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The Ultimate Father’s Day Tech Gifts He Actually Wants

Posted in Commentary with tags , , , on June 5, 2025 by itnerd

Father’s Day is right around the corner, and whether he’s deep-cleaning the den, heading out for a run, or settling in for a backyard movie night — here are some gift ideas that suit every kind of dad.

Below is a curated roundup of functional, thoughtful, and cool tech products from Anker Innovations’ family of brands — all available across Amazon.ca, Anker, Soundcore, Eufy, and Nebula.

🔋For Dads On-the-Go

Because he needs to power through playlists, podcasts, and summer plans.

Anker Nano Power Bank – $69.99

For the dad who’s always traveling or running on 5%: this ultra-fast charging bank powers laptops, phones, and tablets with up to 30W output and a smart display. It’s sleek, compact, and MacBook-ready.

Available in black on Amazon and Anker.com.

soundcore AeroClip – $179.99

Stylish, open-ear clip-on earbuds with ultra-clear calls, wind-resistant mics, and 24-hour battery life. Adaptive comfort meets award-winning design distinction from Red Dot. Designed to relieve in-ear discomfort, soundcore AeroClip open-ear clip-on earbuds let you enjoy music pressure-free for every indoor and outdoor venture.

Available in black, pink, white on Amazon and Soundcore.com.

soundcore AeroFit 2 – $129.99

Comfort-first, open-ear headphones with LDAC Hi-Res wireless audio, 42 hours of playtime, and noise-filtered mic clarity. Featuring 4-level rotatable ear hooks, a soundcore exclusive, AeroFit 2 ensures a comfortable fit tailored for every ear, big or small for you to wear all day pressure-free.

Available in black and mint green on Amazon and Soundcore.com.

Liberty 5 – $139.99

Stronger voice reduction, real-time adaptive noise cancellation, and immersive sound with Dolby Audio, fast-charging, and up to 12 hours of playback on a single charge and up to 48 hours with the case in normal mode. 

Available in black and white on Amazon and Soundcore.com.

🏡For Dads Who Keep It Clean (or Wish They Did)

Powerful robot vacuums for the dad who loves a smart home flex.

eufy Robot Vacuum Omni E28 – $1,499.99

Eufy’s most powerful vacuum yet, the E28 features 20,000 Pa Turbo Suction for professional-grade deep cleaning on carpets and hard floors. Its HydroJet™ System keeps the mop clean in real-time with dual reservoirs and a dual-scraper structure, while the FlexiOne™ Portable Deep Cleaner (the industry’s first) detaches to tackle stairs, upholstery, and more — all from the fully automated Omni Station.

For the dad who wants spotless floors, not sore backs. Available via Eufy.com and Amazon.ca.

🎥 For Dads Who Deserve a Break

Movie nights, backyard projections, sports in 4K clarity, or even just getting a peaceful night’s rest.

Nebula X1 – $3,999.99 (limited offer: get an accesssory bag valued at $1,2999 for free before June 20)

4K triple-laser resolution, 3,500 ANSI lumens, and Dolby Vision — no dongle needed. Immersive 4.1.2 surround sound with bundle option takes you a cinema-grade experience at home.

Available via Amazon and Nebula.com.

soundcore Sleep A20

Award-winning design from Red Dot, get a full night of peaceful sleep with an equipped 4-point noise masking system, noise blocking, sound masking, and smart volume control to prevent unwanted noise. Get sleep analytics to improve sleep quality. Ideal for side sleepers. Ultra-long playtime on sleep mode with 14 hours of battery life. 

Available in black and white on Amazon and Soundcore.com. 

