#usbc — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #usbc, aggregated by home.social.
-
Gadget Review: Soundpeats UU2 POP Clip2 Earphones
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/08/gadget-review-soundpeats-pop-clip2-earphones/Last year, I reviewed a new type of Clip-On earphone - the Soundpeats Clip1 Cuff. I was a bit sceptical, but was won around by their comfort. The good folks at Soundpeats have sent me their new version to review. I had a few niggles with the Clip1 - so let's see how the UU2 Clip2 compare.
Design
The "cuff" design is fairly new to the UK - but is already popular in other parts of the world. Rather than sticking the buds in your earholes, they clip around the flappy bits of your ears. The aren't like a bulldog clip - more like a gentle caress. The speaker sits just outside your ear canal, so you can still hear ambient sounds from around you. Look, you do not want a close-up of my waxy lugs, so here's a model:
You don't have to wear them in that position. Mine tend to hang around my earlobes - your ears might be a different shape.
They are ridiculously comfortable. I've had them on for a several hour train journey and forgot they were there. They don't leave a mark, they don't ache, they don't pinch, and most importantly they don't fall off. Even if I shook my head vigorously or did any exercise, they stayed put.
I am happy to declare them the most comfortable headphones I own - even more so than my Bone Conducting headset.
But, of course, there are some downsides. The previous version had touch-only controls which were a bit shit. It was far too easy to accidentally brush your finger against your ears and skip a track. The Clip2 improves this somewhat by adding a small physical button to each headphone. You can set them to play/pause, skip tracks, adjust volume (if you can remember the precise sequence of taps you need).
Bluetooth range was good - I was able to wander all over my house without losing connection. Sound quality - even on the default setting - was excellent. You can push up the bass or fiddle with the equaliser if that'll make you happy. Battery life is going to depend on how hard you drive them and if you choose a more energy efficient codec or not. They lasted several hours in my test and recharged quickly in their included case. Naturally, the case has a USB-C connection so it'll use the same cable as all your other gadgets.
Android
They just work. They paired instantly, accepted AAC as a high quality audio codec, the sound quality was excellent as was the microphone quality. Once I used the app to switch to LDAC, the Clip2 restarted and Android started playing in the higher fidelity mode.
App
*sigh* Why is that hardware manufacturers make the crappiest software? You don't need the app - everything will work without it. But if you want to customise the buttons, change the EQ, or enable LDAC you'll need it.
Annoyingly, you can't do anything unless you're logged in and have an Internet connection. Want to change the EQ while you're on a train with no signal? Tough.
The app also handles firmware updates - there was one waiting for me - but doesn't offer any information beyond the usual platitudes of bug fixes and stability improvements.
Note, you need the PeatsAudio app not the "Soundpeats" app.
Honestly, find an EQ you like, update the firmware, toggle the settings, then uninstall it.
There are some nice touches - like the personalised EQ test - but it is slim pickings. Here are some screenshots.
Linux
Yup! Connected perfectly the first time and gave access to all the supported codecs.
A Few Niggles
Despite looking superficially similar to the Clip1 - these new ones don't fit into the charging case of the originals. That's unfortunate. I guess they don't want users mixing up pairs and getting confused?
Rather annoyingly, they don't pause the sound when you take them off. The old Clip1 would detect if it was in-ear and pause if you popped one out to chat to someone.
They supply a short USB-A to C lead. That's just e-Waste and shouldn't be included.
Because of the design they won't block out all external noise and there's no noise cancelling function. But that's offset by the fact that they do let you retain some awareness of your surroundings.
Price and Final Thoughts
The Clip2 cuff headphones are usually around £60, but are on offer now for about £48. I think that's excellent value for money.
Readers of this blog can use code
SPUU2810for 30% off until August 31, 2026.I am an absolute convert to cuff-style. They don't tightly grip your head like bone-conducting ones, they're less noisy than rear-firing open-ear cans, and they're a good deal more comfortable than sticking something deep in your ear-wax chambers.
The app is a bit shit - but you'll probably only use it once. The buttons are slightly fiddly, but I can't see a way to make them any more tactile without sacrificing their small size.
Sounds quality - on Linux and Android - was excellent. They're perfect if you spend a long time with headphones on.
#bluetooth #gadget #headphones #review #usbC -
Gadget Review: Soundpeats UU2 POP Clip2 Earphones
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/08/gadget-review-soundpeats-pop-clip2-earphones/Last year, I reviewed a new type of Clip-On earphone - the Soundpeats Clip1 Cuff. I was a bit sceptical, but was won around by their comfort. The good folks at Soundpeats have sent me their new version to review. I had a few niggles with the Clip1 - so let's see how the UU2 Clip2 compare.
Design
The "cuff" design is fairly new to the UK - but is already popular in other parts of the world. Rather than sticking the buds in your earholes, they clip around the flappy bits of your ears. The aren't like a bulldog clip - more like a gentle caress. The speaker sits just outside your ear canal, so you can still hear ambient sounds from around you. Look, you do not want a close-up of my waxy lugs, so here's a model:
You don't have to wear them in that position. Mine tend to hang around my earlobes - your ears might be a different shape.
They are ridiculously comfortable. I've had them on for a several hour train journey and forgot they were there. They don't leave a mark, they don't ache, they don't pinch, and most importantly they don't fall off. Even if I shook my head vigorously or did any exercise, they stayed put.
I am happy to declare them the most comfortable headphones I own - even more so than my Bone Conducting headset.
But, of course, there are some downsides. The previous version had touch-only controls which were a bit shit. It was far too easy to accidentally brush your finger against your ears and skip a track. The Clip2 improves this somewhat by adding a small physical button to each headphone. You can set them to play/pause, skip tracks, adjust volume (if you can remember the precise sequence of taps you need).
Bluetooth range was good - I was able to wander all over my house without losing connection. Sound quality - even on the default setting - was excellent. You can push up the bass or fiddle with the equaliser if that'll make you happy. Battery life is going to depend on how hard you drive them and if you choose a more energy efficient codec or not. They lasted several hours in my test and recharged quickly in their included case. Naturally, the case has a USB-C connection so it'll use the same cable as all your other gadgets.
Android
They just work. They paired instantly, accepted AAC as a high quality audio codec, the sound quality was excellent as was the microphone quality. Once I used the app to switch to LDAC, the Clip2 restarted and Android started playing in the higher fidelity mode.
App
*sigh* Why is that hardware manufacturers make the crappiest software? You don't need the app - everything will work without it. But if you want to customise the buttons, change the EQ, or enable LDAC you'll need it.
Annoyingly, you can't do anything unless you're logged in and have an Internet connection. Want to change the EQ while you're on a train with no signal? Tough.
The app also handles firmware updates - there was one waiting for me - but doesn't offer any information beyond the usual platitudes of bug fixes and stability improvements.
Note, you need the PeatsAudio app not the "Soundpeats" app.
Honestly, find an EQ you like, update the firmware, toggle the settings, then uninstall it.
There are some nice touches - like the personalised EQ test - but it is slim pickings. Here are some screenshots.
Linux
Yup! Connected perfectly the first time and gave access to all the supported codecs.
A Few Niggles
Despite looking superficially similar to the Clip1 - these new ones don't fit into the charging case of the originals. That's unfortunate. I guess they don't want users mixing up pairs and getting confused?
