Review: Nexus 5 Armourdillo Hybrid Protective Case

Brandon Orndorff
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Review: Nexus 5 Armourdillo Hybrid Protective Case

Armourdillo Protective Nexus 5 CaseThe Armourdillo Hybrid Protective Case for the Google Nexus 5 is a rather slim looking case with a rigid design and mid range protection. One good feature of the Armourdillo case is the fact that it has a kickstand that closes flush against the back of the case when not in use. This is the first time we have done a hands on with any cases in this series and like its unique design and ease of use.

Armourdillo Hybrid Protective Case Design
The Armourdillo Hybrid Protective Case for the Nexus 5 has a dual layer design like most protective cases although instead of a smooth back like most it has a bumpy exoskeleton. This exterior does make this one of the easiest cases to hold on to as well as giving it a design that is like no other case. There is a kickstand built into the exterior part of the case that easily unfolds to allow use and closes flush with the device when not being used. The case is rather thin for a protective case which makes it feel better in your hands.

The cutouts are precise for all components and soft enough at the buttons to allow volume and power to be controlled easily. The design also allows for the Nexus 5 to easily be placed into he case and removed as needed. Another great feature for those that are interested in making your Nexus 5 stand out when people see your device are the colors provided. Unlike most cases where the exterior shell comes in different colors with the interior generally being the standard black you can get the rubber interior in of course black or, red, green, blue, or purple.

Armourdillo Hybrid Protective Case Protection
As we mentioned earlier the Armourdillo Hybrid Protective Case for the Nexus 5 has a dual layer design. This being said both layers seem to absorb impact from drops as its a rather soft case. The corners are protected by the exoskeleton as well as the polycarbonate interior adding a little extra protection to the edges. There is a raised bevel in the from to allow for face down table settings and bumps along the entire case to allow it to be set or dropped in almost any direction with the case taking most of the impact. We will mention that we actually dropped the case after our video review and the kickstand did shoot off. This being said the Nexus 5 make it through the ordeal without a scratch. The drop was unintentional otherwise we would have tried to get it on video.

Conclusion
We do have other Nexus 5 covers that we prefer to this one mostly because of its less than quality feel. Although its protection is much better than we give it credit for by making that statement since we saw it first hand protect one of our Nexus 5’s. Personal opinion now is that the bumps along the case that are certainly an added protective feature will probably collect a lot of lint, dirt, etc. We also noticed that getting it out of your pocket if wearing pants that actually fit is difficult at times due to the soft case sticking to your pocket. All this said its a very protective case and for the $17 it will set you back its a great deal and we recommend trying it for those that are interested in a low cost protective case with a kickstand.

Sony Xperia M – powered by a dual core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor

Brandon Orndorff
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Sony Xperia M – powered by a dual core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor

Sony has its hands full with the Z Ultra, Z, U, T, SP, S, L, J, E and now it has launched the Xperia M as well. Indeed, this is a long list of devices in the Xperia line up and you are bound to be confused which one to opt for, and more importantly, how does the Xperia M fare in the Sony Xperia Mface of the ingrown competition.

Design/hardware/build/size

Of late, the Xperia devices launched by Sony feature the new and advanced design theme, Omni Balance. The Omni Balance theme transition evolves to some extent on the M as well. The aluminum power button on the Xperia M proudly occupies the right hand side apart from the camera shutter and the volume keys.

At the bottom end of the device, you can find the lanyard connector and also a micro USB connector which sits on the upper left hand corner of the device. The top of the device has a 3.5mm headphone jack, located centrally. The Xperia M sports a 4-inch touchscreen display. On the front, you can also find the illuminating area, microphone, proximity and light sensor as well as the front facing snapper.

At the rear end of the device, you can find the rear speaker, microphone, flash and the rear camera. The speakers are located at the bottom of the device. The back cover of the device is removable and it bears the Xperia as well as the Sony logo on it. The Sony logo is placed at the center while the Xperia logo is above the rear speaker.

