After creating two brands, “Sky Perspective” and “Really Useful Things”, over the last few years, I feel it’s time to combine them.

Sky Perspective is my long running brand where the motivation started from the Tech I love. From a young age, I have always loved to tinker with computers, mobile technologies, smart homes and recently electric vehicles (EV) and home solar systems. This brand encompasses a wide range of topics, perhaps too many topics.

While I am trying to niche down, I expanded 😊 to share and review useful household products on Amazon. This is where I started Really Useful Things a couple of years ago. Surprisingly it’s gaining lots of interests and here I am trying to combine the two brands.

My very first Really Useful Things logo

Continuous improvement is the way I approach many things. This is my very first Really Useful Things logo. When reduced to a profile thumbnail icon, the text is not clear and we can’t really tell what the image is at the center.

This is the latest combined logo for my Instagram profile. Hit reply to let me know your thoughts.

By the way, I use Canva Pro for most of the logo design.

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ChatGPT Plus, Claude Pro and Gemini Pro (not Gemini Plus) are the AI “employees” that I am thinking of hiring to help me with my content creation operations.

I have used both ChatGPT pro and Free Claude for a month, and just a few days of using Gemini Pro, Google won me over with its Nano Banana.

Just look at how realistic the generated BYD Seal looks. It looks exactly the same as the photo I took.

2024 BYD Seal Image generated by Google Gemini

My 2024 BYD Seal Image, shot on my Galaxy S23 Ultra, edited on Canva

I’m impressed with Gemini able to find the right photo out of the plethora of BYD Seal images on the internet to recreate the image. Even the colour and variant of my BYD Seal is precisely the ones I wanted.

Of course, the Gemini AI generated photo is still not as good as the the shot I took myself (Ah hmm!) but they are good enough for thumbnails and attention grabbing already.

The best part is the mountain scenery the BYD Seal is at. I don’t think I will ever be able to shoot my BYD Seal in such a breathtaking mountainous scenery.

AI is not all good and not all bad either. Like fire, we need to put it into good use. And Yes! We are on the cusp of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) revolution.

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A few months back, my BYD Seal got T-boned on the driver's side. Given the damage, the car may be written off, which means I'm on the hunt for my next EV. It's not the ideal way to go car shopping, but here we are.

While I've been doing my research, the Deepal S07 caught my eye. I managed to get down to the depot to check one out in person, and honestly? There's a lot to love about this Deepal S07, but there are also a couple of things that steered me towards other EVs.

What Really Impressed Me

Let me start with the Deepal S07 interior. It's properly polished and feels genuinely premium. The centre console screen tilts towards either the driver or passenger depending on who needs it—small detail, but it shows thoughtful design. They've also gone with the latest Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm. As a tech enthusiast, I know that's the same powerful chip powering most high-end tablets.

The augmented head-up display is another clever move. Instead of the traditional instrument cluster, they've pulled a lot of that information into the display that projects onto your windscreen. It's smart thinking, though I did notice it becomes hard to read if you're wearing polarized sunglasses—worth knowing if that's something you wear.

The rear passengers get their own climate control screen, so they can adjust the temperature independently. That's the kind of thing that makes longer drives more comfortable for everyone. Sitting at the rear, you can also use the rear touch screen to adjust the front passenger seat forward to give yourself more leg room.

The sound system is genuinely nice. They've even included speakers that play outward from the car rather than into the cabin—so if you're camping or at the beach, you can play music outside the car. Is it a gimmick? Yeah, probably. Will I ever use it? Honestly, almost never. But it's there if you want it.

Beyond that, you've got a three-sixty camera, a powered automatic tailgate, which is basically a must-have for me, and the exterior design is really sharp. The front end looks great and the overall shape is sporty. The only thing I'd say is that the base model wheels aren't as impressive as the body deserves—you'd need to step up to the performance version to get the nicer rims.

And the price? That's genuinely competitive for what you're getting.

Things that are not my cup of tea

When I first came to know the S07, it’s at the top of my list. After researching a bit deeper and seeing the car itself, it is no longer on top of my EV shortlist.