Rather annoyingly, they don't pause the sound when you take them off. The old Clip1 would detect if it was in-ear and pause if you popped one out to chat to someone.
They supply a short USB-A to C lead. That's just e-Waste and shouldn't be included.
Because of the design they won't block out all external noise and there's no noise cancelling function. But that's offset by the fact that they do let you retain some awareness of your surroundings.
Price and Final Thoughts
The Clip2 cuff headphones are usually around £60, but are on offer now for about £48. I think that's excellent value for money.
Readers of this blog can use code
SPUU2810for 30% off until August 31, 2026.I am an absolute convert to cuff-style. They don't tightly grip your head like bone-conducting ones, they're less noisy than rear-firing open-ear cans, and they're a good deal more comfortable than sticking something deep in your ear-wax chambers.
The app is a bit shit - but you'll probably only use it once. The buttons are slightly fiddly, but I can't see a way to make them any more tactile without sacrificing their small size.
Sounds quality - on Linux and Android - was excellent. They're perfect if you spend a long time with headphones on.
#bluetooth #gadget #headphones #review #usbC -
Got the need to troubleshoot USB-C power delivery without having a human to do live monitoring.
Anyone know of a small USB-C PD device that not only displays it‘s data but records or logs which can be reviewed after about 24h?
Camera recording of a USB-C PD monitor is unfortunately not an option.
#USBC #USBPowerDelivery -
Got the need to troubleshoot USB-C power delivery without having a human to do live monitoring.
Anyone know of a small USB-C PD device that not only displays it‘s data but records or logs which can be reviewed after about 24h?
Camera recording of a USB-C PD monitor is unfortunately not an option.
#USBC #USBPowerDelivery -
My latest blog post: Testing Oops! All Servos!
https://mikecoats.com/testing-oops-all-servos/
Do the level-shifters work in both directions? Can you measure the current draw? How far can you push the Oops! All Servos!, microcontroller and servos? Development sponsored by JLCPCB.
#ad #circuitPython #electronics #openHardware #openSource #usbC #sponsored
-
9 meters: Club3D has the longest USB4 cable
USB4 cables without signal boosters are now available in a 9m length. Also useful if you want to charge a smartphone across the room.
-
9 meters: Club3D has the longest USB4 cable
USB4 cables without signal boosters are now available in a 9m length. Also useful if you want to charge a smartphone across the room.
-
9 Meter: Club3D hat das längste USB4-Kabel
USB4-Kabel ohne Sendeverstärker gibt es jetzt mit 9 m Länge. Nützlich auch, wenn man ein Smartphone quer durch den Raum aufladen möchte.
-
9 Meter: Club3D hat das längste USB4-Kabel
USB4-Kabel ohne Sendeverstärker gibt es jetzt mit 9 m Länge. Nützlich auch, wenn man ein Smartphone quer durch den Raum aufladen möchte.
-
Another reason why I don’t understand the love #USBC gets @beadsland https://beige.party/@beadsland/117047088884244075
-
Another reason why I don’t understand the love #USBC gets @beadsland https://beige.party/@beadsland/117047088884244075
-
Gadget Review: T2 Max plug-in Thermal Camera
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/08/gadget-review-t2-max-plug-in-thermal-camera/The good folks at Thermal Master have sent me another Thermal Camera to review. The last one was a big beastie with a huge touchscreen. This one is much smaller and is designed to plug into your phone's USB-C port.
The T2 Max is a chunky little camera - but doesn't weight too much. The USB-C connector is long enough to securely plug in even if your phone is wearing a case.
Thermal Master boasts that this is the "world's smallest thermal monocular" - and it is easy to believe. The lens is comparatively huge, but the total package size is tiny.
In the box you get the camera module with rubber lens cover, a short extension lead, a Lightning adapter, and a handy carry case which is well-padded and has a carabiner clip.
The focus is manually adjustable. Gently twist the lens until you can clearly see what it is pointed at.
Wanna see some photos?
Photos
These are the original photos, untouched. Annoyingly, the images are rotated 90°, so I've fixed that. I've also removed the geolocation.
Photos are 1008x1344 pixels. Of course, that's massively upscaled - still, the level of detail is impressive.
Here's a cat I spotted.
Turning on the X3 enhanced mode, and you can see the amount of extra detail it extracts.
There's a variety of thermal modes. Particularly effective is this one which highlights heat in green and lets the rest of the image fade away. Very good for birdwatching.
The zoom is relatively impressive, and the picture-in-picture mode allows you to see an optical image as well as thermal. Here's the moon.
Videos
Video is about 25MB per minute with a resolution of 672x504. Here's a re-encoded video showing off the various thermal modes, focuses, etc.
Your device's microphone can be used to record an audio track. That's useful for giving commentary on what you're seeing. I've stripped it out because you don't need to hear me chatting to the cat.
The camera can pick up a remarkable amount of detail - although the zoom is digital rather than optical.
Framerate starts off well but, as you can see, degrades a bit. I suspect that's the app's fault. It's a real shame because the phone screen seems to display a silky-smooth frame rate.
Android App
Once you've installed the Thermal Master app, you can set it to open as soon as the camera is plugged in.
The app takes a bit of getting used to. There's no direct on-screen "take photo" button, you have to open it up from a menu, which is a little annoying.
There are a decent amount of options to fiddle about with. Because USB-C is bidirectional, the camera can either face you or away from you. If you swap orientation you'll need to adjust the settings.
It also has a "Picture in Picture" mode which overlays the thermal image with what your device's regular camera is seeing. That's handy in daytime, but a bit pointless at night.
Sadly, the app is a bit crap. It crashed several times while I was using it.
The interface isn't brilliant and you'll find yourself taking several taps to do anything basic.
iOS Support
No idea. It should work with newer USB-C iPhones. It also comes with an adapter for older Lightning port devices.
Linux Support
Nope. I tried using the extension cable and plugging it directly into my computer's USB-C ports. I got this series of errors from
dmesg:device descriptor read/64, error -32 attempt power cycle new full-speed USB device number 17 using xhci_hcd Device not responding to setup address. device not accepting address 17, error -71 WARN: invalid context state for evaluate context command. unable to enumerate USB deviceI rotated the cable, and it showed up as
3474:41b2 Thermal Master Technology Co., Ltd. T2 Max. I suspect that it doesn't have the internal resistors needed to signal that it is a USB 2 device - and the included extension cable is wired to only provide them on one orientation. Even after all that, I couldn't get it working in any standard Linux tools.To be fair, it isn't marketed as being suitable for computer use. It explicitly says iPhone and Android only. Ah well!
Price
Thermal Cameras are expensive - even more so when they're miniaturised like this. So, brace yourself, it is on sale for £320!
Readers can use the code
THERMBIRD10for 10% off at Thermal Master website, or Amazon UK, or Amazon.com.Final Thoughts
If you spend a lot of time looking for wildlife, The T2 Max is a decent bit of kit. It is small, lightweight, and easy to integrate with your phone.
The app is a real let down. It isn't exactly the zenith of interaction design - but you'll find your way round it easily enough. The real problem is the frequent crashes an the lapses in frame-rate while recording video.
Because of the design of the lens, it isn't great for domestic tasks like spotting leaks & hotspots. For that you'll want something like the Hikmicro unit I reviewed last week.
