Android UK News, Reviews and Allsorts » Accessory Reviews

Giftlist: Android Bluetooth Speaker

Android UK — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 08:08:00 +0000

With Christmas round the corner, I am already on the lookout for some cool accessories to trick out my mobile phone. One gift that is sure to be a hit is the Android Bluetooth Speaker and Handsfree which just rocks (literally)

It’s really great to find a product that is both cute, cleaver, universally compatible and functional and the Android Bluetooth speaker is most definitely that. Coming in at a slight under 20 quid this gift is both budget friendly and really useful at the same time.

The Green speaker is built quite nicely, it has a great metallic green finish to it, and the head acts both as a button and as a twisting control. Quite cutely, you can also move its arms to pose them up or down. On the back, the speaker has a small black switch to switch it off and on and the connection fro the USB.

The build quality of the parts could be a little bit higher as it felt fairly fragile but then again- you aren’t going to use this as a rugby ball!

In the Box

The Android speaker ships with a metallic stand for keeping him floating above your desk and a USB mini charging cable. ( YES! no batteries, it doesn’t need them!)

Set Up

Getting started is a breeze, pressing down on the android’s head for a few seconds will let out a tone which will put the speaker into sync mode. Connect to it using your Settings-> Wireless-> Bluetooth settings and you will find that you will be able to stream your music straight to the speaker straight away.

Speaker?…. but wait there’s more!

The speaker system is fantastic and quality sounds great for general day to day listening. And did I mention its LOUD!?

The really impressive thing is all the little touches that have been added:

Control your tracks- It It doesn’t just do sound it also lets you control the tracks by twisting the head.
Built in Microphone- By pressing the head down, you can use it as a handsfree kit. There is nothing funnier than hearing your best mate(who is an iPhone fan) talking out of a little green android.
Amazing range. – It includes Bluetooth 3.0 compatibility and has a staggering range. I used it to stream music in my lounge a good 6 metres away from my phone and it didn’t struggle once.

Brilliant Battery Life

I took it with me on a road trip and its advertised 10 hour battery life is pretty close to the mark. It managed to out last the trip from London to Birmingham ( both ways) and still have puff enough to act as background music for dinner. Amazing!

Overall an amazing little toy and one I couldn’t possibly recommend more go, get one! The Android Bluetooth speaker is available from our friends at Mobile Fun.

Geek Gift alert! Sony Bluetooth Watch – Music Edition

Android UK — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 13:00:17 +0000

Looks like Sony are growing their long list of accessories by offering Android phone owners the chance to look extra ~~geeky~~ cool by getting their sms and alerts sent straight to their…. .watch??

Thanks to a fine bunch of hackers over at xda developers- there is now an Android application that lets you sync your phone with the Sony Bluetooth watch. The watch is able to display your sms messages, show your email count, or even let you control your music over bluetooth.

Here is a demo of the watch in action via Youtube:

In order to get your Android phone working with the watch, make sure its on the list of supported handsets for the mobile app called open watch which is available on the open watch discussion thread here.

The Sony Ericsson MBW-150 Bluetooth Watch – Music Edition is available from Mobile fun ( thanks for the heads up!)

Essential Upgrades: Headphones

Android UK — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 08:06:05 +0000

Bought a super phone? Bet you like the other 84%* of people who still use the standard cheap earphones that come in the box and are missing out on whole world of sound. Good news is that there is a whole world of audio bliss available just a click away.

It always amazes me that despite having such super phones nowadays, people still seem to be content with the standard headsets that come out of the box. With HTC buying up Dr Dre’s Beats Audio, its a clear sign that its all about the sound as the next wave of super handsets hit. But what about everyone else who still have their trusty old smartphones?

While most make do with just the standard headsets that come in the box, there is a lot to be gained from picking up new headphones even if you have a tight budget.

I picked up two different headsets and tested to see if they improved my music experience using my trusty Sony Handset. To really kick the tyres, I wanted to see how they did with Rock – ( Bon Jovi Baby!) , Grime ( Tinchy Stryder- Yeah! ) and even classical (Bach….errr-yeah too I guess) Armed with my tunes preloaded on to my Sony Ericsson Arc, I ventured off into a new world of sound.

Jabra Chill Stereo headsets.

An amazing cool looking set of packaging ( see image below) belighs a really unique set of headphones. Once you have got the Jabra Chill package open, you can see the unique see the unique hook attachments( aka Ultimate-fit Eargel) which mean that your headphones sit firmly and comfortably in your ear. These were some of the most comfortable earphones I have ever worn.

Sound quality is a brilliant step up and especially noticeable when listening to audio books or banging out great tunes. Whether it was rock, Classical or even a bit of Grime music, these headphones really did the business. Amazing and a pleasure to use.

Coming in at a budget friendly 20 quid – for me was worth every penny ( especially at the gym). The Jabra Chill Headset is available at ThreeAccesories.

Sony Portable Handsfree HPM-77

For those of you looking for an improved set, look no further than the improved set from the Sony HPM-77. Far more conventional yet weighing in at a slightly higher 31 quid. For your money, you get an exemplorary quality set of speakers that are audibly superior to the Jabra, and positively blow away your standard earphones. In terms of features, it comes with a distinct circular case and a swapable 3.5mm plug which allows you to switch to even heavier earphones when you are at work without craning for the phone. Sadly Sony have not yet managed to get the headphone controls working on android, however this should no dissuade you from a comfortable and amazing set of earphones.

