got used to the app (which didn’t take long) it was all very simple.

August have built up a reputation over several years for quality products and this lives up to that reputation.  I think it's an excellent speaker and I can recommend it very warmly indeed.

Blueskysea (Eyoyo) LF-18 bone-conducting headphones

Rating: 3/5

Review:
Not for me

I was sent these bone-conducting headphones for review.  They are sold on Amazon as Blueskysea, but mine are branded Eyoyo LF-18. I have tried Eyoyo LF-19 bone-conducting headphones and had all sorts of problems with them.  These are better but are still not right for me.  Others seem to get on fine with them, but they simply don't work well on my head.

The idea is a very good one: the "phones" sit on your cheekbones just in front of the ear and the sound is transmitted to the middle ear through the bones, leaving your ears free to hear outside sound.  It's useful for environments where you need to hear what's going on around you (cycling, for example) and also useful for people with certain types of hearing impairment.  These LF-19s work to an extent, but I don't find them really usable.

I should say that these are a good, well made product.  They're nicely packaged and accessorized with a standard micro-USB charging lead, an extra silicone tension-band to help with grip if needed, a pair of foam earplugs and - utterly bizarrely - a small bottle opener key-ring.  They're a sensible size and rest where they should on  my cheekbones, connection via NFC and standard pairing was simple, the connection is good and strong and battery life is good.  The control buttons are well placed and, with one exception detailed below, work well.  So, if they suit you they should do you well. Sadly, I had problems with them

Firstly, they grip very tightly which makes them pretty uncomfortable on the cheekbones and they're not that comfortable on the tops of my ears either.  The sound isn't that loud even at full volume and the bass is pretty weak.  They leak so much sound that I can't use them when anyone else is in the room –which I think is an endemic feature of this type of headphone.  Also, the pause/play button works fine once, but if I try to use it more than once it won't activate "play" again and I have to tap "play" on the phone itself.  Turning the phones off and on again means it will work again…once, but not again until I turn off and on again.  I don't know whether this is just a fault with the pair I was sent or a design issue, but it is a nuisance.

So, not right at all for me.  I've given the phones three stars because the build quality is good and I recognise that some of the problems I have may be personal to me.  I'd recommend reading some other, more favourable reviews as well before deciding, but personally I can't really recommend these.

Archeer A320 bluetooth speaker

Rating: 5/5

Review:
An excellent speaker

This is a really good speaker.  It was sent to me for review and I am very impressed with both the look and the sound.  The unit is billed as a "home stereo" and that's not a bad description; it sounds and looks as good as some full-sized stereos I have owned.

The package contents are just the speaker, a standard micro-USB lead for charging, a 3.5mm jack-to-jack lead for wired input and a good user manual.  The speaker itself is a very nice looking object.  It's nicely proportioned at roughly 25cm x 12.5cm x 8cm and it is faced and backed with bamboo which gives a very pleasing, sophisticated slightly retro-look (and it's environmentally sound), with a dark grey fabric top and sides.  It looks very classy on a shelf or desk; the controls are simple and clear and the power and AUX sockets on the back are easily accessible.  It's a very nicely designed unit.

The sound is excellent.  It has an especially powerful bass, which when on a solid surface really rings out.  In some genres (classical especially) it can even be a bit dominant, but sound is a personal thing and that's a matter of my taste rather than any fault of the unit.  Tops and middles are also very clear; I've played a lot of music including my Test Playlist which runs from 16^th Century choral music to London Grammar and it all sounds very satisfying.  Rock and other modern music sounds especially good with tracks like The National's Sorrow and Hey Now by London Grammar which have a deep, solid bass sounding really great.  Volume goes loud enough for a decent-sized room or a small party and the battery life is good – the stated 10-11 hours at 50% volume sounds reasonable to me.

The build quality seems excellent and functionally this speaker works extremely well.  (It doesn't support hands-free calling, by the way, but that's not an issue for me.)  It's a very good unit all round, and one of the best I've tried in this price range.  Personally, I still marginally prefer the ADX Pulse V4, but if you like a really powerful bass and the look of the Archeer A320 appeals to you (as it does to me) then it will do you very well.  Warmly recommended.

Amazon page HERE

ODEC 2450mAh AA rechargeable batteries

Rating: 5/5

Review:
Very good rechargeable batteries

I was sent these ODEC rechargeable batteries for review and I think they're very good. There's not that much to say about batteries but:
- the claimed 2450mAh capacity seems about right
- they keep their charge very well when not in use
- they perform at least as well as any other AA rechargeable batteries I have tried, including Duracell and Amazon Basics, and their high capacity is very welcome.

