GGMM Cuckoo earphones

Rating: 5/5

Review:
Excellent sound and build quality

I was sent these "Cuckoo" earphones for review, and I'm very impressed.  I have tested a lot of earphones, some significantly more expensive than these, and I think these have the best sound I have yet heard.

The sound is the most important thing for me, so I'll start with that.  In short, I think it is excellent.  There is a very strong bass but I don't find it boomy or overbearing.  The sound is well balanced and although I have heard sharper trebles, the tops are fine and the overall balance is excellent.  I have listened to a lot of music through these now including my Test Playist which I use to compare audio products.   This runs from 16^th-Century choral music to London Grammar and covers most things in between and I think everything sounds really good.  Articulation of individual orchestral instruments is excellent, chamber music sounds intimate and crystal-clear, rock really rocks, and so on.  Certainly if you like a real kick in the bass, these will suit you very well.

The earphones are well made and look very nice – with probably the most stylish packaging I have seen.  They are machined aluminium with a red satin-effect finish (also on the plug), a good ribbon cable (also in red) and a simple control panel with basic but effective music and phone controls.  They have the air of a quality product and I expect them to last very well.

My default earbuds for years have been a much-loved pair of RHA MA600.  They've now been superseded by these Cuckoos, which is high praise.  I'm delighted with them and can recommend them very warmly.

Amazon page HERE

GranVela Clip LED desk lamp

Rating: 4/5

Review:
A very good lamp

This lamp was sent to me for review, and I'm impressed overall.  It's an inexpensive item so I thought it might be a bit flimsy and not work all that well, but I was wrong.  It seems well made and works well .

The lamp comes well boxed with a user manual and a USB charging cable.  A minor gripe is that it's a pin connection so you need to use this specific lead; micro-USB would have been more flexible, but it's a trivial complaint really.  Charging is simple and the lamp just works.  There is a very sensitive touch control which toggles through three increasing brightness levels and then to off again. 

The whole thing seems well made.  The base will act as a stand if the neck isn't extended sideways so it topples over, and has a good, strong clamp which makes it very versatile.  The clamp is designed so that it grips with two quite sharp plastic bits (see photo), which may mark softer surfaces; it marked the leather on my Kindle cover when I tested it there, for example, so do be careful.  It is fine when gripping hard surfaces like a desk or shelf, but I think it could have been better thought-out.

The neck is a sensible length and very flexible so you can point the light in pretty well any direction.  I find it very good for working by or reading, for example.  The battery life is pretty good: the claimed times here of 8hours (low light), 6 hours (medium) and 3 hours (brightest) seem about right.

In short, this is a very decently made, nice looking and practical lamp which is a good deal better than I expected, to be honest – with the proviso about the clip design.  It's too early to say how durable it is, but it seems robust;  I will update this review if I have any problems.   For now, I'm very pleased with mine and I can recommend it.

Amazon page HERE

Aimus USB C-type cable

Rating: 5/5

Review:
A very good cable

This is a very nice C-type cable.  It was sent to me for review and I like it very much.

This is plainly a quality product.  It's nicely boxed and you get a little fabric bag to keep it in.  The cable itself is very well made; it's nice and flexible with a very good woven covering, and the plugs are solid and very stylish in zinc alloy.  They seem very robust and they slot smoothly into place.  Data transfer speeds seem fine, and the whole thing just works without fuss.

There's not much more to say about a data cable.  This is perhaps a little pricy but you do get quality and style for your money.  It does the job very well and I can recommend it.

Amazon page HERE

GGMM E3 Wi-Fi Speaker

Rating: 4/5

Review:
Good, but not portable and slightly disappointing bass

This GGMM E3 wi-fi speaker was sent to me for review.  I think it is good, but I have a couple of reservations about it.

The speaker comes very nicely boxed and is plainly a well made unit with good build quality.  With it you get a power supply and a good quality jack lead for wired connection, and the whole thing has a pleasing air of quality about it.  The controls are well placed and set out on the top, with less commonly used controls on the back – although the positioning of the alarm control here isn't ideal.