The Sony HPM-77 is a dream to use, and can be purchased from ThreeAccesories store

Google Nexus One Deskstand and Car Dock Reviewed

Android UK — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 10:45:00 +0000

Google made headlines with is Nexus One, however its really the accessories that bring it to the next level. After opening the Google style boxes its clear that the build quality of the products is as high as the boxes they are delivered in. The Desktop and Car dock are both amazing items and firmly take your nexus and puts it up high where it can be shown and used.

Desktop Dock

This dock is elegantly designed and really suits my desk very well. But the dock is more than just good looking, the features that make it really compelling is its functionality which make me think that someone over at Google actually gave some thought to usability when designing the phone. Firstly it charges the phone using the pins on the bottom of the phone, this eliminates the issue of finding the right cable to charge the phone and then forcing it into the micro usb port. When it comes to using the phone, it can be picked up without the dock still been attached to it really easily.

The coolest feature of the product is that the phone knows when its docked and automatically switches to clock mode. “Clock mode” is an app that comes built in with the Google Nexus One with which gives you quick access to your alarm and has a photo frame mode and can pump out you favourite tunes while charging,

Car Dock

If like me you are not chained to a desk the whole time, then the car dock is a life saver.

Like the Desktop dock, Nexus one Car Dock has a superb build quality. It feels really solid and is by far the best car dock I have ever bought. Like its Desktop companion, the device is charged using the pins on the bottom, this removes the need to firstly plug the micro usb. A clever touch is that it removes the need for that untidy wire dangling from your windscreen by allowing you to run the cabling neatly around the edges of the dashboard.

When docked, the phone automatically switches to navigator mode as soon as it is seated in the dock and uses the loud speaker on the back to shout out the turn by turn instructions. It took me quite a a while to realise there is a volume control on top.

The dock comes equipped with its own cable that you should. The dock requires a 2 amp connection so the average cigarette usb charger won’t have enough juice to use the dock to it full potential.

The dock really comes into its own when using the Google Maps Sat navigation. The turn by turn navigation works a treat, but you will need asbestos gloves to handle the phone when you remove it from the dock. It gets very hot! I think the 3G radio, GPS and CPU really heat up the device over long use. I paralleled the test using my Acer liquid and it also got really hot so it might require further investigation to it’s cause.

Where to get them

At the moment they are not being stocked by Vodafone, although I hope this will change soon.

The desktop dock(link here) and Car dock (link here)is currently available from Expansys

Here are some pictures of the items below without the phones.

Most wanted: Android Desk Genie

Android UK — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:23:14 +0000

The Desk Genie Universal Desk Charging Stand

(Comment: Spending so much time on phone, I thought it would be a good time with Christmas coming up to look at other items which aren’t always covered by blogs or other news. To this end I have come up with the Most Wanted section for the blog. As the name entails, I will only really be writing about things that I recommend. I hope you enjoy!)

While designs for phones have moved forward in leaps and bounds, designs for phone accessories seems to have advanced at a more leisurely pace.Whilst researching my annual Christmas wishlist I realised how few android accessories are available on the market which for us android owners presents a problem. Even the big carriers like Orange’s and T-Mobile’s own stores don’t sell accessories for the handsets The good news is that if you look hard enough there are some really great gifts out there to make your android phone feel right at home.

Last week, after some digging, I struck gold in the form of the Desk Genie Non slip deskstand

Non slip??

Its salient feature and genius is the use of a non slip pad to hold the phone in place which obviates the need for any clamps or clips on the dock. The result of this is that the desk genie can be used with pretty much any phone- even a bulky Blackberry seems to sit well with it. For sad obsessives like me who carry around more than one phone, then this works a treat.

I must admit I was quite sceptical when I saw pictures of it on the internet, however I can vouch that it works well. Its quite amazing to see the phone when its on the dock appears to defy gravity. What is even more priceless is to see the confused look on your workmate’s face when they realise that the handset is not stuck to the dock and can be removed easily-in fact my “magic” phone stand was quite the object of fascination.

Additional functions:

As a bonus, it is also usb connected thus allowing it to charge your existing handset. It even comes with selection of interchangeable heads so it works with Mini usb(G1) and micro usb (DEXT), which is a clever touch. It is thus be compatible with all current Android handsets on the market.

It also can act as a desktop memory card reader for your camera, and act as a desktop dock for your usb stick( did I mention it also has shiny blue light on it??) It doesn’t require any drivers- which means its really easy to install.

Good Price

Coming in at only 15 quid, it is a good functional gift for the one you love(and yourself)– in addition to mine I have bought one for the boss, and I will probably get one as a great Secret Santa gift.

Summary

The genie is an ideal phone companion for people like me who spend most of their days chained to the desk. Instead of letting my trusty G1 or Orange DEXT sit either sprawled on my desk or precariously perched on my tower unit whilst charging, it now has a good looking functional home next to my lcd monitors.

Pick one up from Mobile fun’s accessory store.

Have you got a great Mobile Accessory to talk about-? Feel free to send me details via the contact androidbloke link. If its something I like I may talk about it too!

Welcome to the Accessories Review Section- more reviews coming soon!

Android UK — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 21:28:50 +0000

Here at Android bloke, we are passionate about technology and our phones, and we love to see things that make the experience of using mobile devices better. We are looking to create a showcase of quality accessories that users will be able to trust and enjoy.

If you feel that your product represents these values and you would like to have reviewed- please feel free to contact us.