Things to Keep in Mind While Purchasing a Tripod

If you’re a photographer, you know how essential a tripod is – but whether you’re a novice or a seasoned pro, the process of buying these gadgets isn’t always cut and dry. 

As a novice photographer, a basic tripod will probably do the trick. But someone who takes photos for a living will need to understand components and how to choose the perfect model. 

What to Consider When Purchasing a Tripod

You may think purchasing a tripod is as straightforward as picking out a model within your price range – but there are actually a number of details to consider. 

Tripod camera

Here are those details: 

1. Weight Limit

  • Some camera models are too heavy for certain tripods to support, so ensure that it can handle the weight of your camera before you buy. 
  • Usually, it can handle 1.5 or 2x the maximum equipment weight is the smart choice. 
  • A higher weight rating can handle heavier lenses. If it has a low weight rating, it might work at first but will eventually fail. 

2. Maximum Tripod Height

  • The perfect tripod should match your eye level. You don’t want to consistently double over to look in the viewfinder. 
  • It’s smarter to get a tall one than a short one, because a tall tripod can always be adjusted shorter – but a short one can only go so high. 
Woman recording music video with tripod

3. Leg Sections

  • If you plan on traveling, it will benefit you to have a tripod with a greater number of leg sections. This makes it more compact and easier to cart around. 

4. Locks

  • There are two common types of leg lock parts – twist-lock and flip-lock. Twist-locks are quicker than flip-locks, because one twist can unlock an entire section instead of having to unlock the parts one by one. 

5. Weight

  • If you pick out a tripod that’s too heavy, it’s unlikely that you’ll want to take it anywhere. If it is light enough, it will be comfortable to carry and you’ll get plenty of use from it. 
  • Carbon fiber is a great material choice. Even though it’s more expensive than aluminum, it’s tougher and will last much longer. 
Yoga training using camera tripod

Choosing the Right Tripod 

There are many parts of it that should be taken into consideration when making this important purchase. Keep these details at the forefront of your mind as you’re searching and you’re sure to find the right tripod. 

Best Headphones for Gaming, Traveling, and Music 2023

We’ve created a headphone buying guide for gamers, frequent travelers, and music enthusiasts – with two options for each: our top pick and the best budget choice. 

1. Best Headphones for Gaming

The ultimate headphone test for a gamer is whether or not the sound quality can completely draw you into the world you’re playing in, but there are other things that matter too – like ease of charging and comfort. 

Best Headphone, laptop and mobile phone

Our Top Pick: Candora Gaming Headset

The Candora Gaming Headset is a wireless headset with a mic that provides amazing sound quality, and it works on every modern platform and device. It’s not just the sound that’s great, this headset is also the most comfortable one in the game. 

Best Budget Pick: V BESTLIFE Foldable Over-Ear Headphone

This set is perfect if you’re not looking to spend over $50. Even with a lower price, you’ll still get amazing sound and world-class comfort. These headphones are lightweight with a great microphone and, for the quality you’re getting.

2. Best Headphones for Travel

Best Headphone for Travel

No matter if you’re on a plane or on the subway headed to work, the last thing you want to hear is the rumble of the engine or people chatting. Whether you prefer headphones or earphones is up to you; what matters is if they have a long battery life and comfortable wearability. 

Our Top Pick: Urbanista New York Noise Cancelling Bluetooth Headphone

These headphones are one of the best noise-cancelers, whether the noise is big (like engines) or small (like chit-chat).

Best Budget Pick: Baseman Wired Headphones 

While these headphones have a shorter battery, their performance is almost as good. They’re well-built in the same way, with great noise-canceling capabilities. 

3. Best Headphones for Music

Girl is listening music

Whether you’re a casual music listener or a real audiophile, the clarity and quality of your headphones matters

Our Top Pick: Bose SoundLink Around Ear Wireless Headphones

These headphones are extremely comfortable with a long battery life. They have amazing noise cancellation qualities, but they come with an ambient aware function so you can still be clued into what’s going on around you. 

Best Budget Pick: SONY Over Ear Best Stereo Extra Bass Portable Headphones 

These headphones have amazing bass quality and great noise canceling capabilities, along with a long-lasting battery. They’re super comfortable with ear cups made of memory foam, along with extra padding in the headband. 

4. Finding Your Best Headphones

Best Headphone

After reading this headphone buying guide, we hope that you’re one step closer to finding the perfect headphones, whether you’re a gamer, a traveler, or a music-lover. Happy listening! 

Bluetooth Speaker Buying Guide – Everything You Need to Know

Bluetooth speaker has more than just great sound, they’re also easy to transport and they make listening simple – no matter where you are. 

Keep reading to get an idea of the best USB Bluetooth speaker for your needs.

Bluetooth Speaker for Travel

When you travel, you need great sound that reaches far and can be taken anywhere. Slim and compact is the move, as the speaker should be easy to pack, but the great thing is that this speaker’s sound is far from small. 

Check out the mini speaker, for music that you can take any and everywhere.

