Logitech K480 keyboard review

Intro

I happened to get a good deal on the Logitech bluetooth keyboard K480 on Amazon. It was retailing about 35+ % lesser than MRP since it was existing since some time. At this price I felt it was a value for money possession.

The fact that I may need something to keep my iphone on and type made this more useful. In fact this post is typed using this keyboard with my iPhone on the dock and it is just so super useful as compared to the on screen virtual phone keypad.

https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1SrqlV7NnTz7zeNYIY5-n3mjw5MGIyWIl

Features offered

The keyboard offers functionality to connect to three devices which we can activate the keyboard for with a turn wheel. It supports iOS, Mac OS and Android/Windows and Chrome OS combinations.

There is a power switch to the bottom of the keyboard and once powered on, it will connect to the device to which the turn wheel is setup for use with. Since this is a keyboard that supports different types of OS, the buttons too reflect the same.

https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1YiHKSI0Kub4eENIiYxoBgLat5CLwxud0

There are buttons for start menu, for command (Mac OS), Alt and Option keys. Other keys include function keys, media playback keys, volume keys.

Keys and how they feel

There is a good amount of tactile feedback from the keys on this keyboard though this is not a mac keyboard as such so just dont expect such levels of ease of use with this one. I could type fairly fast with this keyboard but I did encounter some key misses which is not the expectation.

The keyboard runs on a couple of AAA batteries and I have not done much research on how long it will last beyond standby times. Only time will tell.

Conclusion

If you are in need for a good bluetooth keyboard on the lower side of Rs.2000/- look no further than the Logitech K480. Though it is a tad bit heavy and bulky, it suits the purpose well, and the bonus is it comes with a phone or iPad dock as well.

Hit up the link to buy it from Amazon now.

Focal Spark wireless bluetooth earphone unboxing and review

Introduction

In my quest for a good pair of earphones, you will have already noticed that I experienced with many of them here and here. During this journey I chanced across a suggestion from a friend on the Focal brand and the fact they were selling their earphones at a discount on Amazon.

Since the offer was too good to resist, I purchased these online.

Unboxing video

Here is a little unboxing I created for you to understand what the packaging of the earphone looks like.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/257Ei2DYDRf54sRn6

Strong points

The Focal Spark has these pros going for it

Very easy to wear for long hours

short cable means lesser tangling unlike the Samsung UFlex

Good sound quality – bit of muddy bass, but largely good distributions of highs mids and lows

Very good battery standby time – you charge it once and when you don’t use it the earphones does not lose battery power too soon – this is in stark contrast to the Uflex earphones from samsung which used to annoy me during the middle of that long walk

Charging is quick and gives full charge that does not let you down anywhere

You can pair two different phones to this earphone over bluetooth at same time (which could be a boon or a bane)

Weak points

The Focal Spark like any other earphones has few cons that I noticed during my usage which I will like to point out here

The wire is a tad bit too short, it needs to be about 20% longer to fit better

The earphone is best suited for music but not necessarily phone calls, I did have a feedback that the phone calls were not pretty clear. You can check that here.

The earbuds are a bit tight so wearing them for longer hours means it will feel like your ears are blocked. This is exactly where the Airpods do better. They are there and not there at the same time.

The bass was not exactly clear and was a bit muddy. Focal has still some way to go to beat Bullets V2 by OnePlus.

The asking price of 7000/- is not exactly less, but right now you can bag a pair for close to 3000/- which makes it either a steal or well, unpopular as the case maybe!

It comes with micro usb charging which is not so 2018, but this was not such a downer for me, would have still preferred usb-C which is quite the standard these days.

Conclusion

In conclusion, these are an excellent pair of wireless earbuds for music purposes if not exactly phone calls. The buds have excellent battery life, and are good to hear and use. They are comfortable over long hours of wear and you just need to find an eartip of the size that suits you better. Having said that, for the current price on offer, this is a steal, and you should go for it !

Huawei Honor Pro 8 – Five reasons you must buy it

In my last post I mentioned my experiences with the Huawei Honor Pro 8 in the first 24 hours of me buying it. In this post I wish to cover the good bits of the phone which are impressive enough to make a case to purchase it. So let’s then get down to business, shall we?

Camera

The dual lens camera is 12MP + 12MP RGB + Monochrome. What this means is professional quality fo pictures taken. The icing on the cake is wide aperture mode which allows you to adjust the aperture after the photo is taken which gives your images like what is shown below. The depth of field can be adjusted post taking the shot.

And trust me the camera is good. I mean really good. Almost close to Samsung which is the industry benchmark till now. Take a look yourself.

Battery

The 4000 mAH battery is there for a reason. For many people charging in between the day is a bit of hassle. For me too. This in spite of me having a 20000 mah power bank, a wireless charger and a fast charger with me always. Still the thought of battery dying down is irritating. Tugging cables along, scrambling for that cable to get that extra bit of juice – well all this is history with the Honor 8 Pro.

For the records, if i have 100% at 9am I still have 5% at 12am – a full 15 hours later. This is under heavy use – WhatsApp, videos on FB, hangout calls, phone calls, Virtual Reality video, Email sync, browsing, Wifi, LTE, Navigation – literally everything. Of course I am not a gamer but I think the phone would do well even if gaming were to be considered in the mix. Overall for the battery – a very big thumbs up !!

Virtual Reality viewer

The Honor 8 Pro doubles as a VR viewer and Google cardboard videos look great on this viewer. My only grouse is that the casing for the phone could have been more sturdier in some manner but you cannot expect more for free. This aside the Jaunt VR application is awesome and it tracks your eye movements to operate buttons within which is super cool. The lens kept falling off but hey like I said before – if its free I cannot complain much you see 🙂

Storage and RAM

128GB storage and 6GB memory – at a full 7000 INR undercutting 1+5. Period – Enough said. If you have to know more details, the OS itself seems to take about 20GB leaving a little over 100GB for other stuff – but hey again – nothing to complain here.

Huawei’s RAM management is very strict and background process sync is controlled and throttled. For me this is a big plus. I am not a big fan of too much of sync happening over the background so this works well for me. Kudos again.

Sound output

I compared the sound output of Honor 8 pro vs the iPhone SE – a rather unlikely bunch to compare against. But still I connected these over bluetooth to my Beats Pill + bluetooth speaker. And no prizes for guessing who wins in terms of overall fidelity here. The honor goes to the Honor 8 pro. The separation of treble and bass and all the frequencies is very even across the band and its accoustically appealing.

The iPhone on the other hand was not so clearly separate with the tones and the difference is telling. You can listen to yourself.

Honor 8 pro & Beats Pill+

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_BkTHoP121yUDl1LTgyMU14WXM/view?usp=sharing

Apple iPhone SE & Beats Pill+

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_BkTHoP121yckpTWk1Td21xMVE/view?usp=sharing

Other stuff

Fast charging – Awesome again – not much heating of the phone, in about an hour we are ready to go with full charge. Good job here.