Gadgets: That new iPhone 7 needs a great case

It didn’t take long before there were endless choices of luxury iPhone 7/7 plus cases and these got my attention.

▪ The X-Doria Defense Lux ($49.99) has a soft leather backing and is built with an impressive number of features. For durability, it’s built to exceed military standards with a 6-foot, 6-inch drop testing standard, designed with an impact resistant polycarbonate backing and a soft inner rubber layer. There are also carbon fiber or croc skin backings. xdorialife.com

▪ The Moshi Overture ($44.95) is a folio-style wallet iPhone case with three slots for credit cards and a full-length slot for cash. It’s made with what the company calls a weatherproof vegan leather exterior and has a soft Terahedron microfiber lining. The shell has a shatterproof hard-shell design for great protection, while keeping all the phone functions accessible. It also folds open to works as a handsfree stand. moshi.com

HI-FI SPEAKERS

Raumfeld Hi-Fi speakers are described in a press release as building the dream –more choice, more elegance and more control, but I’d simplify that by saying, they sound amazing.

The high-end German brand’s flagship, the Stereo L floor standing speaker, takes up a bit of space with its 45.1-by-8.7-by-11.8-inch size, but don’t let that intimidate you. Every inch is worth it.

Without reading the instructions, I connected the speakers to my existing stereo system with ease. A quick start guide is included to walk you through the setup, including the Raumfeld controller app (iOS and Android) to send out the content wirelessly. There’s also a port for an Ethernet connection.

The system I tested had a pair of Stereo L speakers, a single One S and an Expand audio streaming hub. While you might think this is complicated, it took longer to unpack everything than it did to set up.

The 400 watt Stereo L has sound coming from a three-way driver arrangement comprised of a tweeter, a midrange driver and two woofers. The One S (5.1-by-7.1-by-4.3-inches) has a 100 mm midbass driver and forward-placed 20 mm tweeter. Either way, the sound is nothing short of greatness.

I expected to be overloaded with bass, which I find to be typical of larger speakers, but that wasn’t the case. The overall sound was clear at any volume. While testing the speakers, my wife, who isn’t typically impressed, gave the same approval to the sound quality.

Both speakers come in a choice of matte black or white finishes.

https://us.raumfeld.com Stereo L $2,399, One S $249, Expand $59

GLUCOSE METER

Diabetics can combine a smartphone with the Dario all-in-one digital glucose meter for real-time diabetes management. The pocket-sized meter connects to your smartphone’s headphone port and reads blood glucose levels in seconds on the Dario real time app, which also logs and syncs the information.

With the system, users can track insulin doses along with logging calories and carbs with the app’s food database. Other features include text message emergency hypo alerts, including GPS locations and helping users understand why blood glucose levels change by accessing data insights, analysis and pattern recognition. The reader is $19.99; 100-count blood glucose test strips $25; glucose control solution $8.99. mydario.com

This story was originally published September 21, 2016 at 10:48 AM with the headline "Gadgets: That new iPhone 7 needs a great case."