Being able to shove it into your phone means that it can easily integrate into your workflow. You can edit, crop, and post images just as you normally do. For such a small device, you get a lot of image - and the on-board processing is excellent.
Sadly, the zoom is digital, rather than optical. All you're doing is blowing up pixels rather than getting closer to the subject.
The image quality is exquisite but the Android app is a real let down. If you're prepared to put up with a baffling interface and occasional crashes, you'll get some fine photos and videos out of it.
#gadget #review #thermal #usbC -
Gadget Review: T2 Max plug-in Thermal Camera
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/08/gadget-review-t2-max-plug-in-thermal-camera/The good folks at Thermal Master have sent me another Thermal Camera to review. The last one was a big beastie with a huge touchscreen. This one is much smaller and is designed to plug into your phone's USB-C port.
The T2 Max is a chunky little camera - but doesn't weight too much. The USB-C connector is long enough to securely plug in even if your phone is wearing a case.
Thermal Master boasts that this is the "world's smallest thermal monocular" - and it is easy to believe. The lens is comparatively huge, but the total package size is tiny.
In the box you get the camera module with rubber lens cover, a short extension lead, a Lightning adapter, and a handy carry case which is well-padded and has a carabiner clip.
The focus is manually adjustable. Gently twist the lens until you can clearly see what it is pointed at.
Wanna see some photos?
Photos
These are the original photos, untouched. Annoyingly, the images are rotated 90°, so I've fixed that. I've also removed the geolocation.
Photos are 1008x1344 pixels. Of course, that's massively upscaled - still, the level of detail is impressive.
Here's a cat I spotted.
Turning on the X3 enhanced mode, and you can see the amount of extra detail it extracts.
There's a variety of thermal modes. Particularly effective is this one which highlights heat in green and lets the rest of the image fade away. Very good for birdwatching.
The zoom is relatively impressive, and the picture-in-picture mode allows you to see an optical image as well as thermal. Here's the moon.
Videos
Video is about 25MB per minute with a resolution of 672x504. Here's a re-encoded video showing off the various thermal modes, focuses, etc.
Your device's microphone can be used to record an audio track. That's useful for giving commentary on what you're seeing. I've stripped it out because you don't need to hear me chatting to the cat.
The camera can pick up a remarkable amount of detail - although the zoom is digital rather than optical.
Framerate starts off well but, as you can see, degrades a bit. I suspect that's the app's fault. It's a real shame because the phone screen seems to display a silky-smooth frame rate.
Android App
Once you've installed the Thermal Master app, you can set it to open as soon as the camera is plugged in.
The app takes a bit of getting used to. There's no direct on-screen "take photo" button, you have to open it up from a menu, which is a little annoying.
There are a decent amount of options to fiddle about with. Because USB-C is bidirectional, the camera can either face you or away from you. If you swap orientation you'll need to adjust the settings.
It also has a "Picture in Picture" mode which overlays the thermal image with what your device's regular camera is seeing. That's handy in daytime, but a bit pointless at night.
Sadly, the app is a bit crap. It crashed several times while I was using it.
The interface isn't brilliant and you'll find yourself taking several taps to do anything basic.
iOS Support
No idea. It should work with newer USB-C iPhones. It also comes with an adapter for older Lightning port devices.
Linux Support
Nope. I tried using the extension cable and plugging it directly into my computer's USB-C ports. I got this series of errors from
dmesg:device descriptor read/64, error -32 attempt power cycle new full-speed USB device number 17 using xhci_hcd Device not responding to setup address. device not accepting address 17, error -71 WARN: invalid context state for evaluate context command. unable to enumerate USB deviceI rotated the cable, and it showed up as
3474:41b2 Thermal Master Technology Co., Ltd. T2 Max. I suspect that it doesn't have the internal resistors needed to signal that it is a USB 2 device - and the included extension cable is wired to only provide them on one orientation. Even after all that, I couldn't get it working in any standard Linux tools.To be fair, it isn't marketed as being suitable for computer use. It explicitly says iPhone and Android only. Ah well!
Price
Thermal Cameras are expensive - even more so when they're miniaturised like this. So, brace yourself, it is on sale for £320!
Readers can use the code
THERMBIRD10for 10% off at Thermal Master website, or Amazon UK, or Amazon.com.Final Thoughts
If you spend a lot of time looking for wildlife, The T2 Max is a decent bit of kit. It is small, lightweight, and easy to integrate with your phone.
The app is a real let down. It isn't exactly the zenith of interaction design - but you'll find your way round it easily enough. The real problem is the frequent crashes an the lapses in frame-rate while recording video.
Because of the design of the lens, it isn't great for domestic tasks like spotting leaks & hotspots. For that you'll want something like the Hikmicro unit I reviewed last week.
Being able to shove it into your phone means that it can easily integrate into your workflow. You can edit, crop, and post images just as you normally do. For such a small device, you get a lot of image - and the on-board processing is excellent.
Sadly, the zoom is digital, rather than optical. All you're doing is blowing up pixels rather than getting closer to the subject.
The image quality is exquisite but the Android app is a real let down. If you're prepared to put up with a baffling interface and occasional crashes, you'll get some fine photos and videos out of it.
#gadget #review #thermal #usbC -
heise+ | USB-C-Hubs im Test: Mehr Buchsen für das MacBook Neo
USB-C-Hubs geben Apple-Geräten mehr Ports. Wir testen neun Geräte mit HDMI und Power Delivery, die sich besonders gut fürs MacBook Neo eignen – aber nicht nur.
-
heise+ | USB-C-Hubs im Test: Mehr Buchsen für das MacBook Neo
USB-C-Hubs geben Apple-Geräten mehr Ports. Wir testen neun Geräte mit HDMI und Power Delivery, die sich besonders gut fürs MacBook Neo eignen – aber nicht nur.
-
Kann jemand eine gute, zuverlässige USB-C Dockingstation mit Thunderbolt (3 oder 4) empfehlen?
Sie sollte einen 4K Bildschirm via HDMI mit 60 Hz ansteuern können. Gbit LAN natürlich auch.
Verwendet wird sie mit einem Lenovo T14 Gen 3.
In der Arbeit haben wir die von Dockingstation von Lenovo, und die überzeugt mich absolut nicht. Da gibt es zu viele Problem.
#computer #hardware #dockingstation #usbc #thunberbolt #kaufempfehlung
-
Kann jemand eine gute, zuverlässige USB-C Dockingstation mit Thunderbolt (3 oder 4) empfehlen?
Sie sollte einen 4K Bildschirm via HDMI mit 60 Hz ansteuern können. Gbit LAN natürlich auch.
Verwendet wird sie mit einem Lenovo T14 Gen 3.
In der Arbeit haben wir die von Dockingstation von Lenovo, und die überzeugt mich absolut nicht. Da gibt es zu viele Problem.
#computer #hardware #dockingstation #usbc #thunberbolt #kaufempfehlung
-
Gadget Review: HIKMICRO D02 Thermal Camera
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/08/gadget-review-hikmicro-d02-thermal-camera/The good folks at Hikmicro have sent me their D02 Infrared Camera to review. It's part of their "Eco" series of thermal imagers - designed to be easy to use around the home and relatively cheap.
Despite the no-fills appearance, it packs in a lot of features which put some more expensive models to shame. It even works with Linux. Shove in a USB-C cable to grab the photos or even use it as a webcam.
