Oppo Enco Free: My Choice for non in-ear headphones

Meet Oppo Enco Free!

[HANDS-ON] 26th December 2019, the same time Oppo announced Oppo Reno 3, Oppo also introduced their second earbuds, Oppo Enco Free. Priced at RMB 699 in China (S$140 approx / as of May 2020 it's going for S$129 locally in Singapore), it's almost 3 times more expensive than many self-proclaim unbranded TWS (True Wireless Stereo) earbuds and just about S$50 less expensive than Apple AirPods 2 (wired version).

Removable ear tip is visible

Appearance and Design: This is what sets Oppo Enco Free apart from all others, the front tip of the earbuds are removable. That's right, Oppo provided 4 sizes of ear tips so the size of the earbuds are changeable. In reality, the default tip fits me well so there is no need for other sizes but it could prove to be the difference for others with unusually large or small ears and largely improve sound quality as sound leakage is reduced.

The earbuds comes in white, black and pink but you probably have to buy an export set from China for pink as I checked online. It noticeably lighter than Airpods 2 and the plastic exterior looks so too. Charging case has a relatively big logo on it, not my liking but its not important.

Unlike Airpods 2, the left earbud support volume control by sliding up/down, more straightforward than calling out to Siri. The right earbud controls next/previous songs. There is also an app that allows customing these controls.

Glossy finish on the stick and matte in the rest.

Compatibility with Samsung A8+: Flipping open the case does not auto connect to Samsung A8+ nor Xiaomi Mi Mix 2. Manual pairing via Bluetooth menu works 100%. App also works well without glitch. Taking off the earbuds will also pause media playback.

The sound quality is not comparable to AirPods 2 for me as an average consumer. The bigger problem for me is the volume on Samsung A8+ have to be set to maximum for the earbuds to be loud enough to be enjoyable. Pairing AirPods with the same phone, 70% is good for me. I also find the sound leakage is higher than AirPods so the bass and concentration seems to be weaker.

With AAC playback, the clarity is no problem so is the microphone. More importantly, the connection is absolutely reliable. It has not dropped at all for the whole month we have with it so far and no lag at all. Works a treat with YouTube, though I don't play mobile games so can't comment on that.

Reliability is what will entice anyone considering a unbranded TWS and a branded one.

The case flips open and close nicely but not as satisfying as Airpods.

Competition and Final Thoughts: I considered the following before deciding on Oppo Enco Free which is the most suitable for my father.

Realme Air Buds

• Case is filmsy

Apple Airpods

• With Android does not auto pause when taking out the earphones
• Double tap only pause

Xiaomi Airdots Pro 2

• Soft according to Qoo10 review
• S$75 can't be that good in sound quality

Stockholm

• Review of Sound quality not as favourable
• Design not my cup of tea.

Razer Earbuds

• Relative short battery life

Black Supply

• No idea if this is legit good

Huawei Free Buds 3

• Need to install huawei app to utilise its noise cancellation function. 
• $200 is the most expensive of this list.

Vivo TWS Airbuds

• Cannot find local set online

Link - Oppo Enco Free Product Page

骆驼Live: .m3u8 player for Chinese Android boxes

骆驼Live Load screen

[APP] Recently I come across this Chinese android app called 骆驼Live that I thought is something of a rare breed that works for my android boxes which are;

1. More than 3 years old running old Android OS (as old as Kit Kat which is 4. something)
2. Chinese boxes which does not have Google Service Framework (ie. cannot install YouTube independently.
3. Low specs, likes 1GB ram and 8GB storage.

I wasn't using these boxes previously as we got new boxes like E*pad but having to work from home my wife wanted one more TV in our study room turned office. All we wanted was the National TV so we can watch PM Lee speech together.

We could gone with digital TV box but I didn't want to spend money so then the idea of IPTV running m3u playlist came to my mind.

The main challenge is that the popular IPTV app like Tivomate would not install on these old boxes for some reason. Installer crashes or the app crashes after installation.

Then I found this app that installs successfully on both my old boxes, Le TV is one of them, and runs smoothly!  There is no EPG support who cares! And technically it does not support m3u playlist because it does not read m3u playlist but it does read the m3u8 urls within the m3u list.

Now the boxes are ready to pick up the mediacorp m3u8 urls. Which I found that this link. Link - IPTV Cat

Click on "Download this list" to download the m3u playlist then open the list to look for .m3u8 urls. For example: https://d2e1asnsl7br7b.cloudfront.net/7782e205e72f43aeb4a48ec97f66ebbe/index_5.m3u8

Gather the m3u8 urls and then put them into a notepad file, .txt in the following format.

Name of Channel, .m3u8 url and end each line with #.
For example:
CH5,https://hello.net/index5.m3u8#
CNA,https://hello.net/indexN.m3u8#
CH8,https://gello.net/ster02.m3u8#

Finally, put this .txt file in the box internal storage folder "骆驼Live" with ES file explorer app or any file manager. Then start 骆驼Live app, wait for a few seconds for the data to load and viola!