Note that this unit does not have an internal battery – it's mains power only.  This may not be a problem for you, but part of the point of wi-fi speakers is that you can move them to anywhere where your wi-fi gives a signal, so this does seem a weakness to me.

Downloading the app and setting up is pretty simple if you're reasonably technologically savvy, although it might be intimidating for a novice, I think. Once set up, the app gives excellent, simple control and allows you to stream music from various sites and to play your own music stored on your device.  You can also control multiple speakers if you have them.  Bluetooth was also easy to pair (standard pairing, though, with no NFC) and AUX input also works fine.  I can't hear any difference in sound quality between the three modes, which is a good sign.

The sound is good, but not fantastic.  It is a nice, balanced sound in tops and middles, but I do find the bass a little weak.  I have listened to a good deal of music through the E3, including my Test Playlist which I use to assess all audio products.  It's perfectly adequate, but at this price I think I'd expect low symphonic strings to sound fuller and better defined, rock to have a little more of a kick in the bass and that fabulous deep bass in the second half of London Grammar's Hey Now to come through a little better.

For me, the August WS300 at a similar price is a better bet: it has no alarm/clock function but it has an internal battery so it's truly portable, it has NFC and – importantly – the sound is very significantly better to my ears.  All that said, though, this is a good quality unit and the clock/alarm function will be very useful for many people, so if you're looking for a static wi-fi speaker this is well worth a look. 

Amazon page HERE

Tecknet 1m USB C-Type cable (gold)

Rating: 5/5

Review:
A good quality cable

I was sent this cable for review and I think it's very good.  It works well and seems very durable.

The cable is a brighter gold colour than I expected from the picture and it's a little on the bling side for my taste, but that's a trivial matter.  It's very good in all the important respects: the woven braid covering is very durable, the strain relief and attachments to plugs is strong and the plugs themselves fit well and are very solidly made.  Data transfer seems good and quick.

That's pretty well all I want from a USB cable, so there's not a lot more to say.  If you need a good quality Type C cable this will do you very well.  Recommended.

Amazon page HERE

Glowseen stainless steel shower squeegee

Rating: 4/5

Review: A good quality shower squeegee

I was sent this Glowseen squeegee for review.  It is a very solidly made, good quality product which works very well for things like the shower, although the blade doesn't quite leave mirrors and windows free of streaks.

The squeegee is a very nice object which looks extremely stylish.  The steel is solid and the whole thing is obviously very robust and should last for many years.  The blade looks very good; it's thick with a nicely tapered edge so it ought to give a very good clean and leave windows without any water to dry into streaks, but I found that it didn't quite get all the water off.  This means that for things like the shower it's great, and it will also be fine for the car on those moist mornings when you need to clear the outside (or inside) of the windows, but the one I was sent won't quite do for window cleaning.

The squeegee also comes with a very nice little steel hanger, so you can fix it to the wall in the shower or nearby and it will be convenient and look very smart.

Overall, then, a very well made product which does most jobs very well – just don't expect it to use it unaided for window-cleaning.

Amazon page HERE

MindKoo MKO-023 Bluetooth headphones

Rating: 5/5

Review:
very good headphones in this price range

These Mindkoo MKO-023 headphones were sent to me for review and I am impressed.  At this price they offer good build, good sound and very good value, I think.

The headphones are adequately packaged and come with a standard micro-USB charging lead, a jack-to-jack lead for wired connection and a decent User Manual in pretty good English. The headphones look very nice, with a distinctive band and smart earcup design.  They have both Bluetooth and wired connection, and I noticed no difference in sound quality between the two modes. You can use wired connection to connect to non-Bluetooth devices, of course, and also use it if the headphones are out of charge.