I use a lot of this type of battery and I'm very happy with these. They come in four neat hinged plastic cases holding four batteries each, which is a really nice touch, making them very easy to store and transport – especially if, like me, you carry spares with you.

I have found these batteries very good so far, and they represent good value for 2450mAh batteries. It's too early to comment on how long they last and if I have any trouble with durability I will update this review, but so far I'm very pleased with them and I can recommend them warmly.

Chafon H100 Noise-Cancelling Earphones

Rating: 4/5

Review:
Very good noise-cancelling earphones

I was sent these earphones for review and I think they are very good.  Build quality is high, with effective Active Noise-Cancelling and the sound is very good.

The earphones look very stylish.  They are well packaged and come with a nice soft carry-case, a basic but serviceable User Manual, extra silicone tips to fit smaller or larger ears and a charging lead.  The earphones charge via the 3.5mm jack plug, so the lead fits a normal USB port, but has a jack socket to plug the 'phones into.  This is fine – but you need to carry an extra lead to charge them and you're in trouble if you lose it.

Functionally they work well, with a microphone and simple switch on the right-hand lead for answering and hanging up the phone. The Active Noise Cancelling is controlled by a switch on a separate very neat in-line panel and is remarkably effective: general background noise is very significantly reduced and almost vanishes much of the time. I can still hear when someone speaks to me and they don't keep out sudden, loud noises, but they perform as well as any noise-cancelling I have ever tried – including my Bose QC2 over-ear headphones which I have relied on for many years. They also work fine as passive, unpowered earphones with the ANC turned off.

The sound is very good for the price range, with an exceptionally good, deep bass. The articulation is clear and although the tops aren't quite as bright as I'd like in classical music the middles are rich and the overall sound is very good in most genres.  If you don't listen to classical music, I think you'll find it impressive impressive. I have a Test Playlist which I use for audio products beginning with 15th Century choral music, ending up with The Rolling Stones, Leonard Cohen and London Grammar and going through most things in between; these perform well throughout, and I thought rock and other modern music sounded very good – especially things which need a real bass kick.

I have tried quite a lot of earphones and in an increasingly crowded market I think these are well worth considering.  They are very good quality earphones which generally give very good sound and have very effective noise-cancelling.  Because of the slight flaw in sound quality in classical music, I have given these earphones four rather than five stars, but if that's not an issue for you, I can recommend them warmly.

(You may also like to look at 233621's E610 ANC earphones, which aren't as stylish as these but cost significantly less and, to my ears, have rather better balanced sound in classical music. )

Amazon page HERE

Lasmex C45 wired headphones

Rating: 5/5

Review:
Excellent wired headphones

I was sent these wired headphones for review and I am very impressed.  At the time of writing they cost well under thirty-five pounds and they are probably the best headphones I've tried in this price range.  They are stylish, well made, comfortable and the sound is exceptionally good.

Sound is the most important thing for me, so to begin with that: it is amazingly good at this price. The depth, warmth and crispness of articulation far exceeded what I expected.  I have listened to a lot of music through them now, including my Test Playlist which begins with Tudor choral music, ends up with London Grammar and includes most things in between. It all sounds excellent: treble is bright and crystal clear, the middle is full but very well defined and the bass is strikingly good – really rich and deep but never dominant or boomy, so the sound balance is excellent.  A string quartet sounds as though you're sitting there among them, every orchestral instrument is clear (the tympani roll magnificently in the Karelia Suite, for example and the horns sound fantastic) Leonard Cohen sounds as though he's present and murmuring "Amen" right in your ear, classic rock has a real punch, that fantastic deep bass in London Grammar's Hey Now is all there... In short, they're great, and just a pleasure to listen to.

I find them extremely comfortable. I sometimes don't get on that well with on-ear headphones, but these sit really well on my ears, forming a good sound-seal and staying comfortable for hours. They have a good grip which keeps them stable but it's not too firm, the earcups pivot to allow good positioning and the cushions are very soft.

The headphones seem well made and durable.  The earcups are machined aluminium and I like the simple, classy look of them very much.  They fold for easy transport and you get a very nice hard carry-case.  Two cables are supplied, one plain and one with an in-line panel to control music and calls.  (Note that these are wired connection only - there is no Bluetooth function.)  It all works very well, and the plugs are strong and stylish, too.