Display

The Sony Xperia M is a perfect choice if using social networks, browsing the web, texting and making calls are your primary purposes of buying the phone. The Xperia M features 854 x 480 screen resolution and the 4-inch screen is ideal for everyday use.

It can get slightly tricky to hold the device outdoors at arm’s length. However, bring the device little closer and the visibility of the screen greatly improves. In bright sunshine, the display needs to be somewhat shielded to view the screen properly. This is one area where the more expensive devices easily trump over the Xperia M.

Your review of the phone’s screen will depend to a great extent on how you are using the phone. If you happen to be a picture or video buff, then the Xperia M’s display might disappoint you to some extent. However, considering the fact that the phone is priced below £200, the video and picture quality is rather impressive and users who are looking to buy a phone in this price segment would surely be impressed with the outcome. The Xperia M is quite pocket-friendly and does what it promises.

Software

The Sony Xperia M is powered by a dual-core, 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. The Xperia M comes with 4 GB internal memory and 1 GB RAM cache. Also, it is equipped with GPS, Bluetooth and Wi Fi connectivity.

The Xperia M runs on 4.1 Android OS and it is faintly behind the newest software stakes. Though it is expected that Sony will launch the OS update, nothing can be said as to when the updates will be launched.

Owing to the 1 GB RAM cache, and the dual-core Snapdragon Qualcomm processor, using the Xperia M is but a breeze. Usage is quite slick and lag free. However, you may experience some lag when you are multi-tasking on the device.

All standard Google apps come pre-installed on the Xperia M apart from many value apps from Sony. Being an Android phone, the Xperia M has access to the Play Store by Google. Thus, users can easily customize and personalize the device with regard to the look as well as the available apps. Users can customize widgets, app tray, background and also the notification lights.

Camera

The Sony Xperia M is equipped with a rear facing as well a front facing camera. The front is a VGA snapper ideal for video calling and can also capture pictures. However, the video quality is not impressive. The rear one is a 5-megapixel snapper with LED flash and auto-focus and it can record video at 720p HD but lacks the capability of recording videos at 1080 full HD.

Overall, the image and video clarity is good and also scores well when clicked indoors, under artificial lights. However, the camera of the Xperia M struggles somewhat with color definition. Sometimes, the colors of the pictures look a lot saturated than they should ideally be. Both the rear as well as the front camera is equipped with 4x digital zoom and this feature can be used with the volume keys. The 4x digital zoom feature applies to pictures as well as videos. The Xperia M also has a dedicated camera button and makes it easy to hold the phone and click stable pictures.

Battery

The Xperia M packs in a 1750 mAh battery and this is certainly not the biggest of all batteries. However, the Xperia M is not a very big phone. The battery to screen capacity is quite good. With a full charge, you can use the Xperia M for the entire day. For light users, the battery may well last for a good two days without requiring to be charged.

The Xperia M’s battery also features a STAMINA mode. It was first seen on the Xperia Z and now the STAMINA mode makes its way to the M as well. Users also have an option to turn the STAMINA mode on or off and it tends to have a significant impact on the device’s battery life since it wisely manages the various background processes of the phone.

Conclusion

There are hardly any faults with the Xperia M to talk of. The M ticks all the required boxes and is a good performing device with a wide range of software and connectivity options. However, it fails to have a wow factor owing to standard features and usability. Overall, the Xperia M is worth a buy, priced below £200.

Review: Nexus 5 Spigen Slim Armor Case

Brandon Orndorff
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Review: Nexus 5 Spigen Slim Armor Case

The Spigen Slim Armor cases for the Google Nexus 5 fall inline with Spigen’s quality design, slim, stylish and protective cases you expect from them. Most protective cases are bulky and less than attractive but Spigen never fails to meet our expectations. While we are partial to Spigen Slim Armor cases since they are what we generally have on our daily use phones see below for our full review of this one for the Google Nexus 5.