These are on-ear headphones; they are light and as long as you get on with on-ear pads they are very comfortable indeed. The ear pads are excellent and have enough movement to sit comfortably and give an adequate but not brilliant, sound seal. They have a good firm grip but aren't too tight, and I find them fine for prolonged listening. Bluetooth pairing is very easy and I found both the battery life and range good. The controls are nicely set out on the right-hand earcup on a rocking circular section and the controls you would expect are all there: pause/play, skip forward and back and (using the same "buttons," vlume + and -, and they work very well. There are also standard basic phone controls and a perfectly decent built-in microphone.

Sound quality is very good. I test all headphones and speakers using a playlist of test tracks which gives all aspects of the sound a thorough trial. It starts with 16th Century choral music, it ends with London Grammar and it has most things in between - orchestral, choral, vocal and chamber music, classic rock, acoustic music and so on. I thought these performed very well on everything; articulation is very clear, tops are bright without being harsh and the middles are rich and full. The bass is very good; it's not over-dominant but it's all there so the sound is very nicely balanced Instruments and voices in classical music are distinct and sound very good, rock really rocks when it needs to, acoustic music sounds bright and airy…I'm impressed.  Real extremes, like the rolling deep bass in London Grammar's Hey Now, which really tests bass response, isn't as good as I've heard it on some higher-end headphones, but for a pair at around thirty quid (at the time of writing), these are impressive.

I think these are among the best headphones I've found in a crowded market in this price range. They look good, they're well made and have a balanced, clear sound these seem excellent to me. They are a good quality pair of headphones which I think out-perform their price, so I can recommend them warmly.

Amazon page HERE

Mindkoo Mini speaker, Model MK-025

Rating: 4/5

Review:
A good compact speaker

I was sent this speaker for review. I like it – it's very neat, well made and has good sound.

The speaker is nicely packaged and comes with a micro-USB charging cable, a jack-to-jack lead and a decent user manual. It feels very solid and well made and has a good, robust feel to it.  The styling is nice, and I like the overall look of the speaker a lot.  The aluminium case is very solid and it's a very pleasing little object.

I say "little" because it is very compact at roughly 12cm long x 5.5cm high x 6cm deep.  The AUX input, charging port and on/off switch are on the back so they are accessible but unobtrusive and there is a very neat rocker on the top for volume and skip forward/back on the top. They all work very well and also allow hands-free calls via the inbuilt microphone.  Bluetooth connection was simple and solid up to at least 6 metres.

The sound is good for such a compact speaker. I have listened to a lot of music through it, including my standard list of Test Tracks which I use to test all audio products. This runs from Tudor choral music to London Grammar and it all sounds good. The tops are sharp, the middles are nice and rich and the bass is perfectly adequate from a unit of this size – although if you want a real bass thump you might need to look elsewhere. It goes loud enough to fill a medium-sized room without audible distortion and battery life seems to be around 5 hours continuous use at medium volume, which is fine for me.

In short, this is a very nicely made compact speaker with decent sound and which should last you for many years.  I have tried a lot of speakers in this sort of price range; I think this is a good one and I can recommend it.

Amazon page HERE

Mixcder Advanced ShareMe Pro headphones

Rating: 4/5

Review:
Very good headphones, but a little bass heavy for me

I was sent these ShareMe Pro headphones for review and I think they are very good. They are very well made and comfortable and have very good sound – although personally I find the exceptionally strong bass a little dominant.

The headphones are decently packaged and come with a standard micro-USB charging lead, a good jack-to-jack lead for wired connection and a comprehensive User Manual in pretty good English. They look very nice, I think, and have both Bluetooth and wired connection.  I noticed no difference in sound quality between the two modes. You can use wired connection to connect to non-Bluetooth devices, of course, and also use it if the headphones are out of charge which may be a handy feature.

They are light and I find them very comfortable even for prolonged listening. The controls are the usual you'd expect: on/off and volume + and – buttons on the left earcup, and  pause/play and skip forward and back separately on the right earcup.  These also work as standard phone controls; it all works fine and there's a good microphone. Bluetooth pairing is simple (standard pairing only - no NFC). I found both the battery life and range good.

