TYLT ENERGI Charging Station review: Clean up your cords with style

These days, it’s typical that a household has a slew of mobile devices. So we can easily get to the point where power outlets get hogged and charging cables run amok. This is when it becomes smart to get a charging station.

Fortunately, one of our favorite brands, TYLT, has just dropped one into its lineup. Let’s see if the ENERGI Charging Station continues TYLT’s solid quality, and if it’s the solution to your mess of cords.

Design

If you’ve had the pleasure to use a TYLT device before, you’ll know that the manufacturer builds accessories with a mix of effortless design and high quality. The ENERGI Charging Station is no exception.

TYLT’s use of a sturdy matte plastic persists. Not that you’ll be carrying around a charging station, but for what it’s worth, the material’s smooth finish feels great to the touch. The unit’s white base is wrapped with a blue/grey layer. It looks nice, but more importantly, this design gives the user slots in which to route the cables.

The charging station provides a total of five USB power outlets. One of those has a neat feature – a removable battery pack (3,200 mAh) to take with you on-the-go.

This was a considerate addition and gives the charging station more value. It’s easy to use; just press the button to the right of the battery to eject it. It will charge when installed, and four LED indicators tell you how much charge it has.

The back of the charging station just has the power socket.

It of course draws power from a wall outlet. The benefit of a device like this is that you’ll only utilize a single outlet to power five devices.

Underneath, there are two rubber linings to keep the unit from sliding around.

Functionality

There isn’t a whole lot to say about a charger. It either works or it doesn’t. However, nowadays, there is a particular with mobile devices to comes into question – Quick/Fast Charging. Many of us are now used to our battery percentages climbing up quickly, and it’s annoying when we have to go back to yesteryear’s charging rates.

The ENERGI Charging Station doesn’t have the 3A output to achieve faster charging, but it meets us in the middle. The ports output a max of 2.4A (with the exception of the 1A removable power bank), which is at least faster than the original charging rate. Additionally, it uses a SmartDetect technology that automatically determines the max power that the device(s) can handle. So at least it’s efficient.

Final Thoughts

If you’re looking for a quality charging station, then look no further. As always, TYLT does great job bringing ease and quality to yet another accessory offering. We’ll only say, if you’re in a low-battery bind, you’ll still want to keep that stock Quick/Fast charger handy.

The ENERGI Charging Station retails for $79, so it’s not the cheapest option on the block either.

MoonWalker: Simple and Fun (Review)

Overview

Help UV fight through 90 fun-filled levels all to find his fellow Moonwalkers. During his journey, he must find the Legendary Shroom of Power to guide him as he takes on Lazy Monsters, M1 M1s, One-Eyed Crab Bros, and more.

Developer: Vibhav Chitale

Cost: Free (ad-supported)

Gameplay

Moonwalker is a game with simple controls. You tilt the phone left and right to go forward or backward, and tap the screen to jump. It’s really that simple. There is the option to use on-screen buttons, but they aren’t efficiently placed. The game’s concept is simple enough: you dodge or kill enemies and collect stars and power-ups to make it to the exit.

Store Menu

You may need help getting through the levels, so there are four different power-ups you can purchase with stars collected during your journey. You can skip the level, kill all the monsters, stay purple, or remove roots. Don’t spend all you stars, though, as they are also needed to unlock the next level. If you do run out you can always go back to easy levels and gather some.

Review

This is an easy-to-learn/play game and it’s another game I refer to as a “Doctor’s Office Game” that you can pull out anywhere. The only difference is that there’s an ultimate goal. What makes this game enjoyable is the story that goes along with it. The developer didn’t take the game too seriously and it showed.

Now the bitter-sweet deal: ads. At the end of every four levels, you are offered the chance to double the stars you collected in those levels by watching an ad. It’s really not too bad.