All the images you see in this post are unaltered. I haven't optimised them or stripped the metadata; what you see is what you get.
Let's go!
Specs and Pictures
Infrared cameras usually have tiny sensors - the D02 is no different, you get 96x96 pixels of thermal information upscaled to 240x240.
Where the D02 shines is that it also has an optical camera just below the thermal sensor. This allows the camera to combine both the thermal and optical images into one "fusion" image.
Here's an example of the thermal image:
The optical image has a higher resolution - 480x640:
It isn't the highest quality lens in the world, but more than adequate for seeing what's going on.
Once fused, the image looks like this:
With the two images overlayed, you get a reasonably clear photo. The visual shows a good amount of detail and the thermal image shows what's hot.
It mostly works. If you're pointing at something very close to the sensor then you'll end up with a slightly surreal image like this which show the two out of alignment.
Storage is limited to around 2.5GB with no SD card slot. But given that photos are typically less than 150KB, you'll fit tens of thousands on there before worrying about running out of space.
Videos
Videos are a bit bigger, about 12MB per minute in MP4 format. But, again, you'll be able to store a couple of hours of footage on there without worry.
Again, 240x240 upscaled. Good enough for domestic use. No audio. What you see is what you get.
EXIF
There's not much useful EXIF - just the timestamp and camera serial number. That said, all the images and videos are placed in the DCIM folder which should make importing them easier.
Some other cameras provide the "raw" thermal data separately - but that's only really useful if you're doing analysis on the data, rather than trying to spot hot / cold spots.
Features
There are a few other nifty features. You can set a schedule to allow it to take pictures periodically - handy if you use the tripod attachment point to place it in a static location.
You can change the type of thermal image taken - there are various palettes available depending on what you're interested in.
There are various emissivity profiles depending on what you're pointing at:
You can also fiddle with the distance setting depending on how close you are to the subject. There's also an alarm setting to warn you if something is too hot or too cold.
Finally, you can view back the images and videos on the device. Handy if you can't get to a computer and want to show someone what you've spotted.
SuperScene AI
Everything needs AI in it nowadays. Thankfully, the D02 doesn't chat to you - instead it can analyse photos for potential problems. There are a range of build-in "SuperScene" modes available once you update to the latest firmware.
I simulated a water leak under my sink and pointed the camera at it:
As you can see, it draws a red outline around anything it thinks is suspicious and draws a little water droplet icon in the lower left corner. It also set the colour profile, to make things easier to see. It isn't the most powerful AI model that I've ever used, but is certainly handy for checking things around the home.
User Interface
There's a trigger. Press it once to take a photo. Hold it down to start / stop recording. Pretty much idiot proof.
The rest is a bit flimsy. A combined power / select button, a back button, then up & down arrows. The arrows confused me for a while. Press the up one to change the type of photo you're taking, the down one changes the colour scheme.
There's no touch-screen, haptic feedback, speaker, or anything expensive like that.
Linux and Open Source
Works fine as a storage device on Linux, showing up as
0525:a4a5"Netchip Technology, Inc. Linux-USB File-backed Storage Gadget". True to its word, it shows up as a standard disk.Most hardware manufacturers from China ignore their Open Source obligations - but not HIKMICRO. There's a rather prominent menu item in the settings screen which lets you scroll through an almost endless parade of software names and their licences. A bonus star for that!
You can also turn on diagnostic logging - that'll slowly fill the disk with log files:
[07-21 14:47:40][pid:477][tid:642][GUI][ERROR][minigui_lcd_dsp_update][line:1393] KEY_OK_MSG minigui_lcd_dsp_update GUI_TM_DATA_CAPTURE...
Probably not overly useful unless you've got a problem.
Webcam
On plugging in the camera via USB-C, the screen gives a choice of "USB Drive" or "USB Cast Screen". Toggling to the screen option transforms the device into
2bdf:017fa "UVC Camera". In theory, you should be able to use it as a standard WebCam and show others what the D02 is seeing. I couldn't get it to work with Chrome or Firefox directly.Using qv4l2 I was able to open it as an MJPG stream once I set the resolution to 240x320.
For those of a technical bent, here's what
v4l2-ctlshowed as the available formats:ioctl: VIDIOC_ENUM_FMT Type: Video Capture [0]: 'MJPG' (Motion-JPEG, compressed) Size: Discrete 240x320 Interval: Discrete 0.033s (30.000 fps) Size: Discrete 320x240 Interval: Discrete 0.033s (30.000 fps) [1]: 'YUYV' (YUYV 4:2:2) Size: Discrete 640x256 Interval: Discrete 0.033s (30.000 fps)Price
Infrared cameras are annoyingly expensive. This one is around £190 - although currently discounted to £170 - which is fairly reasonable.
How much will it save you? Well, it can tell you where your insulation isn't working - or which plugs are about to burst into flames; so a decent investment.
Final Thoughts
I've reviewed a lot of thermal cameras and I think this might be one of my favourites. The fact that it (optionally) captures both the thermal and the optical image makes it great for diagnosing problems because you can easily see what it is you're looking at.
There are enough settings to fiddle around with to keep most tinkerers happy and the image quality is more than good enough for spotting problems in the home. It's well worth buying for your home if you want to check for leaks, insulation gaps, hotspots, and other domestic problems. I'd recommend sharing the cost with your neighbours, or loaning it to a local tool library.
This is lightweight, quick to boot up, has good accuracy, and is (relatively) cheap. Well worth it, in my opinion.
#gadget #review #thermal #usbC -
Gadget Review: HIKMICRO D02 Thermal Camera
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/08/gadget-review-hikmicro-d02-thermal-camera/The good folks at Hikmicro have sent me their D02 Infrared Camera to review. It's part of their "Eco" series of thermal imagers - designed to be easy to use around the home and relatively cheap.
Despite the no-fills appearance, it packs in a lot of features which put some more expensive models to shame. It even works with Linux. Shove in a USB-C cable to grab the photos or even use it as a webcam.
All the images you see in this post are unaltered. I haven't optimised them or stripped the metadata; what you see is what you get.
Let's go!
Specs and Pictures
Infrared cameras usually have tiny sensors - the D02 is no different, you get 96x96 pixels of thermal information upscaled to 240x240.
Where the D02 shines is that it also has an optical camera just below the thermal sensor. This allows the camera to combine both the thermal and optical images into one "fusion" image.
Here's an example of the thermal image:
The optical image has a higher resolution - 480x640:
It isn't the highest quality lens in the world, but more than adequate for seeing what's going on.
Once fused, the image looks like this:
With the two images overlayed, you get a reasonably clear photo. The visual shows a good amount of detail and the thermal image shows what's hot.
It mostly works. If you're pointing at something very close to the sensor then you'll end up with a slightly surreal image like this which show the two out of alignment.
Storage is limited to around 2.5GB with no SD card slot. But given that photos are typically less than 150KB, you'll fit tens of thousands on there before worrying about running out of space.
Videos
Videos are a bit bigger, about 12MB per minute in MP4 format. But, again, you'll be able to store a couple of hours of footage on there without worry.
Again, 240x240 upscaled. Good enough for domestic use. No audio. What you see is what you get.
EXIF
There's not much useful EXIF - just the timestamp and camera serial number. That said, all the images and videos are placed in the DCIM folder which should make importing them easier.
