The Recommendation Issue
Keychron K7, Shockz OpenRun Pro, Remington XR1501
Instead of a regular Quickie 💦 — sorry — you’ll get some reviews on some good products I tried since I moved to Germany.
None of the links are affiliated because I don’t know how to do them, and neither I have that big of a crowd to get money from this. I just wanted to share nice stuff with the lovely people following me.
Keychron K7
(All of the images are from the official website)
I have always been a sucker for diverse computer hardware, but not that much to spend a lot on anything fancy or just for aesthetics. I dislike most LED stuff and prefer a good-fitting but ugly tool to one that looks pretty but has the same ergonomy as a soap bar (like the Apple mouse in the image).
I saw the magic happen when I tried my first mechanical keyboard. I love typewriters — maybe someday I’ll write about the 50 thousand words unfinished first draft that I typed throughout a month in NaNoWriMo in my father’s Olivetti typewriter — so the clacky sound and tactile response to each keystroke made my heart go full. I finally understood the hype.
I started to experiment and went far — I bought and abandoned a ZSA Moonlander — trying to get the best mechanical keyboard with decent ergonomy and good transportability.
Then, I got hit by a Keychron K7 ad, and, well, it fucking worked.
First of all, the keyboard is THIN. I couldn’t even understand how the company could fit a mechanical keyboard in so little height, but they did it.
Second, it’s small, achieved by merging the numbers, function keys (F1 and so forth), and controls (volume and brightness) on a single row.
Third, it looks nice and modern and has a two-key shortcut to turn every LED off — essential for those who sometimes get distracted by them — so you can show off your fancy keyboard to all the tech boys around you.
The real star of the show, though, is the typing feel. I never in my life have started typing on a keyboard and suddenly have been flooded with a feeling of “I want to keep typing in this forever.” It feels SO GOOD.
Like pillows under your fingertip: you feel every keystroke with proper feedback, the sound is excellent — depending on your switches — and it’s easy to keep writing and writing nonstop. The Keychron K7 feels like it was born for those who enjoy hours and hours of button-pressing — AKA me.
Also, it has three possible Bluetooth connections — I don’t use that feature — and you can use cable or Bluetooth, which is excellent for those who enjoy plugging stuff up to ensure the connection isn’t unstable.
I highly recommend it to anyone that enjoys a good typing experience. Buy it at the Keychron website.
Shokz OpenRun Pro
Whenever I went out cycling, I felt terrible for having earphones on. They would blast my tunes — I love music — while I tried to be healthy once in a lifetime, but at the same time, they’d disconnect me from my environment, making it very easy for me to suffer an accident by not listening to what’s around me. I wanted something that would give me this security without sacrificing my ear's pleasure.
I was walking in Munich’s center when I saw a guy eating a sandwich and sitting on a bench. He had these weird earphones — they didn’t quite get into his ears, though. I remembered reading about something like that — bone conduction audio — on the internet but never got so close to one of the tangible things. I did what any Latino would do: I approached the guy without knowing him, introduced myself, and asked to try the earphones there, in the middle of the street.
That was the best review anyone could have. Shokz should put people on the streets offering their earphones for passersby to try. The bench guy played music, and I conversed with him, hearing every word he said while still listening to some house or techno through my earbones. It’s hard to describe it in text, but it works.
I bought my Shokz OpenRun Pro, and I never go out cycling without them. It’s not the best sound quality, though — it doesn't compare to in-ear, bass-focused earphones — it delivers what I wanted: the ability to be fully aware of my surroundings while listening to music. The battery life is OK, but the charging cable is not universal — I’ll be damned if I lose mine. Anyways, I highly recommend it if you want to have the same experience.
Remington XR1501 — The Head Shaver
If you follow me on social media, you know I had long hair until a few weeks ago when I decided to shave my head entirely. As I have a head tattoo, showing it off was the primary excuse for the radical change. The reality, though, is that I’m lazy as fuck.
I bought a Remington XR1501 to be less lazy and do my head-shaving. It’s hard to reach and see the parts in the back of the head, and regular shaving equipment is more suited for third-party usage. This tool, which I’ll now call “Head Shaver,” is designed to be held by the same person using it. Ergonomics for the win!
The Head Shaver has a round grip, perfect for holding it in your palm. It has a central blade and four pivoting blades that hug your scalp in the sweet embrace of vanity. It’s safe: you can put as much force as you want, and the Head Shaver won’t hurt you — but it also won’t cut more than what it already does, which is a lot. In one pass, I can get nearly wholly hairless.
The product’s website says it cuts to 0,2mm, and I obviously had no way of measuring this, so I believed it and can say, without any numbers, It cuts really low. Also, it’s waterproof and can be easily cleaned and charged.
If you are bald by choice — like me — or by fate, the Head Shaver is an excellent acquisition. As I’m in Germany and bought it in local Amazon, I won’t leave a link; I’ll just say: search for it in your local Amazon to see its price and features.