Conclusion

This game is one of the most fun games I have played in a while. It’s easy enough to play and win, yet there are some challenging parts that keep you coming back. The developer made good use of the phone’s sensors for controls and the graphics are well done. It reminds me of the joy I had playing Sonic the Hedgehog. I haven’t finished the game, but I do hope they add more levels or make a sequel to the game.

Download and install Moonwalker from the Google Play Store.

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The ZUS Kevlar USB cable by nonda is the last you’ll ever need (Lifetime Warranty)

Charging cables are essential to keeping our mobile products powered up. If we want to stay powered, even with a portable battery pack, we need to bring along our cables.

The biggest problem with cables is they all break over time. The more you use them, and the more you bend them, the faster they will break. Sometimes the cost isn’t the worst part about this fact, but there is an off chance that you might be stuck without a charging cable if yours suddenly decides to give out.

Google Pixel C connected and charging with the ZUS type-C cable.

That’s where Nonda comes in to save the day. They have built a cable so strong that they actually dare customers to break it. Nonda offers suggestions on letting your dog pull at it, tow a car with it, etc. Why? Because Nonda’s new ZUS cables, offered at Indiegogo, are made with Kevlar which is the same material used in bulletproof vests.

Build and Usage of the ZUS Kevlar Cable

The ZUS Kevlar charging cable is different from other cables since it is designed to last a lifetime. Many charging cables break from flexing and bending too many times, which destroys the internals of the charging cable. Nonda designed a cable reinforced and protected with 3M’s Kevlar to ensure it lasts forever.

In bend tests, the ZUS cable survived over 50% longer than Belkin’s cables. That does mean the ZUS cables actually reached a breakpoint, but the difference here is that nonda offers a full lifetime guarantee of its cables. It also offers twice the lifespan at half of the MSRP.

I did a destruction test of a standard plastic coated micro USB cable and the ZUS Type-C cable by running them both into my Dyson vacuum cleaner. I first ran the microUSB cable through the vacuum for five seconds, and the plastic coating melted off exposing the internal wiring. The cable still worked, but probably won’t have much life left in it at this point.

Where the ZUS cable gets interesting, is once I sucked it up into my vacuum, it literally locked up the brush wheel and melted my vacuum belt which snapped. The Kevlar protection was so strong that it didn’t give at all, and miraculously came out unscathed.

I then went on to pull on the cable as hard as I could, and tied it to a 10 pound dumbbell I have in my office. I swung it back and forth and the cable still worked great with my LG G5.

The ZUS cables are extremely well made and are intelligently designed. The USB A portion of the plug sits at a right angle, which helps it fit into tight spaces better. It also provides more protection against flexing at that point which should increase its lifespan as well.

Summary

The ZUS cables by nonda come in three varieties – micro USB, Lightning, and USB Type-C. All of them are built to the same standards and each come with a Lifetime Warranty. Nonda is offering a few different backing options at Indiegogo, and you can get one cable for as little as $15 with shipping expected in July.

The USB Type-C cable I used charged my Nexus Pixel C, LG G5, and Xiaomi Mi5 all without issue. The ZUS cable is the strongest cable I have ever used and will be my charging cable of choice, especially when I travel.

Get the ZUS cable at Indiegogo.com. Or learn more at nonda.com.

Specs

• 56K Ohm Resistor
• Vbus IR drop of less than 500mV
• GND IR drop of less than 250mV at 3A
• Micro USB, Lightning, Type-C
• $15

Disney Crossy Road: Charming, fun, and hard as hell (Review)

People like to torture themselves with challenging games. It’s a fact of life. After surviving tears-inducing gameplay in the NES era, games became gradually easier, but, ignited by Demon’s Souls, hard games have a home again among console gamers. Mobile games are no exception. Games like Temple Run and Flappy Bird infuriated us to the extreme, but we kept coming back to them anyway. Crossy Road is one of the latest examples of challenging games we love, and Disney has partnered with its developer to bring us Disney Crossy Road.

Features

Colorful worlds await you.

