Category: Product Reviews

Amazfit Bip 3 Smart Watch

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About a week before Thanksgiving I was chatting with my bestie and she was telling me about the Fitbit she wanted to get her mother. At that point I realized I had been thinking how I wanted an Apple Watch.

My biggest concern, however, other than the price, was whether I could handle the size/weight of one since I never wear watches, or any jewelry for that matter. Other than the Apple store, you cannot try a watch on before purchasing it which to me is kinda crazy. I remember as a teenager going to Service Merchandise and trying on watches. I bought one that had a face that detached and went on different color bands. It was the coolest thing in my mind. But I digress…

Fast forward to November 30th and I saw through a deal site I frequent that Walmart was selling the Amazfit Bip 3 smart watch for $35 on an extended Black Friday sale (normally $50). I did a little reading up on it and in addition to the fitness stuff, learned it receives phone notifications, weather updates, etc. so I decided to order it. I figured it would be a cheap way to test whether I can handle wearing a watch after all these years.

The wait was difficult as the watch wasn’t due to be delivered until December 12th. Side note: If that delivery time frame was supposed to get me on board to keep my Walmart+ subscription after the free trial, they should think again. It got updated to the 8th but then delayed and was ultimately delivered on the 9th.

First impressions

I really like how they designed the box. Even opening it was easy and didn’t cause any damage to it. Everything was laid out inside nicely.

Amazfit BIP 3 box

Pull tab to open box

Inside the box

The battery was at 42%, so after letting it warm up to room temperature and briefly trying it on, I charged it. It took about an hour and 15 minutes to get to 100%.

It was simple to set up. There’s a QR code in the little instruction booklet which when scanned takes you to where you download the app. Then you follow the instructions in the app to pair it to the phone. You can also mess with settings and whatnot.

Now that I’ve been wearing it daily for 12 days, I’ll break down the pros and cons:

Pros

» Lightweight (33gm) & comfortable despite the large 44mm case

» Exceptional battery life. I haven’t had to charge it since the initial charge & the battery is currently at 30%

» Seems to track steps accurately, although it lags behind and doesn’t do it in real time

» Can buy 3rd party bands to customize the look of your watch

» Price is very good for an introductory smart watch, especially for someone who doesn’t need all the bells and whistles

Cons

» Doesn’t seem to track sleep accurately; thinks any time I’m in bed I’m also asleep

» Doesn’t render notifications accurately so sometimes they’re missing pertinent info

» Watch face isn’t interactive, only informative

» You can only have two watch faces stored in the watch at a time, and one of those is a default that cannot be deleted. So basically you cannot easily switch watch faces as it’s a multi-step process in the app where you have to delete the face, then download and install the one you want

» Current weather often stops displaying until you go into the app to re-sync the watch; otherwise it just shows you the predicted high & low for the day

» Allows you to control what’s playing on your phone (such as music or podcasts) but lacks the 15 second skip ahead feature for podcasts (which I use frequently to skip over ads)

Conclusion

Instead of satiating my desire for an Apple Watch, owning this watch has only increased it. Not that it was a total failure – it made me realize I could handle wearing a watch all day (although I do take it off when showering & at night for a break since the sleep tracking sucks anyway).

Refrigerator Organization

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I wanted our new refrigerator to be more organized than the last one and just so happened to come across two perfect items at Costco back in late September.

It took a little convincing to get Joe on board with the egg holders, but now that we’ve been using them for awhile he really likes them. I like how they, along with our fresh fruit and yogurt, are all contained in one space giving more room for other things.

I liked our old fruit containers but they were too large and didn’t stack well. The Rubbermaid containers solved that issue and I haven’t noticed any difference in how long before the fruit spoils.

Our fridge is now laid out as follows:

Top shelf – pre-packaged items for future meals, such as soups or meal kits
Second shelf – leftovers
Third shelf – eggs, yogurt, cream cheese, and fruit
Fourth shelf – milk, creamer, juice
Produce Drawer – fruits & veggies, plus extra butter (we buy in bulk)
Meat Drawer – tortillas, sour cream, and cheeses (block, shredded, and cottage)

Mums The Word

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I love mums in the fall! Every year it’s a challenge, however, to find the best ones without spending a fortune because I like to get a few different colors. It’s also a delicate balance between picking the correct time to buy and finding quality plants that will produce big blooms. Well, this year we achieved the trifecta and not at the place you’d expect. I got three 8″ mums from Meijer on September 25th for only $6 each.

