Last week, a lady called Marianne Wilson of company “PRotocol” contacted me to see if I’d like to try a new alarm torch. As I had no idea what an “alarm torch” was, I said “sure, why not”. And here it is, from “Impact UK” all the way to sunny…
Category: General
Xiaomi Mi Band 5
Back in 2019 I wrote about the wonderful Xiaomi Mi Band 4 and it is no secret, despite owning and reviewing many smart watches and bands in detail, that the Xiaomi Mi 4 and Samsung Galaxy Watches remain my favourites – one or the other being in use every single…
ESCAM QF260 WiFi Solar Camera
Described on Banggood’s website as the ESCAM QF260 WIFI HD 1080P 2.0MP Wireless IP67 Outdoor Solar Battery Power Low Power Consumption PIR Surveillance Security Camera, this looks remarkably like my original YN88-WIFI-130W described here. Well, THIS new WiFi cameraalso has the term “Watchmen” on the box but is a later…
First of the Summer Toys – Solar RGB Owl
Sick of the usual boring solar garden lights? Well, here’s something different. While writing about (completely unrelated) ESP8266-based OLED and LCD displays in here earlier, I mentioned an RGB Perspex “3D” Shark which came from China which quickly found a place in our living room. Well, this OWL came from…
More Itead Goodies – the Sonoff DIY DualR3
The Sonoff DualR3 is the latest iteration of Itead’s 2-gang WiFi Smart Switch. It handles 10A per gang for a total of 15A non-inductive load. The device is typically used with the eWeLink app and can be Bluetooth paired to the app during which time the blue WiFi LED indicator…
New Goodies from Itead (Sonoff) – Worth the Wait?
I always love getting new stuff in the post from the makers of Sonoff products – Shenzhen-based Itead. They’re a very enthusiastic lot and I’ve tried out every new product or upgrade of theirs since the release of the original Sonoff WiFi power block. B05 Smart RGBWW Lamp First off…
More Trivia – Blitzwolf BW-FUN11 Humidifier
It’s a while since I had a new humidifier and I can never resist an opportunity to kit out the house with more pretty lights. The Blitzwolf BW-FUN11 is another of those humidifiers that generates cold “steam” using ultrasonics. Early humidifiers (not to be confused with dehumidifiers) were effective but…
Foaming Soap Dispensers for a Covid-Stricken World
What seems like years ago, at the start of the Covid pandemic, back in the UK I reviewed a foaming soap dispenser, still in use over there – nice but not wall mounted which meant another gadget taking up valuable bathroom real estate.. The first of a pair of wall–mounted…
H801 LED RGBWW Strip Controller + 4-relay ESP8266 Board
This blog features two gadgets who’s common thread is the ESP8266 processor and the use of Tasmota firmware Firstly the H801 LED WiFi Controller ! I could have sworn I wrote about these incredibly useful H801 controllers some time ago but apparently not. If you are new to the H801…
Baseus T2 Wireless Smart Tracker
The Baseus T2 Wireless Smart Tracker is a neat little gadget from Banggood. It arrives in a small thin box and the unit itself is 37*25*6mm thick, It comes complete with a tiny but strong, string lanyard, the whole thing weighs 5gm and consumes a peak 75ma from it’s internal…
Thursday Gadget Roundup and More Displays
This first week of Feb 2021 I received lots of gadgets and some more displays from Banggood including an old favourite – the ILI9341 – good, cheap LCD display – which I’ve always supported in ESP-GO – but now I want to run on an ESP8266 (again) this time using…
Netac N930ES 512GB SSD and Enclosure
Late last year I received the Netac N930ES M.2 2242 SSD 512GB Flash Internal Solid State Drive for use with my Chuwi Larkbox, blogged elsewhere in here. The Larkbox can handle an extra internal M.2 2242 SSD as against it’s default internal 128GB eMMC – unfortunately only up to 128GB…
Chuwi Larkbox – Windows + Celeron Mini PC – Update
See Feb 2021 update at the end of this article. This is one of those devices you just have to SEE – I’ll do my best. The Chuwi Larkbox Mini PC comes with Windows or Linux and has an Intel Celeron J4115 running at 2.5Ghz (according to the box –…
Banggood 1.3″ OLED I2C Displays
I just wrote about the 10-pack of GeekCreit Wireless IOT Modules – or as most of us know them – nodeMCU ESP8266 boards – at a very reasonable €23 for 10 – i.e. 2.30 each inc post. So what better to test them with than the freely-available tasmota-displays.bin and a…
Banggood 30W DIY Laser Engraving Machine
Described as a 30w/20w DIY Laser Engraving Machine (Coupon: BG6C7ZG1) – this inexpensive engraver caught my attention over the Christmas holidays and here it is: Normally, Banggood provide brand names but in this case I guess they are branding it as their own product. I note the laser module has…
Raspberry Pi Pico – would you bother?
Friday Rant: The New “Raspberry Pi Pico” trades on the name “Raspberry Pi” which many of us find to be a cost-effective home -automation hub, thankfully widely supported by lots of third parties even though the Raspberry Pi Foundation is sticking with their “for educational use” mantra. But the Pico…
More Printing Goodness – and now the Crealty LD-002H
This write-up is about the Creality 3D® LD-002H LCD Resin 3D Printer. I can’t find any reference to one of one of the originally promoted features in the manual – i.e. WiFi. So should I simply point you back to my 2020 sprawling entry on the Creality 3D® LD-002R LCD…
HK1 RBOX R1 5G WiFi Android 10 TV Box
Before I delve into this new box from Banggood – let’s go back a step: I’ve had quite a number of Android TV boxes over the years and there are lots on the second-hand market. But something to consider… I just had to bin two boxes that were not that…
More New Year Gadgets – 12 Inch LED Ring Wall Clock
I just received this US/EU Plug 12/24 hour 12 Inch LED Ring Wall Clock from Banggood (pre-assembled), complete with a US plug – but as that’s a separate USB charger it’s not that important – they do supply both EU and USA USB adaptors. You may be aware that I’ve…
Bakeey POCO X3 NFC Case
This lovely, transparent (with armoured black edges) Bakeey case for the Poco X3 phone was always going to be a difficult one to write about. I can show you the case but I need my phone to take a photo so I can’t show it ON the phone 🙂 If…