I heard about the Amazon Echo Dot a while back, but not until this year’s Amazon Prime Day, I finally purchased one along with the Instant Pot for almost 50% off. To my surprise, the setup is quite easy. I guess it’s because I have an Amazon Prime account. But to be honest, I haven’t used it often, I only occasionally say “Alexa, good morning”, “Alexa, good evening”, “Alexa, play the Carpenters”…etc., and I found it quite amusing & entertaining. And whenever the stuff I bought from Amazon is delivered, there is a ring of yellow light flashing on the Echo Dot and I can say “Alexa, play notification” and it will announce that my package has been delivered. The Echo Dot can also provide the latest news, and weather forecasts, and control Echo Dot-enabled smart devices such as my Instant Pot.
Even though I found the Echo Dot is pretty smart & fun to use, I found out there is still improvement that needs to be made. Just recently and out of curiosity, I said “Alexa, good morning!” at night, guess what? Alexa does not know the difference between the morning and the evening. It still said good morning back to me, lol.
Anyway, while speaking of improvement on the Echo Dot, I am quite happy to see the All-new Echo Dot (3rd Gen) Smart speaker now comes with an LED clock. I really think this is a great improvement for the Echo Dot which now can replace my decade-old boring alarm clock on my nightstand. As the CNET review pointed out, the only gripe I have with the new Echo Dot is its price, at $59.99 is a bit pricy as compares to my older version of the Echo Dot at $25 (same 3rd Gen without the clock), which I got at a bargain price on Amazon’s Prime Day. Hopefully, Amazon will offer a similar discount on the next Prime Day. But if you can’t wait for the discount and the cost is no issue for you, I definitely recommend getting it now.
Great news! If you don’t care about the LED clock, Amazon is now promoting an amazing offer for the Echo Dot (3rd Gen) for just $0.99 with a little ear-pleasing catch though! Check it out now!
The “2019 SOS EDC™ Free Giveaway Contest” has been successfully
concluded. We really appreciate those who participated. Congratulations to the
four randomly selected winners as listed below.
Richard B. – Los Angeles, CA
Cassandra D. – San Bernardino CA
Jeanette S. – Hildebran NC
Patti C. – Little Rock, AR
The winning prizes will be mailed to the winners by 10/16/2019. Please note that if you did not respond to the winning confirmation email within the specified time period, a replacement winner was selected.
But even if you did not win the prize, we want to make sure everyone who participated in any of our contests & who visited our website is a winner as well. The 10% off discount code below can be used toward your next purchase of any of our products at Amazon. You can apply the discount code at the Check Out.
While working in the office we are allowed to have a headphone in one ear for personal listening when not talking to clients on the phones. So I try to take advantage of this perk to listen to my favorite podcasts. Even though having an earbud in one of my ears is allowed, I found the wired headphone I have is not very convenient, I need the wireless option. Since I mainly use an iPad Mini to listen to podcasts, I eventually bought a knockout copy of the Apple AirPods from a Big 5 Sports store for only $15 when it was on sale. While it’s OK for listening to podcasts but the bass is lacking for listening to music. The range is also poor if I walk a bit far away from my iPad. I also found the AirPod knockout earbud headphones look silly in my ears when standing in front of the mirror (sorry, Apple fans). I guess it’s my personal perspective. I don’t like the long pipes hanging from my ears. I like it to be more discreet.
So I did some research online to see what other wireless headphone options are available. As mentioned, I don’t like the Apple AirPods with long pipes hanging off the ears, so I am delighted to find out there are earbuds headphones that fit snuggly in the ears without the long pipes. However, I found the selection is quite big in terms of the design & price, so I wasn’t sure which one to get. One day I found the Raycon wireless earbud headphones ad inserted in an online article I was reading. I guess Google detected that I was looking for a set of wireless earbud headphones & inserted the ad. I was attracted by the description of the ad and bookmarked the product page. Given the price is reasonable if matches the product claim but still a lot more expensive than other brands, especially those from China. And I was thinking the Raycon wireless earbud headphones are most likely made in China anyway and the company selling them just gives it a brand name and charges more for it. So for a while, I was debating whether I should buy from Raycon or the ones from China which cost about $25 including shipping. But based on the Apple AirPods knockout from China, I am quite sure the sound quality is so-so. It turns out that the Raycon wireless earbud headphones are assembled in China but designed in the United States, as indicated in the product package.
Anyway, long story short, I finally made up my mind to give Raycon wireless earbud headphones a try, which I am glad I did. Now I am about a week into using the Raycon E50 Wireless Earbuds Bluetooth Headphones, and all I can say is I am pretty happy with this pair of wireless earbud headphones. I found the following Pros which I really like about these wireless earbud headphones:
The form factor is very good. They fit snuggly in my ears, and without the extended protrusion like the Apple AirPods.
