I’ll admit that I am extremely late to the wireless charging bandwagon. For various reasons, it just hasn’t seemed essential or at least worth the cost to invest in one. However, when I was offered the opportunity to take a look at the GoPower Watch Stand with Wireless Charging Base for review, I was intrigued to learn about what I’ve been missing.
I would say MY Powerbeats Pro arrived, but they aren’t actually mine. I am taking a look at them so I can write a little about them, but they will belong to my wife very soon. Wednesday was her birthday, so these are her Combo bday/Mother’s Day gift. She was kind enough to let me test drive before she takes them so I won’t get in the way of her listening pleasure once I hand them over.
Back in October of last year, I reviewed Pad and Quill’s Bella Fino and Traveler Cases for the iPhone XS and XS Max. Pad and Quill sent me the iPhone XS version of the Traveler right around the time that I got my iPhone XS Max. Thankfully, I still had my iPhone X, so I was able to test it out for a couple of days before I had to send my old phone back to Apple.
I reviewed Sandmarc’s Photography Edition last Fall, which includes their Wide Angle, Fisheye and Macro lenses, and came away very impressed with both the quality of the lens construction and the images produced. While this 3-lens collection set does a lot to expand the functionality of the iPhone’s camera, the one thing missing was zoom enhancement.
While I have used a few wallet cases on previous iPhones over the years, I’ve never been a big fan of the category, by and large. I don’t usually prefer to carry my cards and money with my phone unless I am traveling by plane, so the added bulk of the card pockets on the inside flap of a case doesn’t hold much appeal. However, I understand that this is just a personal preference of mine. Wallet cases are both plentiful and popular for a good reason- plenty of other people DO like them.
Vaja has always been one of my favorite accessory manufacturers, going back before the days of the iPhone to the prehistoric times of PDSs and Palm Pilots. Vaja was the number one name in lux accessories back then and it remains one of the top high-end brands today, offering both ready-to-ship and customizable high quality leather goods for all kinds of electronic devices.
When someone from Jisoncase reached out to me about taking a look at their new Genuine Leather Case for the iPhone XS Max, I will admit that I was skeptical. I’ve seen what a lot of inexpensive imported leather and faux-leather cases look like in-person, and it often isn’t pretty. I knew Jisoncase plays in that price range, so I didn’t have much confidence.
However, after doing a little research online, I saw some very positive reviews of their other cases. Because of that, I decided to go ahead give this case a shot. I’m glad that I did, because it turned out to be a lot better than I expected. There is a lot to like about this case at such a reasonable price point. Let’s get into the details.
A few months ago, I reviewed Pad and Quill’s Linen Journals and came away very impressed. I knew the company by reputation before, but that experience was enough to show me that they are the real deal. Their reputation is well deserved. So, when they reached out to see if I would like to take a look at some a couple of cases for the new iPhone XS and XS Max, I jumped at the chance.
I have been a big fan of Urban Armor Gear, or UAG for short, for a few years now. I owned a Pathfinder case for a previous iPhone, and I reviewed the Plasma case for the iPhone 7 Plus last year, and was very impressed with the construction and overall value of both products. I am also currently testing a UAG case for the Surface Go for a future review that has been a pleasure to use, so far.
UAG currently offers six different case models for the iPhone XS and XS Max that provide different levels of protection, all of which look good and are reasonably priced in my opinion.
I’m always intrigued when a company takes a successful existing design and sets it aside in favor of something that they believe is better, rather than continuing to iterate on what they already have. It is often a brave decision that leaves the safety net behind and shows a company’s conviction in their ideas and designs. A notable example of this from the tech world would be Apple and Steve Jobs’ decision to kill off the wildly successful iPod Mini in favor of the new iPod Nano in 2005.
In case you haven’t noticed by now, I am a huge fan of both quality leather cases in general, and Vaja’s leather cases specifically. I’ve had the opportunity to review a few of their products over the years, including their Niko Wallet-Leather Case and Leather Back for the iPhone 7 Plus earlier this year. I have always come away impressed, and I’ll save you the suspense- this time out is no exception. Their Agenda MG for the iPhone X just adds a couple of new wrinkles to Vaja’s formula of consistent quality and attention to detail.