Some other cameras provide the "raw" thermal data separately - but that's only really useful if you're doing analysis on the data, rather than trying to spot hot / cold spots.
Features
There are a few other nifty features. You can set a schedule to allow it to take pictures periodically - handy if you use the tripod attachment point to place it in a static location.
You can change the type of thermal image taken - there are various palettes available depending on what you're interested in.
There are various emissivity profiles depending on what you're pointing at:
You can also fiddle with the distance setting depending on how close you are to the subject. There's also an alarm setting to warn you if something is too hot or too cold.
Finally, you can view back the images and videos on the device. Handy if you can't get to a computer and want to show someone what you've spotted.
SuperScene AI
Everything needs AI in it nowadays. Thankfully, the D02 doesn't chat to you - instead it can analyse photos for potential problems. There are a range of build-in "SuperScene" modes available once you update to the latest firmware.
I simulated a water leak under my sink and pointed the camera at it:
As you can see, it draws a red outline around anything it thinks is suspicious and draws a little water droplet icon in the lower left corner. It also set the colour profile, to make things easier to see. It isn't the most powerful AI model that I've ever used, but is certainly handy for checking things around the home.
User Interface
There's a trigger. Press it once to take a photo. Hold it down to start / stop recording. Pretty much idiot proof.
The rest is a bit flimsy. A combined power / select button, a back button, then up & down arrows. The arrows confused me for a while. Press the up one to change the type of photo you're taking, the down one changes the colour scheme.
There's no touch-screen, haptic feedback, speaker, or anything expensive like that.
Linux and Open Source
Works fine as a storage device on Linux, showing up as
0525:a4a5"Netchip Technology, Inc. Linux-USB File-backed Storage Gadget". True to its word, it shows up as a standard disk.Most hardware manufacturers from China ignore their Open Source obligations - but not HIKMICRO. There's a rather prominent menu item in the settings screen which lets you scroll through an almost endless parade of software names and their licences. A bonus star for that!
You can also turn on diagnostic logging - that'll slowly fill the disk with log files:
[07-21 14:47:40][pid:477][tid:642][GUI][ERROR][minigui_lcd_dsp_update][line:1393] KEY_OK_MSG minigui_lcd_dsp_update GUI_TM_DATA_CAPTURE...
Probably not overly useful unless you've got a problem.
Webcam
On plugging in the camera via USB-C, the screen gives a choice of "USB Drive" or "USB Cast Screen". Toggling to the screen option transforms the device into
2bdf:017fa "UVC Camera". In theory, you should be able to use it as a standard WebCam and show others what the D02 is seeing. I couldn't get it to work with Chrome or Firefox directly.Using qv4l2 I was able to open it as an MJPG stream once I set the resolution to 240x320.
For those of a technical bent, here's what
v4l2-ctlshowed as the available formats:ioctl: VIDIOC_ENUM_FMT Type: Video Capture [0]: 'MJPG' (Motion-JPEG, compressed) Size: Discrete 240x320 Interval: Discrete 0.033s (30.000 fps) Size: Discrete 320x240 Interval: Discrete 0.033s (30.000 fps) [1]: 'YUYV' (YUYV 4:2:2) Size: Discrete 640x256 Interval: Discrete 0.033s (30.000 fps)Price
Infrared cameras are annoyingly expensive. This one is around £190 - although currently discounted to £170 - which is fairly reasonable.
How much will it save you? Well, it can tell you where your insulation isn't working - or which plugs are about to burst into flames; so a decent investment.
Final Thoughts
I've reviewed a lot of thermal cameras and I think this might be one of my favourites. The fact that it (optionally) captures both the thermal and the optical image makes it great for diagnosing problems because you can easily see what it is you're looking at.
There are enough settings to fiddle around with to keep most tinkerers happy and the image quality is more than good enough for spotting problems in the home. It's well worth buying for your home if you want to check for leaks, insulation gaps, hotspots, and other domestic problems. I'd recommend sharing the cost with your neighbours, or loaning it to a local tool library.
This is lightweight, quick to boot up, has good accuracy, and is (relatively) cheap. Well worth it, in my opinion.
#gadget #review #thermal #usbC -
I have a few devices where the micro usb is starting to fail. Turns out it is possible to convert to USB-C, if you can get the device open and have soldering skills. There are replacement USB-C plugs that have a tiny board with same pin layout (and pwr resistors), just gotta pick the right voltage/ground orientation.
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256811428615831.htmlThis video shows the steps, albeit with all manner of triggering solder crimes. 😬
https://youtu.be/q04QQ6BnO8I
#electronics #usbc -
I have a few devices where the micro usb is starting to fail. Turns out it is possible to convert to USB-C, if you can get the device open and have soldering skills. There are replacement USB-C plugs that have a tiny board with same pin layout (and pwr resistors), just gotta pick the right voltage/ground orientation.
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256811428615831.htmlThis video shows the steps, albeit with all manner of triggering solder crimes. 😬
https://youtu.be/q04QQ6BnO8I
#electronics #usbc -
⚠️ Before replacing your charger or blaming your device, check the cable.
Many charging, data and display issues aren't caused by your laptop, phone or power adapter – they're caused by the USB-C cable in between.
A cable that looks perfectly fine can still limit charging power, reduce data speeds or prevent video output.
The BLE caberQU helps you see exactly what your cable is capable of in seconds.
Because troubleshooting starts with knowing your cable 🔌
-
Gadget Review: Thermal Master DV2 - Infrared Birdwatching Scope
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/07/gadget-review-thermal-master-dv2-infrared-birdwatching-scope/The good folks at Thermal Master have sent me their DV2 camera to review. As their name suggests, this is a thermal / infrared camera - they've specifically designed this for bird watching and animal spotting. Let's put it through its paces and see how it compares to the competition!
Straight away you can see it is different from normal IR cameras - they tend to have a small fixed screen and a rubber button interface. This has a lush touchscreen which displays the thermal image and is used to control the camera. The screen can go bright enough to be easily visible in full daylight, and you can dim it down to something more appropriate for night-time viewing.
OK, enough waffle, time to get snapping!
Photos
Here are some shots from the camera of various bits of wildlife near me. I haven't edited these images, they're exactly what you get from the camera.
The resolution is 512x384. There's no EXIF metadata - so no location information.
There's also no in-picture thermal gradient so you can't see the exact temperature of an object. This is designed for spotting animals, not working out how hot your electronics are. The datetime is burned in to the image but can be turned off.
It has the ability to almost totally remove the background "noise" of the sky - making it excellent for spotting things on the wing.
Filesize is about 20KB per photo. So you can fit will over a million images on the ~32GB internal storage. Digital zoom goes up to 8X.
Videos
The static images don't really do it justice. It's also possible to shoot video. This gives you a reasonable idea of what you'll see on the touchscreen.
Video resolution is the same as the photos - 512x384 - and runs at 30fps. File size is around 40MB per minute. So about 12 hours of footage can be stored. I've re-encoded these videos to be smaller while keeping the same quality.
Here's a friendly fox I found - I've cycled through the various settings so you can see how they work.
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Fox1.mp4Again, as with the photos, there's no metadata and the datetime is burned in. Here are a couple of cats playing around in the park.
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Cat1.mp4Twisting the lens allows you to adjust the focus - it is really impressive the amount of detail it can pick up.
