The Frugal Guy: Ring Sling Carrier

Hey hey hey.  I hope all the fathers out there had a wonderful father's day (I did! Woot).  This week I'll be reviewing a ring sling carrier (for carrying small children).  I received the carrier for free from Baby Womb World through Tomoson (click here if you want to check Tomoson out and try tons of free products).  The company that sells this on Amazon is called Mida solutions. Click here if you want to see their other products.

On to the review.

If you've never used a ring sling carrier, then take this as a word of caution.  They can be tricky to figure out if you don't watch a video, and since it's going to be carrying your child you want to make sure you have everything correct. I recommend watching a number of videos and trying it out without the baby first, just to make sure you're as safe as you can be.  Thankfully, Baby Womb World delivered this carrier with links to their Youtube videos. They also have a number of pictures so the learning process is simplified for you.  Check out my Youtube video of Kay putting little Paul in the carrier.

As far as the quality of the carrier, the fabric on this is pretty thick. The rails (top and bottom of the carrier) do have a little padding so it's comfortable for the baby. The threading portion is even thicker, so there's no worry about this ripping, but I don't think that's a real concern since it's for children and not adults (though I'm no expert on sling carriers).

Learning how to get the little one into the carrier was a bit difficult at first (he just didn't want to go in), but the videos were helpful and were of high quality (showed how things should be done, and also had little text blurbs to indicate what was happening in the video).  At the end of the day, practice makes perfect, but note that every baby will be different.  Our child didn't enjoy the social position much, but he liked the newborn position (he's not a newborn though).  With a little patience, we worked it out.

This is a high quality ring sling carrier that has a number of positions and helpful videos.  So far, I would highly recommend.  If you have your hands full and need a little help carrying the little one around, this is the sling for you. Check it out by clicking here.  Feel free to post any questions or concerns in the comments below.  As always, thanks for reading. Until next time.

That Frugal Guy: Mini Bluetooth Headset (cellphone)

Hey everybody.  This week I'll be reviewing a mini bluetooth headset compatible with most cell phones.  I received the headset for free from SoulSoundMagic through Tomoson (click here if you want to check Tomoson out and try tons of free products).  I couldn't find a seller page for SoulSoundMagic on Amazon, but it looks like they currently have two products and both are bluetooth headsets for cell phones.

If the word mini didn't give it away, these headsets are super small. They're designed to be low profile, and you can only see it if you're looking directly at my ear. I'll get into details about the audio quality a bit later, but let's start with the care put into packaging this thing.

First of all, careful packaging usually indicates a quality item, so opening the box put a good taste in my mouth from the jump. The cardboard box was sturdy, but I was surprised to find a carry case for this little device as well.

The carry case even comes with a little pouch for the USB charger, but note that the cord is also mini. The top is hard enough that you can store the case in a glove box without having to worry about it being crushed or damaged (though it's not a padded case, and there's a lot of extra room, so using it as a maraca would be ill-advised).

Unlike some bluetooth headsets, this one comes with three types of earbuds (something usually only seen in earbud headphones for playing music). I assume they have this feature since the bluetooth has to stay in your ear without over-ear support.  A snug fit is essential, and it's nice to be able to choose what works best for my ear.

The buds are comfy and have a rubber/silicone padding so it's not just a piece of hard plastic jabbing you in the ear.

The instructions didn't mention how long it should be charged for the first use, but I hooked it up to my laptop and the light indicated it was finished after a few minutes (the Amazon page says 30 minute charging time).  This leads to my only qualm with the design: the indicator light for a full charge/charging is inside the device. You can faintly see it through the top, but if you're in a well-light room it will be hard to tell if your device is fully charged or not (which may lead to overcharging and a reduction of battery life down the road).  If you look closely at the picture below, you can barely see a blue blip on the right just before the top of the headset.

For sound, the earpiece is great. You can adjust the volume using your phone's in-call volume button, and the headset gives voice prompts based off of what you press (i.e., press and hold for 6 seconds, it will say "pairing with your device" or hold for 3 seconds when it's on, and it will say "power off").

As far as the microphone quality, it's also good, but conditionally so. Since there's nothing that reaches to your face, it has to pick up sound that bounces back to your ear, so it's a little muffled when you're in a large room or don't have the phone nearby.  I recorded a video of the audio, but that of course detracts from the quality of the original sound.  Still, the video is below.  The first few seconds is me, calling in my house with the phone across the room (very hard to hear), while the last part is my wife calling from her phone while inside the car (very clear and easy to hear).

As you can tell from the recordings, this device works better if you have your phone nearby. I recommend using this in your car or when holding your phone in your hand.

So if you're looking for a headset that you'll barely notice is on your head, this is the headset for you.  This is also a great buy if you're just looking to boost your call volume, but don't want a clunky headset weighing your head down. The mini S-1 is relatively cheap for bluetooth headsets, but the price doesn't detract any quality as far as I could tell.  It's easy to operate and comes complete with the carry case so you don't lose it since it's so tiny. If you're interested in getting one, check out the product by clicking here. The page has a bunch of info about standby time, etc as well.