These are called ShareMe because they have the capacity to connect two pairs to the same source via Bluetooth, which some people may find very useful.

Sound quality is very good for many types of listening, but not ideal for me. The bass is extremely dominant: in some forms of music that's great, but not in all. I test all headphones and speakers using a playlist of test tracks which give all aspects of the sound a thorough trial. It starts with 16th Century choral music, it ends with London Grammar and it has most things in between - orchestral, choral, vocal and chamber music, classic rock, acoustic music and so on. For rock and the like these are great; the powerful bass really gives it a kick and the deep bass in Sorrow by The National and London Grammar's Hey Now, for example, sounds very good. However, in classical music I think there's a slight flabbiness in the treble and the bass is too dominant and rather boomy, so articulation of individual instruments and voices isn't always clear and violins come off poorly in a string quartet, for example.  Interestingly, I see that another reviewer finds these excellent for classical music, so it's obviously a matter of individual taste, but for me the balance isn't right for classical listening.

This may not bother you at all, and if you like a real bass blast in your music these will serve you extremely well. They are certainly very good headphones at this price: they are functional, stylish and comfortable. They also seem solid and durable so they should last very well.  If you're looking for a set of Bluetooth and wired headphones with really strong bass, I can recommend these.

Burei Men's luminous chronograph watch, Model 17003-P06EY

Rating: 5/5

Review:
A good quality chronograph watch

This watch was kindly sent to me for review and I think it is very good.  It has a good, strong style without being over-flashy and it works very well.  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.  The body and face are all-black (with a stainless steel back); the face is very clear with silver luminous hands and markings and a logo at 12-o'clock. There is a clear day and date display at 3-o'-clock. The crown is very nicely done and the band is black leather with padding and red stitching to match the subtle red additions to the face, with a good, solid stainless-steel buckle.

Functionally, it's very good. It keeps very good time, it is shockproof and scratch resistant, and it is rated as water resistant up to 50 metres depth, so it's obviously tough enough to stand up well to the sort of knocks and wettings it might get in normal use.  The chronograph stop-watch functions are controlled by the usual two stop/start and reset buttons which all work as expected.  What is less expected is that while two of the three sub-dials give stopwatch hours and minutes (up to 12 hours), the sweep second hand acts as the stopwatch second hand, so it remains stationary at 12-o'-clock in normal use.  The ordinary watch second hand is the third sub-dial.  This makes good sense for accurate timing using the stop watch, but  may be a bit disconcerting if (like me) you're not expecting it.

That small quirk aside, this is a solidly made, durable watch which looks good and does the job well.  Recommended.

Amazon page HERE

UMI-BTA6 Bluetooth earphones

Rating: 5/5

Review:
Excellent budget earphones

These earphones were sent to me for review and I think they are excellent, particularly at this price. The quality of sound available for around twenty quid these days is remarkable, and the UMI-BTA6 are a good example.  They are well made and sound quality is very good.

The BTA6 are very nicely packaged in an attractive tin box, in which you get the earphones themselves, a range of silicone tips and silicone flanges to hold the earphones more firmly in your ear if you wish, a standard micro-USB lead for charging and a good user manual. 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 impressed by the quality of the sound; 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.  It's very nicely balanced, 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 standard 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.

Comfort was good, too. Once I'd selected the correct tips the earbuds lodged firmly in my ears and stayed there comfortably for extended periods.

They are Bluetooth only, with no wired connectivity. Bluetooth connection was pretty 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 8 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.  The LED indicator is almost hidden on the end of the panel, by the way, which can make it look as though the earphones are dead when you first try them, until you locate the LED!

In summary, these are well made earbuds which offer very good quality for the price. The sound is impressive, with a good bass response. This is becoming quite a crowded market now and I have tried a few good earphones of this kind. These are a good product and I can warmly recommend the UMI-BTA6.

Amazon page HERE

Suaoki K12 8000mAh jump starter

Rating: 5/5

Review:
An excellent little jump starter

I am very impressed with this jump starter which was sent to me for review.  It is small, nicely designed and very effective.