Update on 25 May 2020: For old Android boxes, always use LAN cable connection to the router. With 2.4Ghz wifi network, it will barely run anything. Also, there are plenty of m3u8 urls online so if you would like say Taiwanese channels, they are available online as well.

Xiaomi Mijia Electric Air Pump: I bought it!

Mi Jia Electric Air Pump: Excellent build quality

[HANDS-ON] Mi Jia is the Home Electronics arm of Xiaomi and they are supposedly one of Xiaomi's strategy to buy over companies making Home Electronics, rebrand them and sell under the Mi Jia branding. Apparently Xiaomi CEO believe in the future world filled with Internet of Things (ie. smart home appliances) and the first steps is to start selling home electronics.

And Mi Jia does make some damn good products. I have got their power extension plug and Android TV box before; my latest is Mi Jia Electric Air Pump.

It is compatible with cars, motorbikes, bicycles and balls such as basketballs. In my use case, I can now ensure my car tyres are filled up at my own convenience instead of using the air pumps at petrol stations.

Package Content includes a pouch and two adapters (one for balls and other for used with French car tyres)

For car owners, it is conventional to pumps the tyres at Petrol Station so electric air pump may not immediately make sense. But it does. Mi Jia Electric Air Pump can read air pressure, preset air pressure and is rechargeable. Basically, it does the work of pumping car tyres better than the petrol station's.

Connecting the device to the tyres are screw in, no need to hold on to the tube. Then set the psi level and press start and wait the tyre is pumped. The best part is I can do this in my multi-storey carpark instead of under the sun and by the roadside at the petrol station. No need to queue too, no need to hold on to the air tube.

At full charge Mi Jia air pump can help to fill up approximately 5 car tyres, the keyword is "help" and not a completely flatten tyre. My experience so far has been approximately 2 bar to 2.4 bar for several times and no recharge required yet.

Though it takes Mi Jia air pump about 3 minutes to fill up the difference of 0.4 bar and the electric air pump can by quite loud in the process.

Noteworthy experience is that the stares from fellow drivers in the carpark and that the airtube can get hot after 10 minutes and as well the tube isn’t long enough such that you can place it on the floor. You gotta hold on to the device for the entire process.

Mi Jia Electric Air Pump is available in Singapore's Xiaomi Store or you can get it online from third party retailers.

Affiliate Link - Purchase item on Qoo10

EPSON L4160 Ink Tank Printer: Connecting to Asus router

Box of Epson L4160: S$379 Standard Retail Price

[HANDS-ON] 2020 has been a crazy year for all and no one would have expect such an event swallowing 2020 entirely. What I didn't expect is that I am writing my first blog post in two years and  bought my first printer is 10 years!

My life now is very different from two years back, now I have my wife as company and she is the good old-fashion that would leave for an overseas trip without having hardcopies of air tickets, admission tickets etc.

So Epson L4160 is our choice because it is the cheapest model of Epson Ink Tank system with automatic duplex printing. Ink tank system is cheaper than cartridge, Epson's ink bottle costs somewhere around S$9.90 per bottle and can print much more than cartridge. The printer also come with $30 NTUC voucher and $5 Grabfood code, so it's pretty good value.

As my first printer in a decade, L4160 felt very competent for a home usage printer but we did run into an issue with its wifi connection. I wasn't able to complete the installation process via Epson web installer program. My Asus RT-ac88u basically does not pickup the printer connection as one of it's connected devices, thus neither of our iPhones or MacBooks (currently all Apple!) could find L4160 on AirPrint.

The only way is to install Epson iPrint app which is able to connect to the printer on local lan though the router does not.

Thanks to the Internet and several sources offered clues but what works for me is particular parameter. And in case you have a similar problem.

On the Asus router menu, go to;

1. Advanced Settings - Wireless
2. Profession Tab (as follows)

3. Look for "Airtime Fairness" and disable it.

4. Try Epson Web Installer again, this time it should work.

Disabling Airtime Fairness technically should make no difference to the overall network performance  as it is more useful in ensuring legacy devices does not hog resources as I read.

Link - Epson L4160 Official Page
Link - About Airtime Fairness

Datally: Manage Mobile Data

Datally: Clean and Modern Interface

[APP] Google have a new app and it does what your Android phone already can do; help you monitor your mobile data usage and save some more.

It sounds like a trial proposition from Google because Android Nougat phones already support "Data Saver" function, allowing to choose which apps are on saver mode, ie. Does not consume data while running in the background. This function already made significant savings for me.

That said, Google-branded apps are always worth a try. I had Datally for a week and I thought the interface gives excellent clarity and more narrative on how Data Saver works compared to the Android built-in.

However Datally does seem to slow down the download latency, sometimes it takes a second for a page in Chrome to refresh. Hopefully, it will be fixed in the coming version and it should comfortably be the first choice Data Saver app.