🏡 For the Dads Who Want Peace of Mind

Eufy FamiLock S3 – $479.99

Give Dad the gift of next-level home security. This all-in-one smart lock combines a 2K HD night-vision camera, 150° wide-angle video doorbell, and smart lock with real-time alerts. Unlocking is seamless with Palm Vein Recognition offering 99.99999% accuracy, plus 3-in-1 keyless entry via fingerprint, app, keypad, or voice. Built-in Wi-Fi means no hub required, and the IP65 waterproof rating makes it ideal for any entry point. A dual power supply system offers up to 5 months of battery life with 4 AAA backup batteries for added reliability. Perfect for Dad’s garage, workshop, or front door. Available on Amazon and Eufy.com.

eufy SoloCam S340 – $259.99

For the dad who likes to keep a watchful eye, this solar-powered security cam offers ultra-clear 3K dual-camera resolution with up to 8× zoom, perfect for spotting package deliveries or unexpected visitors up to 50 feet away. With 360° pan coverage and dual views, Dad gets the full picture and key details in a single frame.

Setup takes just five minutes with its compact, wire-free design, and thanks to the removable solar panel, it’s always charged — no hardwiring or battery swaps needed. Local storage means no monthly fees, ever. Peace of mind for backyard grilling or cottage season. Available on Amazon and Eufy.com.

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What’s In My Tech Sling – The 2024 Edition

Posted in Products with tags , , , , , , , , , , , on November 17, 2024 by itnerd

When I get a phone call from a client from a client to assist them with some sort of tech issue, I need to grab a handful of things that I know that I will usually need on a job and go. For years, I’ve sort of scrambled to find what I need on a moment’s notice. To make my life easier, I have built up a tech sling bag that has my commonly used items that I need when I go to see a client. By doing this, I simply have to do a “grab and go” and I can add it to my backpack if I need to as it doesn’t take up a lot of space. Let’s start with the bag itself:

The is the tomtoc Explorer-H02 EDC Sling Bag in the 8 inch size which has an outer compartment that holds miscellaneous items, a compartment in the back that holds one item that I will get to in a moment, and a middle compartment that holds the majority of my gear. Because it is a sling bag, it goes over my shoulder which is handy if I am just using it by itself. But it will also fit inside my laptop bag or backpack.

Inside the sling bag is this OWC Envoy 1 TB SSD which recently was added to the sling bag. It doesn’t take up a lot of space, but it is quick. That makes it ideal to travel with and use with my clients.

 The Victorinox Cyber Tool on the right the next item in my sling bag I find this to be extremely handy to do everything from open boxes to disassembling computers. Attached to that is Olight i3E EOS flashlight which makes life easier for me when I need light in a dark corner of a computer case or a room as it gets pretty bright.

I usually have a few random USB sticks with utilities on them. Such as malware scanning or unlocking utilities. But I also have a SanDisk 128GB Extreme PRO flash drive which occasionally comes in handy with clients. Though with the 1TB OWC drive, I have to admit that I am rethinking whether I need to have that in my tech sling.

I’ve got an Apple AirTag in it so that if I misplace the tech sling, I can find it easily. Because I have left a customer’s site a few times without it, and then had an alert pop up on my iPhone telling me so. It’s inside a Belkin AirTag holder which makes sure that I can attach it to a loop inside the sling bag.

I have a plastic bag with batteries. Specifically some AA, AAA, CR1632, and CR2032 batteries. Because there have been numerous times where a customer had an issue that was solved by a battery, and the customer didn’t have any spare ones. Thus I cover myself for that eventuality.

I also carry a bag with some Woosh Screen shine and a microfibre cloth as I never know when I might need to clean a computer’s screen or keyboard. Be it mine or somebody else’s. This stuff works really well and it’s currently my go to for my computer cleaning needs. I also have some Q-Tips in the bag to get to those hard to reach places.

I have a small bag with a bunch of USB-A to USB-C and USB-C to USB-A adapters as they come in handy for customers who need to plug something into a computer and don’t have the right adapter.

Another recent addition to my tech sling is this Anker Ethernet to USB-C adapter that runs at 2.5 Gbps. Ideally, I would want to have a 10 Gbps adapter in my sling, but those are still pretty pricy. Thus this will work for me until prices drop.