I don't mean to gush, but I really do think these are excellent.  I'm comparing these with other on-ear phones like Bose SoundTrue and Noontec Zoro II, both of which I think are very good indeed.  These are just as good, I think (possibly better) and at a significantly lower price. If you want a pair of comfortable, stylish on-ear headphones with good build quality and excellent sound, these will do you very well. Very warmly recommended.

Burei Black Army Style Watch Model SM-13015-1-36EY2

Rating: 5/5

Review:
A good quality watch with distinctive style

This watch was kindly sent to me for review and I think it is very good – and actually a lot better-looking than I expected from the pictures on this page. I have tested a number of Burei watches now and, like all the others, this is a good quality product.

The watch comes in a very nice, hinged presentation box with a manual and a little presentation bag, which would make it a good present. First impressions of the watch are very good. It has a large face, 4cm in diameter (about 1.5 inches) and solid, chunky feel with a good heft to it. Mine is all-black (with a stainless steel back), but it does come in other colour combinations. The face is very clear and has nice, retro-military look to it, with chunky luminous hands and markings and a shield-type logo at 12-o'clock. There is a clear second hand and a date display at 3-o'-clock. The crown is very nicely done and the band is black canvas with a nice soft leather lining which makes it good and comfortable, with a solid aluminium buckle whose style goes well with the watch itself.

Functionally, it's very good. It keeps very good time, is shockproof and scratch resistant, and it is rated as water resistant up to 30 metres depth, and it's obviously tough enough to stand up well to the sort of knocks and wettings it might get in normal use. It just feels like a solidly made, durable watch. If I have any problems with durability I will update this review, but I'm not expecting any.

Burei Men's Automatic Watch Model 15009-P56EY

Rating: 5/5

Review:
A very good automatic watch

This watch was kindly sent to me for review and, like all the Burei watches I have tried, I think it is a very good quality watch.

It comes in a very nice, hinged presentation box with a manual and a little presentation bag, which would make it a very nice gift.  First impressions of the watch are excellent.  It is solid with a good weight and it has a good, durable feel about it. It has a large face, 4cm in diameter (about 1.5 inches) with a striking design.  It is black with silver/luminous markings and hands.  Two overlapping small circles near 10-o'-clock give a small 24-hour dial and a window into the movement. There's a second hand which has a continuous motion rather than second-by-second, which I like very much, but individual minutes and seconds aren't marked on the face.

The bezel, body and band are all in gloss black-finished stainless steel and the back is stainless steel with a window so you can see the movement and the winding mechanism in action.  The mechanism is mechanical, and it's wound automatically by normal movement as it is worn on the wrist.  (You can also wind it manually using the crown if necessary.) It keeps very good time, it is shockproof and scratch resistant, and it is rated as water resistant up to 100 metres depth. I can't vouch for this, but it's plainly built to withstand immersion and made to last.  It comes with a good warranty, too, so the manufacturers clearly have faith in it.

In summary, this is a very good quality watch which keeps good time and just works as I would hope. I can't find any fault with it; if you like the look of it, it should last you for years. Recommended.

Amazon page HERE

Picun P6 Bluetooth headphones

Rating: 4/5

Review:
 Very good sound for the price, but unreliable radio and card-player

I have rounded 3.5-stars up to 4, because these are basically very good headphones. They were sent to me for review and there is a lot that is good about them: they are stylish, well made and deliver impressive sound for the price.  However, I have had trouble with the FM radio, and cannot get the card-player to work at all.

Good things first.  The headphones are nicely packaged and look very smart.  They are well made and comfortable to wear.  Bluetooth connection was simple and stable, and wired connection also works very well.  Most importantly, the sound is very good.  As I write these headphones cost less than twenty quid, and the sound quality is quite remarkable for that price.  Tops are clear and distinct, there are good middles and a very firm bass.  The balance is good, and everything in my Test Playlist, from 16^th-Century choral music to The National and London Grammar sounded good.  As an everyday pair of headphones, I'm very impressed. 

The problem is that neither the FM radio nor the micro-SD card player work well.  Neither worked at all on the first set I tried.  The distributors, whose Customer Service has been excellent, by the way, sent me a second pair and this time the radio worked OK, but still no joy with the card-player and after trying everything I can think of and helpful correspondence with the distributor, I have given up.