The starter unit comes with very nice quality short leads to connect to the battery, a micro-USB lead for charging the unit and for charging other devices from it, a very good user manual (hurrah!) and a little carry-pouch which will take the unit itself but not the leads. 

The great thing about it is that it is so compact.  Other jump starters I have tried are far bigger – this is the size of a smartphone (although about three times as thick and far heavier) and can easily be kept in the glove compartment, making it a very handy thing to have around.  It also works as a power bank for charging phones, tablets and so on, and it has a little emergency LED torch, too.  The charge level is indicated by four LEDs, and the whole thing is sleek and a very nice object all round.

In use it just works.  Connect the leads to the dead battery, plug into the jump-starter, turn the ignition and bingo!  I cannot substantiate the claim that it will start your vehicle 22 times before you need to charge it again, but it will certainly do it several times, so if you have to stop before you can see to the battery properly you know you'll be able to start again.

At under thirty quid this is excellent value.  I'm delighted with mine; my car needs jump starting more often than I would like, and this is a brilliant little solution.  Very warmly recommended.

Wowbox mesenger bag/briefcase

Rating: 5/5

Review:
A very nice, good quality bag

I was sent this bag for review and I like it a lot.  It is well made, practical and stylish.

The bag is a nice size at about 35 x 11 x 28 cm so it will take a notebook or smallish laptop, but not my 15" Lenovo. The materials are very good: the canvas is tough but flexible, the leather is thick with a very nice vintage look and the stitching, attachments, closers, zip and strap are all good quality and very solidly done.  The lining is very well made in a smooth but tough synthetic material which looks as though it will last very well.  This is, in short, a robust, well made bag.

It is practically designed.  The removable strap is adjustable and very comfortable and you can just use it as a briefcase if you prefer.  The buckles on the leather cover work, but are held on by magnetic closers so you don't have to keep messing about with buckles.  There are external pockets on the front and back with a good capacity.  Inside there are two main compartments and a selection of small pockets for phone, wallet, pens and the like.  It's very nicely done; the lining is firmly stitched to the rim of the bag but will turn inside out for cleaning or finding those little objects you've lost at the bottom.

In summary, this is a good-quality bag – and better than I expected, to be honest.  If you like the look of it (I do) then I'd say don’t hesitate.  It's very nice and should last for a good long time.  Warmly recommended.

Amazon page HERE

Elephone P9000 Lite 5.5" smartphone

Rating: 5/5

Review:
An excellent budget smartphone

I was sent this phone for review and at this price I'm very impressed indeed. It has very good build quality and excellent specifications for the price.

When reading this review, please bear in mind that I am in late middle age and that my use may not be the same as many people's. I don't game or tweet, for example; I use the phone for calls and texts, music, checking email, some catch-up TV, occasional photos and occasional web browsing. I don't use data. All this means that I cannot advise on lots of technical specification and so on, but my personal take on the Elephone P9000 Lite is this:

I think the phone itself is attractive: it's stylish, slim and pretty light (about 140g), and it feels very nice in the hand.  It has a robust metal frame and a slightly rough-textured black plastic back.  This felt slightly odd to begin with, but I actually like the feel in my hand now.

The rest of the package is pretty basic: an EU-model wall charger, a C-type USB cable for charging and data transfer, a basic clear silicone protective case, a little pin for access to the card-tray and a pretty useless Quick-Start Guide.  The guide is pretty well my only gripe with this phone: it tells you nothing about the P9000 Lite itself, and I can't find an on-line manual either.  It took some determined googling to find out how to use it properly and I'm still not sure I've found everything.

Manual aside, it's a terrific phone,  think.  The specs are excellent at under a hundred and sixty quid (I have listed them below on this page) – including Android 6.0.  The 5.5" screen is excellent: bright, true colours, extremely tolerant of viewing angle, sharp definition and just a pleasure to use.  Battery life is very good with my modest usage – a couple of days at least.