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Cat2-Focus.mp4There's no video stabilisation (use the tripod mount if you need it) and there's no audio.
RTSP
You can also stream the video to a computer, VLC, or anything else which will take an RTSP stream.
The URl will be
rtsp://[IP Address]:8554/ch0- that will get you a 20fps stream of exactly what the camera is seeing.Range and Detection
It reckons it'll detect a human's heat signature from around 900 metres away.
There are several modes which will let you see more or less detail. That's particularly important if you're just interested in the hottest part of the image, or if you need to photograph something against a relatively warm background.
The App
This'll pair with your Android phone using the Thermal Masters app. It's a bit of a beast - around 200MB. That's because it's the same app for all their cameras and contains PDFs for several different models. Despite the relatively high download numbers, it has zero reviews.
Like lots of software from hardware manufacturers, the app is basic but serviceable. It connects to your DV2 via WiFi. You can either be on the same network or connect the camera to your phone's hotspot.
Looking through the app's code, it appears to use OpenCV, ffmpeg, and some other popular Open Source libraries. Sadly, the required attribution is missing.
The app is great for monitoring the camera, you can zoom in on the image and fiddle with some of the settings. But you can't actually trigger a photo or video recording! That's a bit annoying.
Linux
For our penguin powered friends, this shows up as
1f3a:1000"Allwinner Technology Prestigio PER3464B ebook reader (Mass storage mode)". It's a basic drive which lets you copy the media back to your computer via USB-C. Easy as.Comparison
So how does it compare to the Topdon TS004 Thermal Camera? The Topdon is also marketed at the bird-spotting crowd and, on the surface, has fairly similar features.
The most obvious difference is the user interface. The TS004 is a Monocular - so you need to shove your eye into the end to see anything.
With the DV2, you've got a big screen to look at - which is generally much more pleasant. That display of the DV2 is a touchscreen which makes it pretty easy to interact with - whereas with the TS004 you have to repeatedly mash buttons to change any settings.
In terms of resolution, both have a standard 256×192 sensor. The upscaling on the DV2 is good - but doesn't fundamentally change how much thermal information there is.
But it is the thoughtful little extras which make the DV2 useful. There's a built-in laser pointer which is useful for working out exactly what you're aiming at. At the bottom is a standard tripod mount, so you can rig it up somewhere to monitor an area.
Slightly bizarrely, it comes with an optional Picatinny Rail adaptor. That screws into the side of your DV2 and allows you to add firearm accessories! So if you ever wanted to add a sniper scope to your thermal camera…
Alright, a regular range-finder will also attach to it 😆
The battery is a bit of an odd one. You can physically remove the battery and place it in its own USB charger. The battery is a 1INR22/71 which is a chunky beast. The charger comes with two slots (although only one battery is included) so you can quick-swap to a full battery if you need to. There is a USB-C port on the bottom, if you want to charge it the normal way.
With the TS004, the only way to stream video was via the app. The DV2 will connect to any WiFi network and present an RTSP stream. The built in WiFi is useful for grabbing firmware updates.
The DV2 also suffers a little from the lack of a trigger button for taking photos. When held in the hand, it feels natural to click the button under the thumb finger - instead, that toggles the laser. Taking a photo means tapping away on the screen to get to a sub-menu. Annoyingly, your phone can't be used as a remote control.
One thing in the TS004's advantage - it's lens cap is attached to the body of the unit. The DV2's is a separate rubber cap which comes off completely. Best remember to stick it in the supplied carrying case, eh?
The TS004 also has built-in animal recognition. It can detect heat signatures and tell you if they're a bird or a human. However, it always misidentified English foxes as Wild Boars! So was of limited use.
The DV2 uses AI to upscale the quality of the images rather than trying to detect what it is actually looking at.
In general, the DV2 is easier to use and produces seemingly better quality media. But having to tap the screen multiple times to take a photo or video is slightly annoying.
Price
All the infrared cameras I've reviewed have been expensive. This one is no different. At the moment it is in stock for £459.
You can use the code
THERMBIRD10for 10% off at the official store or from Amazon.com.That's a chunk of change - but you do get a lot of tech for the price. This isn't designed for finding hotspots in your home, it's excels at picking out wildlife - and the screen is big enough for several people to gather round to see what you've spotted.
Final Thoughts
This is one of the better thermal imaging devices that I've reviewed. The large touchscreen makes it so much easier to control than anything else on the market - all the others have squishy rubber buttons. It is mostly a delight to use, if you can put up with the slightly strange process of taking a photo.
Thermal cameras are still very expensive - the sensors are low resolution and sometimes flaky. The DV2 does a great job of producing a usable images and videos.
The app is no worse than the competition. It really ought to inform users about the use of Open Source code though.
The addition of the laser pointer isn't as gimmicky as I'd thought. I've no use for the Picatinny attachment, but I can see how it could be useful.
If you want to go wildlife spotting, this is probably the device to get. It captures an incredible amount of detail and is excellent at picking up the faintest heat signatures.
#camera #gadget #infrared #review #thermal #usbC -
Gadget Review: Thermal Master DV2 - Infrared Birdwatching Scope
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/07/gadget-review-thermal-master-dv2-infrared-birdwatching-scope/The good folks at Thermal Master have sent me their DV2 camera to review. As their name suggests, this is a thermal / infrared camera - they've specifically designed this for bird watching and animal spotting. Let's put it through its paces and see how it compares to the competition!
Straight away you can see it is different from normal IR cameras - they tend to have a small fixed screen and a rubber button interface. This has a lush touchscreen which displays the thermal image and is used to control the camera. The screen can go bright enough to be easily visible in full daylight, and you can dim it down to something more appropriate for night-time viewing.
OK, enough waffle, time to get snapping!
Photos
Here are some shots from the camera of various bits of wildlife near me. I haven't edited these images, they're exactly what you get from the camera.
The resolution is 512x384. There's no EXIF metadata - so no location information.
There's also no in-picture thermal gradient so you can't see the exact temperature of an object. This is designed for spotting animals, not working out how hot your electronics are. The datetime is burned in to the image but can be turned off.
It has the ability to almost totally remove the background "noise" of the sky - making it excellent for spotting things on the wing.
Filesize is about 20KB per photo. So you can fit will over a million images on the ~32GB internal storage. Digital zoom goes up to 8X.
Videos
The static images don't really do it justice. It's also possible to shoot video. This gives you a reasonable idea of what you'll see on the touchscreen.
Video resolution is the same as the photos - 512x384 - and runs at 30fps. File size is around 40MB per minute. So about 12 hours of footage can be stored. I've re-encoded these videos to be smaller while keeping the same quality.
Here's a friendly fox I found - I've cycled through the various settings so you can see how they work.
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Fox1.mp4Again, as with the photos, there's no metadata and the datetime is burned in. Here are a couple of cats playing around in the park.
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Cat1.mp4Twisting the lens allows you to adjust the focus - it is really impressive the amount of detail it can pick up.
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Cat2-Focus.mp4There's no video stabilisation (use the tripod mount if you need it) and there's no audio.
RTSP
You can also stream the video to a computer, VLC, or anything else which will take an RTSP stream.
The URl will be
rtsp://[IP Address]:8554/ch0- that will get you a 20fps stream of exactly what the camera is seeing.Range and Detection
It reckons it'll detect a human's heat signature from around 900 metres away.
