REVIEW: Hexbug Strandbeast

Left stranded.

Here at The Test Pit we love Hexbug and have been fortunate to review a few of the robotic toys from their impressive range (like this and this). But whereas previously the Hexbugs have done whatever they please without human intervention, the Strandbeast puts you in the driving seat.

VIDEO REVIEW: LEGO Technic Hotrod

Hot damn!

Continuing with our look at the latest in LEGO Technic offerings, we got to grips with set number 42022, the Hotrod, and dutifully filmed the results for your viewing pleasure. Sit back, hit play, and enjoy!

NEWS: Kickstarter record smashed... by a cooler

Sorry Pebble.

Up until recently the most successful product ever to be launched on Kickstarter was the Pebble smartwatch. That accolade has now passed onto something unlikely after Coolest, an innovative portable cooler, smashed the $10,000,000 mark. And the incredible things is that project manager, Ryan Grepper, only asked for $50,000 in the first place.

REVIEW: Edifier Exclaim Speakers

I do declare!

As we continue to work our way through the impressive collection of multimedia speakers from Edifier, this time round we've thoroughly checked out the Exclaim. But get this... THESE ARE NOT BLUETOOTH SPEAKERS! We know, pretty shocking.

But hang on there, because although they may not feature the now expected norm in modern speaker connectivity we actually like them. A lot. So will your bank balance.

NEWS: Elliot Brown watch survives six month sea submersion

Still ticking.

British watch maker Elliot Brown have just announced the outcome of a unique six month ordeal that they put one of their watches through. A £550 Bloxworth 929—007 watch was submerged at the bottom of Poole harbour for half a year to simulate the kind of stresses an average wrist-based timepiece would go through over 12 years of everyday use. The results... startling.

REVIEW: STM Link Shoulder Bag

Think Link.

Gone are the days when we all had to lug around chunky laptops which seemed to be made of lead. These days the most the average tech-savvy person needs is a phone or tablet, and so gone too are the days of the big and bulky laptop bags. Instead we have digital cargo experts STM and their latest offering, the Link Shoulder Bag.

COMPETITION: Articulate for Kids

Say what?

We've teamed up once again with our good chums at Drumond Park to offer one lucky person the chance to win the newly refreshed Articulate for Kids board game. But before we get to the competition lets open the box, get into a descriptive mood, and prepare to articulate.

REVIEW: Datashur Personal USB Flashdrive

Getting personal. 

One of The Test Pit's first ever reviews was of the DatAshur Secure USB Flashdrive. Massively impressed with the drive's ability to encrypt your saved data, which is then only accessible after entering a pin number on the physical keypad, we've kept a close eye on maker iStorage. That's why we were very happy to test their latest weapon in the fight against data theft, the DatAshur Personal.

REVIEW: Garmin Approach G8 Golf GPS

Fore!

We've already been impressed by the awesome Virb EliteAction Cam, so we were excited to try something else from navigation experts Garmin. So grab your clubs, jump in a buggy, and we'll meet you on the fairway. The Approach G8 Golf GPS is a handheld digital buddy that helps you get yourself, your clubs and your caddy around a golf course. Smaller and lighter than most smartphones, it features a three inch touchscreen and a battery than can last up to 15 hours.

REVIEW: Playmobil Remote Control Pirate Ship

Avast!

Arrr! We're taking to the high seas maties, to shiver our timbers and scrub our poop decks. That's because we've been weighing anchor with a new addition from Playmobil, the Remote Control Pirate Ship. So set sail ye scurvy dogs,  as we test the bejesus out of it,  right the way down to Davy Jones' Locker!

VIDEO REVIEW: Pringles Party Speaker Promotion

Once you pop...

Right now those stalwart snack makers are offering a free party speaker with every two tubes of Pringles purchased. Ever ones to check the quality of snack foods, we dived right in to test the speaker you'll receive as part of the promotion.

REVIEW: Lantronix xPrintServer Cloud Print Edition

Are you being served?

One of the world's greatest mysteries is how printers work. Seriously, we've never really been able to understand them, let alone work out how to easily connect our laptop to one. It's been a problem for us since the 1980s, and now that most of us work on mobile devices like Android phones and tablets, printing is an even bigger conundrum. That is until we discovered the xPrintServer Cloud Print Edition from Lantronix.

FEATURE: Summer Travels

Five summer holiday essentials

Be it a week on the Costa del Sol or a month spent up the side of Mount Everest, the summer is the perfect time to go exploring. Whatever you're doing for your holidays this year, one thing will always be universally true: you need stuff. And so we've found a few seemingly random items that we won't be leaving home without this month. We suggest you do the same.

REVIEW: LEGO Ninja Turtles Big Rig Snow Getaway

 The bigger they are...

We were a little surprised to hear it, but the icons of our childhood - the Teenage Mutant Hero Ninja Turtles - are back! As the new movie, Ninja Turtles, is set for worldwide release in the next couple of months, we check out a new set from LEGO, the Big Rig Snow Getaway. But what does it all mean? What is a rig and why is it big? Where's all the snow? Who is making a "getaway" and from whom? All these questions and more... really won't be answered. Still, enjoy the video.

REVIEW: Revell Sky Spider Quadcopter

Caught in the web

We've written several times before about the awesome model kits that Revell produce. But we were also excited to learn that the German company produce a wide range of RC kits, particularly things that fly. Always ready to dribble over anything that we can bash about the garden and smash in our neighbour's greenhouse, we jumped at the chance to review the Revell Sky Spider Quadcopter.