HDMI to HDMI+Audio splitter by Allreli

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The use cases for a product like this are many but in my case I have a Blu-ray player and Chromecast that are plugged into my TV and I have an older receiver that lacks any sort of HDMI input. I'd like to have their audio go through the better speakers and now I can split it off through the RCA plugs.

Build- I'm a fan of how this thing is put together. The folded steel construction means that when it's sitting in the back of a cabinet and getting pushed around you never have to worry about it. It's nice to have this piece of mind when everything else is coming as plastic these days. The design is simple as well: One side has the input and single control while the other has all the outputs. The icing n the cake, at least for me, is that the power adapter is the type that goes 90 degrees to the side instead of down so you can easily fit it in a power strip.

Function- It worked perfectly for me. This is the type of product that I like to just be a set-and-forget and that seem to be the case so far. When I fire up the Chromecast and start some music the audo comes through it to my receiver with no issues and sounds fine. What more could you ask for? The only thing noticeable that someone somewhere might complain about is that there is a .5-1 seconds pause when using the slider to switch modes. Even then who would care? You'll probably only ever use it once. Something useful to know about the slider is that audio is always passed through no matter what. You can turn off the splitting and use pass-through, use 2ch and pass-through, or 5.1ch and pass-through. The advantage here is that you can use the TV itself as a psuedo-center channel.

Overall there is nothing about this I don't like. It is built solidly and does it's one job very well. I recommend it. I received this product free in exchange for nothing more than my honest opinion.

Ultrasonic Humidifier/Diffuser by Zen

I'm not a big humidifier or diffuser person but my wife likes to use different oils to make the house smell better. We tried this one and liked the 2-in-1 idea but it ends up lacking a little on both. In the end though all my notes are minor things; we like it overall.

Build- It is of course all plastic but nothing feels too cheap on it. Operation is easy with a simple dial to change the intensity(I was surprised how high it went as well). We love the color changing LED light but it's not very bright. If we were to have it in a room at night we wouldn't want the light at all so it seems like thy should be bright enough to see easily in a lit room. Not a big deal though. How to use it is somewhat self explanatory but the instructions aren't very clear English wise. Basically all you need to know though it fill the reservoir and add the cap, place the oil on the metal circle in the base, add the tank, and turn it on.

Function- As a humidifier you can see it pumping out a fair amount of moisture but because it's small it has a limited tank capacity. My wife did mention this isn't all that bad though because it means if a child  like our curious daughter gets a hold of it the amount that spills is limited. You get a fair run time for the size but then as a diffuser it also could use improvement. Because this uses a reservoir tank for the water you'll see in the instructions that you're supposed to place the oil drops on the ultrasonic emitter at the bottom and then place the tank in. This lets the water run out over the oil and works fine at this point. The problem is that the water that runs out initially is all you get for the oil and once that is used up more water runs in; but all the oil is gone. The amount of time running it with oil ends up being less that the time a dedicated diffuser would run. At that point you don't want to bother lifting the tank and adding more oil. You COULD add the oil to the tank itself but then you'd need to keep it clean and there's no way to scrub the inside through the small hole.

After all that though depending on your needs this could work fine. If you just want a small amount of fragrance and then still need the humidifier function that would be perfect. We don't dislike it but the natural consequence of two uses just means it doesn't shine at either completely. I received this product free in exchange for nothing more than my honest opinion.

LED 20W Edison Filament Bulb

I was impressed with this one. Everyone's trying to make something new and everything has to include LEDs these days. Usually though you'll expect to pay quite a premium for anything good. For under 10 bucks these decorative lights are a good deal to add some flair to your place. Exposed filament bulbs look great and add mood to any room. You'll often see them out at restaurants and I've always wanted some for my home. These allow you to do that while still saving on energy.


These bulbs will fit in any regular socket you'll find in your house and are the exact same size as an old incandescent one. That means you can use them anywhere. While I wouldn't go tossing them around I think these are more durable due to the plastic that makes up the "glass". If you give it a tap you almost can't tell the difference. The model I tried was the 20W equivalent so you won't light a room with it: decoration only. If you want more power though go ahead and try the 60W ones which really aren't that much more expensive. You do get the exposed filament feel with these but I think the light temperature is a little cooler than incandescent. Still a warm white though. One of my pictures includes it with a few other bulbs that are considered "warm".


I have no complaints. Screw it in and enjoy what it adds to your home. I need to get a couple more now. I received this product free in exchange for nothing more than my honest opinion.

3 port HDMI switch with 4K support

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Really? I mean Really!? I like to start my reviews out with a nice summary and then get into the details but this product surprised me so much with a glaring bug that I have to make sure it's clear to anyone looking to buy the splitter that there's a problem. I try to explain it but also included a short video showing the bug.

It's not that it's unusable; it certainly works in that it lets you switch between three hdmi signals  while skipping any unused slots... with a catch. I was really interested in this model because the remote allows you to specify exactly which signal to go to instead of making you cycle through each one. The only problem is it doesn't work. I had signals plugged into inputs 1 and 3 and can switch between them with the cycle button with no issues. When I try to press "1" though, nothing happens. I can press "2" and it will go to input 2  but it won't go back to 1. Then it get's worse: if you press "3"... it switches to input 3, the one with nothing plugged into it. And you can't go straight to 3 either; you first have to go to 2 and then you can do 2-3-2-3-2-3 all you want but never to 1. Just because I was curious I moved the cable from input 1 to input 3. At this point you can chose input 1 and 2, but not three. Really?