There are several modes which will let you see more or less detail. That's particularly important if you're just interested in the hottest part of the image, or if you need to photograph something against a relatively warm background.
The App
This'll pair with your Android phone using the Thermal Masters app. It's a bit of a beast - around 200MB. That's because it's the same app for all their cameras and contains PDFs for several different models. Despite the relatively high download numbers, it has zero reviews.
Like lots of software from hardware manufacturers, the app is basic but serviceable. It connects to your DV2 via WiFi. You can either be on the same network or connect the camera to your phone's hotspot.
Looking through the app's code, it appears to use OpenCV, ffmpeg, and some other popular Open Source libraries. Sadly, the required attribution is missing.
The app is great for monitoring the camera, you can zoom in on the image and fiddle with some of the settings. But you can't actually trigger a photo or video recording! That's a bit annoying.
Linux
For our penguin powered friends, this shows up as
1f3a:1000"Allwinner Technology Prestigio PER3464B ebook reader (Mass storage mode)". It's a basic drive which lets you copy the media back to your computer via USB-C. Easy as.Comparison
So how does it compare to the Topdon TS004 Thermal Camera? The Topdon is also marketed at the bird-spotting crowd and, on the surface, has fairly similar features.
The most obvious difference is the user interface. The TS004 is a Monocular - so you need to shove your eye into the end to see anything.
With the DV2, you've got a big screen to look at - which is generally much more pleasant. That display of the DV2 is a touchscreen which makes it pretty easy to interact with - whereas with the TS004 you have to repeatedly mash buttons to change any settings.
In terms of resolution, both have a standard 256×192 sensor. The upscaling on the DV2 is good - but doesn't fundamentally change how much thermal information there is.
But it is the thoughtful little extras which make the DV2 useful. There's a built-in laser pointer which is useful for working out exactly what you're aiming at. At the bottom is a standard tripod mount, so you can rig it up somewhere to monitor an area.
Slightly bizarrely, it comes with an optional Picatinny Rail adaptor. That screws into the side of your DV2 and allows you to add firearm accessories! So if you ever wanted to add a sniper scope to your thermal camera…
Alright, a regular range-finder will also attach to it 😆
The battery is a bit of an odd one. You can physically remove the battery and place it in its own USB charger. The battery is a 1INR22/71 which is a chunky beast. The charger comes with two slots (although only one battery is included) so you can quick-swap to a full battery if you need to. There is a USB-C port on the bottom, if you want to charge it the normal way.
With the TS004, the only way to stream video was via the app. The DV2 will connect to any WiFi network and present an RTSP stream. The built in WiFi is useful for grabbing firmware updates.
The DV2 also suffers a little from the lack of a trigger button for taking photos. When held in the hand, it feels natural to click the button under the thumb finger - instead, that toggles the laser. Taking a photo means tapping away on the screen to get to a sub-menu. Annoyingly, your phone can't be used as a remote control.
One thing in the TS004's advantage - it's lens cap is attached to the body of the unit. The DV2's is a separate rubber cap which comes off completely. Best remember to stick it in the supplied carrying case, eh?
The TS004 also has built-in animal recognition. It can detect heat signatures and tell you if they're a bird or a human. However, it always misidentified English foxes as Wild Boars! So was of limited use.
The DV2 uses AI to upscale the quality of the images rather than trying to detect what it is actually looking at.
In general, the DV2 is easier to use and produces seemingly better quality media. But having to tap the screen multiple times to take a photo or video is slightly annoying.
Price
All the infrared cameras I've reviewed have been expensive. This one is no different. At the moment it is in stock for £459.
You can use the code
THERMBIRD10for 10% off at the official store or from Amazon.com.That's a chunk of change - but you do get a lot of tech for the price. This isn't designed for finding hotspots in your home, it's excels at picking out wildlife - and the screen is big enough for several people to gather round to see what you've spotted.
Final Thoughts
This is one of the better thermal imaging devices that I've reviewed. The large touchscreen makes it so much easier to control than anything else on the market - all the others have squishy rubber buttons. It is mostly a delight to use, if you can put up with the slightly strange process of taking a photo.
Thermal cameras are still very expensive - the sensors are low resolution and sometimes flaky. The DV2 does a great job of producing a usable images and videos.
The app is no worse than the competition. It really ought to inform users about the use of Open Source code though.
The addition of the laser pointer isn't as gimmicky as I'd thought. I've no use for the Picatinny attachment, but I can see how it could be useful.
If you want to go wildlife spotting, this is probably the device to get. It captures an incredible amount of detail and is excellent at picking up the faintest heat signatures.
#camera #gadget #infrared #review #thermal #usbC -
♻️ Broken doesn't always mean useless.
A damaged USB-C cable shouldn't end up forgotten in a drawer. It also shouldn't go straight back into daily use.
Here's the smarter approach:
♻️ Recycle cables that are no longer safe to use.
🔍 Test cables you're unsure about before keeping them.
⚡ Reuse working cables where they still make sense.Knowing what your cable can (and can't) do helps you avoid unnecessary waste and frustrating performance issues.
Recycle smart. Use smart. Test smart.
-
I'm a USB-C Maximalist
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/07/im-a-usb-c-maximalist/My wife and I recently went on a 7 week holiday around Europe. Although we each took a massive backpack, we wanted to travel fairly lightly. I took a single universal power brick. This little unit was all I needed to charge my various gadgets.
It has a hefty USB-C PD (Power Delivery) port for rapid charging of my phone and laptop. Two other USB-C ports for my other gadgets. And a couple of legacy USB-A ports which were redundant. The pass through was useful for using the same socket as the hotel's TV / lamp / coffee maker.
Wherever we were in the world, I was 100% confident that I would be able to buy a replacement charger if I needed it. USB-C cables are everywhere too. What are the chances that I could find the exact charger needed for a GameBoy Colour? Or the puck for last year's Pixel watch? Or the weird barrel jack for an HP laptop?
No. One charger. One cable. One standard.
Here's everything I took which needed to be recharged.
- Phone
- A Pixel 8 Pro (running GrapheneOS). It also has the ability to act as a power source and recharge other devices.
- Laptop
- A Chuwi MiniBook. Small, light, decent battery.
- eReader
- A no-name eInk device. I read a lot on holiday.
- Watch
- A cheap but capable smartwatch. No magnetic charging dongle - just shove the cable into the body.
- Toothbrush
- Again, a cheap and unbranded device. And, again, no charging dock - the bottom has a protected USB socket.
- Again, a cheap and unbranded device. And, again, no charging dock - the bottom has a protected USB socket.
- Tracker
- What if someone steals my bag? Hopefully the PebbleBee "Find My" device will help me recover it.
- Battery
- Most trains, trams, and buses have USB power supplies. But sometimes you want your own hefty store of electrons. This one accepts PD charging and also outputs PD.
- Headphones
- Some cute ear-cuff headphones. I feel a bit guilty about including these, because it is their case which has the USB-C port rather than the cans themselves.
- Bug Bite Zapper
- This is a bit of a cheat. It uses my phone's USB port to heat up.
I probably could have gotten away with a single-port charger. The phone needs recharging every night, but most of the other devices can go days or weeks without being topped up.