Very easy pairing. The earbuds pair with each other very easily. Just place them in the charging capsule and they will pair automatically. And after that, you can easily pair them with your iPhone/Android phone, and in my case, my iPad Mini 4. You can also pair each earbud individually, as in my case, I usually pair the left one with my iPad to listen to podcasts in the office.
The sound quality is very good, the bass is very acceptable. The music sounds great, a lot better than the Apple AirPods knockout I have.
The Bluetooth range is quite good. Once the earbud headphones are paired with the iPad, I can leave the iPad at its location and I can listen with the earbud headphones anywhere in my over 2000SQFT two-story house, except when stepping outside the house, I guess the wall insulation blocks the Bluetooth signals, making the connection spotty and getting disconnected sometimes. But once the signal is detected, the headphones pair with the iPad automatically.
The controls of the earbud headphones are very intuitive. The power on/off button on each earbud headphone can also be used to pause ( press it once); play the next track (press the right earbud power button twice quickly); play the previous track (press the left earbud power button twice quickly; to lower the sound volume (press the left earbud power button quickly three times); to increase the sound volume (press the right earbud power button quickly three times).
The charging capsule is very compact and easy to carry.
Claimed long play & standby time. I own the earbud headphones for about a little over a week and haven’t used them for an extended long period, so I am not sure about that, but I am quite confident the continuous playtime will last several hours as indicated in the review comments left on the Amazon product page.
The Cons: still a little bit pricy to me, since I have not compared the Raycon E50 Wireless Earbuds Bluetooth Headphones with other cheaper brands, I am not sure about the price/quality ratio with other brands, but I believe this pair of earbuds headphones definitely worth its price.
They also have other models which may fit your particular lifestyle. Below is the unboxing pictures I took. Enjoy! 🙂
July 1st, 2018, On the way back home from San Franciso to Sacramento, I witnessed this shocking, scary yet somehow funny incident. Watch the car in the right lane exiting the freeway. I first notice the sparks coming off the left front wheel of the car and then I saw the tire rolling toward my car. I was praying the tire won’t hit my car… all caught by my dash cam, which I recommend everyone should have installed in their vehicles.
The “FREE SOS EDC™ Giveaways Contest 2018-1” has been successfully concluded. We really appreciate those who participated. Congratulations to the four randomly selected winners as listed below.
Jenny Ham – Topeka, KS
James Orr – Cumming, GA
Anita Leibert – Akron, Ohio
Shannon Fowler – Longwood, FL
The winning prizes have been mailed to the winners. Please note that if you did not respond to the winning confirmation email within the specified time period, a replacement winner was selected.
But even if you did not win the prize, we want to make sure everyone who participated in any of our contests is a winner as well. The 10% off discount code has been emailed. This discount code is available exclusively for members of this email list only.
Just a quick reminder that this is your last chance to enter the “FREE SOS EDC™ Giveaways Contest 2018-1“. The contest will end at midnight on 03/31/2018. For those who submitted the entry but have not returned the confirmation, please check your email and confirm your entry. And for those who entered the contest early, you may find additional entry actions by revisiting the contest page. Good luck everyone!
Even though this wallet has an unfair review on Amazon, it remains my favorite everyday-carry wallet. This is the most secure wallet you will ever have especially for traveling.
The SOS EDC™ compact custom-made travel passport wallet is actually inspired by personal travel experience. The design is very simple yet more practical than similar products. It’s made for the intended purpose of not only for your vacation travel but also for your everyday carry. Losing a wallet is an experience you do not want to encounter even once. This wallet will provide you with peace of mind so you will enjoy your vacation and have one less thing to worry about in your daily life.
IT OFFERS MORE CARRY OPTIONS – Hanging around your neck or putting it inside your jeans’ front or rear pocket secured with the belt loop strap. The neck lanyard is detachable, talk about flexibility!
IT IS MORE SECURE PHYSICALLY & ELECTRONICALLY – The pocket carry option is secured by a belt loop strap making it almost impossible to be pickpocketed. Reclaim your front pocket space with the rear pocket carry option without worrying about the wallet getting stolen. And with the RFID blocking feature, your credit cards with embedded chips remain secured inside from identity theft scanning devices.
IT’S MORE COMPACT YET HAS A LARGE CAPACITY – This wallet is purposely made more compact than other similar wallets/pouches yet big enough to carry your passport & iPhone 7 Plus size cell phones making it suitable for everyday carry as well.
Hey, don’t just take my word for it, enter the Free Giveaways Contest now for a chance to own one or if you can’t wait, purchase one today from Amazon.
The “2017 Holiday Free SOS EDC Giveaways Contest” has been successfully concluded. We really appreciate your participation. Congratulations to the three randomly selected winners as listed below.
Anita L. from Akron, Ohio
Kiya L. from Longmont, CO
Aaron M. from Aurora, CO
The winning prizes have been mailed to the winners, which they will receive soon. Please note that if you did not respond to the winning confirmation email within the specified time period, a replacement winner would be drawn which actually happened in this contest.