Being a family-friendly game, Disney Crossy Road warns you about in-app purchases and the possibility of watching video ads in exchange for in-game currency. In order to continue, you need to enter your age.

If you’ve played Crossy Road before, then you already know the basics. If you haven’t, then let me tell you that the premise is really simple. Your mission is to guide your character as far as you can through a scenery full of obstacles and moving objects. It’s similar in concept to an endless runner but you have more control over your actions and movements.

The game keeps everything very simple with dead-easy controls. The scenery is divided into an imaginary grid, and you can move your character one space at a time. By making quick swipes in any direction, your character gleefully jumps in said way. You can also tap wherever you like, and your character will move forward.

Of course, the game would pose no challenge at all without obstacles. This is where things start to get interesting. There’s a vast array of elements that will try to stop you from reaching your objective (sadly, just like in real life). You will have trains storming through the field, cars that could care less about speed limits, and water segments with floating logs.

The problem comes from the fact that if you wait too much time until your next move, an eagle will soar through the sky and capture your little, helpless character. Not only you need to avoid obstacles to progress, you have to do it quickly, or you’ll die anyway, making the game a constant fight against both the clock and your highest score.

Scenery changes according to the character you choose.

You will also see some yellow circles scattered throughout the land. These are coins used to buy new characters. I thought at first that a new character would only change the coat of paint of your figurine. Turns out, changing a character changes the whole setting. The scenery color, the obstacles, and the music change completely.

Characters are classified by the movie or series they come from. For example, Mickey and Donald Duck are classified under “Mickey Mouse and Friends” (obviously). But, there are also characters from other famous Disney movies, such as The Lion King, Tangled, Wreck-It Ralph, and Disney’s newest hit, Zootopia. Choosing Simba will change the setting to a jungle-like world, in which cars are replaced by animals, while choosing Ralph will turn everything into pink candy and racing cars, just like the movie. It’s a nice touch that works amazingly well and encourages the player to get more characters.

Options

A few options are at your disposal.

The options provided by the game are nothing to write home about. Some basic controls over music and special effects are there. Also, you can access Disney’s website from here. The game has been translated into 15 languages, but the language isn’t detected automatically. Instead, you need to access the options screen and selected the button with a world icon on it.

The game also offers Facebook integration to share your scores and similar. For those looking for Google Play Games, you can connect the game to your account, but the integration is limited to five achievements, all of which deal with character collection.

General Impressions

First things first: I found this game to be hard. Not in an unfair way, but the sheer number of obstacles all moving at different speeds combined with the eagle that carries you away if you’re not fast enough, provide a challenging but rewarding experience. You have to analyze a lot of stuff quickly, but when you do and it works, it feels extremely pleasant.

The fact that the world changes according to the character you choose is a welcome addition, too. I thought at first that I had seen everything to this game after some rounds, but then I got a new character from Tangled and the scenery changed completely, all with new hazards, songs, and background. It’s nice to see what new worlds have to offer, and it adds a lot to the game’s replay value. You don’t need every character to see all of the available worlds: having one from each series is enough.

Vehicles change to animals if you choose a character from The Lion King.

However, once the novelty wears off, you may find that there’s not a lot of things to do. Sure, there are more than 100 characters to collect, and you can always improve your high score (which is a motivation in itself), but things like daily challenges, timed events, or leaderboards through Google Play Games would add a lot to the game. Right now, other than collecting characters, I feel it’s way too simple and doesn’t give you enough motivation to keep you coming back for more.

Also, I found some rare instances in which the game lagged a little bit on my Nexus 6, especially when doing a lot of movements very close to one another. Not a big deal, but in a game that requires quick reflexes and swift movements, a performance issue could be the difference between increasing your high score or have your character drown after missing a floating log.

Graphics and Sound

All of the characters look as cute as this one.

Graphics for this game are great. All of the elements used follow closely a blocky, almost Minecraft-like appearance that looks extremely good. Since this is a family-friendly game, when your character is smashed by cars or animals, there’s no blood at all. Your character will get reduced to a pile of pixels that will not traumatize your children.

