#originally i had the image in my mind with v1 and gabriel and then something just Shifted and i was like ohhh haha!

[starheirxero]

I know that Dark Sun has reiterated that he's not one for excessive violence, and the way he killed Lord Eclipse was definitely a reflection of that, and that he didn't even get super dramatic before he killed him........ but I have had a constant image in my head of Dark Sun having pinned Lord Eclipse to the ground via spearing his chest with one of his own holy symbols. and the way the image is angled specifically makes Dark Sun look like the inherently divine one, to tie into how Dark Sun views himself as a higher/more worthy being than Lord Eclipse and how he was able to so easily fell a god. or whatever

[designer-dad]

Polaroid Cube+

As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve taken up running. My wife doesn’t always like when I take up new hobbies though. As a product designer, I really love products, which means I want to acquire many products that relate to my new hobby. But this hobby has lost me 80 pounds, so my wife doesn't mind us departing with a few dinero along the way (to an extent). 

At any rate, a big part of my taking up running was a response to a challenge from my brother to run the Rock n’ Roll Las Vegas 10k with him this past November. It’s known to be a fun race, as it’s the only night a year the Strip is closed down, and lots of people run in costume. When discussing this with my trainer, he asked, “so you gonna wear a GoPro?” My brain lit up. FINALLY. An excuse to get an action camera! I had an Anniversary gift or something coming, so this could work. So the search began.

But not really. I had read about the Polaroid Cube a while back when it was released. I’d almost bought the original version as an Amazon lightning deal (glad I didn’t, V2 is better, read on). But I had to do my due diligence, and read up about the competition. I couldn’t rationalize spending much on this, as I have no real need for one, but also didn’t want to waste my money on some random untested brand. 

I wanted something small and pocketable, my budget was under $200 ($150 being far easier for the missus to swallow), and relatively simple. My choices quickly came down to the GoPro Hero Session or the Polaroid Cube+. While many reviews briefly stated that the Session was the better option, I finally found one that posted side by side video from each, and I preferred that of the Cube+. Also, it seemed simpler, was a little smaller, I liked the magnet thing, and the price was easier to swallow. So the Cube+ it was.

What is it:

The Polaroid Cube+ is cute action camera. It can record up to 1440 HD video, has an 8mp camera, 124° wide angle lens, with image stabilization and is WiFi enabled. It’s got a strong magnet on the bottom for stuff like attaching to the hood of a car, or the frame of the High Roller Ferris Wheel in Las Vegas (that was cool). It lacks the world of attachments available to GoPro, but with about $25 and an Amazon account, that can be fixed easily. It’s a single button, micro-SD card taking, dead simple camera that takes pretty good video with not great audio in a small, adorable package, with fun and almost robust WiFi options.

Using it:

I said this camera has one button. I kinda lied. It has 2 buttons. But the big one handles most of the heavy lifting. Hold it long to turn it on. Press to snap a pic. Double press to start video. That’s about all there is to get up and running. That all sounds good, and I am a firm believer in K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid), but this seems to be a case of too simple. 

For one, I tend to be a fan of dedicated on-off switches. It leaves no question as to whether the item is on or off, and makes it more difficult to turn on/off accidentally. The other issue is that since this one button does so much, the differentiator for each function is the amount of time you hold the button, or the amount of times you press the button. And then you do that dumb frozen moment in time staring at a piece of tech wondering if it’s about to do what you asked it to do thing. They say the best camera is the one you have on you. For most of us, that is our phone. For this to be a better option than my phone, it should be faster. It most certainly is not. It’s waaaaay slower. My DSLR (Canon T4i), while bulky, is lightning fast from pick up, to on, to shooting. The Cube+ is dreadfully slow. And the feedback it gives is a single duty LED light, and that feedback is slow to come. I’m thinking Zootopia DMV slow. I think the light changes colors depending on the thing it’s doing, but as a colorblind man, I hate this.

Now this may not be a big issue for most people. Generally you’re using an action cam for dedicated scenarios where it makes sense, in which case this is not a huge deal, but being that this camera is so darn pocketable, which would lend itself to toting around and being pulled out whenever, this timing issue puts a damper on that.

Oh, and if you don’t do anything with it, it auto-shuts off after a few minutes. I found this out during a run, and missed a shot I wanted to take. So it won’t be a quick-shoot camera.  

The rear flips open to reveal the charging port and a micro-SD slot. A quick design tangent about this door. It has one of those old school coin-slot, twist-to-open grooves in there, which I find charming. Except that the groove does nothing. It’s a vestigial design element from V1 that utilized the slot to open the card slot door.

