Fruity Picks #9 - Smatree Travel Case for Apple Watch

While the official Apple Watch Dock, reviewed in Fruity Picks #8  is a bit of a one-trick pony (which it does very well), the same cannot be said for the Smatree SmaShell A100 which combines a travel case, dock and power bank for the Apple Watch.

To be honest, I'm not convinced as to why I would want to put my Apple Watch in a case for travelling purposes as it's far more useful on my wrist...but that aside, this is a really useful little gadget. Although it doesn't come supplied with the a watch charger, I happened to have a spare short charger (0.3m) lying around which is ideal for the SmaShell. It's easy to install the charger and once it's in place, an Apple Watch can be charged in the night-stand mode as shown in the picture above. Although, you have to remember to push the charge button to actually turn on the juice from the in-built battery.

There's enough juice in the internal battery to charge an original Apple Watch up to six times (I have to admit I've not needed this - I've only needed three but that was no problem), and because it has a USB port you can also charge an additional device from it, but again, not a function I've used in anger. Clearly this wold reduce the number of Watch charges you could get from the battery.

There's room in the carrier for a couple of spare Watch bands which can be useful if you need to glam up for an evening do after a hard day in the office.

Best price in the UK is around £30 on the UK Amazon store. Recommended for weekend travellers.

The Old Ones Are Often Still the Best

I forget exactly when, but I'm guessing it was about four years ago, that I bought a Logitech K750 Solar keyboard (Mac version). Without question, it is the best keyboard I've ever used. I have an office full of Apple keyboards, both wired and wireless, including the latest Lightning Magic Keyboard. I even bought the Mobi magic wand, to convert the earlier model into a rechargeable device. I also bought the smaller Logitech K760 Solar keyboard. Whilst I do like the alternatives, none of them can hold a candle compared to the K750.

The Pros

• Solar powered, obviating the need for continuous replacement or recharging of batteries
• Full length, with numeric keypad/arrow keys
• Light, thin and wireless
• Beautiful action
• Solar App to help manage charging levels

The Cons

• Uses a Logitech wireless dongle rather than Bluetooth
• Logitech Unifying Software doesn't work well on the Mac
• Internal battery is the devil's own job to replace
• Attempted built-in obsolescence 

So when it died a couple of days ago I was really upset, especially as a new replacement is now twice the price of what it was when I bought it. Logitech no longer make the Mac version so it is becoming something of a rarity, and therefore commands high prices.

A quick search on the Internet gave me a little bit of hope when I found that the cause of the problem could have been an internal battery failure, and an iFixit site which had instructions on how to replace it. I duly ordered a replacement battery, an ML2032 (it's really important to get this one which is rechargeable, not a standard CR2032) - which had to be shipped from France for more cost than the battery itself and although the delivery time was indicated as being sometime in September, it arrived this morning.

Removing the old battery involved prising the battery holder out of the case (inflicting a small amount of damage to the underside) using pliers, screwdrivers, and brute force. The battery itself had a sticker on it from Logitech explaining that the battery was not user replaceable (they would rather you purchase a new keyboard!) but I popped the new one in and crossed my fingers.

I ran the Unifying Software package to pair the keyboard (which had previously gone dark) and it appeared immediately. Although I couldn't get past the next stage of the set-up, I'd done enough for the iMac to see the keyboard and accept keystrokes. 

We're back up and running!