Nexus 5 Spigen Case

Spigen Slim Armor Nexus 5 Case Design
The Slim Armor case for the Nexus 5 as expected has a dual layer design as do most protective cases. The layers consist of a TPU case and polycarbonate hard case as a two toned design. We have reviewed the white version which has the inner black matte layer showing at the top, bottom, volume, power and around the camera as well as bevel. The white outer shell for this one is white although it also comes in black and Champagne gold. The case is thin with perfect cutouts for all areas of the device including the camera, microphone, volume, power buttons and speaker. When you hold your device within the case you will notice that it really does’t add much to the device keeping its form as close to true form as possible with any protective case.

Spigen Slim Armor Nexus 5 Case Protection
While the Spigen Slim Armor case is the thinnest case with its level of protection the dual layer design creates a well designed protective case. The inner polycarbonate layer adds superior impact protection as well as grip to reduce drops. The outer TPS shell gives it the hard outer protection thats required to protect the Nexus 5 from drops on rigid surfaces. You will also notice that the Slim Armor case has a raised bevel around the touchscreen to allow it to be placed face down without worry about scratches on the screen or scuffing up a screen protector.

Conclusion
We again are partial to the Spigen Slim Armor series of cases although its hard to fight us on this as you can see the design and protection benefits. As far as Nexus 5 cases go its one worth checking out. See the video review to get a better idea of how it looks and feels on the device as well as its incredible slim design. As a bonus the Nexus 5 Slim Armor case only costs around $25-$30 making it one of the less expensive options for protection.

Premium Qi Wireless Charging Car Mount Comparison

Brandon Orndorff
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Premium Qi Wireless Charging Car Mount Comparison

While there have been a few manufacturers unveil Qi compatible wireless charging car mounts there have been very few high quality ones on the market thus far. At CES 2014 in Las Vegas we had a chance to check out two high quality car mounts with Qi charging capabilities and would like to detail each with their benefits. We also took the time to record small demo’s for each of the mounts so you can make your own decision. The two car mounts that we are comparing here are the iOttie Easy Flex Wireless Car Mount and Charger and the InCharge HOLD Inductive Qi Charging Phone Mount.

iOttie Easy Flex Wireless Car Mount and Charger
The first car mount that caught our eye is the Easy Flex Wireless Car Mount and Charger made by iOttie. This mount easily grabs your device when setting it in place in the same way their other one touch mounts work. There is a button in the center of the mount that when your device touches it the sides close and grab your device firmly. One the device is secure it will start charging. We tested the charger with a Nexus 5, Galaxy Note 3, and Galaxy S4 that had a Qi Pad behind the battery. All three devices started charging easily without having to mess with the placement of the device. This charging car mount also swivels so that you can have the device in portrait or landscape mode when driving. The last feature that we did notice is that no matter how thick your phones case is it still seems to charge just fine. See the video demo below of the iOttie Easy Flex Wireless Car Mount and Charger.

InCharge HOLD Inductive Qi Charging Phone Mount
The second car mount we tested at CES this year was the InCharge HOLD Inductive Qi Charging Car Mount. This car mount was a little less stylish as well as a bit harder to review due to them having it locked into a frame to avoid having their Nexus 5 demo device from walking away. We did however get a good feel of the car mount anyway. The charging capabilities of the mount are very well implemented as we could easily fit our fingers between the Nexus 5 and the Wireless charging car mount, still showing the device getting a charge. The sides of the car mount have to be pushed against your device to hold it in place although there was a button on the lower right to release the device for easy undocking. See the full video demo from CES below.

Conclusion
While both mounts have the same quality of inductive charging as well as a strong grip on your device we are partial to the iOttie due to its smaller size and overall function and quality feel. Once we get our hands on each of these to do full detailed reviews and use them for a while we will update you with anything new we notice. In the mean time keep an eye out for these to go up for sale soon.