To cover off any charging needs that I or others might have, I have a UGREEN Nexode 100W charger that has three USB-C ports and a single USB-A port. I can charge anything from phones to my MacBook Pro to my iPhone. Most of the time, I’ve used it to charge my client’s stuff quickly.

I have a variety of cables in my tech sling, starting with this Anker 100W USB-C power delivery cable for charging purposes only.

I also have an HDMI cable that comes in handy when I have a MacBook Pro and I need to plug into a projector or TV at a client’s site.

I also have a flat Ethernet cable which comes in handy when I need to plug into something using the Anker Ethernet adapter that I spoke of earlier.

The key cable that I carry is a RollingSquare InCharge XL which is my one cable to rule them all. I say that because it will cover any use case that I may need when at a client’s location as it is good for data transfer and for charging.

I also have that cable’s little brother the RollingSquare InCharge X as it it sometimes is handy to have a second cable that doesn’t take up a lot of real estate. It’s beaten up as it once was on my keychain. But it works just fine.

The second last item is this GearAid HeroClip. What this is for is to allow me to hook, hang, and carry my gear. I have it because if I have to use a public restroom, there is often no place to hang a jacket, or the sling bag, or a laptop bag. Thus making this piece of kit extremely handy. I got the large size to make sure that I could hang anything that I needed as it has a 100 pound weight limit.

The last item is this pen. Because everyone needs a pen.

So that’s what is inside my tech sling bag. This works for me, but I would be interested in hearing from you in terms of what you think I should add to it or change. Please leave a comment below and share your thoughts.

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Anker FINALLY Admits That It Lied About End To End Encryption With Their Eufy Security Cameras

Posted in Commentary with tags , on February 1, 2023 by itnerd

You might recall that last year it was discovered that Eufy security cameras which were made by Anker, were not “end to end encrypted” despite what their advertising said. This link will give you my thoughts on this along with this follow up where they tried to make this issue go away via a software update that wasn’t really a software update, which didn’t go over well.

The Verge has been doing its best to get answers from Anker on this. And last night they finally did:

In a series of emails to The Verge, Anker has finally admitted its Eufy security cameras are not natively end-to-end encrypted — they can and did produce unencrypted video streams for Eufy’s web portal, like the ones we accessed from across the United States using an ordinary media player. 

But Anker says that’s now largely fixed. Every video stream request originating from Eufy’s web portal will now be end-to-end encrypted — like they are with Eufy’s app — and the company says it’s updating every single Eufy camera to use WebRTC, which is encrypted by default. Reading between the lines, though, it seems that these cameras could still produce unencrypted footage upon request. 

That’s not all Anker is disclosing today. The company has apologized for the lack of communication and promised to do better, confirming it’s bringing in outside security and penetration testing companies to audit Eufy’s practices, is in talks with a “leading and well-known security expert” to produce an independent report, is promising to create an official bug bounty program, and will launch a microsite in February to explain how its security works in more detail. 

Those independent audits and reports may be critical for Eufy to regain trust because of how the company has handled the findings of security researchers and journalists. It’s a little hard to take the company at its word!

I for one cannot take Anker at its word. Even with all of this, I don’t believe that this company can be trusted again regardless of the promises that it makes. And given that their cameras and other security products live inside your homes, you should not trust them either. This company needs to disappear from the face of the Earth as either screwing up to this degree or outright lying is completely unacceptable. And there must be some sort of punishment for that that deters others from pulling this sort of stunt. So if governments won’t act to ban Anker, consumers should be voting with their wallets to make sure that companies think twice about doing something like this.

