Tecsun M-801 media player review

I acquired a used Tecsun M-801 music player.

The good,

• Built-in FM antenna with decent reception.
• User replaceable 18650 battery.
• USB-C port supports changing and acting as a USB speakerphone.
• It can record audio into a TF card.
• The built-in mic can be used for answering phone calls via bluetooth.
• It exposes its battery level to phones through bluetooth.
• The audio player can resume from previous location within a file. 

The bad,

• The recorded audio is in MP2 format at 160 kbps instead of MP3.
• Does not play AAC audio files. 
• The only knob has two functions. I prefer a dedicated volume knob.
• The USB-C port is not implemented properly to work with USB-C adapters. 
• No AM reception. 
• The speaker has a noticeable noise floor.
• Volume is not synced to phone in bluetooth mode. 

 

Ricoh GRIV camera review

 I used a GRIV for three days. Here is my take.

The good,

• Very sharp lens
• Lightweight and compact body
• 50GB internal storage
• The RAW format is DNG.
• Crisp display
• UI is clean and intuitive.
• Built-in ND filter
• Superb image stabilization

The bad,

• Video recording is limited to 1080p at 60fps.
• Does not support HEIF.
• Display is fixed. It does not flip or articulate.
• Only supports UHS-I microSD card.

The ugly,

The camera freezes after taking dozens of pictures on a moving vehicle. I ruled out SD card incompatibility because I did not insert one. I had to pull out the battery to reboot the camera. This is why I only kept it for three days.

 

 

 

JetKVM review

Update on Apr 29, 2025

The device suddenly stopped working. The screen went blank. The case got very hot. I presume it had a short circuit. I emailed JetKVM but have no receive a response.

###

I received a JetKVM last week. Here is my take.

the good,

• the metal casing feels nice
• Web UI is clean, responsive, and intuitive. 

the bad,

• Although it supports IPv6 SLAAC, the IPv6 address is not shown anywhere in the Web UI or on-device screen. I had to enable developer mode and SSH into it to see the address.
• Virtual media does not support loading media from the browser yet.
  
• It uses a mini-HDMI port instead of a regular one.
• Its only USB-C port is for both power and data (HID and storage emulation). So it comes with a special USB-C cable that splits a USB-C port to a data port and a power port.
• It does not support WiFi. Good for security but bad for convenience.
• Its irregular form factor makes it difficult to mount on a rack.

I recommend it at a price of 88 USD. But if you can wait, GL.iNet's GL-RM1 might be a better choice.

Viltrox 28mm F4.5 E mount AF lens review

I have been using a Viltrox AF 28mm F4.5 FE on Sony A6400 for a while. Here is my review.

Good,

• extremely thin and lightweight
  
• auto focus
  
• AF motor is quiet
• affordable
• built-in lens cover

Bad,

• Aperture is fixed at f/4.5 which is too wide for landscape.
• No manual focus mode
• No filter attachment threads
• Prominent flare
• AF motor can be heard on video recordings
• No optical stabilization (not unexpected given the price)

2024 Honda Civic sport test drive impression

Good,

• Interior materials feel nicer than competitors like Corolla.
• Good driving dynamics
• It has proximity key entry and key-less start. 
• And it can lock doors automatically when you walk away.
• It has adaptive cruise control and blind spot indicators.
  
• Key fob is compact and lightweight.
• The rear view camera has dynamic guidelines.
• Physical AC knobs are easy to use.
• The whole interior is black, including the headliner.
• It does not have a sun-roof.
• The infotainment system has physical buttons and volume knobs.
  

Meh

• No sun-glass holder in the sport trim.
• No auto-dimming rear view mirror.
  
• Fully manual driver seat.
• No wireless phone screen projection.
• 2.0L NA engine does not have much power.
  

Bad

• It has auto start-stop.
• The steering wheel controls are confusing. It has buttons, wheels, and toggles. See the picture below.
  
• The 7-inch infotainment screen is small and has a very wide bezel.
• The 7-inch infotainment screen is dim even at the highest brightness.
• The MSRP of 26k is expensive for such a compact sedan.
  
• The salesperson was extremely rude as if I should beg him for the car.
• The dealer has a $500 mark-up.
• The dealer does not have any 2025 models.
  

Qodosen DX-286 portable radio review

I bought a Qodosen DX-286 portable radio at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D3V3H356 for 80 USD + tax.