Nexus 5 Setup Instructions for a New Device

Brandon Orndorff
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Nexus 5 Setup Instructions for a New Device

The Google Nexus 5 is one of the best smartphones you can currently get right out of the box. With its new and completely improved Android 4.4 KitKat os its already snappy and clean from the start. There are however a few things to consider to give you the best experience and better performance.

While every user of any smartphone uses them in different ways there are a few essential items to consider when getting started with your new Nexus 5. With its new version of KitKat and Google Now being integrated more than before, its a smarter more information rich device. So without any more procrastination here it is.

Instructions to Setup your new Nexus 5

  • Device Security – One area that is missed by the initial setup on the device is security. Most users want some sort of lock screen passcode or pattern lock to keep random people from accessing your device. Navigate to your devices settings -> security -> screen lock and then select the method you would like to use for security from either Pattern, PIN or face unlock. The Nexus 5 will walk you through from here and allow you to lock down your device.
  • Google Play PIN Setup – Second item that falls into the security section but is more or less just to help you control who installs what on your device is adding a Google Play PIN. This way your kids or anyone else on your device can’t just start downloading paid apps all willy nilly. Open the Play app and select settings -> user controls -> require password for purchases, choose a password setting and then type your password in.
  • Set Mobile Data Limits – While very few of us have unlimited data plans these days you will want to set a data limit so that you know when your close or over your limits. Playing games or watching Netflix can eat through data quickly and you don’t want that bill coming your way. You can setup mobile data limits by navigating to settings -> data usage -> enable mobile data -> set data limit. From here you can slide the vertical bars to the dates of your plan start and finish as well as the horizontal bar to the data limit required. Take note that this may not be exactly what your carrier shows as data usage but should be very close.
  • Install Lookout Mobile Security – Lookout Mobile will not only help you out by scanning apps as they are installed for malicious injections but also find your lost or stolen Nexus 5 from any other tablet or computer. This is a requirement on all of my devices so that I protect my investment.
  • Battery Improvements – There are many settings to improve the battery life on your Nexus 5. Please refer to the following article on Improving Nexus 5 Battery Life for many ways to improve the battery.

The items above may mostly look like security although you will notice that some of the items will greatly improve your Nexus 5 experience. Peace of mind is almost as important as battery life when it comes to phones these days since they are no longer $20 flip phones :).

Android vs. iOS In-Car UI at CES 2014

Brandon Orndorff
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Android vs. iOS In-Car UI at CES 2014

With the Consumer Electronics Show coming to Las Vegas again this year we are starting to take a look at a few Android related items we can expect to see there. One of the fights going on right now between Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS is the battle between them Android in-car system UIboth trying to get into your cars. Both are very large and competitive companies trying to get into automotive platforms for various manufacturers. This would not only be a huge win for either company but also a huge advancement for the automotive industry and opportunity for developers to get into yet another field of development.

Apple has already mentioned their in-car iOS and Google plans to respond with their own rollout in just a few weeks at the CES 2014. Google’s intention is to create a standard for all vehicles within their Android OS to create a level playing field with much easier platforms for developers. The goal is to create a larger user base as well as more apps for users in-car experience.

No manufacturer has been very successful at their own in-car app experience as well as apps having to be developed differently for each car manufacturer. No developer wants to have to create their app for every single brand. Can you imagine writing something for BMW and then having to start over with only the idea to Honda and then again 30 more times to catch everyone? While their aren’t many details on in-car app standards their has been a lot of hype over the idea over in-vehicle apps going digital among automotive stakeholders.

While Apple has already built quite a large amount of hype Google plans to use Miracast (a peer-to-peer wireless screen casting technology) by WiFi Direct (which is a standard for those who don’t know). What this would do is screencast your Android devices screen onto the in-car infotainment screen. This would require a WiFi signal of some sort to be built within the car although not a large ask for an open-source solution.

Currently the large discussion around Google’s Android being the solution is the amount of fragmentation within the OS. This being said they would likely support only newer devices running at least Jelly Bean from what we have seen so far. Apple is the leader in the discussion right now but if Google can answer the fragmentation and Wifi questions well enough they could be in the fight for in-car applications.