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What’s In My Tech Sling Bag – The 2023 Edition

Posted in Products with tags , , , , , , , , , , , on January 20, 2023 by itnerd

Often when I get a phone call from a client from a client to assist them with some sort of tech issue, I need to grab a handful of things that I know that I will usually need on a job and go. For years, I’ve sort of scrambled to find what I need on a moment’s notice, and that came to a head when I lost my Victorinox Cyber Tool. Thus I decided that I needed to do something different and have a bag that has the most commonly used items that I need when I go see a client. That way I know where everything is, and I can get out of the house quicker. Not to mention reduce my chances of losing something. I decided on a sling bag as that is compact enough to fit inside a backpack or a laptop bag, but holds everything that I need. This is the sling bag in question:

The is the tomtoc Explorer-H02 EDC Sling Bag in the 8 inch size which has an outer compartment that holds miscellaneous items, a compartment in the back that holds one item that I will get to in a moment, and a middle compartment that holds the majority of my gear. Because it is a sling bag, it goes over my shoulder which is handy if I am just using it by itself. But it will also fit inside my laptop bag or backpack. Another plus is that it will fit some of my EDC should the need arise. Be it my sunglasses, AirPods Pro or anything like that.

As for what’s inside of it, here’s the current list.

I’ve got an Apple AirTag in it so that if I misplace it, I can find it easily. It’s inside a Belkin AirTag holder which makes sure that I can attach it to a loop inside the sling bag.

In the back compartment is this GearAid HeroClip. What this is for is to allow me to hook, hang, and carry my gear. I have it because if I have to use a public restroom, there is often no place to hang a jacket, or the sling bag, or a laptop bag. Thus making this piece of kit extremely handy. I got the large size to make sure that I could hang anything that I needed as it has a 100 pound weight limit.

I also carry some Woosh Screen shine and a microfibre cloth as I never know when I might need to clean a computer’s screen or keyboard. Be it mine or somebody else’s. This stuff works really well and it’s currently my go to for my computer cleaning needs.

I carry two cables with me at all times. The first is an Anker USB-C cable that does power delivery, as well as a RollingSquare InCharge XL which is my one cable to rule them all. I say that because it will cover any use case that I may need when at a client’s location as it is good for data transfer and for charging.

On the right is a replacement Victorinox Cyber Tool as I find this to be extremely handy to do everything from open boxes to disassembling computers. On the left is a 1TB NVMe that I use to transfer data at a customer’s site. This is something that I built myself so let me explain what went into building this. I started with a SABRENT 1TB SSD Rocket NVMe m.2 4.0, Gen4 PCIe M.2 SSD which is one of the fastest drives that the company makes, then I got my hands on this four pack of thermal pads from Amazon as NVMe SSDs tend to get hot, and I wanted to make sure that it didn’t nuke itself while I was using it. I also got my hands on this enclosure from Amazon that did USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 10Gbps transfer speeds. That’s more than fast enough for my needs. Plus it’s made of metal so it will dissipate heat. Putting it together was a bit tricky as I wrapped the thermal pads around the SSD which made sliding it together a tight fit. But by using the thermal pads, I can be assured that the heat that the SSD generates would be transferred to the case and then dissipated from there. I will say the case does get hot when it is used for extended periods of time, but that does not concern me given the care that I have taken to put this together.

The next thing in my sling bag is this Ugreen Nexode 100W USB charger. This allows me to provide power to my MacBook Pro or customer’s computer, tablet, or phone should the need arise. And you would be surprised how often that happens. Because this adapter is 100W and doesn’t take up a lot of real estate, I am covered for almost any charging related issue.

If I am away from a AC outlet and I need to top off my iPhone, or a phone belonging to someone else, I have this Jackery Mini charger along with the RollingSquare InCharge X which between the two of them allow me to charge any smartphone to past 50% at the very least.

Finally, I have the Bic 2 in 1 Pen. This is a lightweight pen plus stylus for any capacitive touch screen device which is handy for an iPad or iPhone. I have an emergency pen as part of my EDC, but it doesn’t hurt to have another one in my sling bag.

I have a CR2032 battery in this sling bag. Why? I can’t count the number of times that I have come across a PC with a dead clock battery, and then had to find a battery either at a corner store or a local “The Source” store in a panic. Thus I keep one in my possession at all times.

So that’s what is inside my tech sling bag. This works for me, but I would be interested in hearing from you in terms of what you think I should add to it or change. Please leave a comment below and share your thoughts.