I compared it with a tecsun PL330 last evening.

Good,

• The tiny speaker is surprisingly loud and deep. Better than tecsun PL330.
  
• Stellar performance in FM band. It clearly received 38 stations without pulling out the antenna. While tecsun got only 19.
• Good MW performance. It picked up 15 stations. Tecsun got 12 stations.
  
• It decodes FM RDS/RBDS.
• It uses a widely available 18650 battery and can charge the battery through USB.
• The build quality feels nice.
• The tuning knob has good tactile feedback.
  
• It is extremely compact.
• It has many powerful settings.
• The LCD display has good viewing angle and even backlight.
  

Meh

• It does not receive SSB or air band. But I have other radios for these.
• It is power hungry thanks to the TEF6686 chip. The quiescent current in FM band is 200 mA.
  
• The 18650 battery is not included in the package.
• I wish the RDS info could be displayed on a dot-matrix with more characters.
• Buttons serve multiple functions. I must not lose the user manual.
• The English user manual has a few translation errors.
• The noise floor in FM is higher than PL330's.
• The radio mutes for ~100ms between tuning, probably due to DSP.
• The buttons do not have a bump on 5, making it hard to use in the dark.
• It takes ~1 sec to boot.
  

Bad

• The "world" clock setting is counter-intuitive. IMO, the correct order is to set UTC time and then choose the local timezone.
• The kickstand feels flimsy.
• Charging port is micro USB, not type C. 
• The volume control is weird. The volume knob is a potentiometer. The MCU reads its output to set the actual volume.
• The carrying case is a waste of plastic.
  

A teardown of the radio is at https://www.shouyinji.com/thread-2518-1-1.html

Jay Allen's review at https://radiojayallen.com/qodosen-sr-286-am-fm-sw-high-performance-portable/

Note that DX-286 is an improved version of SR-286.

2023 Nissan Rogue SL review

I rent a 2023 Nissan Rogue SL FWD for a week on a trip. Here is my review.

Good,

• The engine is quiet even though it has only three cylinders. 
• The engine has enough power to haul four adults.
• It has good fuel economy. I averaged about 28 mpg.
• Handling is agile among all SUV that I have driven.
  
• It has features like,
• powered lift gate
• comfortable powered seats
• wireless phone screen projection
• three zone AC
• four USB ports for charging
  
• proximity key entry
• adaptive cruise control with lane centering assist
• parking sensors
• 360 degree camera
• The instrument cluster has two analogue gauges and a LCD display. The trip computer is easy to use.

Meh

• The KR15DDT engine has complaints of reliability issues.
• Only the driver's window supports "one touch" up and down.
• I don't like the gear selector. I often shift into manual mode by accident. 
• The lane centering feature does not work well on curvy roads.
• The driver seat's lumbar support cannot be adjusted vertically.
  

Bad

• Proximity locking and unlocking uses the same button on the door handle. So it is hard to tell if the door has been locked or unlocked.
• Adaptive cruise control sometimes (once every other day) disengages on its own.
• There is no audible alarm when the car is moving and a door is unlocked.

 

2024 Corolla Cross review

I test drove a 2024 Corolla Cross XLE. The verdict is to not buy one. Here is why.

• The interior is the almost same as my 2020 corolla sedan.
• The cabin is not much roomier than corolla sedan.
  
• It has auto start-stop.
• The infotainment screen still cannot display CJK chars correctly.
• Very slow acceleration.
• The engine requires hard to find 0w8 oil.
• Much more body roll when cornering than corolla sedan.
• Suspension is too soft.

The corolla cross did have some nice things,

• JBL sound system.
• improved ADAS (TSS 3.0).
• Wireless carplay.
• AWD
  

But it is more expensive ($4000) than a similarly equipped corolla sedan.

2023 Hyundai Ioniq 5 EV review

I drove a 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 5 on a weekend trip between Sacramento and Truckee.

Good things,

• Fast acceleration
• Quieter than my Corolla sedan
• Spacious cabin
• Plenty USB charging ports
  
• Powered lift gate
• Powered folding side mirrors
• Auto brake hold is always enabled. 
• Audio quality is good.
• Handling is better than similar ICE SUV.
• It notifies me when it is stopped and the vehicle ahead drives away.
  