Battery Chemistry. When I dug into the technical specs, I discovered the S07 uses a ternary lithium battery—specifically NMC chemistry, which stands for nickel, manganese, and cobalt. That's older technology. Now, older doesn't always mean worse. And it's true that NMC batteries are actually better in cold weather and they support faster charging. But here's the thing—they're less thermally stable, which means they're less safe than newer lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries. My BYD Seal has an LFP battery. If I switch to the Deepal S07, it would mean downgrading to older battery technology, and I'm just not comfortable with that trade-off.

Electronic doors. To open or close the Deepal S07 doors, you press a button. The thing that worries me is what happens when electronics fail, I'm not sure if there's an obvious mechanical way for me to get out of the car. It's fine for the door to be electronic as a convenience feature, but there needs to be a clear mechanical override that works without any power. I could not find one after researching on the internet. If there is a method, let me know in the comments. For my BYD Seal, pulling the door handle twice will mechanically open the door without electronics, even when it is locked.

The Bottom Line

Apart from those couple of things, the S07 is a brilliant car and I genuinely enjoyed sitting in it. If Deepal uses newer battery chemistry and adds a proper mechanical door release for their next model, I’ll definitely consider it for my next EV. Hopefully by then their brand will also be more established in Australia.

If you haven’t tried Samsung DeX before, it’s worth checking out.

Samsung DeX turns certain Samsung phones and tablets into a desktop-style experience, giving you a more computer-like way to use your device with a keyboard, mouse, and larger screen. It’s one of those features that many people don’t realise can be genuinely useful until they try it.

What Samsung DeX actually does

Samsung DeX gives your phone or tablet a desktop-like interface, with app windows, a taskbar, and a layout that feels much closer to using a computer.

For example, I plugged my Galaxy S23 Ultra directly into a USB-C monitor, and it launched Samsung DeX automatically. If your monitor only supports HDMI, you can usually use a USB-C to HDMI cable to get the same result.

Once you connect a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, you can start using apps on a big screen in a much more comfortable way.

It’s a really nice setup if you want to do light work, browse the web, reply to messages, or just use your phone in a more desktop-like format.

It feels like a computer… but it’s not fully a computer

Samsung DeX is useful, but it does have limitations.

The big one I pointed out is that apps still behave like mobile apps in many cases. For example, Chrome is still just one app window in Samsung DeX. You can open multiple tabs, but you can’t open multiple separate Chrome windows the way you would on a full desktop computer.

So DeX is best thought of as a computer-like experience, not a full replacement for a traditional PC.

That said, for many everyday tasks, it’s still surprisingly capable.

DeX on phones vs tablets

This is where things get interesting.

On higher-end Samsung devices, the DeX experience is better. My Galaxy S23 Ultra can run DeX on an external monitor, and my Galaxy Tab S7 FE can do that too.

But on the Galaxy Tab A9+, Samsung has included a lighter version of DeX.

You still get the desktop-style interface on the tablet itself, which is great. You can move between windows more easily, use the bottom taskbar, check notifications, and change quick settings in a much cleaner way.

That might sound minor, but it actually makes a difference. Without DeX, doing simple things like pulling down the notification shade with a mouse can feel awkward and clunky. The DeX layout makes the tablet much nicer to use.

My guess is that Samsung has limited this because the processor in the Tab A9+ is not as powerful as the one in higher-end S series tablets. Even so, I still think it’s good to see Samsung bringing a lighter version of DeX to a more affordable tablet.

High-end Samsung features on a mid-range tablet

What impressed me most about the Galaxy Tab A9+ is that it still includes several features people often associate with Samsung’s higher-end tablets.

For example:

Call and text on other devices

If you use the same Samsung account across your phone and tablet, you can enable Call and text on other devices in the settings. That means your tablet can handle phone calls and texts in a way that feels much more connected to your Samsung ecosystem.

Galaxy Buds auto switching

If you’re using Samsung Galaxy Buds, they can switch between your phone and tablet more seamlessly. Again, this is one of those ecosystem features that makes the whole setup feel more premium.

These are the kinds of conveniences that make a mid-range device feel more high-end in daily use.

My take on the Galaxy Tab A9+

I think the Galaxy Tab A9+ is a very solid choice if you’re looking for an affordable Android tablet.

It gives you more of the Samsung experience than you might expect at this price point. You still get useful ecosystem features, a nice design, a good screen, and even a lighter version of Samsung DeX.