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Review: Anker 60W PIQ 3.0 & GaN Tech Dual Port Charger, PowerPort Atom III 

Posted in Products with tags on January 15, 2023 by itnerd

Compact chargers are becoming increasingly common. And I tend to have a few of them on hand with different wattage capabilities to fit whatever use case that I have. One of them that I have is this Anker 60W PIQ 3.0 & GaN Tech Dual Port Charger, PowerPort Atom III charger:

In the box you get the charger as well as a decent quality USB cable. This is a charger that is ideally suited to someone who needs a fast charger for their phone. Or they have a MacBook Air and another device that they need to be charged. The size is pocketable due to the fact that they the charger uses GaN technology to keep the size down. You get a USB-C PowerIQ 3.0 port and a USB-A port equipped with PowerIQ 2.0. The former does 45W which is good for charging everything up to a MacBook Air. The latter does 15W. I tested this with a MacBook Air and I was able to charge it from 30% charge to a 75% charge in a little under an hour. That was impressive to me.

This charger goes for $50 CDN on Amazon and I’d recommend it if you need a charger that doesn’t take up a lot a space. The price and size result in me having this in my assortment of gear.

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Review: Anker 323 USB-C 32W Two Port Charger

Posted in Products with tags on August 26, 2022 by itnerd

Recently I had to help a client set up an iPhone 7 that was gifted to her. But there were two issues right up front that I had to deal with. One was that the phone did not come with a charger or a Lightning cable. The second was that the phone’s battery was dead. As in completely drained. In terms of the latter, that’s where this came in:

This is the Anker 323 USB-C 32W two port charger. It’s a 32W cIharger has some neat features:

The first is that it has fold out prongs. While they aren’t removable and are clearly intended for North America, this is handy as it won’t poke through anything in your bag or your pocket. By the way, this fits in your pocket with ease and doesn’t weigh a lot.

The business end of the charger is here with one USB-C port capable of charging at 20W, and one USB-A port capable of charging at 12W. It also has smarts to make sure that nothing gets overcharged.

I used this via USB-A to charge her iPhone 7 to get it to the point that it would turn on. That took about 20 minutes as the iPhone 7 as that phone supports fast charging at 10W. So that part worked. But in the interest of going down the rabbit hole further, I drained my iPhone 12 Pro and I was able to charge it from 10% to 50% in just under 30 minutes. I also tested charging two devices at the same time and that worked as well with no issues. Build quality seems good as well which means it should last for years.

So all of that sounds great. But what cons do I have? Well, other than the fact that this is clearly designed for North American use only, none really. This really doesn’t go out of its way to do a whole lot other than to be a good charger that is easily transportable. At $35 USD, it’s at a good price point that it deserves a place in your gear bag.

Oh. In case you were wondering, I gave the client a brand new Apple 5W charger and brand new Lightning cable so that she could charge the phone and do data transfer.

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Review: Anker PowerPort III Nano Compact Travel Charger & Anker Powerline+ III USB-C to Lightning Cable

Posted in Products with tags on November 17, 2020 by itnerd

As I pointed out in my iPhone 12 Pro review, Apple made the decision to ditch the charging brick in the box of their latest phone. Their rationale for doing this was that they were saving the environment because they want you to recycle your existing charging brick. But that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense because the included cable is a USB-C to Lightning. That means you need to buy a USB-C power brick to use it. Now I guess you could use a USB-A to Lightning cable along with a USB-A charger that you might have lying around. But then your new iPhone will charge very slowly. The bottom line is that this move by Apple smells like a cash grab more than anything else. That’s led me to try out two products from Anker:

Let’s start with the Anker PowerPort III Nano Compact Travel Charger:

This is a tiny 20W charger. To give you a perspective, here’s what it looks like next to the super slow Apple 5W charger:

It’s a tiny bit smaller and a touch heavier than the Apple offering. But given that the Anker product is 20W via USB-C, it will charge your phone way faster:

Now over to the cable. Fast charging is partially determined by the wattage of the charger, whether the charger supports protocols like Power Delivery and Quick Charge, and the quality of the cable that is in use. That’s where the Anker Powerline+ III USB-C to Lightning Cable comes in:

As you can see, it’s a braided cable which tend to be more durable than non braided cables:

A close look at the cable reveals the braiding as well as the molded ends to increase durability. That’s important as Apple’s own cables have a reputation for breaking at the ends.