Even though blocky elements can’t provide a lot of detail by nature, obstacles and other elements scattered throughout the land are really well done. Be it the bullet train in the Mickey Mouse and Friends world, the animals in The Lion King setting, or the ghosts in the Haunted Mansion backdrop, everything looks very refined and is pure quality.

Music and sound effects are really cool too. Like mentioned before, there are several tunes included in the game, one for each world. Sound effects are fine and add to the experience. The game also triggers an audible alert when you reach certain scores, which can be startling at first, but useful once you get accustomed to it.

What we like

• Challenging gameplay
• Scenery changes according to your character
• Nice graphics

Room for improvement

• Not much else to do apart from increasing your score
• Some performance issues

Conclusion

Crossy Road is undoubtedly one of the biggest hits to come out of the Play Store, so it’s no wonder Disney decided to partner up with the developer to release a spinoff. Disney Crossy Road retains the same challenging gameplay of its father, while adding several interesting elements, such as new worlds, and more than 100 characters to choose from. Sadly, the game doesn’t offer a lot of replay value. However, it’s still a solid game that can keep you entertained for a lot of time while you explore all of its worlds and try to dodge its carefully-placed obstacles in order to get the highest score.

Download and install from the Google Play Store.

RHA T20 in-ear headphones review: A metal-clad looker that isn’t just a pretty face

In-ear headphones are aplenty out there. However, there are some that notably standout in the crowd. Don’t be fooled by their size, they can undergo some serious engineering.

RHA is one of those companies that does its own thing and sets its own high standard. Personally, its metal-clad earphone designs have always intrigued me.

We were given the chance to review the company’s latest flagship, the T20. RHA definitely takes a “if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it” approach, as the new model is a spitting image of the previous T10. Let’s check out what it brings.

Design

Before I get into the earphone design, I have to mention the T20’s sweet unboxing presentation. Everything is laid out in a premium fashion.

I always appreciate the attention to detail, especially when you’re paying top-dollar. Additionally, you’ll find a sizable zipper carrying case in the box.

As suggested, the T20 carries over RHA’s stapled metal construction. The earpieces are molded via metal injection (stainless steel, to be precise).

I think they look fantastic in person. There’s a brushed metal finish all about the chassis, and it feels as sturdy as it looks.

The earpiece design follows what is seen from other high-end earphone manufacturers, like Westone and Shure. This jellybean shape is favored because it routes the cable up and around your ear, instead of just falling straight down. The benefit is a more secure fit and much less microphonics (noise from the cable rubbing on you). You’ll also love this style if you use them to workout.

Also like other manufacturers, a memory wire clings the cable around your ear. It has a coiled texture (which I love) and isn’t too thick or stiff. Frankly, the whole presentation screams refinement.

At about 4.5″, the memory wire transitions to the primary cable and a LONG y-split. I don’t know why RHA made the length from this point to the y-splitter (which is also metal) about 1.5 ft. long. Fortunately, there’s a chin slider that keeps things tidy.

I appreciated how long the entire cable is, at about 4.4 ft. Additionally, I love the cable material. It’s supple (feels like silicone) and really lightweight. Its elastic/springy nature also makes it tangle resistant. The whole thing is an effortless quality.

Lastly, the 3.5mm headphone jack is met with metal coil (I imagine it provides some strain relief). The styling of the metal jack resembles what you’d see in professional audio equipment, and RHA makes that statement clear.

Usability

Ear tips are a super important factor with in-ears. If you don’t get a good seal, sound quality will be largely impacted (bass will be weak and sound will leak in and out). Therefore, I appreciate when manufacturers are generous with their included ear tips, and RHA did a great job in this respect.

You’ll get six pairs of dual density silicone tips, two pairs of double flange tips, and two pairs of foam tips. Most companies only include three sizes of silicone tips, so in comparison, RHA outdid themselves. And its great to have the option of foam tips, as they isolate sound much better than silicone.