If these didn't have a radio and card-player built in, they'd have been five-stars at this price.  The distributors offer a good warranty, but I've tested two pairs now and it's not acceptable to have functions which simply don't work.  Neither of these functions matter much to me, so I'm happy with them as they are.  If you just want a pair of headphones to play music via Bluetooth or AUX jack, these are well made and I don't know of better quality sound at this price, so they may do you very well.  Do be warned, though, that if the FM radio or card-player are important to you, you may be disappointed.

VAVA Voom 21 Bluetooth speaker

Rating: 4/5

Review:
Beautifully made, slightly disappointing sound

VAVA make very high-quality speakers.  This Voom21 was sent to me for review and it's beautifully designed and made, but I was slightly disappointed in the balance of the sound.

The speaker comes beautifully packaged, marking it as a product made with real care. It is very stylish with elegant push-panel controls on the top and an input/output panel at the back. Here you can connect an AUX jack (supplied) to non-Bluetooth devices, a micro-USB lead (also supplied) to charge the speaker, and there's a USB port which acts as a power bank to charge a phone or similar.  The unit also comes with a mains lead so you can simply leave it plugged in if you wish, and this also charges the battery.

It all works very well. Bluetooth pairing is simple both conventionally and via NFC and the signal is very solid up to at least 8 metres. You can connect to two Bluetooth devices at once of you want to; I've tried it and it works very well. Battery life is good.  The controls work well for both music and hands-free calls – but unusually, there's no skip forward or back control on the speaker. This isn’t a problem for me, but some people might like to know.

With all this quality in the build, I was expecting something special in the sound, but it wasn't as good as I'd hoped.  There is a distinct hiss throughout, which can be quite intrusive when the music is quiet.  It is true that the bass in both "Party" and "Surround" modes is quite exceptionally powerful; it genuinely took me aback from a unit of this size.  However, bass isn't everything.  I find it very dominant and a bit boomy in both these modes, and the tops aren't as crisp as they need to be for balance.  In classical music, this is a real problem and it doesn't sound good at all to me.  For rock and other modern music it's much better, and if you like a thunderous kick in the bass this may suit you well.  Tracks like Hey Now by London Grammar or The National's Sorrow, for example, really get the strong, deep bass they need, but the tops and middles, even in "Standard" mode, are just a little drab to my ears.  To me, the sound from the VAVA Voom 20 is better even though it's not such a classy-looking object, and I still think the ADX Pulse V4 is the best speaker I've heard in this range.  It's not as elegant as the Voom 21, but for me it delivers better balance and overall quality of sound at a similar price.

Plenty of others don't seem to share my reservations, so read other reviews before you decide.  Certainly, this is a stylish and very well-made speaker; if you want a small unit which delivers an amazing thump in the bass then this may be for you and I have rounded 3.5 stars up to 4 because of all this but I can only give it a somewhat qualified recommendation.

Comtex Automatic Watch, Model S6361G-3RG

Rating: 5/5

Review:
A very good, stylish automatic watch

I was sent this Comtex automatic watch for review and I like it very much.  It seems very well made and is robust and stylish.

The watch comes in a decent if unspectacular presentation box with a good manual and a little cleaning cloth.  It gives an excellent impression; it is solid with a good weight and a very nice band of brown textured leather and there is a good, durable feel about it. It has a large face, 4cm in diameter (about 1.5 inches) which I think is stylish and attractive.  It has simple rose-gold coloured markings and luminous hands. The second hand has a continuous motion rather than second-by-second, which I like very much, and a good clear day and date display. (You can have the days in English or French.) The bezel is rose-gold in colour, with a very nicely shaped silver-finish steel body.  In short, it just looks really classy, I think.

Functionally, it's very good. The mechanism is mechanical not quartz-driven, and it's wound automatically by normal movement as it is worn on the wrist. (You can also wind it using the crown as normal.) There is a window in the back so you can see the movement and the winding mechanism in action.  The watch is almost silent – I can just hear a faint ticking if I hold it to my ear – and it keeps very good time.  It is waterproof for everyday purposes, so it will be OK if you drop it in the bath but it's not really suitable for prolonged immersion.

In summary, this is a very good watch which is very well made and durable. I can't find any fault with it and if you like the way this looks, I'd say don't hesitate. It's very good quality watch which should last you for years. Recommended.

Amazon page HERE

D'Addario Sound-Hole tuner

Rating: 5/5

Review:
A very good little tuner

I think this is a very good little tuner. I've used a Planet Waves headstock tuner for a few years now and been very happy with it. I like this better.

