Gadgets: Liztek Portable Speaker

Please Note:  This Post Contains Affiliate Links

Liztek PSS-100 Portable Wireless Bluetooth Speaker

on Amazon 

Just The Facts:

• 4 Hour Charge Time
• Up to 8 - 10 hours of Play Time
• SUPER lightweight
• Easy Access Buttons
• Doubles as a Speakerphone

My Take:

It seems only yesterday I was doing a review on a portable speaker....  There are a couple of things I really enjoy about this particular speaker.  For starters, it is SUPER lightweight, so if you are carrying it in a backpack, etc it's not going to put any strain on you.  It's also fairly small and so it will fit well in a purse or backpack, the size makes it really easy to find storage options.

Probably the thing I like the most though, are the volume buttons.  This speaker has buttons just for the volume and so you don't have to worry about pressing the button and skipping a song when all you want to do is change the volume.

The sound is pretty sweet too.  It's not as powerful as another speaker I recently reviewed, however, it's a great sounding speaker for the price!  This is the speaker my husband uses and he loves it.  One night we actually had both of our speakers going at the same time in what I guess you could call "Battle of the Sound", we kept waiting for my daughter to come busting in asking what in the world we were doing (However, she was asleep).

While it isn't my favorite speaker I've had the opportunity to review, it is a good device.  This speaker may fit better with your budget compared to other speakers and for the price range it's definitely a great purchase!

Please Note:  I received this product for review purposes.  However, my thoughts and opinions are 100% MY OWN!

Soundtrack of Your Life: RIF6 Bluetooth EXO Speaker

Please Note:  This Post May Contain Referral and/ or Affiliate Links

Find the RIF6 Bluetooth EXO Speaker

on Amazon:

Bluetooth EXO Portable Wireless Speaker

The Soundtrack of Your Life

Music is possibly one of the most overlooked, what I'm going to call a "Necessity".  Music can help to make you feel a range of emotions, it can take you to another time and another place.  Just a few notes can instantly transport you to a forgotten memory and with it recapture all the emotions and feelings that surround the memory.

Music is truly a powerful tool.  Not too long ago, after I had received this speaker, I played some music and it literally brought out so many emotions and it changed the rest of my day.  Listening to the right music has even been linked to increased intelligence.  Children who have studeied music in early childhood have in some studies shown increased scores in various testing.

Bottomline is music is important.  I don't know anyone in this world that I've ever met that said, MUSIC?  nah, I can't stand it.  Music is a universally loved pastime.  The only ways we may differ is in our own unique personalities and which genres we prefer.

So, with music being such an important part of our lives, the way we listen to our music is certainly important!  There are probably a million different portals or speakers in which you can purchase to listen to your music.  

RIF6 Bluetooth EXO Speaker

Bluetooth EXO Portable Wireless Speaker

Just The Facts:

RIF6 Speaker: NFC Technology
with a plug for Aux Cable

• Comes in 4 Colors: Blue, Green, Orange & Black
• NFC / Bluetooth Technology
• Water Resistant / Shock Protection Shell (Light Rain, etc.)
• Works up to 30 ft away from connected device
• Awesome Sound
• Lithium-Ion Built-In Battery
• Quick Charge Time: 3 hours
• 2000 mAh Battery: Plays up to 10 hours of music
• Lightweight: .95 lbs.
• Built-In Mic (Speakerphone)

Now Playing:

Over the past few months I have honestly tried out so many speakers, that they all just about run together.  This, however, stands out above all the others that I've tested.  I try extremely hard to not compare products and to just test individual products on their own merits, but in the case with the EXO speaker, I found myself unable to not make comparisons to the other speakers 

Tech Talk:  Breaking it down

Ok, so let's for a moment just talk about the technical specs on this.  For starters NFC, ok so I'll be really honest I had to google this to find out what the crap it meant.  Basically, if you are like me and have no CLUE what this is, just means that you can connect your devices without having to have a passcode like other Bluetooth devices.  So, having the NFC technology makes it extremely simple to plug & play!