For a budget-friendly tablet, it does a lot right.

If you want an affordable Samsung tablet that feels more premium than you’d expect, this one is definitely worth a look.

If your goal is to charge your EV and you have enough roof space, I think it's worth considering buying more solar panel capacity, at least 13kW to 14kW of panels or more, depending on your inverter size, roof layout, shading and local limits.

Assuming your EV charger is a 7kW charger, having more solar panels can help the system get to 7kW of output power more often without needing to lean on the home battery to make up the difference.

The reason to go for a 13-14kW system is for those times when conditions are not perfect — cloud, heat, weak winter sun, poor panel angle, shading — a bigger array has a better chance of still producing stronger collective output. I have a YouTube video that speaks about what to consider when installing solar panels.

There is also another reason why we should pay a bit more for an integrated setup like my SigEnergy Sigenstor inverter system. In other words, pay a bit more to get the compatible EV charger that works with the solar system.

In the mySigen app, I can change the solar producing source priority order. It gives first priority to my house load and after that I can decide the other priorities whether to charge up my Home Battery first or EV or feed and sell electricity to the grid.

That means if I’m in a rush and want to top up my EV sooner, I can move the AC EV charger higher in the priority list. Instead of waiting for the home battery to fill first, the system will charge up the EV first. In fact, if solar power is not sufficient, the home battery will kick in to compensate the shortfall.

I’ve only personally used Sigenergy, so I’m not sure if other brands can do similar prioritisation of electricity flow. Share your knowledge by commenting down below.

From my quick googling, it appears most of the big brands allow us to prioritise the electricity flow, with only one caveat: the EV charger must be compatible with the brand. So something for you to take note of. For example, Growatt has their THOR series EV charger.

If you drive an EV, it can be worth paying more for an integrated ecosystem, not just because of hardware, but because of day-to-day usability and convenience.

A lot of people compare systems based on battery size, inverter size, or price per kilowatt-hour. That stuff matters, of course. But what really affects daily life is whether the system gives you simple app control over where your solar power goes when your priorities change.

That is the part I think all of us should ask installers about.

Why Is This Wireless Charger Designed Like This?

I still can't wrap my head around why some desk wireless chargers are designed the way they are.

Take the white one in the photo below. It's a magnetic wireless charger — compatible with MagSafe-style magnetic rings. The idea is simple: bring your phone close, let the magnet snap it into position, and it starts charging. There's even a kickstand so you can prop your phone up while it charges.

Sounds great in theory. But that's where the good stuff ends.

Because the magnetic ring is positioned so high on the charger, you can only prop your phone up in landscape. The position of charger is too high for portrait. The other annoyance is we need to yank the charger off the phone to stop charging.

It isn't just one brand designing it this way. Many desktop wireless chargers are built this way, and this design just doesn’t make sense to me.

Here's what actually works.

The black charger is a completely different experience. You just set your phone down and it starts charging — no magnets to fight, no need to pull out the kick stand. It has two wireless coils inside, so it works in both portrait and landscape. Pick it up whenever you need it, put it back down, and it resumes charging. That's it.

No battle with magnets. No yanking. Just convenient, frictionless charging the way it should be.

If you're in the market for a desktop wireless charger, skip the magnetic style and go for a stand with dual coils. You'll thank yourself every single day.

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I'm a lifelong tech enthusiast who loves to tinker with my tech. I write about what actually works — Samsung Android, smart home, computer tech, and more. Just straightforward useful content like this one.

Thinking of getting an EV because of the fuel price pain? 🚗⚡🌿
Make sure you think carefully about your charging setup too.

I just came across this article about Australia’s EV charging network struggling to keep up with demand ⚠️🔌🌱
Not sure yet how accurate or widespread this really is, but it’s definitely something worth keeping an eye on. 🌏💨

https://www.news.com.au/technology/mo...

Australia's public charging network is struggling to keep up with surging demand 😬 — long queues formed at highway chargers over Easter, and experts are warning the infrastructure gap is only going to grow as more Aussies go electric.

The good news? Home battery + solar charging is still the winning combo and you may not need a big home solar array. 🌞🔌

I'll be opening up a Q&A service soon if you have questions you would like to ask me about Solar, Home battery and EV.