This is also a Planet Waves tuner, but Planet Waves are part of D'Addario and they are re-branding. That means I'm pretty confident in the quality and durability of the tuner; my old one has been in daily use and has been completely reliable. This one looks a bit basic, but it's well made and does the job well.

The tuner sits inside the sound hole of an acoustic guitar. It's very discreet and is very easy to use. It's right in your eye-line as you look down, of course, which is helpful and I find it accurate and more sensitive than my headstock tuner. It responds to much quieter notes and gives a more stable and reliable display, so for me it's a real improvement.

I was a bit dubious about the idea of a sound-hole tuner, but I'm very pleased with this. I find it simple, convenient and accurate and I can recommend it warmly.

(It's worth adding that there was a problem with the on/off switch on the one I first received. D'Addario sent me a replacement as soon as they learned of the problem, and they did it very quickly, courteously and with no fuss. Customer service is excellent!)

Anne Klein Women's Diamond Watch with Rose Pink Ceramic Bracelet AK/N1018PMLP

Rating: 4/5

Review:

A very nice watch, but lacking some essential extras

This is a very nice watch; it is well made, stylish and very pretty.  The overall package could be improved, though.

The face is a delicate rose-pink mother-of-pearl with a neat ceramic band to match.  The face markings are simple and elegant in rose gold with a small diamond set at twelve-o'-clock.  The body of the watch is a rose-gold colour to match and the whole effect is very pleasing.  It keeps good time and the discreet second hand will be a welcome feature for many people.

The watch is very nicely presented in a quality hinged box with faux-leather interior and cushion, so it would make a very nice present…but lacks some of the essential features for this, I think.  There is no Certificate of Authenticity, nor anything to say that the diamond and gold are genuine.  More seriously, the band is not readily adjustable and there are no instructions whatsoever about how to alter the band to fit.  It took me some time just to figure out how to undo the clasp!  The clasp has an extender which can be removed to make the band smaller, but any further adjustment by adding or removing links is not explained – and may not even be possible, for all I can discover.

It's a shame that a simple presentational issue should detract from a very nice, high-quality watch and I hope Anne Klein can sort this out soon.  Until they do, in spite of its elegance and quality, I can only give this four stars.

Soundpeats Q20 Bluetooth earphones

Rating: 5/5

Review:
Very good earphones

I think these are excellent earphones, particularly at this price. They are very well made and sound quality is very good indeed.

The Q20s are nicely packaged in an attractive box, in which you get the earphones themselves, a range of silicone tips, a standard micro-USB lead for charging, a nice carrying case and a good user manual. You also get a selection of rubber "ear-hooks," of which more later. It all seems well made and of good, durable quality.

The really important things for me are sound quality and comfort, both of which are very good. I was surprised by the quality of the sound; it really is remarkably good and far better than I expected. Getting the positioning exactly right (which is critical with earbuds) was easy and there is very good bass, really nice, rich middles and sharp trebles. Volume is perfectly adequate for my use and I heard no distortion at full volume (which is too loud for me to bear for more than a few seconds).  I put them through my test playlist (which is very varied) and they performed very well on everything - classical music is clear and distinct even with a big orchestra, and rock and pop sound great. Even that deep rolling bass in London Grammar's Hey Now comes through very well. I was impressed.

Comfort was good, too. Once I'd selected the correct tips the earbuds lodged firmly in my ears and stayed there comfortably. The one thing I don't like about the Q20s is the earhooks.  These are rubber and fit round the body of the earbuds.  They may help to keep them stable in your ears, especially if you're using them for exercise.  They didn't do anything for me, though, except make access to the charging port a real pain in the…er…ears.  Fortunately they're removable and I much prefer using the earphones without them.

The Q20s have a clever feature in that they are magnetic and stick together for easy storage, and this serves as the on/off function.  Stuck together they switch off, and when you separate them they switch on.  It's neat and a good idea – and they turn off if there's no activity for about 5 minutes, so you won't accidentally exhaust the battery.

They are Bluetooth only, with no wired connectivity. Bluetooth connection was very straightforward (there is no NFC, by the way, just conventional pairing) and I find the range good with no problems up to about 10 metres. Battery life is good; I haven't tested it to exhaustion, but the claim of up to 5.5 hours seems reasonable to me. The controls and microphone are all on a simple control panel on the lead; everything worked as you'd expect and functionally I think these earphones are very good.

