Not only do I love my headphones- but they saved me over $1000 today!

I've mentioned in other posts about how much I love my wallet phone case.  I love my Soundpeats Bluetooth headsets nearly as much- and even more now because they doubled as an anti-theft device!
First off- let me tell you about the headphones.  I have been lucky enough to test out 3 pair of these headphones and I am ga-ga over them!  They are super comfortable, have amazing battery life, sound great and of course- I love the pink ones!

If you haven't tried this style of headset- I highly recommend it.  I love my phone and take that "unlimited calling" plan very seriously!  I consider it a challenge!   I am constantly on my phone when I am in the car, but want to be hands-free.  Speaker phones don't do it for me, and I lose or forget to charge those little bluetooth headsets.   I have also not found one that is comfortable for long periods of time.  That left me with wired headsets.

But I have had a lot of issues with wireless headsets.  First off: I hate, hate, hate the shape of the new Samsung headphones.  Also, I tend to break them because I am constantly tangling the cord up and catching it on things. (Much to the amusement of my children- it is usually the gear shift or e-brake on my car and I end up being jerked backwards when I get out.)    I also throw them in my purse and they tangle up in everything.  Needless to say all that stress on the wires means I go through several pair a year.  Generally the cheap Skull Candy headphones are my set of choice.  I also get a lot of complaints when I am on my wired headset.  The in-line mic is constantly brushing against my shirt or picking up wind noise from the AC vents in the car.

When I got my first set from Soundpeats, they were the Q800 and I was head over heels.  They were the best of both worlds for me.  I got the comfort of normal ear buds without the wires.  Because they rest comfortably on your neck (the neck band is soft and very flexible so it fits a variety of neck sizes) they don't pull on your ears like normal ear buds.  This also nearly completely eliminates wind or brushing noise from the mic.  Now,  I don't know if I have abnormally small ear canals or something, but no matter the brand, even the tiniest rubber fittings tend to irritate my ears after a while.  I am able to leave these on my neck and just pop the buds in my ears when I need to.  When I am not using the ear buds, they secure nicely by magnets so they aren't flopping around.  And they come in pink?  Did I mention that?

You can also connect them to more than one device at a time.  Which means I can be using them to watch a movie on my tablet but if my phone rings, I can answer it.  And speaking of connectivity- I have never had a bluetooth device that pairs easier.  They also have this nifty feature, if you are out of range of your device, they start to vibrate.  The range on these are great.  I can easily go into the next room and not loose connection, but if I do wander too far away, I am alerted before I spend too much time talking to myself.


So how did they save me over $1000 today? My wallet case holds several credit cards, my ID and even has a pocket for cash.  Today, I was at the grocery store  and loaded my goodies in the car and was a courteous shopper and put my cart in the cart corral.  I had nearly gotten back to the car when my headset started buzzing. I realized right away that it was the proximity alert and I was too far from my phone.  OMG!  MY PHONE!!!  I rushed back to the cart just in time to see two teen boys holding my phone and looking inside the case.  Their eyes were lit up like it was Christmas.  I snatched my phone out of the kid's hand and said "Thanks for finding my phone."  They instantly deflated!  It was like I ruined their weekend (lol I probably did!)

But can you imagine?   I keep everything backed up to Google, so I wouldn't have lost contacts, photos or my precious calendar, but I would be out the $750 to get a new phone.  That would have been bad enough but now add to that the fact that my ID, my credit cards, a couple gift cards and nearly $100 cash was in the case!  And the icing on that crap cake was that it was 3:00 on a Friday- I would have been broke, with no ID all weekend long.    I tallied it up and I would have lost over $1000, not to mention all the inconveniences of replacing everything, if I hadn't been alerted that my phone was gone.

So who would have imagined that my cute pink headset that I love so much would also turn out to be a pretty handy anti-theft device!    The moral of the story is that if you are going to put all your eggs in one basket by having your wallet and phone in the same case- you had better make darn sure you aren't ever careless and if you are- have a bluetooth headet that freaks out if your phone is too far away!

Oh yeah- and I did I mention:  IT COMES IN PINK!!!

Below are links to the headsets on Amazon.   They are prime eligible and really a great deal!
Q800 in Pink
The Q800 in black
The Q900 (a little different button design) in Black


You can also follow them on Facebook and get a chance to try out a pair for yourself

Testing out a Qi Charger.

What in the world is a Qi Charger?  It sounds like some Reiki or New Age gizmo doesn't it?  Well it is actually the proper term for the wireless charger that allows you to charge through your phone. The newer Samsung phones offer this feature built in, as well several Nokia models.  There are a handful of others but I am not going to try to list them all since newer phones hit the market every day. 

If you want to know how they actually work, Android Central goes into great detail here. In a very basic and over-simplified nutshell, they are chargers that plug into the wall and create a tiny electrical field that your Qi enabled phone can pick up and use to charge your phone.  

