c/gadget-reviews

My drone review shoot in Sedona got ruined by a sudden wind gust

It slammed my Mavic 3 into a rock face, breaking two props and the gimbal before I could even hit record. Anyone know a good repair spot in Arizona that won't take six weeks?

My new smart scale yelled my weight out loud at a party in Cincinnati

I got this fancy scale that connects to an app, and I didn't realize it had a voice feature turned on by default. At a friend's place, I stepped on it to show off the gadget, and it loudly announced "Two hundred and twelve pounds" to the whole room. Now I triple-check all the settings on a new gadget before I use it in public. Anyone else have a gadget that totally embarrassed them?

I was ready to throw out my old smart speaker until I tried one weird reset trick

My Echo Dot from 2018 had been acting up for weeks. It would stop playing music halfway through a song, and asking for the weather took forever. I was about to just buy a new one, but then I saw a comment on a forum from a guy in Tampa. He said to do a full factory reset, but then leave it unplugged for a full 24 hours before setting it back up. I thought that was overkill, but I tried it last Tuesday. I unplugged it, held the button down, and then just left it sitting on my counter for a whole day. When I plugged it back in and went through the setup in the Alexa app, it was like a brand new gadget. All the lag was gone. I guess some cached data or a partial update was just stuck in there. Has anyone else had a similar fix work on an old device that seemed totally broken?

Pro tip: I used to think phone camera reviews were pointless

A friend in Chicago said my vacation photos looked flat and asked what phone I used, which made me realize I never checked camera settings before buying. Now I always look for sample photos taken in low light, not just the megapixel count. What's the ONE camera feature you check first in a review?

I got roasted for my 'professional' unboxing video setup

My friend watched my review of the new Anker 737 power bank and said, 'Dude, your lighting makes it look like you're filming in a cave, and that 2015 webcam is a crime.' I mean, he wasn't wrong. I spent $40 on a cheap ring light from Amazon and dug out my old Canon T3i, and the next video looked way less sketchy. Anyone else have a piece of gear they were stubborn about upgrading until someone called them out?

My new smart doorbell bricked itself after a routine firmware update last Tuesday

I installed this thing back in March, and it was fine until last week. The app said there was a firmware update, so I hit install like I always do. The progress bar got stuck at 90% for an hour, then the whole unit just went dark and unresponsive. I tried the hard reset button, I pulled the power for a full day, nothing. It's just a dead piece of plastic on my wall now. Customer support basically said it's a known bug with that update and I need a replacement unit, which is backordered for 6 weeks. I'm stuck watching my porch through a peephole like it's 1995. Has anyone else had a gadget completely die from a simple software update, or is it just my luck?

My smartwatch told me I was asleep while I was making coffee

So I've had this fitness tracker for about 8 months, and I always wondered why my sleep score was so low. I'd wake up feeling fine, but the app would say I only got 4 hours of 'restful' sleep. This morning, I was standing at my kitchen counter in Seattle, grinding beans for my 6 AM brew, and I felt my wrist buzz. I looked down and the screen said 'Great job! You just completed a 2 hour sleep cycle.' I was literally holding a coffee grinder. The thing had been counting my quiet morning routine as a nap this whole time. I guess it just sees no movement and a low heart rate and calls it sleep. Now I'm wondering how many of my 'deep sleep' stats are just me reading a book or watching a movie. Has anyone else had a gadget totally misinterpret a basic human activity like that?

My new smart scale called me a liar for a whole month

Got one of those fancy scales that connects to an app. For the first four weeks, it said I gained two pounds. Felt weird because my clothes fit the same. Turns out I had it on a thick bathroom rug in my apartment. Moved it to the tile floor last Tuesday. Suddenly I'm down five pounds. The whole graph in the app looks like a mountain then a cliff. Has anyone else had a gadget give totally wrong data because of where you put it?

Honestly, why do so many reviews skip the battery life test after a year of use? My old phone lost like 40% of its runtime.

Unpopular opinion: my fancy smartwatch is a total waste now

I was at the gym in Tempe last week and my $400 watch died right in the middle of tracking my run. I had to finish the last two miles with no data, and it made me realize I don't need half the junk it tracks. What's a good, simple fitness tracker that just does the basics without all the apps?

