Hardware & Accessory Reviews

It's midnight. You're listening to a book on your phone to help you go to sleep. You realize that suddenly the character you've been following is now 80 years old and in the process of finally vanquishing her arch enemy that you've never heard of. How long were you asleep? Time to rewind--again. You take the phone off its charger, unlock it, swipe to hopefully land in the Bard app rather than the home screen, explore by touch to rewind (rewind kind of sucks in Bard, as an…

For anybody wanting to be able to hear the world around them while listening to music; podcasts; audiobooks; guided navigation or VoiceOver, my likely recommendation over recent years would be either bone-conduction headphones that leave your ears uncovered or headphones with some form of ‘transparency’ mode that uses built-in microphones to process ambient sounds. This changed last week with the launch of Sony's newest set of fully wireless earbuds, the Sony LinkBuds.

Priced at US$…

In January of 2018, I reviewed the original Orbit Reader 20 From Orbit Research. It was “intended primarily as a braille display for reading braille files and for connecting to external devices. With a much lower price point than other 20-cell displays, the Orbit Reader 20 does not have onboard translation options, Cursor Routing Buttons or many of the other features found in braille devices that cost thousands of dollars more.” Fast…

Introduction

I bought this on Mercado Livre for R$212. Quite expensive for a bathroom scale, but I was looking for something I could use without sighted help and this Xiaomi model seemed like a good bet. Other smart scales cost the double or even more.

Unboxing

It came faster than I thought it would, well packed. There were no issues on this matter.

usage

I had some minor difficulties with the Mi Fit…

I previously reviewedthe Brailliant BI 40X. In that evaluation, I mentioned there was a 20-cell model as well. Unlike when I reviewed the Focus Blue Fifth Generation displays, which are the same display other than the amount of cells, the two models of Brailliants sport some differences. Physical differences aside, the software functions the same. This includes how these…

The following review is an adapted version of this evaluation to suit the AppleVis website. It was originally written in April 2021. You can read the full review on the Technology, Research and Innovation Center's web page. This expanded evaluation includes a comprehensive review of the internal applications and how well the Brailliant BI 40X works with other screen readers not within the Apple ecosystem.

What's…

I am severely visually impaired and as such my vision varies depending on the light conditions around me. When the light is in my favour, I cannot see anything below nose level for around 20 feet and my peripheral vision starts at around 10 feet. I also suffer with disability glare.

I came across the Sunu band review, by accident, on the Blind Life YouTube channel. I then looked at other reviews of the Sunu band before deciding to buy one.

The Sunu band is intended to be used…

I was in search of a pair of Bluetooth earbuds which were noise cancelling, and had multi point capabilities. For those of you who aren't geeks like me, multi point is the ability to be simultaneously connected to two Bluetooth devices at a time. For example, my iPhone and my android media player, but that's neither here nor there. Anyway, upon recommendation from an AppleVis member, I decided to buy the jabra elite 85t's. At the time, when I first sought recommendations for…

The midiPlus AKM320 is a cheap, small, and compact USB MIDI keyboard that fits on a table or in your lap.
FEATURES:
• 32 velocity-sensitive keys
• Pitch and modjulation wheel
• Volume slider.
• Octave and transpose buttons up and down.
• Sustain pedal input.
• Works with iOS via camera adapter / MAC / Windows.

When I bought my midiPlus AKM320, I was quite surprised by the size. Bearing in mind that I had never owned a MIDI keyboard, I was not…

I thought I'd come on here and give my review on this awesome portable charger.
I received this charger as a christmas gift about a year ago. The person I got it from purchased it from qvc. Not sure of the price at the time but now it's around $39.00.
I did find one similar that has 2 USB ports, mine only has 1. This charger is about the size of a small cellphone. The concept is that this charger has one of those sticky patches on the back of it so that it can stick…

I have a love-hate relationship with Anker. I think their charging accessories are solid, but I find the rest of their products to be mediocre. I’m also not at all fond of their aesthetic choices. Why they insist on covering everything with shiny black plastic is baffling. Guys, it’s going to scratch 5 seconds out of the box. Still, some of their stuff is good, and I think I may have found another gem. Before we continue, I should add that this station does not have Magsafe charging. If you…

""Don't be afraid of the guy in shades …" -- Corey Hart

I love good headphones and clear discrete audio. Anyone who knows me will tell you I am a speaker nut! However, I am the last person you would typically expect to pay $250 for good headphones or sunglasses. I am way too cheap! I can hear my younger self saying Reggie; you have completely done lost your mind!"

My first pair of Frames was the first generation Alto model from 2019.
They…

Years ago, Bose introduced the SoundLink Mini 2, the second generation of its mini Bluetooth speaker. Now, they have the SoundLink Mini 2 SE. The changes are minor, but in this case, that’s a good thing. As they say, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. Here, I’ll give an overview of the changes and my thoughts and opinions.

What’s different?

As I said, not much has changed. Instead of Micro USB, you’ll find USB type C on the side for charging with modern (non-iPhone) cables.…

Based on Mosen at Large review/recommendation and others, last week, I upgraded to Ubiquiti UniFi Dream Machine and UniFi Access Point BeaconHD.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081QNJFPV/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apip_TGb6PL1PabtbS
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081QNNDVY/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apip_F43YsZqKhq3RG

Similar to…

Preliminaries and Pricing

First of all, I was going to do this review next week, but right now these earbuds are on sale in the United States for $45.99. In Canada, they are 106 Canadian dollars, and in the UK, they are £49.99.

I heard a different pair of these earbuds reviewed at the beginning of last week. They sounded good, but there were features missing that turned me off from them, namely no volume control on the earbuds. However, I searched for other earbuds by the…

In this review, I am actually covering two products, but they are so similar that I feel this will work just fine. For our purposes, we will be calling the original Pamu Slide "the Slide", and the Pamu Slide Mini will be referred to as "the Mini." When I first bought the Slide, it was one of the most funded kickstarter campaigns ever, and most certainly for a truly wireless earbud. It was also endorsed by many, many celebrities and very highly reviewed from early testers. Is it worth it…

To begin with, let's give you a little information about what these earbuds contain:

• Titanium Composite dynamic driver: Balances powerful bass and exquisite detail to deliver Music as the artist intended it to be heard.
• Fast and stable connection: integrating Qualcomm chip with aptX and AAC compatibility provides a rock-solid connection for an optimized level of audio excellence.
• Extended playtime: experience up to 6.5 hours of non-stop enjoyment on a single…

As I have become more integrated with technology, one of the challenges for me has been keeping that equipment powered up. While I have an iPhone and braille display, I also have other things that need to stay charged such as the microphone that delivers a direct audio signal from the person wearing the device to my hearing aids. It often serves as a life line to keep me able to communicate with those around me who only use speech. Depending on the context, there are many other types of…

The Brailliant BI 14 from Humanware refreshes instantly, silently, and reliably. Those three words should be kept in mind in what follows, because they may well overshadow every other quibble and criticism I feel obligated to mention in this review, and they in fact set it apart from the Orbit Reader 20, which was my other serious contender…

This review of the Dot Watch provides an additional point of view to the reviews posted here on AppleVis and Access World. I purchased the watch at the end of 2019, two and a half years after its launch.

The first time I checked the time on the Dot Watch, I was struck by a conviction that a digital Braille…