As we were travelling light(ish) I didn't bother bringing the Nintendo Switch. We were in a major cities, so no need for our USB-C powered walkie-talkies. We were out sightseeing most days, so I didn't take the USB-C to HDMI adaptor which would have let us connect the laptop and phones to a hotel TV. Perhaps in the hotter countries I could have done with the USB-C neck cooler - instead I purchased a cheap USB-C rechargeable fan. Rather than bring a beard trimmer, I went to local barbers. If anything needed AA batteries, well, I could have used these rechargeable batteries.
I know there are some problems with USB-C. But the benefits far outweigh the glitches. Using my USB-C cable tester, I can be sure all the cables I have can deliver the amount of power my devices need.
There's simply no point buying any electrical gadget which uses a proprietary charging port.
You can read all my USB-C posts and all my gadget reviews.
What electrical items do you travel with which don't use the one-true-connector?
#technology #travel #usbC - Phone
-
I'm a USB-C Maximalist
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/07/im-a-usb-c-maximalist/My wife and I recently went on a 7 week holiday around Europe. Although we each took a massive backpack, we wanted to travel fairly lightly. I took a single universal power brick. This little unit was all I needed to charge my various gadgets.
It has a hefty USB-C PD (Power Delivery) port for rapid charging of my phone and laptop. Two other USB-C ports for my other gadgets. And a couple of legacy USB-A ports which were redundant. The pass through was useful for using the same socket as the hotel's TV / lamp / coffee maker.
Wherever we were in the world, I was 100% confident that I would be able to buy a replacement charger if I needed it. USB-C cables are everywhere too. What are the chances that I could find the exact charger needed for a GameBoy Colour? Or the puck for last year's Pixel watch? Or the weird barrel jack for an HP laptop?
No. One charger. One cable. One standard.
Here's everything I took which needed to be recharged.
- Phone
- A Pixel 8 Pro (running GrapheneOS). It also has the ability to act as a power source and recharge other devices.
- Laptop
- A Chuwi MiniBook. Small, light, decent battery.
- eReader
- A no-name eInk device. I read a lot on holiday.
- Watch
- A cheap but capable smartwatch. No magnetic charging dongle - just shove the cable into the body.
- Toothbrush
- Again, a cheap and unbranded device. And, again, no charging dock - the bottom has a protected USB socket.
- Again, a cheap and unbranded device. And, again, no charging dock - the bottom has a protected USB socket.
- Tracker
- What if someone steals my bag? Hopefully the PebbleBee "Find My" device will help me recover it.
- Battery
- Most trains, trams, and buses have USB power supplies. But sometimes you want your own hefty store of electrons. This one accepts PD charging and also outputs PD.
- Headphones
- Some cute ear-cuff headphones. I feel a bit guilty about including these, because it is their case which has the USB-C port rather than the cans themselves.
- Bug Bite Zapper
- This is a bit of a cheat. It uses my phone's USB port to heat up.
I probably could have gotten away with a single-port charger. The phone needs recharging every night, but most of the other devices can go days or weeks without being topped up.
As we were travelling light(ish) I didn't bother bringing the Nintendo Switch. We were in a major cities, so no need for our USB-C powered walkie-talkies. We were out sightseeing most days, so I didn't take the USB-C to HDMI adaptor which would have let us connect the laptop and phones to a hotel TV. Perhaps in the hotter countries I could have done with the USB-C neck cooler - instead I purchased a cheap USB-C rechargeable fan. Rather than bring a beard trimmer, I went to local barbers. If anything needed AA batteries, well, I could have used these rechargeable batteries.
I know there are some problems with USB-C. But the benefits far outweigh the glitches. Using my USB-C cable tester, I can be sure all the cables I have can deliver the amount of power my devices need.
There's simply no point buying any electrical gadget which uses a proprietary charging port.
You can read all my USB-C posts and all my gadget reviews.
What electrical items do you travel with which don't use the one-true-connector?
#technology #travel #usbC - Phone
-
WhatCable: App shows concrete USB-C connections on Mac
A developer has written a tool that can read out the current USB-C values present on the Mac. It does not replace a cable tester.
-
WhatCable: App shows concrete USB-C connections on Mac
A developer has written a tool that can read out the current USB-C values present on the Mac. It does not replace a cable tester.
-
WhatCable: App zeigt konkrete USB-C-Verbindungen am Mac an
Ein Entwickler hat ein Tool geschrieben, mit dem die aktuellen USB-C-Werte, die am Mac anliegen, ausgelesen werden können. Einen Kabeltester ersetzt es nicht.
-
WhatCable: App zeigt konkrete USB-C-Verbindungen am Mac an
Ein Entwickler hat ein Tool geschrieben, mit dem die aktuellen USB-C-Werte, die am Mac anliegen, ausgelesen werden können. Einen Kabeltester ersetzt es nicht.
-
Un cable USB-C malo puede sobrecalentar tu MacBook de 1.500 € y convertirla en una tostadora cara.
No escatimes: usa Anker, Belkin, Ugreen o Apple.
Tu dispositivo (y tu bolsillo) te lo agradecerán.
https://locosdemanzana.es/2026/07/11/los-mejores-cables-usb-c-para-iphone-ipad-y-mac/
-
Un cable USB-C malo puede sobrecalentar tu MacBook de 1.500 € y convertirla en una tostadora cara.
No escatimes: usa Anker, Belkin, Ugreen o Apple.
Tu dispositivo (y tu bolsillo) te lo agradecerán.
https://locosdemanzana.es/2026/07/11/los-mejores-cables-usb-c-para-iphone-ipad-y-mac/
-
'Schlösser (die mit Schlüssel)' #FotoVorschlag
Ringschloss für Adapter in einem Besprechungsraum
-
'Schlösser (die mit Schlüssel)' #FotoVorschlag
Ringschloss für Adapter in einem Besprechungsraum
-
JapanNext mise sur les écrans portables USB-C pour le travail nomade http://dlvr.it/TTRj4x #écranportable #USBc
-
JapanNext mise sur les écrans portables USB-C pour le travail nomade http://dlvr.it/TTRj4x #écranportable #USBc
-
heise+ | USB-Kameramikroskope zum Arbeiten und Lernen im Test
Preisgünstige Kameramikroskope mit Display sind ideal zum Reparieren von Elektronik und feiner Mechanik. Kindern gewähren sie erste Blicke in den Mikrokosmos.
-
heise+ | USB-Kameramikroskope zum Arbeiten und Lernen im Test
Preisgünstige Kameramikroskope mit Display sind ideal zum Reparieren von Elektronik und feiner Mechanik. Kindern gewähren sie erste Blicke in den Mikrokosmos.
-
Arturia MiniFuse 2 — компактний аудіоінтерфейс, який не змушує йти на компроміси
# #AbletonLiveLite #AnalogLabIntro #Arturia #ArturiaMiniFuse2 #Loopback #MIDI #USBC
https://gizchina.net/2026/07/08/arturia-minifuse-2-oglyad-audiointerfejsu/ -
Arturia MiniFuse 2 — компактний аудіоінтерфейс, який не змушує йти на компроміси
# #AbletonLiveLite #AnalogLabIntro #Arturia #ArturiaMiniFuse2 #Loopback #MIDI #USBC
https://gizchina.net/2026/07/08/arturia-minifuse-2-oglyad-audiointerfejsu/
