Tag Archives: Bluetooth

by | October 31, 2021 · 10:37 am

An HVC 10th Anniversary Cigar and a New Govee WiFi Thermometer Hygrometer Set

I had a few days off this week to take care of some things, so as I was out running some errands on Friday I stopped in to Son’s Cigars to see Vince for a few minutes and see what was new. Of course, I made some impulse buys, and bought some new cigars, one of which was a recommendation by Vince, the HVC 10th Anniversary. I’ve enjoyed the HVC cigars I’ve smoked, as well as most of the Aganorsa cigars, from which factory this cigar is produced. Sidebar: I told Vince when I was there that there were cigars that I wanted to pick up and couldn’t remember, and I should make a list…and I just now remembered what they were. Now the trick is remembering to make a list. Hang on, let me make a note…OK, I’m back. I would have forgotten again and it would have driven me nuts. Now, maybe, I have a chance, I just have to remember I have the list! Back to the HVC 10th. This is a cigar that comes in one size, and it’s a good size for my preference, 6 ½” x 50. I like it, it’s a little longer than a toro, not quite a Churchill, very nice, as long as it tastes good! It’s a Nicaraguan Puro with Corojo wrapper grown in Jalapa, and a few different varietals of Corojo in the filler. It started out with a pretty heavy pepper, which settled into a collection of sweet spices and some cedar, while maintaining the strength. It mellowed slightly in the second half, but was still a formidable cigar. I have one complaint, and it’s directed at Vince: why did you only sell me one? Great smoke!

I have recently been testing the new Govee WiFi Digital Hygrometer Thermometer 3 Pack, which I purchased from Amazon for $69.99. I’ll make some disclosures at this point. The links to this here are affiliate links, if you make a purchase using them I’ll get a few cents, and it won’t cost you anything. You’ll have my gratitude, but no pressure. Secondly, I purchased this with the understanding that the manufacturer would reimburse me, as they have in the past, and I have no reason to believe that they won’t. that being said, I’m really not going to lose sleep if they don’t come through, let me explain. I have Govee remote Temperature Hygrometers deployed in all of my humidors. Most are just Bluetooth, which is fine, but I’m finding more value in having WiFi connected units. I was excited to try this set-up with the WiFi Hub. This product comes with three sensors and the hub. The sensors work independently via Bluetooth, but the Hub connects them to your home WiFi network, so you can see them through the app wherever you happen to be. Pretty cool. I’ve been testing them for accuracy side by side and they are all pretty close one another, as well as another Govee WiFi unit. My plan is to spread the three sensors out in my cabinet, top, middle and bottom, although I could put them in three different humidors if I wanted, as long as they were reasonably close to the Hub, which plugs into an AC outlet. One piece of advice when setting up the system: pull the plastic tabs that cover the batteries in the sensors as you set each one up, then put the number stickers on them, if you pull the tabs all at once (like I did, duh), you have a hard time telling one from another in the app. I looked like a moron blowing on them to get the humidity to change so I could tell one from the other and rename it in the app (Edit: I’m told that if you bring one of the sensors close to the phone the corresponding one in the app will blonk to identify it). I guess what I’m trying to say is if you have a large humidor, or three humidors, this is a pretty cool way to monitor your temperature and humidity, and the app, just like with the other Govee products I’ve reviewed here before, tracks something like a year’s worth of historical data. You can set alarms and cool stuff like that as well. The only unknown is the battery life on the sensors, and I didn’t look to see what kind of batteries they take, but they are probably easily sourced button cells of some sort (Edit: they are standard AAA). 

