Smashbomb

Search

Search results

All (839)

Content

Sarah (7798 KP) rated Piper in Tech

May 15, 2018 (Updated May 15, 2018)

Piper

Camera & Photo > Surveillance & Security Cameras

6.5

(6 Ratings)

Tech Rating

Camera (1 more)

Available functionality

The app (1 more)

The sensors

Promising but glitchy

Im going to be frankly honest. When I first bought this system, I thought it was fantastic. It's only through regular and continued use that I've become a little more negative.

I bought this 4 years ago as I lived on my own and wanted some security, but didn't want to faff about with a standard wired in alarm. I found Piper at a fairly reasonable price and good reviews, so decided to give it a go.

I have the standard version as the night vision hadn't been released at the time. Firstly the unit itself is very handy as the camera can cover the entire of my ground floor (I have a small open plan house). The camera also means I can spy on the cat to see what she gets up to while I'm out. The notification options too are very good and all work very well, and the functionality available through the system is pretty comprehensive (like house stats etc). It also gives you a pet sensitivity option so you can lower the sensitivity of the motion sensors to account for pets. Which is great, apart from if you have your system on a lower shelf that your cat insists on walking past EVERY day and tripping the alarm...

Now for the negatives. The door/window sensors are terrible. You attach them, they work fine when you test them but then suddenly trip for no reason. Being woken up at 4am by a ridiculous loud siren because a sensor accidentally tripped is not a pleasant experience. To the point where I've turned the siren on my alarm off to avoid disturbing myself and the neighbours. The sensors also have a fairly small distance range from the system (an excuse to buy multiple systems dotted around the house I'm sure) and after a couple of years, some of mine have stopped working completely and new batteries won't fix them.

The app itself is very glitchy. Half of the time I open the app only to get a cannot connect message, when there's nothing wrong with the internet. So it means you often can't set the alarm or turn it off (another reason why I've disabled the siren) . I've also found that when the app does work, it takes time to load so I'm usually sat outside my house for 5 minutes before I can turn the alarm off to go inside. Not ideal.

In short I think this alarm is a good idea, i just don't think it quite works practically with some of the software and hardware. A shame as the functionality is quite impressive.

Kudos

Sarah (7798 KP) rated Samsung Galaxy Buds in Tech

Apr 13, 2019

Virtually flawless

I need to start off by saying that prior to owning these, I have never used any sort of wireless headphones and neither do I claim to be a headphone connoisseur. I usually just use the free ones you get with phones. All I will say is that I really hope that all other wireless bluetooth headphones are as brilliant as these are.

They look fantastic. From the small pill box shaped container to the headphone, they look sleek and stylish and are fairly small too. They're simple to set up - as soon as I opened them, my phone recognised them and linked them straight away, so quickly done. And the even recognise when you've put them in your ears! The Samsung Wearables app is a great tool to be able to check the battery on the headphones and change the equaliser and what actions the touch controls make. Sound quality is brilliant and they really do block out surrounding sound so well - I wore them at a busy gym (which had loud music on in the background), and couldn't hear anything other than myself. The ambient sound feature is a nice touch too for those occasions when you want to be able to hear things around you.

The fit of the headphones is surprisingly good. They come with 3 different sizes of rubber wings & tips so you can easily find a size to fit you, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that once these are in my ear, I didn't have to keep pushing them in to stop them from falling out. In fact I used these at the gym and whilst out and about, and I never once had them fall out like standard headphones do. And if they do fall out or you lose one, theres a 'find my bud' feature that will help locate them (assuming they havent got too far!).

They aren't perfect though. The touch pad controls are a little temperamental. This could be due to a novice user, or just how it is. Also the positioning of the headphones and touchpads means if you like to lie on your side and listen to music in bed, it could be difficult. And the other slight issue is the battery life. Combined charge between the headphones & pod is around 13 hours, which isn't a lot. Although I'm probably only moaning because it means it's another piece of tech that I have to remember to charge.

These are only very slight niggles though. These are by far the best headphones I've ever owned - great sound quality, intuitive, great size and very functional. I'll never go back to wearing wired headphones again.

Kudos

Erika (17788 KP) Apr 13, 2019

I'm planning on getting the S10 in Nov/Dec (when it's hopefully on sale on the employee website), but I've been leery about the ear bud situation. Your review is super helpful and has convinced me that they're making enough parts to ensure they'll work with different ear-sizes. Thank you!!

Kudos

Sarah (7798 KP) Apr 13, 2019

I usually have issues with headphones fitting in my ears and have had issues with the standard issue Samsung headphones in the past, but I am hugely impressed with how well these fit! And you can use the wireless powershare with the S10 ?

Kudos