Why is this cool and oh so necessary?

 Tell me if this sounds familiar to you:  Right now my phone is sitting on my desk next to me and my charging cord is lying on the floor. (Where is my Qi charger, you ask?  It has been commandeered by Number 1 Son).  As I go about my day, I will come back to my laptop several times and there's a good chance that I will never burn the extra calorie to reach down and grab the cord, until I notice my battery is low.   When I do finally think to plug it in, there will probably be at least one time that I will either tangle up the cord or try to walk away with my phone plugged in. 

But if my Qi charger were here, I could set my phone down on it, and it would charge while it was sitting there.  I wouldn't have to worry about cords or anything.  (and don't get me started on those ridiculously fragile micro USB cords that are darn near disposable, it seems every time I turn around I have another cord that doesn't want to connect).  That's the magic of Qi charging and it is truly the wave of the future.  Even Ikea is getting on the Qi bandwagon and will be coming out with a line of furniture that has Qi charging pads built right in.  Car makers are starting to place wireless charging pads in new models, and I am sure that other industries will eventually follow. It wouldn't be hard to imagine these little gizmos in bars, restaurants, and lobbies everywhere. 

So what's the downside? 

Well, it is slower than wired charging.  And while that sounds like a major downside, it really isn't.  First off, high powered wireless charging probably would be a safety issue.  That amount of juice would surely deliver a jolt, wouldn't it?  Not to mention the tinfoil hat crowd would probably freak about EMFs and cancer etc.   But if used properly, you don't need to worry about fast charging with it.  A Qi charger is pretty much meant to keep your device at optimal charge, or maybe charge over night.   Most people have access to chargers throughout the day, but just neglect to plug in. With a Qi charger, it is much easier to maintain charges.

The bigger downside is the lack of conductivity through many cases. those heavy duty cases that we all need to protect our phone tend to restrict conduction.  I do believe though, that as the technology becomes more popular, we will see cases that have some sort of conductor built-in.

Testing the Qi Chargers

My favorite phone case is thick and leather and did not work with the Samsung brand nor the Insignia (Best Buy) wireless charger.  So I was not very hopeful when I tried out this wireless charger from Mikobox.  But it did work!  Not perfectly, I had to find that sweet spot, but it would charge.   I conducted a pseudo-scientific test comparing charging times between the Qi charger and an aftermarket charger I picked up at the gas station (because my micro-usb cord crapped out yet again!) 

Phone at 23% placed on Qi charger (IN MY CASE). Phone said estimated charging time until full charge was 2h 17min. It took nearly 7 minutes for the phone to charge to 25% Charging time now says 2 hr 16 min until fully charged.

Plugged in to micro usb charger using aftermarket micro usb cord. Time to completely charged was 1hr 58 min. It took 2 min 45 sec to charge to 26% New time to full charge was 1 hr 55 min.

Back on the wireless charger, this time without case. Charging time to fully charged was 2hr 12 minutes. It took 5 min 43 sec to charge to 28%. New time to full charge, 2 hr 9 min.

As I get my hands on other chargers to test out, I will share my experience with them as well.  

I do have one small bit of warning-  they look like coasters or mug warmers.  I have had to add a message to the outer ring of mine that says "not a coaster!" because people keep trying to set drinks on it.

Vivo Phone Cases

I will admit, I have had more than my fair share of crappy cheap phone cases from Amazon. Recently, however, I was totally blown away by a case from Vivo.   I got my hands on this case for the Galaxy S7 and was totally delighted.   




























Everything about it looks and feels high end. The attention to the little details is very surprising. It comes packaged in a really nice box and the case is in a little pouch. It reminded me of a fine handbag. It fits snugly on the S7, and adds very little bulk to the phone but if you are looking for big-time protection, this might not be the case for you.  Check out the packaging:




The only way I can describe it is "executive". This is definitely the type of case you might expect an attorney or CEO to use. The slots in the back are great to hold an ID, credit card or maybe a couple business cards.  Even the underside of the case is classy,  it is lined.  

The only negative I have about the case is the lack of top and bottom protection- it is open on the top and bottom. I probably would not use this as an everyday case because I am a little rougher on my phone, but it would be a nice case to have for dressier occasions or for someone who isn't hard on their phones.

Also the glass screen protector that was included does not appear to fit the phone, it leaves quite a bit of space on either side. Perhaps I was accidentally given the wrong screen protector- which is not a big deal since I don't use them anyways, but since they include it in the item description- I felt I should include it in the review.

 I outlined the glass (don't laugh- I never claimed to be able to draw- but it gets the job done).

I couldn't help but be reminded of when I worked in the corporate world and would attend corporate events and they would have this nice little gifts for the attendees.  This had the look and feel of an executive gift and would be great for one of those times when you don't want to spend a lot but look like you did.