Don’t forget to go enter the contest in the last post! I’m going to add a few cigars to the bag before all is said and done. Until the next time, 

CigarCraig

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by | September 8, 2021 · 9:02 pm

Accessory Review: ThermoPro TP357 Wireless Thermometer Hygrometer

About six months ago I reviewed the ThermoPro TP59 Wireless Thermometer Hygrometer, and among the downsides of that unit was the large size. The folks at ThermoPro seem to have solved that problem with the smaller ThermoPro TP357 Wireless Thermometer Hygrometer.  I received one of these a few weeks ago and replaced the TP59 in the cabinet and began testing it. For testing purposes it sits on a shelf with a Western Digital Hygrometer and a Govee Model H5179. The pros: It was very easy to connect via bluetooth to the existing app which I already had installed. The app allows alarms to be set for high and low tolerances, and keeps a chart of some historical data. As I said when I reviewed the larger version, I’m more interested in seeing the fluctuations and trends than the actual numbers, I don’t want wild swings, but I don’t want the humidity to get too high or low either.  Comparing the three, they aren’t spot on, but are within an acceptable deviation of a point or two in humidity, and the temperature is within a degree, so I’m OK with the accuracy. the size is a big plus over the other unit, the TP359 is much more versatile, it’s maybe 2¼” square, easy to mount in any humidor. It’s got an easy to read digital display, ,and it actually shows “heat index” on the app, which isn’t important in the humidor so much, but if you were using it outside the humidor it’s handy. Here’s the nice part: it’s on;y $7.99. For a bluetooth hygrometer that’s fairly accurate, that’s not bad.  I have sensors in all of my humidors, between these and the Govee units now, and I kinda like this little guy. I used their picture because I liked the egg comparison! Our chickens lay some eggs that are much larger, but this will do.  Anyway, I think this is a cool budget friendly option and I can’t find fault with it. Like I said, it’s not laboratory grade accurate, but it’s a good guide, and for the price, it does what it needs to do.

 

Full Disclosure, the manufacturer provided me with a sample unit to try, and the link above is an Amazon affiliate link, which if readers make a purchase through, I get a couple cents eventually.

 

That’s all for today, until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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by | March 10, 2021 · 9:53 pm

Accessory Review: ThermoPro TP59 Wireless Thermometer Hygrometer

Recently I was sent a ThermoPro TP59 Wireless Thermometer Hygrometer to test out. I mostly use Govee brand remote hygrometers, along with some Western Digital Hygrometers in my humidors, so they were used as my baseline for testing out his unit. To be honest, I’m not one of these guys who obsesses about my humidors being spot on humidity wise, as long as the cigars are smoking right, I’m happy, but I do want to know when there are wild fluctuations. There are a few things I like about this unit and and a few things I don’t like. Let’s hit the high points first. It’s inexpensive, I think the cost on this is around $17.99 (I can’t tell for sure, which will come up in the “cons” portion). It seems to be reasonably accurate. It matches up within a point or two of my other hygrometers in both temperature and humidity. Any hygrometer at this price isn’t going to be dead-on accurate, the spec is +-2% on the humidity. The display is large and easy to read, backlit, and the overall look is nice enough. It’s Bluetooth, so you don’t need to see it to get a reading. The smartphone app is easy to use and provides plenty of historical data, as well as alerts if the temperature and humidity goes above or below thresholds that you can define. Another plus is that it takes normal AAA batteries, which were included. This is a decent unit for a larger humidor.

 

Now for the downsides. I say that it’s good for a larger humidor because it’s on the large side. The screen itself is 3″ diagonal. It’s going to take up some space in a small humidor, although it can certainly be mounted in the lid. I was going to list the ease of purchase through Amazon as a “pro”, then I looked it up, and see that it’s currently unavailable. I can only assume that this is a brand new model and it will soon be available, but I don’t have a date right now. Other than that, I don’t have anything bad to say about it! It does what it’s meant to do, and looks good doing it, and provides plenty of data and features through the app.  I just need to find a good place to mount it now that I’m done with the side by side testing. 