The important thing I want you to remember is that at any point during all this you can cycle to the input you want. What baffles me is how something like this gets into a finished product with nobody noticing. The fact that you can switch the inputs and get the bug to show up in a different place means this is a design issue and I'm very disappointed.

If you just need something to switch between HDMI inputs this will work. If you want a good product that behaves as it should and shows care went into it; this isn't for you. I received this product free in exchange for nothing more than my honest opinion.

Mini Softbox by Ohuhu

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As someone who makes use of a softbox whenever possible it was great to see there is a smaller version that is much more portable. I can see my self making use of this is some situations but it does have slight issues that might not make it my go-to modifier.

Build- Externally this softbox is made of rip-stop nylonwith elastic covering the ribs that give it structure. In the back you have some more elastic to go around the head of your flash as well as velcro that is meant to go around back and hold it in. Internally is a nice reflective fabric to bounce all available light out the front. What is nice is the two options for diffusing as well as a separate set of mounting velcro for each. The both are about the same as each other translucent-wise but how they hang affects the light. One attaches to tabs at each corner and allows light to excape around the edge to provide a form of ring light while the other covers the entire front providing a complete diffusion.

Function- The softness of your light also depends on the size of your modifier so it will still be fairly directional with something this small. It is however still going to soften more than a bare flash and I tried to capture the difference in a couple pictures. The complaint I have is the setup. I think the elastic to go around the flash is a good idea but I haven't found a quick way to do it. Once you get it in and wrap the velcro around everything slides around a little bit. It needs some sort of silicone on everything to give it a good grip.

A portable softbox is a great thing to have. I expect I'll use this in situations where I have a speedlight on a stand but don't want to worry about a big box getting blown around in the wind. If you don't mind a little wobble it'll work fine on camera but just be aware. I received this product free in exchange for nothing more than my honest opinion.

8GB USB Digital Audio Voice Recorder

I was going to include pictures but instead I figure it makes more sense to throw them in a video and I'll record this first paragraph on it.

For something that looks just like the dime-a-dozen flash drives that are everywhere and even being given away these days I was surprised at this voice recorder. Operation is dead easy and it excels in it's simplicity. I' see some other reviewers complaining about lack of voice activation but I've used high quality recorders that don't even have that feature. It doesn't cook me breakfast either but what it does do is make long recording easy and does it in a small package.

Build- As some would market this as a spy tool I do have to say it is very unassuming. The case has one small hole for a status LED and the control switch almost blends in with the dimpling at the end. That's all there is that could ever even make you think it isn't just a normal flash drive.

Function- To turn it on you just flick the switch to on and it does it's job. Something important to remember is that it doesn't start recording until the LED turns itself off. It will be solid, then blink, then off. It turns on again when switching it off to tell you it's saving the file and will do so on it's own when the battery runs out. At this point you're recording and doing so quite clearly. You're of course going to be limited with such a small microphone but I was amazed at how clear I sounded once I plugged it in to my computer. Speaking of that; the fact that is it just a flash drive means you never have to worry about cables. Everything you need is built in. The best part about this though is the length of recording you get. I turned it on at the beginning of a day and off again at the end and still had battery so did it again the next day. On one charge I was able to get a few minutes under 14 hours and only used 5.18 of the 8 Gig capacity. That's enough to get another workday of recording after a charge without even emptying it.

Sure, it's simple and it doesn't have bells and whistles. If you just need to record something though this is the way to go. It can always be in your pocket and ready and with that large battery could just be on all day if you needed. The sound is good enough that unless you're going something archive quality there's no need to go for anything more expensive. I received this product free in exchange for nothing more than my honest opinion.

Mini LED Strobe Light by JS Lighting

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When I was younger I collected party lights so I've had a couple strobe lights. I think this one is something that would be best considered a novelty and used in a man-cave, child's room, or home party. It has some advantages over some higher priced models but it wouldn't ever be used in a professional setting.

Build- Everything is plastic on the casing to the mounting bracket. I like to see stronger materials most of the time but in this case it works as a plus. It's so small that it's enough to protect it from a drop and it keeps the entire package light. You have a clear panel on the front to protect the LEDs; something that may not be needed but there less chance of them being crunched in a bump. The single control is in the back along with the power cord.

Function- There is no power switch on this model. It keeps costs down on this bare minimum amount of electronics but I'd like to see one so you don't have to plug it in every time you use it in a more permanent setting. Once it's on though you just turn the knob on the back to adjust the speed of the flashes from fairly slow to a quick pace but not as fast as others I've seen. Brightness is ok too but again, nothing that will blow you away. The last thing I noticed is that the cord coming out the back has a strain relief clamp to prevent it from coming out but it's not tight enough so the cord slides in and out anyway.

The audience for a strobe light like this is someone who just wants to add a little fun to a room or maybe even a wedding dance floor. Enough to add effect but no one will go blind. The plus with this over more powerful ones is that LED panel should last indefinitely. No need to ever hunt around or have to shop online for a replacement bulb. This strobe light has a basic set of features but could just use a little improvement. I received this product free in exchange for nothing more than my honest opinion.