We would be glass to hear your input on the whole argument as well as thoughts you have on the best solution for in-car experiences. Otherwise we will see you at Google’s announcement at CES in just less than a week.

Motorola Moto G – Stylish Android Smartphone with very decent configuration

Brandon Orndorff
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Motorola Moto G – Stylish Android Smartphone with very decent configuration

After staying away for almost two years, Google owned Motorola is all set to make its comeback in India with its latest affordable yet powerful Smartphone named as “Motorola Moto G”. This Smartphone would be launched in January 2014 at a very competitive price segment. ‘Moto G’ is already one of the hottest topics on various tech blogs worldwide. Motorola is expected to score a major successful comeback with this Smartphone.

Motorola Moto GMotorola Moto G is an affordable Android Smartphone which boasts both stylish & attractive appearance as well as decent hardware configuration. This Smartphone will be launched in more than 60 countries by 2014. According to the manufacturers, Motorola Moto G is well equipped to serve you high end features at very attractive price tag.

Now, let us have a closer look on the upcoming Motorola Moto G:

Design & Display:

Motorola Moto G is bounded on a stylish plastic body, which is not of cheap quality. According to its dimension readings, it is 11.6 mm thick and weighs 143 grams. Moto G would be available in various vibrant color selections, which will attract younger buyers towards it.

This Smartphone sports a 4.5-inch HD ‘edge-to-edge’ display touch screen, which is capable of producing a resolution of 720×1280 pixels at an appreciable rate of 329 pixels per inch. It is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3, which is welcomed in this price segment.

Processor & RAM:

For a smoother and hassle free operation, Moto G is powered by a 1.2GHz Quad Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 coupled with 1GB of RAM and Adreno 305 GPU. This hardware configuration enables a user to perform multi-tasking with an ease on this Smartphone. Moto G can play heavy applications and games very smoothly without any lags.

Operating System:

Motorola Moto G runs Android 4.3 Jelly Bean Operating System. However, the manufacturers have confirmed that Moto G will taste Android 4.4 KitKat OS update in January 2014. It is also affirmed that India will be getting Android 4.4 KitKat OS running Moto G Smartphones.

Camera:

Motorola Moto G houses a 5 megapixels rear camera supported with an LED flash. The rear camera features Geo-tagging, Touch Focus, Face Detection and Panorama mode. It can also 720p HD videos at a rate of 30fps. For your video calls, Moto G carries an 1.3 Megapixels secondary camera on its front.

Memory:

Motorola Moto G will be available in two variants. One carries 8GB of internal memory, while the second one carries 16GB of it. An external MicroSD card slot is absent on both the variants.

Connectivity:

Motorola Moto G supports 3G, GPRS with EDGE, Bluetooth 4.0 with A2DP, GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS, WI-Fi, WI-Fi Hotspot, MicroUSB 2.0 and other standard connectivity options. It misses NFC as a cost cutting measure.

Battery:

Motorola Moto G is fuelled with a 2070mAH battery. The manufacturers claim that this Smartphone will serve 30% more talk time than that of Apple’s latest flagship iPhone 5S.

Our Word on Motorola Moto G:

Motorola Moto G is expected to be launched with a price tag of around Rs.11, 300 for 8GB variant, and around Rs. 12,600 for 16GB variant. At this price segment, Moto G would be getting a tough competition with Samsung Galaxy Core and Nokia Lumia 625. Nevertheless, both of them are powered by a Dual Core Processor, while the Moto G is powered by a Quad Core Processor. Overall, Motorola Moto G has all the essentials to serve you a complete Smartphone experience.

Author bio:-

Nisha Pandey is a professional writer and an occasional guest blogger interested in business, marketing and SEO related topics. She also loves to write about mobile and technical related topics at her free times.

