V-MODA XS On-Ear Headphone Review

V-MODA has managed to position itself well with headphone enthusiasts. Its determined attention to detail, slick styling, and engaging sound is a formula that works, reinforced by competitive pricing. And landing around $200-$300, its headphone range is no where as far-fetched as a lot of audiophile headsets that tread closer to $1k.

In the past, we reviewed the company’s latest over-ear and in-ear solutions, the Crossfade Wireless and ZN, respectively. We were thoroughly impressed with what you get for the money. So for completion, we’re reviewing V-MODA’s newest on-ear as well, dubbed the XS. On-ears offer greater portability compared to over-ears, and the XS knocks on the compactness limit more than any other I’ve seen. Let’s check it out now.

Design

The build and styling of the XS is not a departure from what we’ve seen from its bigger brother or predecessor, the M-80. This isn’t a bad thing; it’s not like it’s dated or doesn’t work. The XS is totally a refinement, incorporating some worthy improvements. One of these is collapsible design.

The considerably compact footprint of the XS is immediately noticed when opening the packaging. It comes folded up in V-MODA’s included hard shell case, which bears an exoskeleton aesthetic, feels tough, and is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. Opening it simply reveals the tightly folded headphones and audio cable.

Being on-ears, the XS are essentially a shrunken version of V-MODA’s over-ear flagship. The same materials are carried over: a leather wrapped headband with meshed fabric inner lining (for comfy head support), metal stems with sturdy CliqFold hinges, leather cushioned ear pads, and even the company’s customizable plates on top of the ear cups.

The XS has all of V-MODA’s custom shield plate options: from personalized laser-etched engravings to 3D printing on precious metals.

The XS comes in either Matte Black or White Silver. Pretty much everything on our black model is Batman-style, with the only thing not covered in a black finish is the orange cable (even the carrying case is black). And speaking of which, the braided cable feels as sturdy as the rest. V-MODA says it’s tested beyond military-level quality standards, able to withstand over 1 million cable bends. It has an in-line mic and one-button remote, and ends with a gold-plated, 45-degree angle 3.5mm jack.

The cable is not only removable, but it can be placed on either ear cup. There’s a port to accept it on the bottom of each ear cup. Not all headphone give you a detachable cable, and much fewer give you a preference on the side you want it.

Usability

The XS is an on-ear headphone, so the ear pad lays on top of the ear as opposed to around them. This style isn’t for everyone, so make sure you know what you’re getting into. V-MODA makes the right cues to make the wear as comfortable as possible, such as the supple and substantial ear pad cushions and minimal clamping force, but it’s still susceptible to a growing earache over a lengthy listening session. Although, I’m convinced this is among the best on-ear out there in this respect.

A unique thing about the XS is the shape. The sides of the headband are flattened so that it makes a tighter fit on your head, an effort which V-MODA deems as Mind the Gap. This was a smart move, as it distributes the headphone’s weight along your head instead of the very top (potentially causing a pressure point) and it allows the folded footprint to be so compact. There’s little unused space when the XS is collapsed.

On-ear headphones aren’t the best type of headset in terms of isolation, and the XS are no exception. They’re not bad relative to the on-ear competition, but the padding of over-ears, which engulf the ear, are significantly better in keeping external noise out. I think more clamping force could’ve helped a bit more, but then comfort would’ve been compromised; this was probably a back-and-forth V-MODA went through.

Sound

Although the XS takes after the larger M-100 flagship, it’s quite different in sound. I don’t mean this in a bad way; it’s actually a maturation to my ears. The sound signature of the M-100 was a tad too V-shaped for my taste, although, I won’t deny that a bangin’ bass and treble made for a fun experience. The XS is more balanced, but fortunately, still delivers V-MODA’s engaging tunes.

The mid-range is now the star of the show. Guitar strums and vocals are lush and airy, instantly pulling me in on the first listen. When the right moments hit, they can result in a moving presence, especially when vocals take center stage. And when you have a bunch of elements playing at the same time, like in a full-on rock song, you’ll be impressed how encompassing the XS’ small drivers can be. They punch above their weight.

Treble is right behind the mid-range. It’s rich, clear, and detailed. Don’t expect the bass to be as strong as the M-100, there’s only so much on-ears can do. That said, it’s still a bold V-MODA bass response. The XS also can’t pull the magnitude of soundstage that over-ears can, but what there is, is impressive for the headphone’s size.

Final Thoughts

The XS are an impressive pair of on-ears. There’s so much going for them: durability, style, ergonomics, and sound quality. Practically all the cons that we noted are just from the fact that they are on-ears. There’s only so much you can do with isolation and comfort.

We’re really glad that the focus on quality continues onto the sound. V-MODA knows how to get our attention, and despite shrinking the drivers, the XS still delivers a wallop.