It now opens via the flip up door, requiring a very strong fingernail to overcome the weather-resistant door. I don’t get why they opted to leave that design element in. I feel like I’m missing something, like maybe this element is in some old-school Polaroid Style Guide from the 1930′s. I hope that’s the case. Otherwise, it’s stupid. It miscommunicates utility to the end-user. That’s a no-no.

Once you get the door open, you’ll find the card slot that can handle up to 128gb. The micro-USB port for charging will give you a charge for a couple hours of non-stop video, depending what options are enabled. This time was more than enough to last my entire 10k run and then some, which served the purpose for which I bought it. Mission accomplished. 

In terms of build quality, it has a nice heft to it, and the build feels good. It’s weighty, but not cumbersome. Small yet robust. It feels right. And it’s freaking adorable. 

And that magnet on the bottom, while not the most useful thing in the world, is a lot of fun. Jut don’t put it next to your credit cards.

If you want to switch up your options though, you’ll need that other little button. That’s where they magic happens, and what makes this thing better than version 1.0. 

The secondary button is your WiFi button. This allows you to connect it to your phone, and opens up a world of options. You can select video or picture quality (which then become your defaults for when WiFi is not connected), type of video (regular, timer, timelapse, slo-mo), as well as remote shooting, which can come in handy. You can also transfer images from the camera to your phone, which is nice for our social media obsession. The problem is that all of these slow down the use of this handy camera. Connecting to WiFi takes a few steps. Turn on camera (by holding button for a while). Turn on WiFi (by holding button for a while). Navigate to WiFi in phone settings and pick the Cube+ network. Navigate to Cube+ phone app and connect there too. Then you’re in. Then you can select shooting mode and applicable settings. Then fire away. It’s slow. It means you won’t be doing it to take a fun selfie at a party, especially since the darn thing shuts off on its own after a few minutes. It means you’ll be setting up shots with more thought. It also means photo sharing will be done at night while you veg with your phone, and not “in the moment.”

That being said though, the various modes are indeed fun and usefull, once it’s all set up. I’ve done Ferris wheel timelapses with the magnet, and, using the suction cup attachment, a 3D printer one as well. And if not for the fact that my phone is already tasked with 3 workout apps and crammed into an armband when I run, I could see wearing this head mounted more often and leaving it connected to my phone throughout so it’s ready for action.

A video posted by Gabriel Prero (@prerodesign) on Dec 22, 2016 at 7:55am PST

This WiFi ability is exclusive to V2 (aka the Cube+). The Original Cube lacks all of this.

Don’t rely on the audio from this camera though. It’s just not that good. Nothing more on that. It’s for pictures, and video. Not live action audio (unless in a controlled environment, like a conference room meeting).

Also, don’t rely on robust support from Polaroid either. The user manual is not perfectly clear on differentiating all the shooting modes (I still can’t figure out the different timelapse options), and online documentation always bounces back to V1. I guess when you’re a dying company, you start to phone it in.

Oh, in the box, it comes with a charging cable, 8gb card (I can’t believe we’ve gotten to a point where 8gb is the “free” card given away with tech), and a silicone sleeve thing with a carabiner and lanyard for toting it around, which is fun.

Like:

The form factor is adorable, pocketable, and lends itself to always being handy. Build is great, and the functional aspects of the camera are surprisingly good for the price point. For the average Joe, and even those with a desire for a little more, this will work well as an action camera. Surprisingly robust skillset once it’s connected to the app.

No like:

Every. Function. Takes. Forever. FOR. EV. ER. If this were a larger camera, I’d find this acceptable, because I know when I’m lugging the thing out that I’m in for some setup. But when it does have such a handy form factor that lends itself to being on hand and at-the-ready, as the carabiner implies, it feels almost inexcusable that it isn’t ready to at least shoot basic clips or pics faster. The answer would be as simple as a couple dedicated buttons, or even a selector switch.

And while accessories are readily available, it’s sad that Polaroid totally ignores the vast options of the GoPro world by not including an in-the-box adapter. Polaroid does offer a selection of their own accessories, like the suction cup mount I mentioned, but most are either too cutesy, or just not effective enough for an action cam.

Conclusion:

I still really like this camera. That’s why the fact that it’s slow really bothers me, because I’d like to use it more. I only don’t because it’s just not quick enough. But at the end of the day, it’s a dedicated use camera, and you’ll need to consider it as such. A cute, handy, inexpensive, and surprisingly robust camera with some fun abilities and some operational quirks that takes pretty good photo and video.

You can get it on Amazon here.