About Gadget Smart


Hosted by Leon Hitchens. I am a husband, dad, marketer, and digital business owner. I have been a gadget nerd since I started playing on a computer in the dial-up days. I’ve attended CES, SXSW, and a handful of other tech conferences.

Technology Setup

My daily gear often revolves around Apple gear. I’ve been a big fanboy of Apple since my iPhone 5. Since then, I have slowly adopted their ecosystem, even though it’s a large walled garden.

  • iPhone 15 Pro: As a gadget lover, I wanted a phone that charged with the same cable as all my other devices. It’s still not a perfect switch, as many devices still use micro-USB, or a few Apple devices still use a lighting cable (Trackpad and Airpods). Still, it’s nice to charge my MacBook, Nintendo Switch, headphones, mouse, and other devices from one cable.
  • Macbook Pro 14-Inch: The Macbook Pro with the 14-inch display is packed with 16GBs of RAM, 1TB SSD, and a M1 Pro chip. The Mac has impressive battery life and never has issues pushing the device too far. I haven’t needed to upgrade since the M1 chip does a great job. I opted for a 14-inch so I can still be mobile.
  • Shure MV7: This Mic is one of the best mics you can buy that offers a USB interface. It’s affordable, sounds great, and looks good when it shows up on camera. After finding this “Don’t Buy a Yeti” website, I moved to this mic. I haven’t looked back once.
  • Bose 700: Bose has some of the highest-quality headphones on the market. The Bose QC35s were my longtime go-to headphones, but the battery started to go after close to 6 years of usage. The 700s are almost as good, but they changed the form factor and adjusted how you change volume or pause/play music.
  • AirPods Pros (1st Generation): I use these when I am out at a coworking space, on a walk, or doing yard work. They have fantastic noise-canceling for the small form factor, and the battery life is long enough for the use cases.
  • Apple iPad Air (5th Generation): iPads are really consumption devices. I use them when I travel to watch TV or movies. At home, they’re my YouTube device and sometimes my way to read news or books on a large screen. I rarely use them as a work device unless I work remotely at a coffee shop and want an extra monitor.
  • HomePod Mini: Homepods have fairly good sound quality, plus the Homepod doubles as a Thread Border router and has Siri. Now, Siri isn’t the best digital assistant, but I am plugged to Homekit and Apple’s ecosystem.
  • Eero 6+ Router: It’s a router. It has an easy-to-use companion app, and it’s easy to deal with. Never have had any issues.
  • MX Master / Apple Trackpad / Lift: Mice and input devices are hard for me. My right (dominant) hand had several surgeries when I was a kid from a birth defect. I haven’t struggled using devices or life, but the middle scroll wheel is hard for how my hand sits. I often use a MX Master mouse, but more recently, I have been testing out the Apple Trackpad and the Logitech Lift. I’m not sure where I will settle, but it’s a toss-up.
  • Gaming PC: Gaming has always been a hobby of mine. I started gaming on a PlayStation 2. I later upgraded to a GameCube, a Wii, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Xbox One S. After all those years, I finally upgraded to a gaming PC in 2022. The computer has an Intel Core i5, 16GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive, a 1TB SSD, and a Nvidia 3070 Ti, all tied together with an ASRock Motherboard. The computer is pre-built, but I have added some hardware over the past year or two.
  • Keyboards: I started collecting mechanical keyboards in 2023. They’re an upgrade from Apple’s keyboards or other mass-market keyboards. I love the ability to style them and how they become art pieces. My collection is growing, and if you are interested, you can find more info on my personal website.

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