Meh,

• Range is not as good as similar ICE cars, especially when going uphill.
• The infotainment screen is also too big with the left edge blocked by the wheel.
• The rear turn signals are red. 
• Regenerative braking is too aggressive. I find it hard to modulate the pedal to maintain a speed on local roads.
• I don't like the toggles on the steering wheel.
  

Bad things,

• The LCD instrument cluster has a white background in the day, lowering contrast.
  
• The instrument cluster puts indicators on the screen edges.
• The LCD instrument cluster is too big. The edges are blocked by the steering wheel.
• The infotainment UI has latency.
  
• It has too many driver assistance features.
• Lane change assist is too conservative.
  
• "Smart cruise control" often disengages on its own.
  
• User manual does not explain the features well enough.
  

EVgo fast charging was expensive and not as fast as expected. The car charged 55 kWh over 1 hour. I paid 39 USD.

Lenovo IP Flex 5 14IAU7 Chromebook review

The good,

• Affordable. I bought a refurbished one for ~300 USD.
• 16:10 ratio 1920x1200 screen is good for office work and web browsing.
  
• It has a USB-A port.
• It has a USB-C on each side. Both supports video output and charging.
  
• The camera has a privacy shutter.
• The screen's hinge can rotate 360 degrees.
  

The bad,

• It is 2cm thick and weighs 1.5kg.
  
• Screen is glossy.
• Screen brightness is 300 nits.
• 8GB RAM can be a problem if too many tabs are open.
• The USB-C ports does not support Thunderbolt/USB4.
• No dedicated HDMI/DisplayPort.
  

Specs

• Intel Core i3-1215U CPU
• 8 GB LPD4X-4266 RAM
• 256 GB SSD

My conclusion: It is an affordable entry level laptop.

ThinkPad X1 carbon gen 10 review

I bought a refurbished ThinkPad X1 carbon gen 10 on Lenovo outlet. The model number is 21CB000HUS. It is as configured below,

Processor: Intel® Core™ i5-1240P
Memory: 16 GB LPDDR5 5200MHz (Soldered)
Storage: 512 GB SSD M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 Performance TLC Opal
Display: 14" WUXGA (1920 x 1200), IPS, Anti-Glare, Touch, 100% sRGB, 400 nits, 60Hz

the good,

• The 16:10 display allows more content than 16:9 ones.
• The display has a matte finish and is bright enough outdoors.
• 12th gen Intel CPU runs much faster than the 8th gen in my X1 carbon gen 7.
• Speakers are loud and clear.
• Good Linux support (ArchWiki).
  

the bad,

• The keyboard travel is shorter than X1 carbon gen 7.
• The keyboard cannot be replaceable independently.
• Windows 11 is garbage. I tried it for an evening and then replace it with Linux.
• The only two USB-C ports are both on the left side. I wish to have a third USB-C port on the right side like the M3 Macbook pro.

Garmin Vivoactive 5 smart watch review

I had the watch for one month.

The good,

• bright and crispy touch screen
• not too heavy
  
• snappy UI response
  
• fast GPS fixing
• long battery life (up to 5 days if I do not use GPS)
  

The bad,

• The Garmin Connect app is worse than Apple watch app.
  
• The app cannot work offline. It needs Internet access for syncing even if the watch is connected over bluetooth.
• GPS drift happens at times.
• No wireless charging
   

Ricoh GRIII camera review

I borrow a Ricoh GRIII camera for a week. Here is my take.

The good,

• USB-C port
• Touch screen
• Boots up very quickly
• Sharp lens
• large APS-C sensor has decent dynamic range
  
• Dedicated knob for exposure compensation.
• supports geo tagging
• small form factor. fits in a pocket.
• The lens has a marco mode.
  

The bad,

• The UI is too "simplistic".
• Records video at a maximum resolution of 1080p.
• The screen is fixed. It cannot be tilted.
• No viewfinder.
• The 28mm lens is not wide enough for landscape.
• Auto focusing is slower than SONY RX100 mark 5a.
  

Verdict: GRIII is a very good fixed lens camera for still shoots.

Xiegu X6100 HF transceiver review

The X6100 is a HF and 50MHz transceiver. It is a budget alternative to IC-705 if you do not need VHF/UHF bands.

I tried FT8 on it for a few days.

Good

• Relatively low price
• Bright LCD screen
• The firmware is not locked down.
  