I dropped the pots they came in into another larger pot with soil in it and I think this has kept them draining well (and I only water them occasionally).

Here’s what they looked like on October 6th.

Since then they’ve gotten fuller and are still looking good because I also brought them inside twice when there was a frost advisory.

Compare that to the big $18 mums our neighbor bought, never maintained, and now look like rotted death, which you’ll have to take my word for since I didn’t get a picture of them.

Taco Bell Chipotle Ranch Grilled Chicken Burrito

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We had to make a Taco Bell run yesterday because rumor has it the limited time Nacho Fries are leaving this week. They added more items to their value menu, so I decided to try the new Chipotle Ranch Grilled Chicken Burrito.

I’m not a fan of their chipotle sauce, however, so I asked they omit it, which they did. It was pretty filling for a $2 item! I just wish they would take their time putting these things together. The first three-fourths of the burrito was excellent, but the last quarter sucked because there wasn’t any avocado sauce and there was a big pile of wet, soggy, unripe tomato cubes. Blech!

Next time I’m going to order a side of the avocado ranch, open up the burrito, redistribute the ingredients, and add extra sauce. That’s assuming it’s still on the menu in a few months when the craving strikes again. Without the nacho fries I’m not that tempted to eat there.

New Shark Cordless Vacuum

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I’ve been wanting a cordless vacuum that could covert into a handheld vacuum for awhile now. I’m tired of using the attachment hose on our upright and having it fall and hit me. Usually it hits me in the head, but a couple of weeks ago it fell on my foot and bruised it, so that was it; I decided it was time to find something new. Our old Dustbuster’s battery hadn’t worked in years, and while we have two stickvacs that convert to handhelds, they are both corded and a pain to deal with.

I really didn’t want to spend $400 on a Dyson, however. We also don’t have a spot in the house to mount it to the wall. I did a little research and people seem really happy with the Shark cordless vacuums, so I started looking at those. Some models can be just as expensive as a Dyson, but I found one in the $250 range I liked. Plus it can stand freely by detaching the handheld part and hanging it on a hook on the larger section.

We’ve racked up a pretty large cashback balance with our Discover card. We usually cash it in for restaurant cards or Bath & Body Works, but haven’t used it much lately so it had gotten into the $300 range. Even better, they give you a discount on the card. I started looking at which retailers carried the vacuum I wanted that also had gift cards available through Discover. I settled on Kohls and wouldn’t you know it, not only was the vacuum on sale for $229, but there was a one-day only 35% off coupon on Sunday, bringing the total, with tax, to $183.27. I snagged a $180 Kohl’s gift card for $162 in cashback and paid the balance of $3.27 for the vacuum, which I received two days later.

After it was fully charged (which takes 2-3 hours), I used it to vacuum the area rug in the workout room, the laminate floor in all the rooms upstairs (it gets into tight corners in handheld mode), and to suck up dead ants in the dining room (they are the bane of my existence every spring).

This morning I used it to clean up the laundry room, foyer, and guest bathroom downstairs. It is so much easier to use than the regular vacuum with hose attachment. Quicker too. Best yet, it cleans the throw rugs without trying to eat them. I love it! I’ll probably only use the big vacuum for the wall-to-wall carpeting and the Shark for everything else.

The suction is really good, and for particularly stubborn spots there’s a boost option which gives it even more powerful suction. It’s really upped my cleaning game. I keep a pretty clean house as it is, but my laziness keeps me from keeping up with the crumbs and whatnot. With the Shark I don’t mind cleaning that stuff up on the daily.

There’s 3 bars that light up on it to keep track of the battery power left and it’s still on the second one after two days of cleaning which is good. I didn’t track the actual total time I’ve used it, but it’s supposed to last up to 40 minutes on a single charge. I told my friend that my only worry is that the battery will go bad quickly and stop holding a charge (like it did in my Dustbuster) but I hope that’s not the case for a $200 vacuum because a replacement battery is $75. Only time will tell, I guess.

Right now I’m keeping it in the office closet with the attachments in a small plastic trashcan. It doesn’t weigh much so it’s easy to move it between floors, unlike the Bissell vacuum. If it wasn’t for the wall-to-wall carpeting, it would be the only vacuum we need.