3 Easy Access Buttons

The 2000 mAh battery: With a charge time of just 3 hours and a playing time of up to 10 hours, this truly makes it easy to charge and use your speaker on the go!  I despise when it takes forever to charge a device and yet the run down time is super fast!  I've experienced this with a lot of other wireless devices and it makes it where I don't even want to fool with them!

Indicator Lights:  Blue: Bluetooth is engaged    Red: Power Indicator

3 Easy Access Buttons: (The Buttons have double uses)

1.  Play/ Power
2.  Rewind / Volume Down 
3.  Fast Forward / Volume Up

What about the Sound??

EXO Speaker: Features a Flat Side for Lying it on it's side

 Ok, so hands down this is truly the loudest speaker that I've yet to try out!  The sound is absolutely incredible.  I am so super impressed by how clear it sounds.  Imagine if you will, that there is HD for sound, that's what I would use to describe this speaker, it's so crisp and clear.  You know how some speakers will get a distorted sound if you have it up too loud??  This does not, you can jam away as loud as you want this thing to go and the quality of the sound isn't going to diminish AT ALL!

Each and every other speaker that has come in my home for testing or review purposes, I have given to others.  NOT this!  My husband upon learning that I was getting this speaker had "Laid Claim", however once it was in my possession and I had tested this out, it wasn't going ANYWHERE!  I hadn't really been listening to music or anything until I got this speaker and so now I'm listening to music as often as possible!

One thing this doesn't have that some of the other speakers had that this speaker doesn't, is a place for your SD card.  However, that doesn't really bother me because I found the other speakers that did have it, it was hard to get the cards out and if you have a device, it seems that you probably won't need it very often.  It also bothered me at first that there wasn't stand alone Volume buttons.  However, I have since discovered the "Secret" to it (I'm dreadful at reading directions) you simply hold down the desired Volume button instead of "pressing" it to adjust the volume.

Overall:

I am thoroughly impressed by this speaker.  The price tag might have you scratching your head, but I'm telling you it is TRULY worth it!  It's higher priced than some speakers, yet for the quality speaker you are getting it's a lot less expensive than comparable speakers in it's class!  This is one of my favorite electronic items that I've received so far and I wouldn't give it to ANYONE and trust me, I gift a lot of the items that I review!

Hearing is Believing!  If you are in the market for a good wireless speaker, I would urge you to consider purchasing this speaker!  I can't imagine anyone not being happy with the sound this speaker puts out!

#sweeter #GavinDegraw

A video posted by Jessica Hubbard (@sassygalshops) on Dec 12, 2014 at 8:25am PST

**  Please Note:  This item was given to me for review purposes.  However, my thoughts and opinions are 100% HONEST and my own!

RIF6: Charger

Please Note:  This Post Contains Affiliate Links

ORION Power Bank Portable Charger

on Amazon

 RIF6

I believe that this is a really new electronics company.  I have been testing so many battery chargers and speakers over the last few months that a lot of them just blur together and are seemingly only miniscule in their differences.

However, the two items that I've actually had the pleasure to review by RIF6 are HEADS above the competition.  Literally!  These items are so much higher quality than other items I've tested !  I've been super impressed by the performance of these particular items.

Orion Battery Charger:

This device is powered by two lithium ion batteries.  It has two plugs that can be used to charge your devices, a 1A plug, and then a 2A plug for your bigger devices. (6000 mAh)

For starters, I LOVE the color of this device.  I love the turqoise color that I received, it's so pretty and stylish.  I also love how you turn your device on, with a swipe of your finger you can instantly begin to charge your devices.

I have an iPad mini, and so it's not as hefty as a big screen tablet, but it requires more power than your average smartphone.  I've struggled to find a device that can charge my iPad and believe that I've finally been able to find that with this Orion Charging device.

Other charging devices I've used seem to take hours to build a charge and then die down rather quickly.  I've been able to use this for extended periods without draining the battery (and that's when using it for my iPad mini!