V-MODA XS webpage

Ishtar Commander is a Destiny player’s best friend (App Review)

You wake up in the early 2700s, long, long after the golden age, the arrival of the fallen and the collapse. You’re greeted by your ghost who informs you that he’s been looking for you for a long time. You look around to find yourself in fallen territory surrounded by nothing but destruction. You have to make it to the wall to get to safety….

And that’s how your journey begins. From that point, you become a guardian of the last city on Earth. Protected by the traveler and bathed in light, the Tower sits above the city as a symbol of hope of what we may be again, one day. Throughout your missions, you begin to accumulate new weapons, new armor, vehicles, shaders, and emblems. You can only carry so much, so the others must remain in your Vault or be deleted.

This is where Ishtar Commander comes in.

In late-game Destiny you’re more than likely running three characters, a combination of Warlocks, Hunters, and Titans (with their tiny little T-Rex arms). Moving guns, gear, and ghosts between characters can be accomplished at the Tower with the Vault, but that’s a slow and painful process.

Usage

When you boot up Ishtar Commander (the app name comes from a location in the game) you’re greeted with a login screen for either your Xbox Live or PlayStation Network account. The app hooks directly into Bungie’s (the creator of Destiny) system to move items around. There are no fancy parlor tricks that leave your items at risk of being lost.

You’re able to move between your three characters and the Vault with simple swipes to the left and the right. The top of the screen lists which character you’re currently viewing and at the bottom, you can click on tabs for Weapons, Armor, Inventory, and Progress. Weapons and Armor are pretty self-explanatory. Inventory covers everything in your Materials and Consumables list in Destiny, as well as Emblems, Shaders Vehicles, Sparrow Horns, Ships, and Emotes. It’s your “catch-all” screen if you will.

In my opinion, where the real power of Ishtar Commander lays is the ability to move things in and out of your Vault and in between character at a moment’s notice. I routinely run the raid with three different characters and use specific weapons during the raid. If I were to have to run to the Tower every time I wanted to move weapons it would take much, much longer.

Another really important feature within Ishtar Commander is the ability to save loadouts. There are many different activities in Destiny and everyone has their preferred weapons for things like the Crucible, the Raid, or Heroic Strikes. Each activity can have its own separate loadout saved for quickly moving weapons and gear over quickly so you can jump into games as fast as possible. You can also hit “maximize light level” to pop your light level up as high as possible for engram decrypting purposes.

Within the settings you can turn on turn on settings for light level, armor grades (for you tier 12 chasers), and hidden stats.

Everything works flawlessly within the app. If you don’t have room to send a weapon to another character, you get a very clear error explaining why. There’s no guesswork. While there have been some issues in the past with functionality, the devs seem to have figured it out recently and we’ve had a long period of silky smooth performance.

Graphics and Sound

With apps that focus on functionality, there is sometimes a letdown in the graphics and sound departments. Luckily, Ishtar Commander avoids any kind of serious issues.

There are very clear sections for each type of weapon (Primary, Special, Heavy) and the icons for each weapon are large enough to easily tell exactly what you’re selecting. My only gripe is the large amount of space between each section. It seems to just be a waste.

There aren’t many sounds in the apps besides a clip from Destiny during your initial boot-up and some error sounds. The sounds are consistent and not annoying so no issues there.

Conclusion

I use Ishtar Commander every time I play Destiny. While that isn’t as much as I may like these days, I can usually get in a couple hours with friends during the week and run the raid. Ishtar Commander saves me so much time and frustration. I no longer have to run back to the Tower and switch between characters to move guns, materials, and consumables.

The devs have been excellent communicating with the community and pushing constant updates. When something breaks, it’s immediately addressed. You rarely see dev support for a free app like this.

If you’d like to pick up Ishtar Commander, you can head over to the Play Store!

Roundup: Spigen slim cases for the HTC 10

The HTC 10 is sexy smartphone. If you’re keen on keeping that slick metal casing pristine, then you must cover it up. Like many smartphone enthusiasts, I’m also not a fan of throwing a plastic case on top of a beautiful design. Fortunately, Spigen has a good variety of options that attempt to not be too invasive. Here are a couple of the slimmer cases the company offers that might just tickle your fancy.

Thin Fit Cases

Spigen’s Thin Fit cases are the slimmest ones in its lineup. They’re more your typical snap-on kind of case, in which you sacrifice some protection for slimness (also meaning that it’s super easy to install and remove). Strangely, Spigen only offers two variants: Gunmetal and…Mint. Not sure why there’s not a wider range of colors, but I figure that the Gunmetal model should set well with most people. Let’s check that out first.

Gunmetal Thin Fit Case

The find the Gunmetal case to be the most interesting out of the bunch, because of the choice of material and color. In practice, it’s just a hard, snap-on case, but the grippy finish puts it above the rest. It’s somewhat rubbery and sticky to the touch (not in a bad way), which makes handling leaps and bounds better than with the phone’s bare surface. The case is reluctant to leave your hand.

