[ad_1]
Posted by:
Updated:
By JAMIE TUCKER, consumer technology reporter
It’s football season and that means tailgate party season.
Tailgating has become a favorite for fans of all football games, be it pee-wee league, high school, college or pro games.
If you haven’t been in a stadium parking lot in recent years, I can tell you that tailgate parties are more elaborate than they were twenty years ago.
Whether you’re attending a tailgate party at the game or in your backyard, there are tech gadgets to up your pregame game.
Televisions are lighter, thinner, and more expensive than they were 5 seasons ago, making them popular at tailgaters. The only challenge is getting electricity for those TVs. Fortunately, there are gas-free generator options.
The EcoFlow Delta portable generator or power station is a great choice for providing electricity for any and all gadgets you take to the game. These power stations have multiple AC outlets, and USB and USB-C ports to power TVs, mini-fridges, smartphones, tablets and computers.
They are practically silent, a huge improvement over the old noisy and smelly gas-powered generators. Before you hit the road, you simply charge the charger using a standard AC outlet in your home. EcoFlow holds its charge for months, making it a great choice for emergency power if the power goes out in your home.
It’s small and light enough to carry from the car to the tailgate. How well does it work? I plugged it into an old refrigerator to test it and it continued to work for 13 hours. I also connected a big screen tv, phones and computer and it easily all ran more than 3 games. It may be the most important piece in your tailgate party puzzle.
Speaking of TVs, if you’re only picking one up for game days, keep the box! Thin and light TVs make them very fragile.
Televisions today have tiny speakers that are not loud enough to be heard even in small crowds. Taking a sound bar with you will turn up the volume so fans can hear the announcers.
You can also use a portable Bluetooth speaker that requires no electricity. One of the best (and loudest) speakers I’ve tried is the Soundcore Rave Mini. Although there is nothing “mini” about its size or sound.
This speaker has impressive bass for a Bluetooth speaker and is loud enough to be heard on many fans. It’s a fairly large speaker so you might have trouble holding it and anything else in the same hand. Of course there are options to add more bass to what you get out of the box.
It connects wirelessly to phones and computers, but also has an auxiliary input. Additionally, it charges smartphones through a USB port.
If you don’t want something that big, the best small Bluetooth speaker I’ve tested is the Bose SoundLink Flex. The light speaker has incredible sound (of course it’s from Bose) and the battery lasts up to 12 hours. If it starts raining, you don’t have to worry about it ruining this speaker as it is dust and water resistant. I even threw it in the swimming pool.
He drowned and floated to the surface while playing his music. Incidentally, one of my friends had to find out if he could hear the music underwater (he could). It’s small and easy to throw in your bag to the stadium parking lot.
Most tailgates and backyard parties have someone standing around grilling burgers and chicken. For tailgaters, a digital Bluetooth meat thermometer can be the difference between one getting overcooked or undercooked food. The Meater+ is a digital thermometer that you put on whatever you’re cooking.
Using the accompanying smartphone app, you choose what to cook and how you want it cooked. It will be the Meter+
Monitor the internal temperature of the meat and the temperature under the grill hood.
When it gets close to the right and safe temperature, the Meater+ sends a notification to your smartphone, letting you know when it needs to be removed from the grill and away from the grill.
Thermometers are similar except that you have two probes connected to the display center with wires. They also have a companion app that sends a notification when the food is ready.
As much as I like the Meater+ and iGrill tools, I still recommend using a meat thermometer like the Thermapen Pro. These digital thermometers help you make sure every piece of meat on the grill is ready to eat.
[ad_2]
Source link