If you’ve used this style/wear of earphones before, then donning the T20 will be familiar. I appreciated that the memory wire was not too invasive. It’s firm enough to stay in place, but not uncomfortable whatsoever. I much prefer it to how Shure handles it, which annoying springs back up when you press it down. RHA’s wire stays where you want it.

Many folks may question if the metal construction makes the T20 heavy. Don’t worry. The earpieces rest snugly/securely in your ear and the cable is extraordinarily light.

RHA threw in an additional feature to differentiate the T20 from the crowd – user changeable tuning filters. This one will probably appeal more to audiophiles, as most users don’t have a problem EQ’ing for their preferred sound signature. But if you care about accuracy, digital tuning is a no-no.

It’s simpler than it sounds. There are two options: more bass or more treble (the neutral filter comes installed). The filters are essentially the nozzles, which screw in. To change them, simply remove the ear tip, unscrew the installed filter, and screw the new one in.

The filters work by either holding back the higher frequencies or not. If you look in the bassy filter, you’ll notice a thick foam insert within, meant to recess the treble (the bass moves forward as a result). In contrast, there is no foam at all in the treble filter, allowing it to output fully. The neutral filter has a middle-ground (less dense foam).

One overlook is that if you’re an Android user, you won’t get in-line remote support. There’s a version of this headphone called the T20i with a remote/mic component, but it’s only made for Apple devices. Instead of creating a variant with a compatible Android remote, RHA simply made the T20, which just excludes the remote.

Sound

Don’t worry, RHA doesn’t just bring good looks. It makes it clear that the T20 packs the prowess to stand up with high-end competitors. Is that actually the case?

Indeed. This is the real deal. The best way to describe the T20’s sound is a balance between audiophile-grade reproduction and musical impact. What I mean by this is that all the frequency ranges across the spectrum show their fair share of detail, while the bass is emphasized for a pleasing punch. Most users love a relevant bass response, so the RHA will appeal a majority of the market. But from an audiophile perspective, it may be too much. Thankfully, this is where the interchangeability filter system really shines. We can correct these characteristics (although, one can argue that the neutral setting isn’t necessarily “netural”).

When you look into the technological details of the T20, you’ll see RHA throw around an approach called DualCoil. This pertains to how RHA engineered the T20’s dynamic driver to deliver a higher resolution sound. It essentially added an inner coil to the driver’s magnet, whereas traditional dynamic drivers only have an outer one. I won’t pretend that I know the science behind it, but I imagine that an extra coil allows for better control and more accurate response from the driver.

I sure believe in it, because my ears hear a highly detailed and smooth reproduction. My only gripe about the neutral setting is that the sound signature is slightly V-shaped (favoring bass/treble over mids). This isn’t uncommon, and I’ve heard more skewed spectrums, but I would’ve like a more balance. As a result, the mids sound a little confined compared to the prominent frequencies. Switching to the treble filters does help, but to an extent. The mids still sound slightly veiled to me. I’m nitpicking though, it’s not that bad.

The soundstage and imaging of elements within that space are both good. I wouldn’t call them exceptional (you will get a more expansive experience up the price chain), but they’re above average. Ultimately, sound-wise, the T20 are where they should be at their price-point. Actually, overall, I feel like they exceed their price.

Final Thoughts

I was impressed by the RHA T20. They showed a lot of promise and I feel like they exceeded my expectations. No doubt, if you have this kind of budget (they run for $239), you can’t go wrong here. And this is coming from someone who owns much pricier in-ears. The law of diminishing returns certainly applies to high-end in-ears, and the T20 kinda hits that limit of where you should reasonably stop. Job well done, RHA.

