- Hey, guys, Jonathan here,
and unfortunately, it is that time of year,
back to school.
But on the bright side of that,
you're about to check out some really cool tech.
This time of the home tech flavor.
So, whether you are at home
or whether you're at a dorm,
this should hopefully help ease you through the year.
So, first up is for anyone looking for a TV upgrade
or really just looking to pick up a TV, period.
This is a 43 inch, 4K TV from Insignia
and I will be the first to admit
I've always been a little apprehensive
and maybe haven't had the best impression
of Insignia.
Honestly just saying the name, to me, was very similar
to those hyenas saying,
- Mufasa - Oooh!
- There was just something about the name,
and maybe I was wrong for judging.
But this time, I went in with an open mind.
Specifically, there were two things
that really drew me towards this TV.
One was the price.
It was on sale for 299 bucks,
and two, there is Roku TV built in,
so that combined makes it a really attractive package.
Honestly, the weirdest part of this experience
was taking the TV out of the box because
for some reason the packaging smelled like
straight up Sharpie, but everything else was great.
Personally, I really don't use Roku,
but given the chance to use it here,
it is a really nice experience.
I particularly like how everything is broken down,
especially 4K content, and every major player
that you could want, whether it's YouTube,
Netflix, Hulu, HBO, everything is pretty much there.
The interface isn't the prettiest thing
in the world, but it's intuitive, it's easy to use.
I particularly like that they include a Roku remote
in the box.
It kinda just makes you feel like you're getting
that entire experience, and not just
a watered down version of it.
Picture quality wise, it's obviously not gonna
out perform higher end models from Samsung,
from LG, from Sony, but for the price,
I have zero complaints.
It's sharp, it's crisp, and again,
if you can scoop this up for the 299 sale price,
I would jump on this any day of the week.
So next up is for anyone looking at a little
Amazon Alexa functionality into their life
without breaking the bank, this is the Eufy Genie.
Huge shout out to them for sponsoring this episode.
There is also a really sweet giveaway which
I will link to down below.
But I think you're gonna like this
for a couple reasons.
One is the price.
It is currently 35 bucks, which is a fantastic deal.
And two, you get all the functionality
of an Echo Dot, and then some.
What I mean by that is, it is supported directly
through Amazon, so you're not missing functionality
or features, but on top of that,
I was surprised with how good the speaker is.
With the Echo Dot, if you wanna listen to music,
you pretty much need to add a secondary speaker.
In fact, Amazon encourages you to do so.
But surprisingly, the Eufy Genie holds its own by itself.
Now I totally understand, it is really hard
to truly give you an idea of how something
sounds through video, but for those curious,
here is a quick example.
(upbeat music)
- [Alexa] Shuffling songs by grammatic.
(upbeat music)
Now as cool as the improved sound quality is,
none of that would matter if the core function
of the Amazon Alexa in this did not work.
Fortunately, it worked flawlessly.
- [Alexa] When is a door not a door?
When it's ajar.
The top search result for Sony A6500
is Sony Alpha A6500 digital camera
with 2.9 inch LCD, body only.
It's $1,527.32 total, including tax.
Would you like to buy it?
- So yeah. If you're looking to add a little Alexa
into your life, I would definitely check this out.
Immediately off the bat, it's gonna save you some cash,
and potentially even more because the speaker
is so good by itself, you're not gonna need
to add anything externally.
So, next up is the Wemo Mini Smart Plug,
which is also budget friendly, and currently
on sale for 35 bucks.
(mumbles) the idea behind this is super simple.
It's gonna give you smart functionality
to everyday things that aren't so smart.
So, for example, maybe you have a fan,
or a portable AC, and I know you're trying to
save that cash; you don't want them running the entire day.
But with the Wemo Mini Smart Plug you could potentially
set them on a schedule to turn off and on
at specific points of the day.
Or maybe you know you're gonna be home in an hour.
You can turn it on from your phone.
Now for me specifically, this works great
with something like a salt lamp, where the on/off switch
is not the easiest to reach place.
Again, you do have the ability to set it on a timer.
So if I wanted a salt lamp to turn on
every day at night, I could, or I can just control
it from my phone without reaching behind the shelf.
On top of that, it works with Nest,
it works with Amazon Alexa, so if you scooped up
that Eufy Genie, that would be a killer combo.
This may not be the most exciting piece of tech,
but it's practical, it works fantastic,
and I think it would be really useful in a dorm room.
So next up is a pretty unique USB charging hub
from Nomad, and I'll be honest, this is not
the most budget friendly.
If you're just looking for a no bells and whistles,
super effective, powerful USB charging brick,
I will post a couple options down below,
but this in particular, I was really drawn to it
because of its looks.
It is this beautiful, circular hub
that would fit great in any kind of minimal setup.
The way the ports are designed into this
are meant to keep everything really clean,
which I like.
This here is the three port version,
but there is also a five port version for 10 buck more.
I think that is definitely the better value.
Small things like seeing the LED lights on the front
of the device, I particularly appreciate,
and I fully realize here you are paying
100% for the form, for the looks, and there's not
necessarily anything wrong with that; maybe
you have a style, or a setup in mind.
If that fits this is gonna be perfect,
but again, realize that there are definitely
cheaper options out there.
But I will list this and those options, again,
down below.
Last but not least is the LIFX A19
Multicolor LED light bulb, and you know,
I love me some Philips hue just as much
as the next person, but as far as back to school goes,
I think this is a fantastic option.
Yes, there totally are cheaper multicolor LED light bulbs
out there that will give you a similar experience,
but in terms of quality, the brightness,
the vividness of the colors, LIFX is worth the cash.
Now on top of the actual light quality,
the app that you use to control everything
is really, really good.
It is stupid simple use.
Again the biggest thing here is the ability
to kinda buy and upgrade at your discretion.
Maybe you just need one light bulb and you're
totally happy with that, that is all you need to buy.
That, of course, may change one day; maybe
you wanna add a second, a third, a fourth, a fifth,
you can do that and you're not tied down to a system.
Aside from that, thank you guys very much for watching.
Hopefully enjoyed the video.
If you did make sure you guys drop a like down below.
If you need more back to school awesomeness,
make sure you check out this video here.
This is Jonathan, and I will catch you guys later.