Watching a video review of the new Galaxy phone, I realized how many times they said 'ecosystem'

It was a 15 minute review from a big tech channel last week. The person said 'ecosystem' at least eight times when talking about why you should pick this phone over another. It made me think, are we just reviewing single gadgets anymore or pushing people into a brand's whole set of stuff? I used to look for how long the battery lasts or how good the camera is in low light. Now it feels like half the review is about how it works with their tablets and earbuds. Has anyone else noticed this shift in what reviews focus on?

My friend told me his smart scale called him 'a bit dense' after a firmware update.

He showed me the screen and it literally said 'user density: high' instead of body fat percentage. Anyone else get weirdly judged by their gadgets lately?

My new smartwatch buzzed during a movie in Denver and now I never miss a text.

I was at the Alamo Drafthouse last month and felt the vibration on my wrist instead of hearing my phone ring, which totally saved me from getting the stink eye from the staff.

I swapped my old Anker 10,000mAh power bank for a newer model and the difference is huge

My old one took about 6 hours to fully charge and got warm. The new Anker 313, which I got last month, charges in under 3 hours and stays cool. The faster input charging is what really made it better for my daily carry. Has anyone else found a specific feature on a newer gadget that made an old one feel totally outdated?

Just realized my dad's old 'dumb' coffee maker might be better than my smart one after a chat with him.

My kid asked why I always check three reviews before buying anything

I was looking at a new tablet for her and she just said 'Dad, you read those more than my school books.' It made me realize my process had become automatic, not actually helpful. Anyone have a better method for cutting through review noise?

I was reading a review that called the new smartwatch 'life changing' and it made me laugh

It was on a big tech blog last Tuesday, and the writer went on for three paragraphs about how this watch's new sleep tracking feature 'redefined his mornings'. He said it gave him a 'sleep animal' and that knowing he was a 'restless dolphin' changed his whole routine. I've had the same model for about four months now, and honestly, it just tells me I slept bad. It doesn't tell me why or how to fix it. The review felt more like an ad for a feeling than a real look at the gadget. It made me think, how many reviews are just selling a dream instead of the actual tool? Has anyone else bought something because a review made big promises, only to find it's just another thing that beeps at you?

Just saw a review call the Anker 737 'overkill' for a phone, but it's perfect for my MacBook Pro on the go.

Pro tip: My $40 smart plug from last year just bricked itself overnight and took my whole morning coffee routine with it.

The app just shows 'device offline' and a factory reset does nothing, so now I'm manually boiling water like some kind of animal while I wait for support to maybe email me back.

Question about the battery life on my old iPod Nano

I was cleaning out a drawer and found my old 3rd gen Nano, and after plugging it in I read online that its original battery was only rated for about 24 hours of audio playback, which feels so tiny compared to my phone now.

Unpopular opinion: I think the new smartwatch battery life claims are way off

I bought the Horizon Pace smartwatch last week after reading reviews praising its 7-day battery. I wore it normally, with heart rate tracking on and about 30 minutes of GPS use a day. The battery died completely after just 4 days, not even close to the claim. I learned to be much more skeptical of battery life numbers in reviews now. Has anyone else had this happen with a gadget that promised way more than it delivered?

My new smart scale bricked itself after a firmware update last Tuesday.

It just shows a blank screen now, and the company's support told me to wait for another update, which is pretty useless when you need to weigh something.

Bought a $40 phone gimbal that ended up just collecting dust

I got it for a trip to Seattle, thinking I'd make cool videos... but it was a pain to set up each time. After two days, I just used my hand again. Now it sits in a drawer with the charger still in the box. Anyone have a gadget they thought they'd use way more than they actually do?

My neighbor said his new smart speaker was 'life changing' and I had to bite my tongue

He was raving about it at our building's mailboxes yesterday, saying it could control his lights and play any song. I went home and read three different reviews online, and two of them pointed out the same big privacy flaw in the fine print. Now I'm stuck wondering if people just don't read the full reviews before they buy stuff. How do you even figure out what the real deal is with a gadget before you bring it home?

Saw a weird charging setup at the airport in Charlotte

I was stuck at the Charlotte airport last week and saw a guy using a small, foldable solar panel to charge his phone at the gate. It was about the size of a paperback book and he just had it propped on his bag in the sun from the window. He said it added about 15% to his battery in 30 minutes while we waited. In my experience, those little panels are usually too slow to be useful, but this looked like a solid backup plan. Has anyone else tried a portable solar charger that actually works okay?