Vizio SmartTV

Vizio SmartTV

    One of Vizio's first attempts at the SmartTV is a quality LED TV, but not much else. Being LED, Vizio took advantage of the benefits of the technology in the design of the TV. It is light for 60" weighing only about 40 lbs. LEDs are incredibly bright while also being energy efficient, as well as leaving a small physical footprint. Therefore, this TV resists glare well and is only an inch and some change thick. It displays 1080p quality images very crisply, and the 120Hz refresh rate allows for high quality retention in fast-paced scenes. However, outside of the hardware, the software is lackluster at best, and a straight up hassle to use at worst. The UI design for all the apps is a small linear menu at the bottom of the screen when the Vizio menu button is pushed, and while this style of menu works well when everything animates smoothly (PS4 has this same design, and it feels snappy), all of the menus are slow and buggy on the Vizio SmartTV. The apps themselves are often worse, glitching every few action inputs and freezing up consistently. Updates were a constant interruption, so much so I had to turn them off and forget I had a "smart" TV at all. Once I did, I actually really started to enjoy it as a TV and much less as a hub for my media. 

Jaybird Bluebuds X

Jaybird Bluebuds X

   The Jaybird Bluebuds X are a pair of wireless Bluetooth headphones designed specifically with the athlete in mind. There are a number of good features and, while only a few, some bad aspects of the design as well. On the good side, they are very light given that they house both audio and Bluetooth hardware. They are completely sweat-proof, and this isn't like a "says they are something proof and that something break it in a few days" kind of claim. They are not only extremely moisture repellent, Jaybird even backs these with a lifetime replacement warranty if these do break from sweat damage. Another fantastic spec is the 8 hour battery life, and since I've tested them that number has held true. A calming voice alerts you when there is only 15 mins left of battery, and speaking of the calming voice, "Jenna" is a Siri of sorts that feeds notifications to you about calls, music, battery life and more. It is apparent Jaybird wanted the user to just put these on and go, and gave the user a few ways of doing so. The Bluebuds can be worn under your chin or behind your neck, and these options work well in keeping the damn things on your head. A lot of design work is needed to really nail multiple position wearing across a number of users, and in the Bluebuds it really shows. Out of all of that, the sound quality is SUPERB for Bluetooth. It is as close to high quality wired ear buds as Bluetooth is going to get according to Jaybird, and after owning more ear buds of varying qualities, I'm inclined to believe that statement. A few negative things about it maybe cannot be helped. For one, Bluetooth is Bluetooth: it's come a long way, but there are still times where it cuts in and out even when the phone is in my pocket. These occasions are rare and therefore overlook-able, though when it does happen it's a real annoyance. Since they are powered by themselves, running out of juice is a real possibility. If you run out of battery on the road or away from a place to charge them, they become useless. Even though the two hour charging time for 8 hours of playback time is a good ratio, it means nothing when a charge isn't available. So, in short, while I'm still getting used to them and using them as my daily driver, I would only recommend these broadly to those looking for headphones to wear during workouts and sports (or you are cool with carrying around spare headphones in case these run out of battery.)