D-Scope Google Cardboard VR Viewer

The future is cardboard.

Cost At Time of Writing Review: $11.99
Rating: 3/5 Stars

On the go virtual reality is the newest craze. It’s the 80s all over again, except this time our phones are the ones giving us screen-glare headaches. The most stylish and economical way to experience the VR apps on our smartphones is through a Google Cardboard headset, which are provided by hundreds of sellers. This one is by D-Scope.

It comes to you as a large piece of cardboard with various holes and numbers labeled on it, so that you can do it yourself. This is where the problems start. The instructions are written out in pictorial form, giving no more than vague clues on where to start. If you like mystery thrillers, or putting together Ikea furniture, then this headset is for you.

Once you do manage to figure out what goes where and how, the tabs aren’t large enough to be slid through the insert holes, and the glue that holds one of the essential sides together doesn’t stick well enough to hold it tight. You have to either tape or glue it yourself, which, while done easily enough, isn’t great. You shouldn’t have to fix something shortly after buying it.

It comes with a strap, which I believe to be a headstrap. Unless you are in the range of 7-10 years old, I don’t think this strap was meant for human kind. It barely fit around my terrier’s head (no phone inside, I wouldn’t endanger my dog’s vision).

I found it pretty difficult to fit my phone, a Samsung Galaxy S4, inside the device. According to their page, the viewer fits all major phones. If my S4 didn’t fit, my girlfriend’s S6 didn’t have a chance in…you know where. Eventually, though, I was able to get it to rest comfortably in place, so long as I didn’t tip to one side or the other too intensely.

Okay, the positives. It works. It does its job really well. Once you get it put together, and it’s all taped up with your home-brew fixes, and you’ve managed to balance your phone on the precipice of death, it performs quite capably. It was no time at all before I was out of the realm of “gosh darn it with this thing” and straight into a guided tour of the solar system, jettisoning myself between stars in an intergalactic journey.

It’s constructed of heavy duty cardboard, so it’s meant to last, and it comes with replacement viewer glass, in case something should happen to the ones that it comes pre-installed with. Once it’s put together, it works. It’s $12 right now, so it’s one of the cheaper VR headsets on the market, but not the cheapest. It’s an average product at an average price.

I received this product for free for purpose of review.

Kitty Kat Kindle Paperwhite Kover

Sweet Lord, look at those kitties.

Cost At the Time of Writing the Review: $12.99
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

We’re Kindle people. We used to be book people, die hard book people, but then we started living tiny, and, as much as I love, and always will love, books, they take up some serious room. As with phone cases, I like to switch up my Kindle cover to keep things fresh and exciting. I was delighted when I found this cat themed one, because I think it’s sort of a prerequisite to be a cat person if you’re also a book person.

There’s nothing about this cover that isn’t as advertised. It’s cute (my goodness is it cute), it’s of decent quality, and it has some nice, somewhat standard, features. These are all things you would expect in the price range, and it delivers.

The quality is good. It’s a cross breed between a soft-cover and a hard-cover plastic. It doesn’t feel like it will hold up forever, but it also isn’t going to fall apart after a week. I like that the case can be held like a book, and that the case lid flips all the way back for reading purposes as well. There’s holes in the case for all the cords, and they’re big enough for everything to fit smoothly. Also, when the lid is closed, the screen goes to sleep, and it auto-wakes when you open the case. Handy.

This is a great case. It’s cute, it’s durable enough for typical use, and it’s easy to snap-on, snap-off.

I received this product discounted for purpose of review.

This came off a lot creepier than we meant it to.

 

ZiLu Magnetic Air Vent Car Phone Mount

It looks nice, but don’t be fooled.

Well, not everything can be a great product. This one is no exception to that rule, I guess. It’s disappointing, because it doesn’t feel cheaply made. The spring for clipping it to the air vent is strong and durable. The magnet part has the feel of something that works well. However, it just doesn’t do what it is supposed to do. It doesn’t hold a phone.

Lumsing Samsung Galaxy S6 Gold/Gold Hard Plastic Phone Case

Looks shiny and new, but don’t be fooled.

 

Cost At the Time of Writing the Review: $4.99
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

In my other post today, I talked about how there are a lot of cheapies on the market, and how it’s hard to sift through all of the low-end cases, and the ones that are actually putting forth a decent product.

This is not one of those.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Combo Armor Phone Case

It’s like cotton candy and bubblegum!

Cost At the Time of Writing the Review: $7.99
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Good phone cases are extremely expensive, and there are so many cheapies out on the market that it’s hard to narrow down what’s good and what isn’t. This case is a good in between. It’s cheap, but still offers a decent amount of protection and style.