Overall, I'm extremely impressed with the charging capabilities of the Orion charger and would gladly recommend it for someone in the market for a new battery charger!

Please Note:  I received this product for review purposes.  However, my thoughts and opinions are 100% honest and my own!

DKnight MagicBox Speaker: Part of SassyHolidays Stocking Stuffer

Please Note:  This Post Contains Affiliate Links

DKnight Magicbox Speaker

DKnight Magicbox Bluetooth Speaker:

Just The Facts:

Give the Gift of Sound this Holiday Season!

• Up to 10 Hours of Play
• Bluetooth 3.0 Technology
• Lightweight: 8.3 oz
• Has a 3.5 mm Jack outlet for plug-in play
• Built-in Mic
• Great Sound in a little pkg
• Slot for an SD card

Unboxed:

So, in the battle of Android versus iOS, I have to say that I am obsessed with my iOS devices.  If there is one drawback though to owning an iOS device, it's that the sound just isn't as loud as what you will find on a comparable Android device.  

However, that fact isn't a strong enough reason to keep me from using my iOS devices, once you've owned an iPhone or an iPad it's extremely hard to want to use anything else.  Fortunately, there are ways to have great sound and your handy iPad or your android devices....

Enter the Bluetooth speaker.  So, unboxing this was quite simple and of course, set up was pretty straight forward.  After a bit of time it was charged and ready to go!

One of the coolest aspects to this speaker and one that I'm just now realizing is that it has a slot for your SD card, so you can listen to your favorite music that's stored on your SD card!  The ONE thing about the slot though, it's not very convenient or easy to get out.  It doesn't do like most card slots, where you can push it in and then push and it will pop back out.  I have to get my husband to get it out for me each time.

The sound is pretty good.  It's not the loudest speaker that I've tried recently (I've tried about four lately), but it's definitely got good sound.

It has four buttons on the top of the device for easy access.

• Play / Pause
• Push to Talk (Connect to phone)
• Fast Forward
• Reverse

The thing about the buttons, I just wish it had stand alone volume buttons.  I always have a hard time turning the volume up using them when they double as FF/ RW buttons.  

OVERALL:

Overall, this is a nice speaker.  If you are going to be doing a lot of carrying it around on the go, then I would recommend this particular speaker because it's pretty lightweight making it great for portable use.

NOTE: If you do have this device or are thinking of buying it, have something handy to be able to get your SD card out of it.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Plus Lifeguard Charger: 3000 mAh

Please Note:  This Post Contains Affiliate Links

Portable Charger +LIFEGUARD MINI

LifeGuard:  Portable Charger

The little charger that could......

So, it wasn't that long ago that I was able to receive another "Charger", the other was a 7000 mAh meaning that it SHOULD technically do more than this one..  However, that was not the case.

So, I really and truly have enjoyed this charger.  It didn't take FOREVER to charge and was able to charge my iPad mini with no problems.  I don't expect MIRACLES from a portable charger, but I do expect it to charge for at least as long as it takes to charge the device!  This one lasted longer than it took to charge it, if that makes sense to you....

I also like that it's really portable!  I mean, it's small and so convenient to just slip in your purse.  The one drawback for me was the cord, it was NOT long at all!  It isn't very easy to plug into your wall charger...  So, that's the only really drawback or negative, but that's not enough to NOT buy this charger!  It's a great device if you are in the market for a charger and it makes a fantastic present!

I find that sometimes the men in my life are SO hard to buy for and one of these is something ANY one could use!  So I really think if your out of ideas on a good gift that someone could actually USE this would be a great one!

Get yours today:

Portable Charger +LIFEGUARD MINI

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Gift Ideas for this Holiday Season...

Please Note:  This Post Contains Affiliate Links!  Meaning, I make a certain percentage if you were to purchase items....  Blogging is not a high paying gig.....

SassyHolidays Gift Ideas

Christmas is just a short time away.  You always think you have more time than you actually do!  And so, to help you along your way in addition to the Holiday Gift Guide, I'll be doing a post every week with some additional gift ideas to get you on your way!