Note that the P9000 Lite doesn't have fingerprint security.  This is fine by me, because I find fingerprint security an unreliable pain in the…er…neck and I always use PIN unlocking, but you may like to be aware.

Set-up was very easy. This is a dual-SIM phone (which allows either two SIM cards or a SIM card and a memory card to be installed).  Simple installation, and instant connection.  You will need to check whether the 4G band (FDD-LTE: B1/B3/B7/B8/B20 TDD-LTE: B38/B40) is supported on your network.  On Vodaphone I only seem to get 3G (not a problem for me as I don't use data) so make sure before you buy.

It's decently provided but not overloaded with pre-installed apps.  They include Google Play and new apps install very quickly and simply. In use, everything I want works very well. Wi-fi connection was very straightforward as was syncing with my account. Video plays and streams perfectly and the 4GB memory means that you can run several apps with no loss of performance.  The sound isn't bad for a smartphone (which isn't saying much, I know) and through headphones or an external speaker - both wired and via Bluetooth 4.0 - the sound is excellent. There's no NFC, but normal Bluetooth pairing is very quick and simple, and stable up to a decent range. The rear camera has a very good 13Mp resolution and the front camera has a pretty impressive 5Mp. I have found both to be fine, and other functions also seem very good.

I think this is a cracking phone, and excellent value at this price.  It does everything I want very well, it is simple to use, it seems robust and it looks good.  I am very happy with mine and I've now made it my main phone.  I can recommend it very warmly.

Amazon page HERE

Basic Information
Model: Elephone P9000 Lite
Band
4G: FDD-LTE: B1/B3/B7/B8/B20 TDD-LTE: B38/B40
3G: WCDMA: B1/B2/B5/B8
2G: GSM: B2/B3/B5/B8
Sim Card: Dual SIM card, Dual standby
Service Provided: Unlocked
Style: Bar
Color: Black, White (Optional)
Material: Plastic
Battery: 3000mAh (built-in)

System
OS: Android 6.0
CPU: MTK6755 Octa Core
ROM: 32GB
RAM : 4GB

Screen
Display Size: 5.5 Inch
Type: Capacitive touch screen
Resolution: 1080 * 1920px
Screen: OGS

Other Features
Format Supported: MIDI,MP3,AAC,AMR,AWB,WAV,FLAC/3GPP,MPEG-4,H.264.WMV9,VP9
Sensor: G-sensor, P-sensor, L-sensor, Hall
Shooting video quality: 1080p

General
Camera: 5MP front camera, 13MP back camera
Card Extend: 128GB
Smart key: Yes
OTG: Yes
GPS: GPS/Glonass
WiFi: Yes
Bluetooth: 4.0

Other Information
Product Size: Approx. 14.84 * 7.42 * 0.73cm / 5.8 * 2.9 * 0.3in
Product Weight: Approx. 139g / 4.9oz (Including Battery)
Package Size: Approx. 18 * 10 * 5cm / 7.1 * 3.9 * 1.97in
Package Weight: Approx. 400g / 14.1oz

Enuoda 8GB USB drives (5-pack)

Rating: 4/5

Review:
Decent basic drives

I was sent these USB drives for review.  They are basic and rather slow, but they do the job and are very good value.

The drives are well made and robust.  The bodies are moulded plastic with a silicone feel in five different colours and have an aluminium swivel cover with a small anchor point for a keyring or lanyard – i.e. they're bog-standard drives, properly made.

In use they're OK.  I have tried all 5 on my Windows 10 laptop; four worked without difficulty but one keeps giving an error message from Windows that it needs checking and fixing.  It doesn't – it works fine – but it's slightly annoying.  Write speeds are slow; transferring music with normal-length tracks gave only about 2 MB/s, so large transfers will be a bit of a pain, but for normal file storage they're fine.  Playing music and video from the drives works fine.

So, overall these are decent, basic drives which work well and seem robustly made.  If you need fast write-speeds they won't be for you, but they do the job and are very reasonably priced. Recommended.

Amazon page HERE