See Clearly, Clean Safely: The TOFARO Visual Ear Cleaner

Another day, another Kickstarter. Who doesn't want an in-ear camera system?

Ever felt like you're flying blind when cleaning your ears? Traditional cotton swabs can be ineffective and even push wax further into the ear canal. TOFARO, a new visual ear cleaner on the scene, promises a safer, more precise clean with the help of a high-definition camera.

Box

TOFARO boasts a 1080p HD camera that transmits a live feed to your smartphone or tablet via a dedicated app. This allows you to magnify and examine the inner ear, ensuring you only clean what needs cleaning. Blurry images are a thing of the past, thanks to TOFARO's advanced lens technology.

Inside box

Safety is paramount when it comes to ear care. TOFARO features a detachable cleaning head with a built-in storage compartment. This not only keeps the head clean and hygienic but also prevents accidental loss. The 360-degree angle detection and a smart gyroscope ensure you have complete control and can maneuver the cleaning rod precisely within the ear canal.

Silicon scraper

TOFARO is designed to be compact and portable. It can be carried around easily (though would you want to?). It has a WiFi hotspot that you connect your phone/tablet to and then the app simply connects via this.

Camera with cap

Though not a medical device, it's always important to ensure the device is used safely and shouldn't be used if previous problems with any parts of the ear.

Cap removed

Looking inside your ear may show unexpected things and if these are serious seek medical advice rather than poking around and damaging yourself.

Unit twisted, exposing tube and light that is inserted

The silicon scrapers are relatively soft and if placed behind any wax and gently pulled forward, the wax usually comes with it.

USB-C charging

Again, if wax lodged in the ear and doesn't want to move, don't try forcing it, you can do damage to the surrounding area.

In Ear

The above is a view from the camera of a real ear.

It's a novel device with a decent camera (and gyroscopic stabilisation if required).

Nank(was Naenka) Runner Neo: Bone Conduction for the (Active) Soul music

Bone conduction headphones have risen in popularity with runners, cyclists and other sports enthusiasts as listening to music doesn't mean you can't engage with your surroundings and you're aware of what's going on around you.

Product Box

The Nank(was Naenka) Runner Neo's come in three colours, red, grey and green (though the red is quite orangey and the green quite light). A great improvement to other Nank and competitor products is the wireless charging, The charger connects via USB A and has a white LED to showing it's powered. The right control section magnetically sits on the charger and the white LED in the arm will flash (along with the LED in the charger) when it's charging, both light are steady white when fully charged.

Tech Features: -

• IP66 water resistant
• Bluetooth 5.2
• Skin-friendly silicone
• 10-hour Playtime (2 hours charge time)
• Dual-mic Noise Reduction, Clear Sound Quality
• QCC chips from Qualcomm (High Performance with Low Power Consumption)

Also included with the headphones are 2 Earplugs, 6 sound quality enhancers and a user manual.

Headphone in box

The Runner Neo boasts a sleek, minimalist design with a one-piece, fully-silicone frame. This not only contributes to a cool, futuristic aesthetic but also enhances durability and sweat resistance – ideal for workouts. The headphones are lightweight, weighing just 28 grams, and sit comfortably on your skin without causing pressure or irritation.

Sound quality enhancers

The core of any bone conduction headphone is its audio delivery. The Runner Neo utilises advanced bone conduction technology to transmit sound vibrations through your cheekbones. This approach keeps your ears open, allowing for ambient noise awareness, which is crucial for safety during outdoor activities.

The sound quality is surprisingly good for bone conduction headphones. While it won't match the bass punch of over-ear options and some in-ear options, the Runner Neo delivers crisp highs, clear mids, and a decent amount of low-end rumble. Podcasts and audiobooks come across clearly, and music playback is enjoyable, especially for genres like pop, rock, and electronica.

The sound is enhanced when the "sound quality enhancers" are placed in the ear, but that sort of removes the ability to hear what's going around you, which is the main point of bone conducting earphones.

Charging cable

The wireless charging is a great feature, as it removes the need to plug anything in or have contacts exposed, which makes the whole system waterproof and little chance of sweat or rain getting into the internals.

Charger on earphones

Call quality is decent, with the dual microphones effectively picking up your voice well.

Controls are simple and intuitive, with three buttons located on the right earpiece. These buttons handle power, volume, playback, and call functionality.

Showing charger attached

The headphones can do multipoint pairing and connect to two devices simultaneously.

Though they are comfortable, if the volume is too loud they can vibrate on the skin which gives a tickling sensation which can be annoying.

Maybe not as high fidelity as some competing bone conduction headphones, but for the price they perform pretty well. They are currently £60.31 from Nank's site.