9to5Mac Reviews

We took our first look at the unique jimmyCASE approach to wallet cases over a year ago. Now we’ve been putting the company’s latest offering for iPhone X to the test. Just like earlier models, the new Slim Classic Wallet Case uses a mix of great materials including mahogany, silicone, and high performance elastic that provide a sharp blend of function and form. Read on for our full review and why jimmyCASE is a distinct and flexible choice for iPhone X.

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Since the iPhone 8 and iPhone X were introduced last year (and long before), wireless chargers have become a dime a dozen. With so many options available on the market, it takes a lot for one to stand out from the crowd.

Earlier this year, Nomad released its versatile, travel-oriented wireless charger for iPhone 8 and iPhone X, joining the company’s range of high-end accessories. Since it was released, we’ve been using it day in and day out. Read on for our thoughts on how it compares to the rest of the crowded wireless charger market…

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HomeKit adoption has grown swiftly over recent years, with lights of all shapes and sizes adopting the platform for smart control. In 2016, we took a look at the popular Nanoleaf Aurora light panels, and now Lifx is looking to enter the HomeKit accent lighting market with its new Beam accessory…

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If you are like me, Spring means biking season and I want to tell you about two great bike helmets that connect to your iPhone via Bluetooth to not only make your ride more safe but also more fun too. For over a year, I’ve had the Coros LINX helmet which uses bone conducting conduits to safely send audio signal to your eardrums without blocking natural sound.

A few weeks ago I peeped the new $179.99 Lumos Helmet at the Grand Central Apple Store touting bright lights and a turn signal activated from your phone.

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Twelve South is best-known for its BookBook cases for MacBooks and iPhones, but subsequently expanded into a wide range of stylish accessories for Apple kit – they have products for MacBooks, iMac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and more.

Its latest product, launched earlier this month, is a Bluetooth transmitter designed to let you use AirPods or other wireless headphones with in-flight entertainment systems or other equipment with a 3.5mm headphone socket: AirFly …

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Case-Mate released its Power Pad Qi wireless charger last month and we’ve been testing it out for the last few weeks. With a unique design that allows it to stand or lay flat while in use, Power Pad is worth checking out. Read on for our full review.

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For the last year or so I’ve been on the fence about picking up a new router. But along with moving into a new house, I decided to finally retire my Time Capsule. After a lot of deliberation, I landed on TP-Link’s deco mesh Wi-Fi system and I’ve been really impressed with the features it offers, such as the app, performance, and price. Read on for our full review.

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We tested out the ElevationDock 4 (reviewed) last fall and concluded that it lives up to the self-proclaimed title of “the best dock for iPhone.” The company released its latest offering, CordDock – a hybrid product last month, and we’ve been able to test it out for the last few weeks. Here’s how this slick offering stacks up against ElevationDock 4 and the rest of the market.

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I’ve always travelled hand-baggage-only (except when taking my bicycle with me), and when you carry as many gadgets as I do, that can require some efficient packing.

I usually travel with my MacBook Pro, iPad, camera & lens, drone – and sometimes a test gadget or two. Plus, of course, chargers and cables for all of the above.

The higher power output of the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar means that I can use it as a charging hub, but if you’re looking for standalone chargers, as well as a way to reduce the bulk of a MacBook charger, OneAdaptr has some very neat solutions …

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Back when I bought my 2016 MacBook Pro, I was kind of tempted to get all the expense out of the way in one hit and upgrade my monitor at the same time. The problem, as I wrote later, was finding someone to take my money.

What I really want now is to replace my existing two-screen setup – 15-inch MacBook Pro on the left, 27-inch Apple Thunderbolt Display on the right – with a single monitor.

That means I need something substantially wider than 27 inches and 2560 pixels. My colleague Jeff tested one candidate back in 2016, LG’s 34-inch UltraWide. But that didn’t tick all of my boxes, so I held out …

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There are a ton of wireless chargers on the market, with many companies offering more choices as Apple’s iPhone lineup adopted the capability last fall. Aukey has a mix of options, but for this review we’ve tested out two of the company’s $30 offerings, the first has won two design awards and the other offers a unique and sleek aesthetic. Keep reading after the break for our full rundown.

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Historically, I have flitted between many different routers. I used AirPort Extreme for a while, and then a variety of third-party options. A couple of years ago, mesh WiFi became a popular buzzword. I kind of passed it over, thinking it was more of a marketing gimmick, but I recently got the chance to review one such mesh WiFi system.

