Articles by Chris Wedel

When they’re young

Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids

Pre-order for $200 at Amazon
Pre-order for $200 at Best Buy

Pros

Lighter and thinner than the previous generation
2-year worry-free warranty
Enhanced parental controls
3GB RAM

Cons

Content restrictions may be too much for older kids
Older kids may not like the case style

Amazon has improved its already impressive previous versions of the Fire HD 10 Kids tablet by shrinking its footprint and speeding it up by increasing the RAM. If content consumption is the primary use for a younger child, this is a great choice.

Rady for more

Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Pro

Pre-order for $200 at Amazon
Pre-order for $200 at Best Buy

Pros

Kids can access more apps with parent approval
A filtered web browser is accessible
Comes with a more mature but still fun case
Still has parental controls available

Cons

Content may not be appropriate for younger kids
Parents may want a more protective case for smaller children

The Amazon Fire HD…

If you’re in the market for a new Wear OS smartwatch and happen to like classically styled watches, then the Fossil Gen 5 Carlyle is going to be for you. Fossil is one of the few Wear OS watchmakers out there that continues to produce not only good-looking wearables but also adds top-of-the-line specs to the equation. The Carlyle has a classic look that can work for almost any occasion with swappable bands, snappy performance, and a speaker for calls. Fossil has some other great choices as well. Whether it’s a sports focus, fashion, or even a hybrid watch — Fossil has an option for you.

Best overall: Fossil Gen 5 Carlyle

While Wear OS may have some shortcomings, the Fossil Gen 5 Carlyle does a fantastic job making the best of an okay situation. From a style standpoint, the Carlyle has all the makings of a classic watch with its round casing and three-button layout. You have a rotating crown that lets you scroll through notifications, apps and make selections for navigating the …

More for less

Wyze Bulb Color

$27 at Amazon
From $20 at Wyze

Pros

Less expensive
All of the features work without a hub
Better color reproduction
Brighter
Works with Google Assistant and Alexa

Cons

Smaller ecosystem of compatible devices

The Wyze Bulb Color offers bright whites and vibrant colors for a fraction of the cost of its competitors. Connecting over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, you get a wide range of features at your disposal through the Wyze app, along with voice control with your digital assistant.

Less for more

Philips Hue White & Color Ambiance A19

$50 at Amazon
$50 at Best Buy
$50 at Walmart

Pros

Can work with some Hue accessories
Can function without a hub
Google Assistant and Alexa compatibility
Good range of whites

Cons

Limited functionality without a hub
No Wi-Fi connectivity
Expensive per bulb

Philips Hue has a broad ecosystem of lights and accessories that work well together. However, the cost per bulb, with or without a hub, is high. …

YouTube Kids has been around since 2015 and has grown into a great place for children to explore what YouTube has to offer safely. In 2021, the company is expanding ways for younger viewers to see more of what’s available from the streaming service, along with a more mature interface with supervised accounts. Instead of a separate app, these accounts will use the official YouTube app, so knowing how to set up a supervised account for kids on Youtube is important.

If you want to protect your child from some of the less than appropriate content that can be seen on YouTube, then you’ll want to be sure to have the supervised account properly set up. YouTube announced supervised accounts as a way for kids aged 9+ to see to more of what the service offers while still under the guidelines set by their parent. So, whether you have picked up one of the best phones for kids or maybe a tablet like the Lenovo Smart Tab M10 HD that has Google’s Kids Space for your child, here’s how you can give …

Best answer: No, not as a tracker. The Apple AirTag will work with an Android phone via NFC when the tracker is in Lost Mode to return it to its owner.

Don’t plan on buying an Apple AirTag if you use an Android phone

When Apple announced the AirTag during its Spring Loaded Event in April 2021, this question came up: “Will the Apple AirTag work with an Android phone or not?” After all, it works like all the other excellent Bluetooth trackers on the market, right? Kind of. While the Apple AirTag has Bluetooth, which can help track it down, there is much more technology inside that coin-shaped device than just Bluetooth.

Arguably the most impressive bit of technology inside the AirTag is the inclusion of UWB (ultra-wideband) that helps with locating the device down to within half an inch. You’ll find NFC in the tracker as well, and that’s the only part that will be compatible with Android phones. If the owner of an AirTag puts it into “Lost Mode,” if found by an iPhone or Android use…

For all of the efforts that Google and Amazon are putting into smart assistants to help with smart homes, there is still a ways to go.

