I’ll say it. My porch is a bit lifeless. It’s lovely to sit out there in the day but on dark cloudy nights, it’s simply too dark to enjoy.

As a result, string lighting has been on my “to buy” list for a while. That’s when Wiz’s Smart Outdoor String Lights arrived.

Waterproof, weather proof, app controlled with colours, light levels and smart home functionality! It was everything I needed… Everything I wanted… and more.

Initially, I was rather intimidated by the 14.8m length. After measuring my porch I thought I had far too much, with no option to shorten it. It wasn’t until I started hanging the lights that I realised it was perfect. The lights look much better when they are draping down, which means 14.8m is really just the maximum distance. You can make anything less work.

As I was weaving them through my porch supports, I just added an extra loop here and there to space them out nicely. It did end up being a 2 person job, but that was just to save time.

The lights have been up for a few weeks now, and that weatherproof and waterproof label has been put to the test. There have been some windy nights, howling with rain, and sunny days blaring down heat, but the Wiz Smart Outdoor String Lights have held strong. In the past, I had fairy lights hanging on the porch. They didn’t last a month. I am confident Wiz have made their products to last.

You may notice in the photos that I was unable to utilise the smart lighting functionality on my porch. It’s important to note, for any smart lighting from any company, you’ll need 2.4 gHz WIFI to use the smart functions. However, you can always buy a 2.4 gHz extender, but that’s an expense you should be aware of up front. You can find the details for your WIFI on the bottom of your router.

Before hanging up the lights at mine, I took them to a friend’s house (with 2.4 gHz WIFI), and the setup was a dream. The Wiz lighting app “Wiz Connect” is exactly what you want from a smart device app. It runs you through exactly what to do, step by step, and it covers troubleshooting too. I can tell the app was made for first time users, and because of that… We had the colours going in no time!

Without the app, you can still turn the Wiz Smart Outdoor String Lights on, off and dim them using a button on the cable, but the standout feature is the quick release section just before the lights. It’s hard to explain in words, but let’s say your property is like mine and the easiest way to power these lights is by plugging them in through a window. You don’t want your window to be permanently wedged open, so the cable has a section before the lights that disconnects and connects with ease. I didn’t realise it until I saw it, but it really is a must have feature for a lot of homes.

Overall, the lights are fantastic. It’s a shame I can’t use them to their full capacity unless I buy the extender, but I do have a new slot available on my “to buy” list…

As for my rating, if you have 2.4ghz WIFI, this product is a solid 4.4. It’s exactly what you want from smart lighting, and more.

Even without the 2.4ghz WIFI, these lights get a 3.8 from me! As they really have brought life to my time out on the porch.

The post Wiz – Smart Outdoor String Light Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

There are thousands of words to describe poor sound quality… NONE of them will feature in this review.

The JBL Flip 7 is here! It’s portable, it’s loud and in the coolest way possible… It’s cool!

As someone who predominantly uses a speaker for travel, a random get together or a sing in the shower, I’m not in the market for an absolute TANK of a speaker. The JBL Flip 7 was exactly what I needed.

It’s incredible! I feel like I’ve held V cans bigger than the Flip 7. It really is easy to throw in your bag for a road trip or a trip to the beach. Plus, with up to 16 hours of playtime, a good charge often lasts the getaway.

When you’re on the go, the best kind of speaker is one you don’t have to worry about. The Flip 7 has a fantastic battery life. It’s also waterproof, dustproof and drop proof! (Up to 1m). But honestly, one meter’s all you need. If I’m passing it to a mate, tossing it to my beach towel or it gets bumped off the table during game night, I know the beats will keep on blasting. (Plus, if you’re dropping your speaker from any higher, that’s on you.)

JBL does have an app for their speakers that allows for updates and audio customization, but as someone who understands ‘the sound’ more than the specs, I’m stoked with the out of the box experience. Fantastic balance, a surprising amount of bass and it can play LOUD. You can also pair it with your other speakers using Aura cast, you know, in case you ever need even more UMPH!

At this point, I don’t know if it’s industry standard or JBL standard, but it’s always nice when you can get music playing without a glance at the manual. I charged it, pressed the on button, held the Bluetooth button and paired it. That’s the way it should be.

The only negatives I have with the Flip 7 are very minor. For example, the speaker does not come with its own charger (USB-C). I understand it is a very common cord to own nowadays, but it’s always nice to have one per device. The horizontal foot of the Flip 7 is also more of a kickstand, so when it’s on its side, it does have a tendency to roll when knocked.

But realistically, I’m getting a bit pickier than the average adventurer. The interchangeable carabiner and loop feature put all those concerns to the back of my mind. That feature is innovative, fun and gives the speaker some personality. That’s something modern devices need more of, creativity to keep things from getting stale.

Overall, the speaker gets a 4.6 out of 5 from me. It’s not perfect but it’s certainly earned its spot as my day to day speaker. So how can I give it any less!

The post JBL Flip 7 Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

Ben Affleck brings bad guy beatdowns and badass accounting back to the big screen in The Accountant 2.

Set 8 years after the first film, Treasury Agent Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) reluctantly works alongside Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) to uncover the fate of a missing family. After teaming up with Christian’s brother (Jon Bernthal), the team struggles to walk the line between “by the book” law enforcement and “off the book” interrogation to get the job done.

In my eyes, the Accountant 2 had small shoes to fill. While the first film featured fantastic fight choreography and a great mystery / twist, its portrayal of autism was certainly criticisable and the plot was very hard to follow.

The Accountant 2 has its own peaks and pitfalls. More often than not, the mystery progresses thanks to technology, as opposed to good old fashioned clue solving. But the film has more heart to it than its predecessor, which brings new light to the characters we met almost 10 years ago.

Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal have perfected the brotherly dynamic. It was extremely refreshing to see killers bicker over sunscreen, while tackling real issues brought about by family dynamics. Ben Affleck shines as the brother struggling to communicate his emotions, while Jon Bernthal nails the short tempered, under-appreciated sibling, just trying to do right by his family.

However, it is important to note, Christian Wolff was quite a different character in the first film. In The Accountant, Christian was cold, analytical and blunt whereas this time around, Ben Affleck gives the character a much more childlike quality. This change allows for more humourous dialogue and heartfelt moments, but the shift is very noticeable.

Where The Accountant 2 really shines, is when the characters are at each other’s throats. Gun in hand or knife in hand, every fight scene is well choreographed with high stakes. The film really did have the potential to be a tight-knit, one and a half hour action packed movie but more often than not, it wanders off the path, losing the audience in the process.

While The Accountant 2 lacked the one, two punch I was hoping for, the film was an alright sequel to an alright movie. Would I recommend it? Well… if you’re willing to suspend disbelief when it comes to the mystery, if you love watching bad guys get well deserved beat downs, and if you’ve got a hankering for another happy ending, you can count on The Accountant 2 to pull through.

The post The Accountant 2 (Warner Bros. – 2025) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.