Walking around with a sliver of plastic, glass and electronics in the pocket that is essentially a full fledged computer is the fundamental appeal of the smartphone. Unfortunately, many have to make sure they bring along the requisite charging cable, a case, a power bank for extra power, etc., suddenly making that sliver of engineering not as portable.
At just the size of a key fob, the EVO smartphone companion consolidates a wide range of products into one, easy-to-use gadget. For starters, EVO replaces both a user’s charging cable and wall adapter for an iOS or Android device with its built-in USB cable with Lightning attachment. In addition, EVO’s Bluetooth connectivity lets it act as a remote to control music and camera functions from afar. That Bluetooth connectivity works as a safety net, too. It’ll automatically lock and unlock the connected smartphone based on the proximity of its owner, doubling as a Bluetooth tracker to prevent users from walking away from their phones or losing their keys completely.
Three shortcut buttons can be programmed to activate any of these functions or functions on the smartphone itself. An SD card for expandable storage makes an appearance as well, a boon to all those who curse the big phone manufacturers who have slowly moved away from providing it themselves. Last but not least, EVO has a built-in stand to prop a smartphone up in case that latest episode of The Bachelor absolutely can’t wait. Each EVO goes for $79 and is expected to ship in August 2016. The campaign is looking for $45,000 by March 19th, 2016.
The EVO looks like a tiny hockey puck but it scores with a lot of functions, all of which save users a lot of money from having buy each individual gadget separately. Its construction looks a little suspect, though, when compared to the similarly angled WonderCube. That earlier product is both smaller and offers many of the same features for a similar price, so at the end of the aesthetic appeal serves as the deciding factor here — especially when it’s just one cubic inch large.