So, how well does this combo work? Well, since the Anker PowerPort III Nano Compact Travel Charger supports both Quick Charge and Power Delivery, it should charge my iPhone 12 Pro quickly. Anker says I should get 50% of a charge in 30 minutes. To test that, my wife offered up her iPhone XR and let me charge using this combo.

Now some of you might be saying “wait, isn’t this a story about fast charging the iPhone 12?” Well, the fact is that according to this any iPhone from the iPhone 8 onwards supports fast charging. Which to Apple means a 50% charge in 30 minutes if you have a compatible charger and a USB-C to Lightning cable. Which means the iPhone XR is an acceptable test bed. I charged the iPhone XR from 25% to 67% in 30 minutes using this combo. That’s a 42% gain. iPhones tend to throttle back their charge rates when the battery goes above 50%. And it really throttles back once it hits 80%. All of this is meant to save your battery. Thus If this phone was completely dead, I can see that this charger and cable would be able to get you a 50% charge in 30 minutes.

So what does this combo cost? Here’s the Canadian and US dollar prices:

If you’ve just got a iPhone 12 variant and you need a charger because Apple is too cheap to put one in the box, or you want to fast charge whatever phone you have, the Anker PowerPort III Nano Compact Travel Charger & Anker Powerline+ III USB-C to Lightning Cable is worth a look.

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Review: Anker PowerLine Micro USB 3ft Cable

Posted in Products with tags on May 17, 2018 by itnerd

I needed a bunch of Micro USB cables to charge my cycling gear. To that end, I picked up six of these cables:

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This is the Anker PowerLine Micro USB 3ft Cable which bills itself as a cable that is rugged and charges faster because it is made of thick gauge wire and has reduced cable resistance. Now the charging part is hard to quantify with the items that I was testing them with as they didn’t support fast charging. But I will say that this is a quality cable. It’s reinforced at both ends to resist breakage. It has an outer shell that is clearly made to be durable. Plus it comes with a velcro strap to keep things neat and tidy.

The price makes this cable a total winner. I paid $7 per cable on Amazon and come in five different colors as well as they come in a variety of lengths and types. If you need to pick up a few cables for your devices, this is great option for you.

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Review: Anker 60W 6-Port Family-Sized Desktop USB Charger with PowerIQ Technology

Posted in Products with tags on May 17, 2018 by itnerd

Last year I got a high tech road bike that has a Garmin cyclocomputer as well as front and rear safety lights that need to be recharged. Ditto for my wife and her bike. Thus I decided to have a dedicated charger for it. We travel with our bikes as evidenced by our trip to Newfoundland last year, so it has to be easy to pack as well and should be able to be used worldwide.

Enter the Anker 60W 6-Port Family-Sized Desktop USB Charger with PowerIQ Technology:

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Above you can see the charger as well as the power cable it comes with. It also comes with an adhesive strip to allow you to stick the charger to a wall or under a cabinet. It measures 14.6 x 13.8 x 3.8 cm which means it takes up very little real estate. Yet it will still charge six devices.

If you need to use this somewhere other than North America, it can support 100-240V, though you’ll have to source your own cables or use an adapter. If you have a phone that supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 technology, it will charge your phone at high speed. It feels very solidly built and I think it will hold up over repeated usage. When I tested it by charging all the cycling gear at the same time, it didn’t even get warm which implies that its ability to manage heat is great.

The best part about this charger is the price. I paid $40 CDN on Amazon which is great value for money in my mind. If you have a big family, or you need to charge a lot of devices, this is a must buy as far as I am concerned.

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