Micro USB Flash Drives From Sony (USB Drives for Smartphones)

Brandon Orndorff
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Micro USB Flash Drives From Sony (USB Drives for Smartphones)

Sony has announced Smartphone compatible micro USB flash drive that works on Android smartphones and tablets alike. While the flash drives have the microUSB it also has a USB 2.0 connection for other devices. Currently the drive is supported on all devices running Android 4.0.3 to 4.3 with the promise that KitKat support will be available as well very soon. Sony also states that the drives are fully compatible with USB-on-the-go (OTG) which connects to Android devices making them hosts for the drive.

Sony MicroUSB Flash DriveWhile most users will look at these drives as un-needed due to the many sharing features baked into Android there are many uses for the drives such as device backups and being able to share when there is no Wifi and Data may be over limits. The flash drives can also be used to install apps on in the event you want the added space in the same way a microSD card allows app installs.

These uses being stated we see potential for those that flash new ROM’s to devices as you will be able to download the flash able files to the drive from your computer and just plug it in to your phone to backup your current ROM too and install the new one from. Lets state another obvious use which would be taking a trip and wanting a drive to hold a few movies for the kids.

Sony states that there are going to be 3 version released first that will be in storage sizes of 8GB, 16GB and 32GB. This being said the cost of these is rather high for the storage sizes but still worth checking out. Each drives price is said to be $19.99, $29.99 and $62.99 respectively. We say this seems high for the simple fact that you can get a cable that converts a normal USB flash drive to microUSB for just a few dollars. If your interested in the microUSB Flash drives they will be available from Sony in January 2014.

Please let us know how you feel about the new storage drives from Sony and any uses you can think of worth mentioning as well as negative aspects you may notice.

The Top Things that Android can Do that IOS Still Can’t

Brandon Orndorff
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The Top Things that Android can Do that IOS Still Can’t

Why Android is Better than iOSThe war between iOS and Android has been raging for many years now, but as someone who sits firmly in the ‘Android’ camp I have a hard time understanding how anyone could prefer Apple’s OS any more. Sure, at one time iOS was the faster operating system and many people preferred the look of it, but since Android has been sped up and refined it really wins hands-down in terms of what it’s capable of.

The problem of course is that Apple fans are incredibly loyal, and most won’t have looked into Android or seen just what it can do. To help illustrate the chasm between these two operating systems then, here is a list of things that Android can do that iOS can’t. When you get to the end of this list you’ll probably be surprised at just how behind Apple are. And this isn’t even the half of it…

Change the Home screen

One of the coolest things about Android is the fact that you can completely swap out the homescreen launcher to give yourself a different way of launching your apps and to change the look and feel of your phone. This is what allows true customisation and means that every Android phone looks different and much more personal – but with iOS you’re stuck with that grid…

Add Widgets

Widgets are another cool feature of Android that allow you to create a more information-rich and attractive looking homescreen. With iOS you’re just stuck with icons in a grid…

Communicate Between Apps

If you take a photo with your camera in Android you can then hit the share button and open it in a picture editor, hit the share button and open the shared picture in Instagram, then upload it there before sharing to Facebook and Twitter. In iOS you have to open each app individually then load the file, and you can’t even browse through a proper file explorer when you do so. Good luck with e-mail attachments!

Choose a Different Screen Size

One of the most limiting things of iOS of all is the fact that it only comes one a couple of lines of hardware. That means you can’t opt to run it on a device with a 5” screen, or on a device that has a stylus, or on a device that has a flip out keyboard… you get the idea. Basically with iOS you are stuck with the one form factor that Apple deems appropriate – and it’s a form factor with a tiny screen you have to squint at at that.