RHA T20 product page

Two Roads takes the endless running game into a new direction (review)

If you’ve played the likes of the Subway Surfers and Temple Run series of games (lord knows our house has), you may like the game “Two Roads” by Al Kamil Softech. Two Roads takes this well-worn genre and moves it into a new direction— up!
To get the game, simply head over to the Play Store and download.
In this game you play a little alien named Frothy, who has been captured here on earth. When his cage is left open, Frothy finds his (her?) chance to escape back to the home planet. That’s your setup, and you take over Frothy in trying to get back home.

Gameplay

The game is played through an endless spaceship-looking tube. This tube is a bit of a maze, made of both stationary, and later, moving blocks that kill on impact.  Also included along the path are familiar items, mainly coins to collect, as well as some performance-enhancing items (magnets to help collect coins all around you, speed boosts to make you super-fast and invincible for short periods, etc).

As Frothy moves through this obstacle-riddled path (at a constant speed), you control movement by:

• Swiping left (move left)
• Swiping right (move right)

This game’s main feature is in the Swiping up and down actions. Whereas in other games of this type, these actions would result in a jump or tuck-and-roll, respectively, in Two Roads swiping up sends you to the top of your display where there’s a second path! This path is generally different in its layout from the first, and it gives the game a fresh perspective and doubles your options at any given time.

Controls, Sound, Graphics

I lump all these game attributes together for a reason, that being that the same could be said for every one. While each does a fine job, there’s just a little something missing from them. The controls can miss a swipe or contain a slight delay from time to time. The sound and graphics are both ‘good’, but they both are missing just a little more variety/creativity in their presentation. It all adds up to a slightly underwhelming experience as a player.

Summary

I do enjoy playing Two Roads; and I personally found myself clicking back into the game when I had 5 minutes to spare. The extra dimension of a parallel upper road in which to maneuver on gave this game type a fresh look, and with a bit more polish in the controls, sound, and graphics, this game could see its download count skyrocket.

Download Two Roads here.

Colors United is a perfect way to kill time! [Review]

We’ve all been in those situations where you are just waiting for something to happen out of your control (a doctor’s office, waiting in any line, ever, or waiting for your wife to finish riding her horses so you can go play D&D), and, living in the tech age, we all have those simple little games we like to play to pass the time while we wait. Colors United, by Acun Medya, is a perfect game to add to your rotation of games that simply pass the time.

After setup completes, the game connects you automatically to Google Play Games and launches the game for you. Simply press the large play button in the middle of the screen and start passing the time like a pro!

Gameplay

This is a typical “simple to play, hard to master”, puzzle game. The goal is to “unite” all of the colors in the shape into a single color. This is accomplished by changing the color of the section you control into an adjacent color. By doing this, you take control of all sections of the new color. Rinse and repeat until a single color covers the screen.

The game quickly adds a layer of complexity by throwing in a counter. The number on the counter shows how many more times you can change colors before you fail that level. Upon completing the level, you are rewarded with stars (three possible for each level). The number of stars you receive is determined by how many moves it takes you to complete the level. Collecting all the stars will grant you access to bonus levels.

One unique thing about Colors United that you don’t see in a lot of these games is the encouragement to play against friends (or strangers if you wish). There is a battle mode where you are able to play against another player or the AI. The objective is to go back and forth to see who can get the last move. There is also a daily puzzle which you can complete and compare scores with your friends on Google Play Games.

Multiplayer screen

Shopping options

Graphics

As expected, this game is centered around changing colors to solve a puzzle. I was pleasantly surprised by the choices made by the developer to use bright, vibrant colors that are not too bold as to hurt your eyes on these tiny screens we stare at all day. All animations are easy on the eyes and the color changes are smooth as silk.

My only wish here is that there was an option for a dark skin. This would allow those night owls, like myself, to play in the dark without hurting my eyes with the bright white background. Also, with the AMOLED screens for mobile devices becoming more prevalent and our ever-increasing desire for extended battery life, a dark skin would appease those battery-conscious players.

Conclusion

Colors United is a standard puzzle game that will fill your time just like any other. If you are looking for another app to add to your downtime rotation, do yourself a favor and give it a solid try.

Download and install from the Google Play Store.