F.lux: As important as Microsoft Office

[SOFTWARE] If you are suffering eye fatigue from too much time on mobile and computers, f.lux is what is missing in your lifestyle and it is FREE!

Take from their official website; "f.lux fixes this: it makes the colour of your computer's display adapt to the time of day, warm at night and like sunlight during the day."



According to researchers, using computers or mobile devices at night will delay your sleep time to a good extent. Blue light emitted by screens is the reason behind that symptom. Blue light seemed to trick our body to think it's still daytime by suppressing something call melatonin which causes insomnia.







Of course, even without all these science and logic, you probably already knew that much of computer usage affects your sleeping hours.

I have had f.lux on my Macbook for months now, I can say that it really works as advertised, psychologically or not! This free tool is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, and it’s most often used on laptops and desktops.

Link - f.lux Website

ShopBack Cashback Buddy:

Graphic from ShopBack.sg

[NEW SERVICE] ShopBack.sg has been a decent rebate engine for a while now. Primarily a referral site, ShopBack gets a commission for a referral to merchants and it, in turn, share their profits with shoppers that clicks through the merchants (such as Qoo10 and Lazada) via them.

I have got back some dollars myself so I am impressed. I could have used it more often if not for the slight hassle of first logging into ShopBack then go back to the merchants to complete the shopping.

So I am happy to share that ShopBack.sg now comes with a browser extension button which removes the need to login to ShopBack before shopping. Neat!

Fitbit Blaze: User Experience

Fitbit Blaze

[USER EXPERIENCE] I bought Fitbit Blaze (without retail packaging) from Qoo10 about 1 month ago. Here are some thoughts on my second ever smart wearable.

Heart rate sensor: the green lights will blink non-stop

Good looking and fun!

I really like the looks of Fitbit Blaze. It is a personal preference, I asked a dozen of people if they think the same, the opinion is split. But I like it!

For me Fitbit Blaze stood out from the fitness bands and smartwatch market; it is made up of 3 parts, the tracker, frame and strap. A gentle push on the screen and the tracker will pop out. There are plenty of third-party frames and straps that you can get from Lazda or Qoo10 at around S$7+ for the frame S$10+ for the strap.

I think that is what makes Fitbit Blaze fun because for as little as S$50 you can get at least 3 sets of strap and frames. Straps can come in metal, leather, rubber (the default black) or Milanese. Surely a style for any occasion and the frame really adds a differentiator to competition.

The Blaze features a larger 1.25-colour touchscreen with a 240x180 resolution while not as high resolution as I would have like, is a bright display and some smart graphic design of the clock face makes the pixelation much less noticeable.

The only I didn't like the thick bezel at first but well, some things are possible to get used to. This is one of them.

The silver bumper and watch strap are of genuine quality

It's sufficiently useful but not as smart

As much as it looks like a watch, Fitbit Blaze is not the typical definition of a smartwatch. It is a fitness band with smartphone notifications (via Bluetooth) that looks like a watch. For one, there is no app store. Fitbit Blaze also does not allow replies to the messaging notifications like Whatsapp or SMS and only phone calls notifications for iOS devices, not for Android.

Software, it is really dull and there is little interaction. Here is a list of most common interactions with the Blaze;

1. Hold up to check the time and step count
2. Hold up to check notifications or when I get a phone call
3. Startup exercise tracker, for example, Walk or Run to activate connected GPS
4. Set alarm clock
5. Turn on/off heart rate sensor occasionally

That said, Fitbit Blaze offers a comparatively excellent battery life to even the most premium smart watches out there. I consistently get 3 days or 72 hours of battery life before I get the low battery notification.

Some glaring limitations are a lack of built-in GPS, not waterproof and depending on whether you like them, eight clock displays might be too little. It is not possible to put up a wallpaper, which I really believe will make Fitbit Blaze a much more attractive proposition.

Fitbit fitness trackers track more than 17 different exercises but for a rather soft man like me, all I have tried are walking and running.

Tracker with rather chick clock display

My only wearable for two months

The only issues I have got so far, are the synchronization with the phone. The Bluetooth connection is great while connected. But once in a while, it doesn't reconnect and I have to reset Bluetooth on the phone. Well at least keeping Bluetooth always on the phone does not suck more battery life than I thought.

Then there is also this problem where the Blaze doesn't show Chinese characters unless Chinese is the menu language.

All said, Fitbit Blaze is very lightweight and for me, I almost don't feel like I am wearing a watch so it seems that I am more willing to wear for the day and to bed. Which of course is not everyone's preference. But it is for me and coupled with the excellent battery life and a design that I dig, it has effectively replaced my daily watch.

So S$148 for a Fitbit Blaze? It's excellent value. Despite being released more than 1 year ago, Fitbit Blaze is still available in retail stores for S$218, a recent price drop of S$100.

For a non-smart watch that looks great, with an array of cheap straps, decent phone notifications, comfortability and decent battery life, it's excellent value.