#usb-c-charging

#usb-c-charging

I've tested a variety of portable Bluetooth speaker brands over the past two decades. Most of the time, I connected these speakers to my smartphone and streamed music for backyard gatherings, beach outings, drive-in movies, and other events with family and friends. The most common issue I had with these speakers was finding out the hard way that they're dead -- all because I forgot to charge them in advance.

Your phone's flashlight works fine until you're elbow-deep in a car engine bay or fumbling with tent poles in the dark. Then you realize the limitation: you need both hands free, you need the light exactly where you're working, and you need it to stay there without propping your $1,200 device against something greasy or precarious. The NanoB10 from Gadget On lives in that gap between "good enough" and "actually useful."

At least 12 years ago, I received one of Knog's Frog rear lights as a gift. Today, the light still works perfectly, but eventually a small tear developed in the silicone band that secures it to the bike. This Spring I got an offer from Knog to test out an updated pair of front and rear Frog lights, which have several new features my old version didn't have.

Despite its small size, the cordless PixelDrive delivers an adjustable 0.5-6Nm of torque, which is strong enough for assembling electronics, putting together furniture, and handling most small home repairs. It also offers several useful features, like a unique built-in pixelated display that lets you check battery life and see which of the six torque levels you're using at a glance. A single multi-function button lets you change direction, switch to an 80RPM precision mode for delicate tasks, or boost up to 200RPM with one finger.

This CD player is clearly vintage-inspired, but it has some modern touches. Back in the day, you needed batteries for your CD player, but this one charges through USB-C. Like a classic boom box, the Yintiny has speakers built in, but it also has Bluetooth, so if you have a preferred or higher-quality speaker, you can have the CD's audio play through that instead.

Although the printer may have a USB-C port, it lacks the necessary hardware to support USB-C charging protocols. On a more technical level, the manufacturer opted to save a few cents by omitting some basic components (typically just two resistors, which cost virtually nothing) to accommodate different power inputs. Since USB-C doesn't supply power without first negotiating what the device needs, no power is delivered.

What if there was a super-loud finder tag that had a built-in loop for attaching to a keychain, and a battery that can be recharged using USB-C. That sounds great, right? Also: I tucked a stealthy $15 tracker into my favorite jacket - now I no longer travel without it That's exactly what the Chipolo Loop offers. But there are some gotchas to bear in mind.