Soundcore Sport X20 review

My LG tones (HBS-730) had several different issues:

• I had to glue one of the earbuds back together
• It would randomly power cycle itself while I was listening to music
• Battery indicator only had High, Medium, and Charge Soon and most of the time it was on medium so it was hard to tell when it needed charged
• Earbuds would work themselves out while doing yard work

I found a good replacement in the Soundcore Sport X20 (by Anker) for $55.99 (plus tax)

Review

I overall like the earbuds and the negatives are largely nitpicks, but they could be deal breakers for others

Pros

• Comfortable fit
• Ear hooks keep them in place while mowing
• Noise Cancelling/Isolation works well
• Next door neighbor's electric mower could not be heard
• Cut the noise of my electric mower in about half
• Didn't really silence electric string trimmer
• Battery life seems good so far with 2 hours of yard work leaving the earbuds with 80% remaining
• Battery life indicator is in 10% increments (but is software only)
• Case LED turns red when it needs charged
• Supports Bluetooth multipoint (pairs to 2 devices at the same time, but only audio from one at a time)
• IP68 water/sweat resistance

Cons

• Earbuds lost Bluetooth connection once while mowing
• No way to turn off the earbuds without placing in case
• Only one button per earbud
• Default controls work well enough for me
• Single press to play/pause
• While music is off long press to toggle pass-through/noise cancelling
• Lack of AptX Support (likely causes higher latency)

Other Thoughts

• Had to add a -100ms Bluetooth delay for audio in VLC for audio/video to sync

Appendix

Sources

• https://www.newegg.com/soundcore-sport-x20-earbud-black/p/0TH-033Y-000M8
• https://www.soundcore.com/products/a3968-sport-x20-earbuds?variant=43988210385086
• https://www.reddit.com/r/soundcore/comments/1j7fj9n/soundcore_sport_x20_reviewcomparison/

LG 32LN5310 Review

Over Labor Day weekend, I purchased the LG 32LN5310 from Best Buy for $259.99 +tax. Here is my review of it.



Pros:
  - Assembly of the base was easy
  - Good auto channel detection
  - Seems to use Direct LED back-lighting instead of edge-lit
  - 1080p
  - Excellent viewing angles
  - Has an Optical Audio out


Cons:
  - Eco mode seems to be too dark and I can't seem to find a way to increase the backlighting without going to normal mode since it is automatic
  - Does not appear to support HDMI 1.4 and Audio Return Channel


Other Thoughts:
  - Does not support local dimming and 3D, but at this price point not to be expected
  - Switching the tv from Eco to Normal mode and adjusting the brightness down gives an excellent picture
  - I know that 1080p at this tv size does not make any difference, but at the same price it certainly doesn't hurt :-)
  - This is the perfect size for a bedroom (or small living room)
  - I cannot find the tv on LG's website, but the best theory I have found is that it is just a rebranding of the 32LN5300 to be a Best Buy exclusive.

LG Spectrum Review

Pros:

• Gorgeous 4.5" 1280x720 HD screen protected by Gorilla® Glass


• Qualcomm Snapdragon Dual Core 1.5GHz CPU makes the phone responsive


• 1GB of RAM


• 4G Data on the Verizon Network


• 8 MP rear camera with LED flash


• Front Facing Camera


• 16GB Micro SD card included -- upgradeable to 32GB


• Allows Grouping of Icons in App Drawer


• Comes with Swype

Cons:

• No Notification LED


• Only 4GB of internal memory


• Back is slick, so I had to get a case


• Not on Ice Cream Sandwich yet


• Wifi range seems to be smaller than my Droid X


• Social Networking Widgets/Apps not as slick as MotoBlur

Comments:

• Battery Life seems middle of the road (1830mAh)


• Icons are bright and cartoonish


• Speakerphone volume is sufficient


• Price: $199 with 2 year contract, buy one get one free

Transfering Contacts from LG ENV2 to Samsung Reality

I recently came across the problem of transferring contacts from a LG ENV2 to a Samsung Reality. Here is the solution I devised:

1. Use BitPim to download contacts from ENV2

2. Export vCards v2.1

3. Break the single vCard into multiple vCards. I did this using vcardsplitter. This step is key as the Samsung Reality does not support vCards with multiple contacts.

4. Create the directory my_contacts on a micro-SD card.

5. Copy the vCards into this directory

6. Put the micro-SD card into Samsung Reality

7. On the Samsung Reality do the following:
Menu->Settings and Tools->Memory->Card->My Contacts->Copy->Copy All