In summary, these are well made earbuds which offer very good quality for the price. The sound is impressive, with a very good bass response. This is becoming quite a crowded market now and I have tried a few good earphones of this kind. These are among the best I have come across and I can recommend the Q20s very warmly.

Amazon page HERE

AudioMX HB-S3 Bluetooth headphones

Rating: 4/5

Review:
Good Bluetooth headphones

I was sent these AudioMX HB-S3 headphones for review and I think they are very good. They have very good sound, they are well made and comfortable and they are a good contender in a crowded market in this price range.

They are very nicely packaged with a standard mini-USB charging lead, a jack lead for wired connection, a nice carry-pouch and a very good User Manual in good English.

The headphones seem solidly made and robust, and I like the design, which is classic and unfussy. Functionally they are very good. They fold for ease of transport and storage, they are light and very comfortable and the ear pads are pretty soft.  The grip is quite tight and although I find them fine for prolonged listening, if you don't light your headphones with a strongish grip you might find these a little over-tight. they may be a little tight for some people. The controls are on the right hand earcup and are very well set out and easy to use. They are the usual you'd expect: on/off and volume + and – buttons, plus separate skip forward and back buttons (a feature which I like).  The power button also serves as pause/play, and there are standard phone controls, clearly set out in the manual, with a perfectly decent microphone. The sound seal is good with little leakage and they do a good job of keeping the world's noise out.

Bluetooth pairing is very straightforward. I found both the battery life and range good. Wired connection via an ordinary jack lead works perfectly well: I notice no difference in sound quality between the two modes. It is very handy to be able to connect to non-Bluetooth devices, and the headphones work in wired mode without having to be switched on, so if you do run out of charge it's a useful fallback, too.

Sound quality is very good: well balanced with a firm and full bass. Trebles in most music are generally bright and clear, middles are rich and the articulation is good. I have a playlist of test tracks which I use to test audio products and these performed very well on modern music: classic rock like the Stones or The Who sounds great, they are very good for acoustic music and they respond very well to the deep bass in Sorrow by The National and in London Grammar's Hey Now, for example.

To my ears, they didn't perform quite so well in classical music. They struggled to articulate individual orchestral instruments, high strings and brass sound a little muffled, choral music can be a bit mushy and so on. I can't really explain this, but I have sometimes found it with other headphones, too. However, I got none of these effects with rock, pop, Americana or any of the other modern stuff I listen to, and if you're not going to be listening to classical music, it won't be a problem.

Overall I think these are very good headphones at this price. They are functional, neat and comfortable and the sound is very good (with the provisos about classical music). They seem solid and durable and they are very portable, too so if you're looking for a set of Bluetooth and wired headphones, I can recommend these.

Amazon page HERE

AudioDynamix Clarity2 speaker

Rating: 5/5

Review:
A very nice little speaker

This is a really nice little speaker.  Audio Dynamix sent it to me for review and I am pleased to say that it is up to their usual very high standard with excellent build quality and very good sound for such a small unit.

The Clarity is very nicely boxed and presented, so it's clear that you're getting a quality product.  You also get a very nice soft carrying case, a good instruction manual and two leads: a jack-to-jack lead for AUX connection and a micro-USB lead for charging.

The speaker is nicely designed.  It's very compact at 19cm x 7cm x 3cm making it slim and very easily transportable.  It feels very solidly made; the body is aluminium with a very nice finish and it feels very robust.  The controls on the top are clear and stylish and the ports on the side are well sealed and easily accessible.

In use it works very well.  Bluetooth connection was straightforward both conventionally and via NFC and range was good with a solid connection even with me in the way up to at least 8m.  The speaker also has an AUX input for non-Bluetooth connection. The controls are as you would expect, with volume, skip forward and back and pause/play for music, and receive/end call using the pause/play button, allowing hands-free calls via the speaker.  Battery life is good: I haven't tested it to exhaustion, but the claim of 10 hours playing time seems about right.  Everything just works properly and it's a good, versatile and practical speaker.

The sound is really good for such a small unit.  It goes perfectly loud enough for me with no audible distortion.  Tops and middles are excellent, and the bass is remarkably strong from a compact speaker, giving an overall clear and rich sound with very good articulation.  It performs well on all the music I tested it on, from 16th Century choral music to London Grammar, and as a compact, portable speaker it's among the best I've heard at this price. 

Overall, this is a lovely little speaker.  If you're looking for a small, easily portable speaker which is pretty waterproof and well made with very good sound, this will do you very well and I can recommend it warmly.

Amazon page HERE