We’ve seen smart homes in movies and TV shows for decades now, but in those instances, we’re led to believe that all of that tech is harmonious and works together seamlessly. However, in reality, it is a very different story, and, for the most part, the question you have to ask is this: is Google or Amazon better for my smart home?

Sure, there are other ecosystems you can choose, like Samsung SmartThings , which can integrate several different brands into a single app for you to manage those devices. But if you want to truly have a smart home, you’re going to want to have voice control — and then it’s back to the Google or Amazon decision. Choice is a great thing to have in almost every situation, but when there are only really two options here, and when neither has really solved the equation, it can be a bit of a letdown.

From the app experie…

When times get dark, we need bright light to see our way out — and the brightest LED smart bulbs make it that much better. A high-lumen (unit for measuring the quantity of light) bulb can do the trick in a small or large room. Adding in some smarts to that bulb gives it the flexibility to control from your favorite smart speaker or phone. Whether you want a standard A19 E26 bulb or the BR30 for recessed lighting, there’s a bulb for you. The Feit Electric OM100 is our top pick for its incredibly high lumen rating and hubless smart controls, which means it only needs Wi-Fi and your phone to control.

Best Overall: Feit Electric OM100 – RGBW

While Feit Electric may not be the well-known smart bulbs, but it’s been innovating and creating high-quality lighting solutions since 1978 — and the OM100 RGBW bulb continues that trend. Since this bulb doesn’t require extra hardware such as a hub, this Wi-Fi-enabled smart LED bulb is simple to set up. It has a peak output of 1,600 lumens, m…

The Wyze Bulb Color proves an excellent smart light bulbs don’t have to be expensive.

When it was announced, I was really looking forward to working on a Wyze Bulb Color review because finding an LED bulb that offers both colors and tunable whites isn’t necessarily difficult, but generally, if you want those colors to be vibrant across the board — it is expensive. Some of the best smart light bulbs cost as much as $50 for a single bulb. This is why checking out what Wyze had to offer in the smart light space, specifically colored bulbs was so enticing.

Wyze is known for making a variety of smart home gadgets for very accessible prices. It makes some of the best security cameras at fractions of the cost for most other brands, especially when considering the Wyze Cam Outdoor. I have been using Wyze’s tunable white LED smart bulbs for over a year now, and if Wyze can bring the same low-cost and high-quality to a color smart bulb option — I’m going to be very happy.

Wyze Bulb Co…

Wearables offer various benefits. One is to track your fitness, and knowing how to sync your fitness band to Google Fit is an excellent way to keep all of your info in an easy-to-access app. Google’s health and fitness platform can connect with some of the best smartwatches for fitness on the market, ensuring that regardless of what brand of wearable you prefer, you’ll be able to have a common location for your fitness data. Let’s get into how you can connect your fitness band or smartwatch to Google Fit.

How to sync your Wear OS watch to Google Fit

Most Wear OS smartwatches come with Google Fit pre-installed. However, if you don’t have the app already on your watch, you’ll want to go to the Google Play store on your watch and install it. You will also want to be sure that you have Google Fit installed and set up on your phone so that your watch can sync with it.

Press the side button of your watch and select Google Fit from the app list.
Once the app opens, tap on the arrow to p…

The Samsung Galaxy S1 Ultra is a fantastic phone. It has one of the best Android cameras out, but knowing how to disable Samsung’s automatic face smoothing on your Galaxy phone can make it even better. One of the reasons that you’ll find the face smoothing feature built into the phone’s camera app on a Samsung Galaxy phone and not on something like the Pixel 5 is because each one has software features that are more popular in different cultures. There’s nothing wrong with leaving face smoothing enabled, but if you don’t like the way it makes your photos look — here’s some quick steps to help you turn this feature off.

How to disable Samsung’s automatic face smoothing on your Galaxy phone

Open the camera app on your phone.
Tap on the magic wand icon in the upper right corner.
Select Face in the options at the top of your screen.
Toward the bottom of the screen, tap on the face icon to turn off the face smoothing feature.

To disable the feature for selfies, you’ll need to foll…