• Internal battery
• Built-in USB interface
• Built-in antenna tuner
• A large community, many hams have the transceiver.
• alternative R1CBU firmware.
  
• The manufacture is still adding new features like wfserver to the firmware.

Bad

• Changing receiver options is tedious due to the untouchable screen.
  
• hamlib's CAT control can be buggy at times.
• Built-in USB interface lacks isolation. Noise from computers would get into the receiver.
• Only 5W output on internal battery.
• It supports WiFi but I never succeeded in connecting to one.
• The CW decoder never worked for me.
• Some birdies exist.
  

Update in Nov 2023,

I sold the transceiver because I lost interest in QRP HF.

Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Nano Gen 2 Review

The good,

• sturdy build
  
• 16:10 matte screen
• weights less than 1kg
• good Linux support
  

The bad,

• The keyboard area gets warm when charging.
• Key travel is even shorter than X1 carbon.
• Keyboard is fused with the palm rest. It cannot be replaced easily.
  
• The internal SSD is from Union Memory, a little-known company in China.
  
• No USB-A or HDMI ports.
• The only two USB-C ports are on the left side.
• Everything except for SSD is soldered on the system board.
  

Conclusion: It is a good ultra lightweight laptop. But compromises were made for the weight. X1 carbon is a much better choice if you need more ports.

Belkin RT3200 wireless router review

The Belkin RT3200 is a very cheap ($50 on Walmart) WiFi 6 router based on MediaTek's MT7915 + MT7622 solution. It is extremely similar to Linksys E8450. (Foxconn owns Linksys and Belkin.)

Hardware highlights (source):
 - CPU: MT7622BV (2x ARM Cortex-A53 @ 1350 MHz)
 - RAM: 512MB DDR3
 - Flash: 128MB SPI-NAND
 - Ethernet: MT7531BE switch with 5 1000Base-T ports
 - WiFi 2.4 GHz: 802.11bgn 4T4R built-in antennas
                 MT7622VB built-in
 - WiFi   5 GHz: 802.11ac/ax 4T4R built-in antennas
                 MT7915AN chip on-board via PCIe
                 MT7975AN front-end

The router's stock firmware was okay but sluggish. I followed this to install OpenWrt. Just be sure to 1) backup the factory bootrom; 2) use UBI images ending in itb.

Then I enabled beam forming and BSS coloring and ran iperf3. It achieved ~450 Mbps in both direction between my wireless laptop with Intel AX201 and a wired NAS. The laptop was about 8 meters away from the router.

I then switched the bandwidth from 80MHz to 160MHz. But iperf3 did not show improvements. So I reverted the change.

I also connected EA7500 to RT3200. They negotiated a PHY rate of 1733 Mbps. But the iperf3 test was only ~480 Mbps.

I did not enable WED or HW offloading as I configured the router to be an access point.

Conclusion

If you have a decent 802.11ac wave 2 router, replacing it with RT3200 will not increase the throughput much. But it is a good cheap router if you do not have one yet.

MikroTik hAP ax3 WiFi router review

Update in Feb 2025: The latest firmware v7.17.2 still has WiFi issues.

Update in Dec 2023: The router experienced IPv6 connectivity issues. Rebooting would fix for a few hours. I did not find useful logs. I had to backup, reset, restore.

Update in Nov 2023: Mikrotik added station-bridge mode support in v7.12 wifiwave2 package. And the 11ax compatibility issue seems gone.

Update: I do not recommend hAP ax3 until MikroTik fixes the 11ax compatibility issue.

I bought MikroTik hAP ax³ router last week. Here is my review.

the good

• It has a 2.5GbE port.
• It supports WiFi 6 on both bands. Many cheap wireless routers only support WiFi 4 (802.11n) on 2.4GHz.
  
• It has detachable antennas.
  
• It runs the "RouterOS", which supports OSPF, WireGuard, IPSec, etc.

the so-so

• It only supports 2T2R MIMO and 80MHz bandwidth on the 5GHz band.
  
• I ran iperf3 between an iPad Air 5 and a wired NAS via the hAP ax3 and an old Linksys EA7500. I did not notice any increase in throughput on the ax3.
  