Multitask

Sure, iOS can multitask in that it can have multiple apps open at once, but if you want to view two of those apps at once then you’ll need an Android device. Most Androids now come with some form of multi-window multitasking built in, but even those that don’t will allow you to download ‘popup’ apps from the Play Store. No equivalent exists for iOS…

Drag Files

The fact remains that the only way to copy files between your iPhone and PC is via iTunes. Sure, you can use cloud services like Dropbox or your can e-mail files to yourself, but when you want to quickly drop a bunch of photos or music files into a folder these are fiddly methods at best. Why shouldn’t you be allowed to access your own files however you want? With Android you can…

Run Emulators

There are a lot of good games available for iOS to be fair, but the simple fact that there are no emulators available puts it miles behind Android as a gaming platform. On an Android you have access to every PSOne, N64, Megadrive, Gameboy, DS, SNES, Spectrum and DOS game available which means there are thousands and thousands more classic games you play completely for free.

HDMI

Another thing you can do with a lot of Android devices that you can’t do with the iPhone is plug them into your TV’s HDMI port and then stream whatever’s on the screen to your TV. With an Android you can play Mario 64 on the big TV with a Wii controller.

This is really only scratching the surface of the things that Android’s flexibility allow it to do over iOS. Now that it runs buttery-smooth too, there really is no compelling reason to choose iOS instead…

Review: Hi-Call Bluetooth Gloves by Hi-Fun (video)

Brandon Orndorff
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Review: Hi-Call Bluetooth Gloves by Hi-Fun (video)

Hi-Call Bluetooth Gloves by Hi-FunWith Winter here the cold weather is on its way so we decided to take a look at some Android accessories that would be useful in the cold. The first accessory that caught our attention was the Hi-Call bluetooth gloves created by an Italian company called Hi-Fun. These gloves are quite simply a novelty type of accessory but a lot of fun just the same. We will dive into features and usage first since thats the cool part and give our thoughts on the Hi-Call Bluetooth gloves design after since the design is a bit less impressive.  Keep in mind that these are in no way handsfree as you use your hand as a phone while leaving the phone in your pocket.

Hi-Call Bluetooth Gloves Features
These gloves come right out of a movie when it comes to the features. There is a speaker in the thumb and microphone in the pinky so you can literally put your hand up to your ear as if you are pretending to make a phone call. There is a small board sewn into the wrist of the left glove that has a multifunction button, LED and power button. You can easily answer incoming calls by clicking the multifunction button once and reject calls by pressing and holding it for a couple seconds during an incoming call. You can also use voice functionality of your device by holding the multifunction button down until you hear a tone and talking as if using Google Voice on a Nexus 5 or Siri on an iPhone. Has easy charging as well from the wrist of the left glove. The thumb and pointer on both gloves have capacitive fabric for using your devices touch screen with the gloves on.

Hi-Call Bluetooth Gloves Performance
The gloves connection to your smartphone is via bluetooth and works up to 39 feet away although thorough testing shows that you want to keep it within 20 feet for best call quality. After other testing we found that you can use them pretty heavily for a full day before needing a charge but sometimes there is a reduction in call quality after about 12 hours so its good to keep them charged. I personally would hold them up against any bluetooth headset as far as incoming sound quality and microphone output of sound. We assumed a little muffled sound would exist but didn’t seem to have an issue with it.

Hi-Call Bluetooth Gloves Design
So now we are into the design of the gloves which isn’t horrible but leaves much room for improvement. While the gloves are extremely comfortable they are thick and not too stylish. The control board that is sewn into the left wrist with the buttons seems to move a bit causing you to have to press just above the sewn buttons to actually hit the button to answer calls. As far as charging the gloves the micro USB port seems to line up perfectly with the hole that is shown to plug it in no matter how hard you are on the gloves themselves.

Conclusion
The Hi-Call bluetooth gloves by Hi-Fun are extremely comfortable and function exactly as they state although we would like to see a few more improvements on the design before wearing them in public. The cost of these gloves are around $70 – $80 USD which is fair due to the lack of any other real competition for what it is although is a bit high for the average user to grab a pair. I do have to say that the multifunction button needs a manual (does come with one) to use but one you get it down they are a lot of fun. This is a novelty item and not a daily use kind of accessory as stated earlier but worth checking out.

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