Product Reviews

Polaroid

HD Professional Action Camera, XS100

polaroid.com

Don’t have $300 left in your trust fund to buy a GoPro? Polaroid provides their own waterproof action camera for almost half the price, and it works great for beginners. It’s crazy simple. There’s just one “record” button, and it’s shock-proof so you don’t have to worry about getting shaky images. The sound isn’t the best, but that’s not what you’re paying for when you buy an action camera. The WiFi feature is cool ‘cause you can share the high-quality photos and video straight from the camera, but the best part about it is the many mounts it comes with. You can attach this thing to almost anything—helmet, handlebars, your schnoz—I’m sure to be the next Lucas Brunelle with this thing. The software was a little confusing at first, but after some time with the manual, I can effectively change the settings for the kind of shots I want. Another awesome feature is the fact that it’s waterproof up to 30 feet. This will be coming with me on my next snorkeling adventure in Puerto Rico—hi, Nemo! –Esther Meroño
 

Tego Audio

Cera Wireless Speaker

tegoaudio.com

Hallelujah, these Bluetooth speakers are a gift from the music gods. As someone who likes a soundtrack backing every moment of life, the Cera speaker couldn’t be more perfect. First, you turn it on by pushing the top, and it slowly rises and says “Power On.” It makes me feel like I’ve just turned the key on a spaceship. It sync-ed to my iPhone seamlessly, but had a little trouble with my laptop (I figured out I need to turn the Bluetooth off on my phone if they’re near each other.) The battery lasts forever—I’ve charged it twice in two months and use it daily. The audio output is quality (a little fuzzy on the guitars if it’s turned up full-blast, but hip-hop sounds marvelous), and if you got two of these, you’d have no trouble getting a party started just about anywhere, as they’re small enough that you can carry them around in your purse. The only thing I wish it did was tell me when it was about to run out of juice, which you can only figure out when it stops pairing. However, charging the battery is a breeze and only takes a few hours—or you could plug it into a portable power device (which Tego also sells!). This speaker has only made my life better: I can listen to music in my car regardless of my dead stereo, I don’t have to prop my laptop on the toilet to sing along to Beyonce in the shower, and I can watch movies on my laptop without the captions turned on! –Esther Meroño