I have to be honest — I never gave torch lights much thought. You grab whatever is in the drawer, the batteries are dead, you move on. That was until I got my hands on the Wuben G5, and I genuinely could not believe how much thought went into something this small.

This thing is smaller than my car key. And yet it pumps out 400 lumens — that's the kind of brightness you'd expect from a standard ceiling bulb — focused into a single beam that can reach up to 87 metres. It's a proper torch light. In a tiny, pocketable body.

Quick specs

400 lumens · 87m beam range · USB-C charging · 180° adjustable head · Built-in magnet · Clip with 90° rotation · Colour light + strobe mode · Aircraft-grade aluminium body

What I love most is no more batteries. Ever. It charges via USB-C — the same cable you already carry. Just top it up like your phone. Done. No hunting for AAA batteries at 11pm.

The magnet is genuinely strong enough to hold it to a car bonnet while you work under the hood, but not so strong that it's a fight to detach. The head rotates 180 degrees so you can aim exactly where you need it. This is the kind of thoughtful detail that makes a product feel like it was designed by someone who actually uses it.

The clip is another winner. When you're not using it, it sits flush with the body — you wouldn't even know it's a clip. Pull it out, spin it 90 degrees, and you can attach it to a shirt pocket, a cap brim, or a bag strap. I clipped mine onto my Thule Enroute backpack's tail light loop.

For full disclosure — Wuben sent me this one to review. But at the retail price, I'd buy it myself without hesitation. This is the kind of thing that should be in everyone's bag, glovebox, and kitchen drawer.

👉 Check the Wuben G5 here

Affiliate link above — if you buy through it, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend things I would actually used myself.

How to Reboot Your BYD Seal When It Simply Won't Start

Imagine this. Bags packed. Family in the car. You're ready for a road trip and buzzing with excitement. You press the start button and… nothing. You try again. Nothing. You grab the key fob, hold it right next to the start button like you've seen people do online. Still nothing. You try the boot — no reaction. The car is completely dead.

But here's the thing — you charged it to 100% the night before. The battery is fine. So what on earth is going on?

This is exactly what happened to me.

The Fix

Your BYD Seal has likely gone into a deep sleep mode. Don't panic — here's how to wake it up.

Step 1: Wake the car up

Take your key fob out of the car. Stand outside at the driver's door, position the key close to the door handle, and press the button on the door handle 5 consecutive times. You should see the car start to come back to life.

(There's also an alternative method: hold the door handle button down for 10 seconds. Apparently this works on all BYD vehicles, not just the Seal — though I haven't personally tried this one.)

Step 2: Initialise the car

After waking it up, there's one more step. The car will show you a message asking you to check the EPB system. Follow the prompts — it will then ask you to turn the steering wheel all the way to the left, then all the way to the right, then back to centre. Think of it as the car doing a quick stretch after a deep sleep.

After that, you should be good to go.

How Did This Happen in the First Place?

Honestly, I'm not 100% sure — but I have a theory.

This has happened to me twice now. The first time, I had left the hood open for about half an hour while packing for the road trip. The second time, I just had some bags sitting next to the frunk for about five minutes. Both times, the car went into deep sleep mode shortly after.

My best guess? The car detected something unusual around the hood area and assumed it was in a service mode. So it shut itself down to protect the system. Makes sense in theory — but not great timing when your family is waiting in the car ready to leave.

Watch the Full Video

Watch the demo on how to revive and recalibrate the EPB system my YouTube channel.

Have you had this happen to your BYD Seal? Or any other BYD vehicle? Drop a comment below — I'd love to know how many people have run into this. And if this helped you, share it with your BYD-owning friends. One day it might just save their road trip too.

BYD Seal Front Trunk (Frunk)

There was a time when we did a substantial amount of shopping, filling up both the trunk space and the back seat. Fortunately, the frunk is still available, allowing us to store my Crumpler Mantra backpack, a few flat packages, and a mattress protector.

Standard BYD Seal Sunshade fits in Frunk

The Standard BYD Seal Sunshade that comes with the car can be stowed in the frunk at an angle. There are still space for it's charging cables.

BYD Seal Front Trunk (Frunk) Dimension

Depth = 36 cm

Longer width = 60 cm
Shorter width = 51 cm

Taller height = 27 cm
Shorter height = 17 cm