 

Thanks to the folks at ThermoPro for allowing me to try out their product! that’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

 

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by | January 17, 2021 · 11:40 am

New Govee Sensors, a Few Cigars and a Contest Winner

Image from Amazon

I’ve been using the Govee WiFi and Bluetooth humidity and temperature sensors in my humidors for a while now, and recently got some of their new ones to try out. I got three of them (actually four, one comes in a handy two pack). The first one is the WiFi Smart Thermo Hygrometer, Model H5179. The batteries were included in the device, it just had a strip of plastic that needed to be removed for the batteries to make contact. The Bluetooth pairing and WiFi connection were very simple through the app (which I already had from having multiple other devices). There’s no display on this device, so everything is monitored through the app, Temperature, humidity, along with historical data for something like a year. You can also set alerts for highs and lows so if there are spikes in your humidor you can address them before any long term damage is done. This also had a mounting bracket and a lanyard (the later of which serves no purpose in my application). I will probably mount this in my primary cabinet humidor.

 

Image from Amazon

The second one is the Bluetooth Smart Thermometer, Model 5174, which is very much the same as the above, in a smaller form factor, without WiFi, and without the mounting bracket. Once again, the batteries are included so it’s ready to go. The instruction booklet is clear and concise, and most of the setup is done through the app anyway. Like the H5179, it has a blue light that blinks every 30 seconds when it takes a reading, which will turn red when the batteries get to 15%, so if you aren’t paying attention to the app you can remember to change them. I’m not sure which humidor I’m going to put this in, probably my large desktop humidor where I put the cigars that I plan to feature, and new arrivals. The older Govee Mini Smart Hygrometer I had in there seems to have drifted to the high side on the humidity reading and I don’t think there’s a way to fix that. I’m going to try resetting it by removing the battery and putting it back in and see what happens, but it might just be replaced. (As of this writing, this unit appears to be unavailable. Not sure why or when it will be available again, no worries, there are options!)

 

Image from Amazon

these are my images!

Finally the third item is the Smart Thermo-Hygrometer, Model H5101, which has a nice, large 1.8” digital display. I got the two-pack, which is around $20, quite a deal. These have a little tab in the back to make a stand for on a shelf or table, otherwise I suspect some velcro or magnets could be used. I had an older, similar model that didn’t impress me too much, the humidity readings were low compared with other gauges, so I use that in the living room. These seem to be spot on. I conducted a test over the last six weeks or thereabouts, where I placed all four units in a tray with a known good hygrometer and just left them there to do their thing. As you can see in the screen shots from the app, they all are, more or less, right on. Considering the spec is +/- 3% for humidity and +/- .54°f for temp, they are fine. I like that I can see the humidity levels in all of my humidors from one app, when one has six or seven humidors, that’s an issue. I know that there are retailers that have deployed these in their club lockers so they can keep track of them. Even if they aren’t dead on accurate, which they seem to be pretty close,

my screen shot
my screen shot

you can track trends, and sometimes that’s more important to cigars than the actual numbers. Anyway, I’m a fan of these devices, I bought one of their wireless doorbells for my house too. They work well, they look nice, and don’t break the bank. Full disclosure, the Amazon links included here are affiliate links tied to my account, so any sales will drop a couple cents my way. I’ve never gotten paid by Amazon yet, so it’s purely optimistic on my part.

 

Cigar Aficionado’s list came out last week, of course there was much controversy. People need to realize the target audience of that list is not the same cigar geek crowd that reads cigar blogs and is into boutique cigars. Personally, I think the EPC Pledge is an amazing cigar, and I’m going to try to get my hands on a few more. I smoked the EPC Encore this week, which was number one a few years ago, and people couldn’t figure out why that made number one. It clearly was number one because the tasting panel loved it, as it’s a really good tasting cigar and suited that panels palate! The one I had I had purchased the day after the results came out, so it had rested what, three years? It was delicious, I think the Nicaraguan wrapper must be a Sumatra seed varietal, because it had that flavor, and I know Ernesto is a fan of the Sumatra. I also smoked the Alec and Bradley Gatekeeper, which was also made by Ernesto. This was pretty high on the list, and is a good cigar. I can’t say that I would put it high on my list, it was a good cigar, but not particularly memorable or a stand out to me. But that’s me, and I don’t do a list, and if I did, nobody would be taking a copy of it in to shops asking for cigars that are on it! I guarantee every shop in the country has had customers coming in asking for cigars on CAs list this week. It drives sales.