Electronics:

These are the gifts that have become a Must-Have for most kids and teens I know.  There's so many options out there that sometimes it's really confusing as to which products are better...  This guide is to help you navigate the murky waters of Electronics and help you choose which items are best for your family!

Tablets:

They have become a way of life.  They are just about a necessity in this digital age that we live in.  It's a much easier way of accessing the internet and if you are on the go a lot, it's much easier than lugging a huge laptop when there are many functions you can carry out on a tablet!  Here are a few of my favorite Tablet Options!

Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 (8-Inch, White)

The Samsung Galaxy 3 was underwhelming to me.  It was a gorgeous device but that for me was where it ended.  I have not personally tried the Galaxy Tab 4, but for the amazing price it would be at least worth the Try-Out and if it didn't meet your expectations, Amazon does take returns!!!

This device is supposed to allow for Multiple Users.  So, that's a really nice feature if you have to share tablets with other family members!  It comes with 16 GB hard drive with expandable memory of up to 64 GB with a SD Card (Now, I know with My Galaxy 3 I was UNABLE to expand my memory for apps, so despite having an SD card in which to "expand" my memory it didn't help me where I needed it most!  I do not KNOW if the Samsung 4 allows for such expansion, hopefully they learned their lessons with the Samsung 3 model and have imporved this aspect...

The Samsung Galaxy 4 is definitely a BEAUTIFUL device, I wish that I could tell you if it performs like you would want your device to perform.  I found that the Samsung 3 was incredibly slow.  I mean it took forever to even perform the simplest of tasks!

I have high hopes for this device though.  iPad and Amazon need to have a real competitor out there to try to make their devices a tad more affordable.  It's at least worth checking into!  This device is less than $250!  $250 is not a bad price for a device this size. They also have a 7" model as well....

iPad

I cannot make an electronics post and NOT have an iPad section...  I am such a HUGE fan of this tablet.  Yes, true it is a little costlier than a lot of tablets, but I've found it to be the most reliable and I've had practically all of them.  I've had Samsung Galaxy Tab 3, iPad 1 and iPad Mini Retina, and I've owned Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD, Kindle Fire HD 2 generation...  So, I'm not an EXPERT, but I do know my tablets...

Most IMPORTANT thing when BUYING an iPad:  STORAGE

With iOS coming up with updates like twice a month it seems, you really want to purchase a device that is going to allow you to grow and not constantly have you deleting apps and pictures and videos.  16 GB on an iPad is like NO MEMORY whatsoever!!  The more storage you can afford to get, the more you NEED to get!  If you can afford to get a device that offers the largest amount of storage PLEASE do.  You may not think you will need it, but trust me you will.  Pictures and videos take up a HUGE amount of storage!  So, if you like taking pics or videos you will definitely need a device that will accomodate this.

Shop For iPads

I don't know why, but Amazon will NOT allow me to link directly to any iPads..  Which likely means they don't want to pay commissions on those products.  Which is fine....

But, I really do recommend iPad if you can afford it.  You have MANY options available to you.

If you don't NEED a huge screen, I recommend going with the iPad Mini with Retina.  There is a newer 3rd generation model, but quite honestly it's no different than the iPad mini with retina.  The only thing that's different is the look and the price.  So, you can save your money by getting the second version of this device and get instead a device with a larger storage capacity!

REMEMBER:  Storage is KEY!!!!!

Please comment or email me or whatever if you have questions about ipads or need help, I LOVE technology and I'm a huge fan of the iPad.  It's been my most reliable device out of all of the devices I've owned.

Amazon Kindle:

Amazon Fire HD (Newest Generation)

Fire HD 7, 7" HD $139

The new Amazon Fire HD is a great tablet for adults and kids alike.  It is a great affordable option for those looking for a good reliable tablet but don't have the cash to shell out for an iPad.  

