Recently, a new entry in my ads-folder on gmail caught my eye. It was an e-mail from Withings, asking me to provide feedback if I liked my Withings Steel HR Smartwatch, and this made me think I could tell you a bit about what gadgets and electronic doodahs I’m currently using and how. In addition to this, I have now signed up for the Amazon Affiliate program, meaning I get a 10% commission if you were to buy some of these gadgets through the links provided here!

Sonos One: This smart speaker is one of the devices I love the most. It wakes me up with my favourite radio station, and I can easily stream music via Spotify and others. It creates sound that reaches every corner of my flat and it comes with Amazon Alexa, meaning I just have to say the word to listen to something else.

Withings Steel HR: oh, this is just a beautiful smartwatch. With about three or for weeks between needing to recharge, it has a Heart Rate Sensor, Sleep Tracker and Activity Recognition built-in. And all that at 144€, a very very sensible package. Definitely one to love!

Xiaomi Mi 9: My current smartphone (I buy a new one every two years or so, and sell the old one on willhaben.at) offers all the latest hardware at half the price of other Top-of-the-line Smartphones. Now, after the update to Android 10 has been released, all UI bugs I experienced with Android 9 have been resolved and it’s just great. The Screen is OLED, which means whenever a pixel shows black it doesn’t ocnsume any energy, and the battery lasts two days between charges. On top of that, I recently bought a Qi wireless charger for my car which means I don’t need to fuss about with cables when I’m using it for GPS Navgiation.

Xiaomi Roborock S5: This robot vacuum came at a great price and brought great value for it – compared to my previous robotic vacuum, this one literally has more of a plan. it creates a map of the area I want it to clean and then systematically covers that ground. It also can be used to mop the floor, though I hardly ever use it for that since I keep my floor generally clean. Every now and then I still have to work after it (especially in corners), but in general it makes housekeeping and my life a lot easier.

Philips Wake-Up Light: Getting up in the mornings has become a lot easier since I’ve treated myself to this. Half an hour before wake-up time it gradually simulates a sunrise, and at wakeup time it starts to play natural sounds (right now it’s the sound of toads croaking, weirdly). It even has an environment sensor which checks whether the room is too hot or warm, though that’s a feature I only ever used once. Sadly, although the product description says so, it does not integrate with Alexa (well, it didn’t last time I checked), which would have made it ideal.

Sony Playstation 4: when I sometimes feel the sudden urge to save Egypt or swing through New York I fire up my PS4 and enjoy the graphics and gameplay. Although I have to say these days I barely find the time to use it, since I have a girlfriend now 😉
Me and my brothers also used to play couch co-op or multiplayer games a lot on my brother’s, wich was great fun. Ahh, thinking back, I missed those days. Thinking about it, I could write a blog about those games… interested?

Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.5: this reasonably priced Tablet is the most recent addition to my gadgeteria, it superseded my old Google Nexus 7 (2013). Its place in my home is on the bedside, where I use it to netflix or watch media stored on my Synology DS-218+. I also have HD Austria, which means I can stream Television to it too. I also use it to just read the news and keep up to date.

That’s all I can think of so far!