 

I need to pick a winner of the Groovy Guy Gifts Good To Go Cigar Case today. I also will need to throw some more cigars in, three, you see, just isn’t enough. That will be a surprise for the lucky winner! As you know, I have a thorough process of double random selection, just to keep things fair. There was a very small pool of long-time readers who entered. Tim McCabe is the winner this time! Please send me your address and proof that you’re old and I’ll get this shipped out to you! Thanks to Groovy Guy Gifts for this cool item! Check them out!

 

That’s all for today, until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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by | July 5, 2019 · 12:05 am

Accessory Review: Govee Bluetooth Mini Thermometer & Hygrometer

 

Last year I reviewed a couple of wireless hygrometers from Govee that I really like, they are still going strong today and are in daily use in my humidors. You can see the posts here for the Bluetooth model and here for the WiFi model. I’ve been so pleased with the Govee products that when I needed a new door bell for my house I bought a Govee wireless doorbell and it’s working quite well. Recently they have come out with a new item which I think address some of the things I thought were overkill with the full size model, a Govee Mini Thermometer and Hygrometer. This version eliminates the LCD screen and is just the sensor in a small case. It seamlessly adds in to the smartphone app and has all of the same features as the larger Bluetooth and WiFi versions, temperature and humidity readings with adjustable high and low alarms, data tracking, everything but the display. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s the technical details right from the manufacturer:

  • App Control via Bluetooth: Monitor temp/humidity data on Govee Home App (free downloading from App Store/Google Play) via Bluetooth. Up to 328ft connecting distance (no obstacles) enables you to monitor temp and humidity remotely.
  • Higher Accurate Monitor: Built-in Swiss-made SHT30 sensor, it offers higher precision monitoring than other brands. Temp is accurate to ±0.36℉ and humidity is ±2%RH. (Calibration is supported)
  • Data Storage & Export: 20 days on-board and unlimited in-App storage. The temperature sensor uploads data to App when it connects to APP via Bluetooth. Alert will be sent to App when data is beyond preset range. Besides, export data in CSV format for free.
  • Mini Size: Smaller size than other brands. Space-saving and portable. A hanging hole is designed for various placement as you want. The battery lifespan is about 365 days.
  • What’s in Box: 1 x Govee Thermometer and Hygrometer, 1 x Hanging String, 1 x User Manual. Offer 30-day money-back guarantee for any reason and 365-day warranty for quality-related issues.
I bought this from Amazon a couple of weeks ago and received it promptly. All of Govee‘s products are sold through Amazon, and through July 16th (2019) this and the WiFi unit are featured on their Prime Day sale at 60% 0ff (follow the links sprinkles liberally throughout this post) I highly recommend these products especially at these deep discount prices! Anyway, as soon as I received the sensor I pulled the tab covering the battery and it connected to the app and I named it and it started reading temperature and humidity right away. It spent its first few days next to its WiFi sibling, so it’s at least as accurate as that one is, and, judging by the way the cigars smoke, it’s just fine. I like the fact that it doesn’t take up much space, and in a desktop humidor it doesn’t really need a display. I need a hygrometer to give me the data when the humidor is closed, which this one does nicely, a regular digital hygrometer is already moving in the wrong direction as soon as the lid is opened, so you never really know. I think this is a really cool solution, and at the Amazon Prime Days price, it’s a steal! Heck, I ordered another one.
Thanks to Leo at Govee for giving me the opportunity to use Govee products in my humidors and make me into a customer! That’s all for today, until the next time, 
CigarCraig
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