We purchased the first and last year's editions and I have to say that I loved the first one much better.  For starters, the First HD I think had a lot more space...  It was definitely more durable.  The second year edition just felt cheap..  It also didn't have a camera on it which limited your ability to do some apps that you could do on the First generation Fire HD.  It just felt like a cheap tablet.  I was NOT a fan of the Second Gen HD!  So, if you are looking to purchase a FIRE HD make sure to read the specs really closely so that you don't end up with a less than device.

This 3rd Generation Device actually is equipped with TWO cameras, front and back...  The price is VERY reasonable at just $139!!  Plus it has a variety of color options you can choose from!  I recommend getting the 16GB version because 8GB is not a lot of space and you will soon find your having to delete apps and photos to make room for things you need!  

  Kindle Fire HDX 7"

The Kindle Fire HDX is like a souped up version of the Kindle Fire HD...  However, this version doesn't feature the two cameras, with this version you only get ONE front-facing camera.  

However, this model starts out at 16 GB and has three size options versus only two size options with the regular HD model!  16, 32, 64 GB models are available in the Kindle HDX 7".

This model also features a Mayday button in which you can speak face to face with Amazon Support.  I don't know how often I would want to use that option.  I'd have to go and get makeup on just to call support!!  But, I guess it's nice for those who aren't worried about things like that! 

The Price of this model will set you bak $179!

Kindle Fire HDX 7" 

Fire HDX 8.9

$379

This model is for those who are looking to replace their iPad.  It's a much bigger Kindle Fire.  

Features:

Cameras :Front AND Back Camera (The Back is 8MP)

Storage: 16,32, 64 GB options

ALSO has the MAYDAY Button!

This is just a bigger version of the Kindle Fire HD but also has the added feature of the Mayday Button...  

So, if you are wanting a bigger tablet, but don't want to shell out the big bucks for the iPad, then the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9" might just be the answer for you!!

Added Bonuses:

Prime Members:  Must Haves

For Prime Members:  You have the extra bonus of having tons of FREE videos at your fingertips!  Prime Members also get to choose between four "early" releases they can get for free!!

To Become an Amazon Prime Member:

Join Amazon Prime - Listen to Over a Million Songs - Start Free Trial Now

So, you're a Prime Member...  You have a TON of unlimited videos at your fingertips and now you need a way to USE and WATCH those videos.  Amazon has come out with a couple of must haves for Prime Members!  These items will make your Amazon Prime Video Experience even more exciting!!

Streaming Devices

Fire TV Stick $39

This is a more affordable option.  It requires you to just plug in and easily connect to Amazon Prime Video!  It even comes with a little remote control for easy TV viewing!!

Please NOTE:  HBO2Go users cannot USE the HBO app with this device...  You CAN with the ChromeCast (But you can't use the Amazon Instant Video with ChromeCast)  UrGH....

  Amazon Fire TV $99

This is a little bit higher of an option for Prime Users...

It allows for instant streaming.

It also features apps for:

Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, Crackle... 

Amongst Others...

For folks who purchased the Chrome version, they quickly found out that Amazon had "Locked" them out of the ability to use their Amazon Instant Video App with the Chrome version.  So, this is a much better option for those who have Amazon Prime!

Roku 3500R Streaming Stick (HDMI)

$34.99

For those who are looking for a device that will practically allow them the freedom to do anything...  This device MIGHT just be the best option.

With this device you are free to watch Amazon Instant Video AND HBO2Go!  So you aren't limited with this stick!  If you love both HBO and Amazon this is definitely the streaming device that I recommend!!

Next Week:

Ok, so I guess that's enough for today...  I am IN LOVE with my devices.  I love technology and what it means for us.  It really gives us so many limitless possibilities and I try to buy my family at least one new device each year...  This year, I'm looking at possibly purchasing an iPad Air because while I love my iPad mini, it's just not got enough memory and I need to expand...  Might as well go bigger while I'm at it!!

I'll try to do a post next week looking at some Laptop options!!  If there are any electronic things that you'd like to see on SassyGalBeauty, please let me know!!

Thanks so much for reading!!!