Portable bluetooth speaker for travel

Weather-Resistant Bluetooth

If you live your life outdoors, you need portable outdoor speakers that can handle all sorts of weather. It should be resistant to not only snow and rain, but dust and shock too. Take it to the beach or to the trail and enjoy your favorite tunes anywhere in the world. 

Bluetooth Speaker in Your Home

When you’re using bluetooth powered speakers as the main listening system in your home, they need to be both attractive and powerful. Acting as a staple in the room, they should be excellent for listening and aesthetic purposes alike. 

Woman using portable bluetooth speaker

For Charging Your Phone

Did you know bluetooth powered speakers have the ability to charge your phone, too? With a built-in recharger, you won’t have to worry about your phone dying while it supplies the music you’re enjoying. A rechargeable speaker system comes with a USB charging port that you can connect to your phone or your tablet while you’re on-the-go. . 

For Making Calls

There are certain portable wireless speakers that double as speakerphones, with built-in microphones so you can chat even if you can’t reach your actual smartphone. Your phone will automatically route to the speaker, so picking up and taking calls (or declining them) is as easy as pressing a button. 

Making a call using portable bluetooth speaker

Enjoying Music with Bluetooth Speaker

Using a top tech audio bluetooth speaker is one of the best ways to enjoy your favorite music, and the experience can be made even more enjoyable with these great options. Shop bluetooth speakers today to find your perfect match.

Types of Wearable Technology You Should Know About

Wearable technology—called “wearables” for short—has exploded in popularity over the past few years. Largely, this technology is all about fitness and health; whether they’re tracking your heart rate, steps, or even your oxygen intake, many wearables can be hugely beneficial for tracking your health and fitness progress, risks, and goals.

Wearables can and do fill other roles, and our goal is to run you through the most common wearables and what they do!

Smart Watches

Oh, smart watches. By far the most popular wearables, smart watches track your fitness and health and perform a variety of smartphone functions like displaying notifications, responding to messages, and taking calls. If you want a compact arsenal of wearable technology that also looks aesthetically pleasing, definitely pick up a smartwatch. 

Man is looking at smart watch

You can even customize them! You can get good-looking smart watch bands, or get cardio smart watch bands for functionality and comfort.

Fitness Trackers

While there is minimal difference between fitness trackers and smart watches nowadays, fitness trackers do still exist and are a perfectly valid pick for wearable technology, especially if you want functionality over form. Fitness trackers are the workhorses of well-being technology, between ankle, armband, and wrist fitness trackers. Ankle bands can be especially useful for monitoring your cardio.

Fitness Trackers

Smart Jewelry

If you want some wearable technology that’s even more fashionable and discreet than smart watches, smart jewelry is for you. While smart jewelry is still a little niche, there are many good options for smart rings and bracelets. These can provide some of the same fitness and health insights as fitness trackers and smart watches, but are smaller and can be cheaper.

Head Mounted Displays (HMDs)

HMDs are an incredibly varied field of wearable technology. There are largely two categories for these: glasses and other head-mounted devices that serve specific purposes, and then the larger, more general VR and AR headsets

Couple using wearable technology

Smaller HMDs like glasses are perfect for daily wear and niche uses, like audio speakers or small heads-up displays. Meanwhile, the larger HMDs like the VR headsets are great for games, videos, or working from home!

Shop these products and with DirectNine!

Ultimate Guide to Choosing the Best Mobile Accessories

Phones are an integral part of our everyday lives nowadays, so having the best accessories to improve your mobile experience can have a huge impact on your ease of access and comfort when using your phone. Whether you’re looking for mobile gaming accessories or camera accessories for iPhone, we want to help you figure out what exactly you need and what you might want for your phone so you can navigate the world of mobile accessories for phone use.

Charging Accessories

Phone batteries are getting bigger and bigger, but they still run out; while a full-charge of battery may last you on a normal day, what about days where you need GPS or you’re playing a lot of games? Or days when you forget to charge your phone overnight? In cases like those, you want a portable charger. Also known as power banks, these can hold one or more full charges of your phone for you to recharge whenever and wherever you may be. 

Mobile charger: Mobile Accessories

Phone Protection Accessories

A good phone case is one of the most important accessories you’ll need. Phones are expensive; you want a case that’ll keep your phone safe. They’re also a great opportunity for personalization. Colorful phone cases can let you display your personality and your aesthetic on your phone, and help you know which phone is yours!

Alongside a case, you’ll want a screen protector. These keep your screen clean and protected from scratches and cracks. These are the best mobile covers to protect your phone’s screen from daily wear and tear. 

Audio Accessories

Audio accessories are great if you’re a music enjoyer, or you want to be able to listen to podcasts while working in the office or working out at the gym. Picking up a good set of Bluetooth headphones can be a great investment, as they can last you years (assuming you don’t lose them)!

Bluetooth earphones

You can also pick up adapters for AUX ports and the like. Portable speakers are also very popular, especially if you want to use them while cooking or hosting guests.