Monster Rockin’ Roller 270 vs ION Block Rocker Plus

I bought ION Block Rocker Plus bluetooth portable battery operated speaker (ION going forward) because I was impressed by how loud and clear it sounded at a friend’s birthday party when it was brought by the entertainment team. I am extremely happy with it!

Then, browsing Amazon, I saw Monster Rocking’ Roller 270 (Monster going forward) and by looking at it’s specs and features, in theory it should be better than the ION:

  • Monster has 2 mic inputs with echo, while ION only has one without echo.
  • Monster has additional side speakers while ION only has front facing speaker.
  • Monster claims to be 200W of power while ION only 100W.
  • Monster has bass and treble control, ION does not.
  • Monster is waterproof and ION is not.
  • Monster has Qi wireless charging and ION does not.
  • Monster has line out for connecting another speaker and also can pair to another speaker wirelessly.

I was looking to buy a second speaker so I could play them in stereo using a DJ splitter cable. So I went ahead and purchased the Monster excited to have all of those extra features.

After comparing them side by side, I was surprised that ION actually sounded much louder than Monster. And that goes for both music and microphone signal. What is impressive is that ION is actually smaller and lighter than Monster.

So I do like all of the extra features of Monster, but after all, it is a speaker and the sound volume and quality trumps all of the extra bells and whistles for me. So I returned Monster and purchased another ION.

And on a side note, I do also like the style of ION better than the rugged look of Monster.

Hope this comparison will be helpful to someone who is deciding between these two speakers. I was actually looking for such a comparison myself, but could not find it.

Battlexic – The New Strategic Multiplayer Word Game

The competitive puzzle word game Battlexic has recently appeared on Android. This is a merciless battle of words between you and your friend or a random opponent somewhere in the world. All you have to do is form a word branch on the playing field all the way to your opponent’s side, but this is easier said than done.

The game board is similar to one of those word search games, but you can find words in any direction – up / down, left / right, or diagonal. In addition, the direction can be changed at any point in the word, which allows one entrance to the serpentine around the board. Also, there is no specific list of words to find. You can find any word you can. It is validated by the game’s built-in dictionary. You can only start a new word with a square of your color. Once you make a word, all letters of the word turn to your color and you have more opportunity to make new words. Check out the vanguard hack which is released for its multiplayer versions.

The competitive nature comes into play when your words stem towards the opponent’s side. You may have a good branch, but the opponent’s clever move can cut you off by taking one of your letter squares. It is a turn-based game with asynchronous play. This way you can make a move and your opponent will be notified so he or she can get around to it when they have a moment. This keeps Battlexic from taking too much of your time unless you want it to. You can choose to play multiple games at the same time.

Battlexic is a competitive game with weekly, monthly, and all-time leaderboards. Each player has comprehensive statistics that can be compared to your own. You can brag about your moves or trash-talk with your opponent using the built-in chat.

Battlexic manages to take a simple vocabulary puzzle and make it as challenging and addictive as a game of Chess. You don’t even need to be a linguistic genius – it’s not about the longest or smartest word. You have a very specific goal – to reach the other side by using strategy to get to the goal and prevent your opponent from doing the same.

You can play in several languages including English, Russian, Finnish, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German and Italian