Product review: Key Power® External Battery Charger 10,400 mAh Portable Power Bank

This battery is quite compact for 10400 mAh capacity. It is 2 3/8"L x 5 5/8"W x 3/4"H. It has two ports and a small built-in flashlight. This external battery does NOT support charge through (it can not charge devices while it is being charged).

I like its bright charging level indicator. The indicator comes on when you plug in a device or when you press the on button and then turns off in a few seconds.

This charger did very well with my iPad Mini on port B. The results on Port A as well as the results of test for Nexus phone were below optimal (although above USB rate). I am including test results below for those who are interested in the details.

This external battery capacity is rated at 10400 mAh. Some capacity is lost to inefficiencies such as heat you can expect to get about 7800 mAh out of it. I was able to charge my Samsung Nexus phone with 3800 mAh extended battery from close to empty to full twice.

To tell how various battery packs perform I measure their performance with a current monitor. I use Samsung Nexus phone and iPad Mini for testing to give me a Android and an Apple mobile devices. I test all my chargers using the same charging cables and starting all tests at same charge level of the phone to account for non-linear charging. This allows me to compare different batteries to each other so I can rate the battery keeping everything else constant.

Samsung Nexus phone:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Key Power A port:___ 0.76/5.00V (below optimal)
Key Power B port:___ 0.74/5.00V (below optimal)
(for comparison the best charging monitor result for this phone is 1.00A/5V)

iPad Mini tablet:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Key Power A port:___ 0.93/4.87V (below optimal)
Key Power B port:___ 1.62/4.87V (Excellent!)
(for comparison the best charging monitor result for this tablet is 1.70A/5V)

I was most impressed by the performance on port B for my iPad Mini, This battery pack is optimized for fast charging of Apple devices on port B. It has a nice capacity and two ports. If you use Android devices and speed of charging is important this is not the speediest battery pack available.


You can find it on Amazon by following this link


Ali Julia review ★★★★☆

Product review: Car Sun Shade - Luxury 2-Pack Car Sunshade

I installed these car shades in our two cars 11 days ago. I used suction cups and so far they stayed on and have not fallen off. In my small SUV the car shade looks somewhat undersized, however in my husband's sedan if it was any bigger it would not fit on glass portion of he window.

The shade size is 19.25" 12.5".
The shade comes with a storage bag which is 8" x 7".

This sun shade does not totally dim the sun, it dims it. In attached video I put it in such a way that you sun direct sun and sun coming through the shade next to each so you can the difference the shade makes. I am quite sensitive to the sun, so I am using this shade to give me shade. I have one on my driver's side when I drive, and the other on in our second car when the hubby drives. The shade does provide some protection and a bit of cooling. The plus of the light protection is that the shade is very transparent, so especially when I use it when I drive it is good because I can see just as well with it as without it.

The shade is made out of two layers, one side is a black netting that provide the shade the other one is a clear plastic sheet that clings to the window. Both layers are attached to the metal frame which you can clip into suction cups. The shade is cling fine to window, but I decided suction cups will hold it more securely when the temperature shades. There are a total of 4 cups, 2 for each shade. If one shade does not provide enough shade it is possible to double up and hang them one of top of another.

Attached video shows the shade in both of our cars, as well as the view you get when you look through the shade.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.



Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Yubi Power Surge Slim -Ultimate Power Surge Protector - 6 Outlets Plus 2 USB Ports

This expanded outlet allowed me to go from two AC outlets to 6 AC outlets plus 2 USB ports. The ports are packed pretty tightly together so large plugs cover more than one outlet, but with 6 outlets this still leaves me with plenty of choices.

The outlet is 5" long and 3.6" wide. It plugs into a two outlet wall outlet. It uses one outlet for electricity and uses the second outlet's grounding opening to stabilize the entire plug. It comes with a mounting screw that can replace the central screw of the wall outlet. I thought the outlet mounted securely without the screw as I have only one large outlet on it.

I tested the two USB ports using a current monitor using both Android and Apple mobile devices. My test show that both ports worked with both devices. I got very good performance on port A for my iPad Mini tablet. The B port was below optimal for iPad Mini. With my Android device both ports were under optimal but above USB speed.

Samsung Nexus phone:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Port A:___ 0.80/5.00V
Port B:___ 0.90/5.00V
(for comparison the best charging monitor result for this phone is 1.00A/5V)

iPad Mini tablet:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Port A:___ 1.73/5.00V (excellent!)
Port B:___ 0.93/5.00V
(for comparison the best charging monitor result for this tablet is 1.70A/5V)

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.



Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Elivebuy® iOS-DeviceFlash Memory Card Reader Flash Drive

So nice to have a card reader that works with all of my devices. I tested this card reader with my iPad Mini, my Windows laptop, and Linux desktop. All three were able to read and write to SD and micro SD cards mounted in this card reader. It is nice to be able to add content to my tablet without having an internet connection.

On iPad Mini I am using this card reader in combination with iFlashDrive HD utility. This utility is free. As soon as I inserted the card reader into iPad Mini I got a prompt that the App is not installed and took me to the app store.

The card reader is 2 5/8" x 1 1/4" x 3/8" in size and weighs 0.9 oz.

I used class 10 sd card to benchmark this card reader:
♦ Average read 10 MB/sec
♦ Average write 5 MB/s
♦ Average access time is 1.30 secs
Attached video includes the chart generated by the benchmark utility for those who like the visual representation of the test.

For comparison, here are the benchmarks on the same card using my computer's card reader:
♦ Average read 21.5 MB/sec
♦ Average write 4.3 MB/s

As you see Elivebuy read speed is significantly slower but its write speed is a little faster. Its main strength is the universal ability to work with different devices.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: V7 High Capacity Micro SDXC UHS-1 Memory Card

I am using this class 10 micro sd card in a security camera. The camera records 30 minute segments with an average size of 80MB, so in a day it creates approximately 3840 MB. That means a 4G micro SD can hold about 1 day of continuous video where as this 64G micro SD gives me about 2 weeks of video, which much more useful especially if when I go on vacation.

I run performance benchmarks on the micro sd card:

In micro SD drive:
♦ Average read 27.9 MB/sec
♦ Average write 15.9 MB/s
♦ Average access time 1.71 msec

in SD drive using included adapter:
♦ Average read 27.8 MB/sec
♦ Average write 15.8 MB/s
♦ Average access time 1.67 msec

Attached video includes the chart generated by the benchmark utility for those who like the visual representation of the test.

I am very pleased with this micro SD card, it is fast and this capacity is great for a security camera. The only small negative I have to say that the packaging of the card does not include a plastic case which is included with some other cards.

V7 provides a 5-year warranty on this micro sd card.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Key Power® External Battery CHARGER 8000mAh Portable Power Bank

KeyPower external battery has one charging ports and a small built-in flashlight. This external battery capacity is rated at 8000 mAh. Some capacity is lost to inefficiencies such as heat you can expect to get about 6000 mAh out of it. I was able to charge my Samsung Nexus phone with 3800 mAh extended battery from low levels to full twice.

The battery weighs 7.10 oz, and is 4.75" x 2.5" x 0.5" in size. This battery has a bright charge level indicator, the indicator when you plug in a device or when you press the on button and then turns off in a second or two. The battery can charge mobile devices while it is being charged itself.

To tell how various battery packs perform I measure their performance with a current monitor. I use Samsung Nexus phone and iPad Mini for testing to give me a Android and an Apple mobile devices. I test all my chargers using the same charging cables and starting all tests at same charge level of the phone to account for non-linear charging. This allows me to compare different batteries to each other so I can rate the battery keeping everything else constant.

This battery performed close to optimal for my iPad Mini and but was a bit underpowered for my Nexus phone (but still above USB rate of charging). The built-in flashlight is not terribly bright, but handy to have in an emergency.

Samsung Nexus phone:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
KeyPower single port:___ 0.84/5.05V
(for comparison the best charging monitor result for this phone is 1.00A/5V)

iPad Mini tablet:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
KeyPower single port:___ 1.58/4.80V
(for comparison the best charging monitor result for this tablet is 1.70A/5V)

This battery has a nice form factor, easy to read charging indicator, and performed well for iPad Mini.




Ali Julia review ★★★★☆

Product review: HomeFlav Expandable Garden Hose 75ft

This garden hose has non-standard connectors. The package contains two pieces: the house and the sprayer. I was able to connect the sprayer to the hose with a supplied connector. This connector looks similar to a quick connect coupler but has 4 metal screws that required a screwdriver to tighten. The hose end that attaches to the water source does not have a female coupler to attach the hose to the faucet. It looks like some sort of a quick connect system, but it is missing the other side of the connector so I was not able to attach it to the water source.

I received this garden hose from HomeFlav with a request for an honest review. I notified HomeFlav of the problem and they are investigating. As it stands now I cannot recommend this hose.


You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★☆☆☆☆