I was pleasantly surprised with how good it was. Read on for my hands-on with the Netgear Orbi mesh WiFi system.

After being impressed by Marshall’s Stanmore AirPlay speaker earlier this year, the firm asked me if I’d be interested in trying its latest headphones, the Marshall Mid ANC. This is an update to the earlier Mid model with the addition of active noise cancellation.

Ironically, it’s the new feature – the active noise cancellation – that I think is the least-impressive one. But that’s not to say I think that the headphones themselves are unimpressive; far from it …

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I love my drone, but I knew when I bought it that it was only going to be a matter of time before countries started clamping down on them. Sadly, that proved to be the case when I spent a few days in Iceland. Everywhere I went, there were No Drone signs. I carried it around with me, but didn’t get to use it even once.

Fortunately, I did have another interesting gadget on me – one initially exclusive to the Apple Store: the Insta360 ONE camera. This is a 360-degree 4K video camera that plugs into the Lightning socket of an iPhone. You can either shoot like this, or you can put the camera on a selfie stick and then plug it into the iPhone to edit and upload your footage.

This proved a fantastic way to capture experiences, and in terms of getting unusual and engaging video, it’s the next best thing to a drone …

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We covered the release of the LXORY Dual Wireless Charging Pad back in January. The new charger offers three input options — including USB-C and Lightning — and an affordable price tag. Now, we’ve had a chance to use the new wireless charger for several weeks, read on for our full review.

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Adding HomeKit to your house can be expensive, but as the technology progresses, more affordable options have been making their way to market that make HomeKit a viable choice for more consumers.

A couple of weeks ago, Zac reviewed Hong Kong-based VOCOlinc’s HomeKit-enabled LED light strips, noting that the price almost seemed too good to be true for a HomeKit product with no bridge required. Intrigued by the company, I decided to try out their smart power strip with HomeKit support.

How does it work? Read on to find out…

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There are Apple products I’ve been more excited to receive, but I can’t think of any that I’ve awaited with such impatience. The reason? Curiosity about that audio quality!

I wrote last time that it was Home hub and voice control of HomeKit devices for my partner that really sold it to me, and I wasn’t expecting too much from it on the audio front. Sure, it was going to beat out other smart speakers, but I didn’t see it as serious competition to proper HiFi brands.

But as the reviews came in, I started to wonder …

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A few months back, the team at Sandmarc asked if I’d like to review their wide lens for iPhone X. In the past, having covered a handful of iPhone lenses, I remained skeptical. That was until I got the kit in hand. I have to say that Sandmarc’s wide lens kit pleasantly surprised and impressed me.

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Normally, I deal with price at the end of reviews, but there are times when you have to address it right at the beginning – and this is definitely one of those times.

One way of looking at the price of the Yohann iPad stand is that it’s a rather small piece of wood costing $130. A different way of looking at it would be to say that it costs almost exactly the same amount as Apple charges for another iPad accessory: the leather sleeve for the 10.5-inch iPad, which we reviewed last year.

Jeff struggled to justify the price of that – but did conclude that you probably wouldn’t be disappointed if you bought it. Can we say the same with this? Well, let’s start by looking at its USP …

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If you’ve got any recent model iPhone, you’ve got a great camera – both for still photos and for video. So good, in fact, that many independent filmmakers use it to shoot both shorts and full-length movies.

But such reports can give a somewhat misleading impression. Very often, the iPhone is the capture device, but it’s coupled to far more expensive supplementary kit like professional lenses, and gimbals to smooth footage.

What DJI has done with its latest gimbal is to bring smooth mobile shooting – and more – down to a price level that makes it extremely affordable. So much so that, when you consider all the things it can do, I’d say it qualifies as the best-value iPhone accessory on the market at the moment …

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One of the downsides of living in a city is that opportunities to fly your drone tend to be limited. Where I live is well inside the massive chunk of drone-free air over London. Indeed, I’m inside both controlled airspace for my nearest airport (London City, less than five miles away) and a separate Restricted Area above central London.

So if I want to reach clear airspace, it’s either a car ride or train journey away – which means I only really do it when I have a specific reason or project in mind. That makes it hard to build on, or even maintain, my flying skills.

DJI of course has its own drone simulator built into the DJI Go app, but it’s more of a conceptual implementation than an accurate simulation of real-world physics. Which is why I decided to try Zephyr, a simulator for the Mac and Windows that claims to accurately model the actual flight characteristics of the drones it covers …

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