Additionally, the styling is a big plus. It’s superbly metallic in appearance, perfectly complimenting the HTC 10’s fancy build. On-lookers should be hard-pressed to tell that they’re not looking at a charcoal version of the phone. It even mimics the HTC 10’s exaggerated chamfer that’s along the rear perimeter.

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Being that these are snap-on cases, the top and bottom of the phone are exposed. The sides are pretty robust, though. They completely wrap around and leave a substantial lip on each side of the front. You should have no worry laying the phone face down on a table.

A slight concern I noticed is that the camera and back-facing microphone cutouts don’t line up perfectly.

Camera and microphone are slightly offset from the cutouts, but they still function just fine.

I’d expect that such an established case-maker would have impeccable cutouts. Tsk tsk, Spigen.

Spigen Thin Fit Gunmetal Case link

Mint Thin Fit Case

The shape and fit of the Mint Thin Fit variant is the same as the Gunmetal. But the material has a more typical hard plastic finish. It’s nicely matte, and despite being smooth, there’s still plenty of grip. But that color…

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I’m just not a fan, and while it looks a little better in person than the promo pics (not as bright), it’s still an eyeful of pale green. But I won’t dwell further on the color, it’s subjective. The Mint Thin Fit case offers the same amount of protection as its brother. But I found the cutouts to be better aligned on my Mint model. Maybe I got a bad Gunmetal unit.

Spigen Thin Fit Mint Case link

Crystal Shell Case

Spigen’s Crystal Shell case is a good alternative to the Thin Fit. You get a bit better protection, but while there’s more substance to the case, the fact that it’s completely clear allows the phone’s design to still be relevant. The case’s build is a combination of hard plastic (back cover) and flexible TPU material (around all sides).

This allows the Crystal Shell case to have a Military Grade protection rating for your phone (MIL-STD 810G). The case’s thickness slightly raises above the camera module and front glass. This is probably the best balance of protection and slimness.

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There are cutouts on the top and bottom of the phone for all the ports. The power and volume buttons aren’t exposed; there’s matching TPU inserts that push into the actual buttons. It works just fine.

Spigen Crystal Shell Case link

Final Thoughts

Spigen continues to do a great job. It could do better in some areas, but for the most part, these are solid cases. If you care about looks, I strongly suggest that Gunmetal model. I loved it. But I suggest Spigen to look into quality control of those cutouts.

For more info on these cases, or others available, check out Spigen’s HTC product list.

Swipe It: Simple premise, simple play, simple game (review)

Overview

Swipe it is an unabashedly simple Android game for all ages from developer M/Games, where the goal is to swipe your screen in the same direction as the game indicates, as long as you can until you screw up and have to start over. That’s really all there is to say for an intro; let’s get to the game itself to see just what I mean, shall we?

Setup

Setup is also dead-simple: download this free game from the Play Store. Once done, you open the game where you’re greeted by the title screen. You can jump into the settings to mute the sound & vibration, you can check out game leaderboards, or you can take a look at your own game achievements to date.

Gameplay

As stated, this is a very simple game.  There is not backstory, heroes, villains, or heroines-in-distress. It’s just you and your reaction time.
The game gives you a solid yellow background with a triangular arrow (not unlike the Google Play icon itself) in the lower-center. Above is a cascading run of directional arrows, each indicating which way you should swipe (up, down, left, right). By placing your thumb/finger at the triangle and swiping in the corresponding direction, you wipe that directional arrow from the screen, and the rest drop down by one a-la Tetris.

At the top of your screen is your life meter of sorts; when full it glows green but slowly shrinks during play, turning yellow, then red. You can slow the speed of your bar disappearing and even re-grow it though faster swipes.

Your game ends by one of two ways: your life meter drains to zero, or you swipe in an incorrect direction from the one given. Depending on your progress to that point, you may be given a chance to re-start from your current position, or you may have to start back at zero. Your life span is dictated by accuracy first, and speed second.

As you progress through the game, you are also given diagonal swipes to match, increasing the difficulty level a bit. You earn achievement tokens by hitting milestone numbers of accurate swipes (50, 100, etc.).

Graphics & Sound

If I do have a gripe with the game itself, it’s in the design of the directional arrows that you’re supposed to emulate with your swipes. They are very simple & thin in design, which can make it difficult to ascertain as you speed up (it that one up or down??). Now, this may be by design to increase the games challenge, but I personally think it would be more fun to have these a bit bolder, allowing the player to focus on maximum speed and longevity.

Game sound is rather minimal, including an 8-bit beep with every swipe, and some puny congratulatory horns when you hit a new high score. Meh.

Summary

Like I said, the gameplay is super-simple but can be fun. Where I found the most enjoyment out of it is challenging my kiddos to see who can last the longest (they always LOVE to crush dad at a game). Getting multiple people to engage in the game definitely increases its replay-ability.
All in all, I recommend Swipe It. The game knows what it is, and makes zero apologies for it. It gives you a quick challenge and invokes no guilt when you put it down. Give it a try and see for yourself.

Download Swipe It from the Play Store here.