• The RouterOS quick setup did not config IPv6. I had to do IPv6 manually.
• The 2.5GbE port defaults to WAN. I changed it to LAN so that the NAS could use it.

the bad

• I encountered several bugs in the RouterOS.
• One of them is this.
• My Linux devices (two laptops and one router) have problem connecting to the 5GHz band AP if it is in 11ax mode. The error is "Unhandled alg: 0xc0400707". I have to set the AP to 11ac mode.
  
• The MikroTik forum does not show attached files (including screenshots) to guests.
• The new wifiwav2 package does not support four address mode or 802.11s. So you cannot deploy a WiFi mesh without tunneling. 
• The wifi interface's MTU cannot be changed.
  

conclusion

hAP ax3 is okay for people who want the RouterOS + 2.5GbE + WiFi 6. You may also consider the $40 cheaper hAP ax2 if you do not need 2.5GbE or external antennas.

 

Eve Energy "Smart" Plug (North American) Review

Update: Eve was acquired by ABB in June 2023.  I am uncertain if eve will keep its privacy commitment.

I bought a Eve Energy "Smart" Plug (model #10027863) recently for $40. I bought it to schedule an oil filled radiator to reduce my electricity bill.

Here is my review, going from positive sides to negatives.

The manufacture claims that the plug does need any registration and does not send any usage data to the "cloud". This was why I chose it over cheaper alternatives like TP-Link Kasa.

The device was made in Taiwan with decent quality components. The FCC internal photos show that it contains an Nordic Semi SoC and a PL7211 energy metering IC.

The plug supports Bluetooth and Thread. The manufacture claimed it would support Matter soon. However, the latency on Bluetooth is human noticeable.

A Thread "border router", e.g. Apple HomePod, is required for remote control due to the lack of WiFi.

The plug works with Apple HomeKit exclusively. It requires an iOS device and the home app. However, not all features are available on the iOS home app.

The plug has a energy metering feature. However, the Eve iOS app is required to view the current power and history. In addition, the manufacture did not specify the accuracy of the metering. So the metering feature has little value to me.

The plug also has an independent scheduling feature. This is why I bought it. Initially, I confused it with the HomeKit automation feature. The latter requires a "home hub". Eventually I found the scheduling UI deep in the Eve iOS app.

The plug has an internal clock but no battery backup. So the schedule stops working silently after a power loss (even a few seconds). The fix is to open the Eve app nearby and let the plug sync the time from the phone. This is very annoying. The manufacture could have put a capacitor inside to keep the clock running for a few hours after a power loss.

It does not have a timer feature. For example, I cannot set it to turn off in 2 hours. Maybe the feature was intentionally left out to avoid more confusion?

The manual control button (integrated with the indicator) is too small for everyday use.

Probably due to the metering circuit, the plug generates some amount of heat. When supplying an 1 kW oil radiator, the plug feels warm (at around 40 degC) in a room at 20 degC.

The plug will eagerly trip whenever it senses a tiny overload. This is good for safety. But I doubt if the energy metering IC is calibrated.

Fitbit Inspire 3 Review

I have been wearing a fitbit inspire 3 fitness tracker for two weeks. Here is my review.

The good,

• Long battery life. I only need to charge it once per week.
  
• Heart rate and sleep monitoring is among the best in the $50-$100 price range.
• It also has a SpO2 sensor.
  

The bad,

• The silicone band is uncomfortable. Probably because my wrist is too thin.
  
• No GPS tracking. But I don't mind.
  
• Does not support wireless charging. 
• I need to manually sync the tracker with my phone due to iOS's restrictions on background syncs. (Edit: background syncs can be enabled on iOS.)
  
• The iOS app is subpar. e.g. I need to go through multiple clinks to see my sleep patterns.
  

The ugly,

• The charging cable is USB-A and less than 1 ft in length.
• There aren't many third party bands for it at the moment.
  
• The Fitbit branded stainless steel band is too expensive ($40).
• Requires a $10/month subscription for "premium" features.
  

 

Eventually I sold the fitbit because I just don't like wearing a fitness tracker everyday.

2nd Gen Airpods Pro Review

The second gen Airpods pro is mostly identical to the first gen.

The changes I am aware of are,

• Volume controls on the stems. This is the most significant upgrade IMO.
  
• The charging case has a speaker and a lanyard attachment.
• Slightly longer battery life.

I did not notice any difference in audio quality or noise cancellation performance between the 1st and 2nd gen Airpods pro.