The ColorCoral Cleaning Gel is a stinky viscous goop that, unlike most
stinky viscous goops, is designed to make devices clean, rather than cover
them in stinky viscous goop. The goop is ideal for keyboards, but it works
on other computer peripherals too. The stink isn’t horrible, by the way – it’s
a heady mix of citrus with hopefully enough of a cleaning chemical note to
it to deter curious children and pets from wanting to taste it.
Once you dig the gel out of the pot, you ball it up and squash it onto
whatever you want to clean, roll it around a bit and that’s all there is to it.
The effect of such a haphazard cleaning method is surprising - the gel
removes dust and any other material that isn’t firmly stuck to your device
very effectively.
Despite the goopiness of the gel, the ColorCoral can’t get too deep in
between keys or
other spaces, so
it’s a surface-level
job at best. If you
want to clean an
object fairly well,
but you’re short on
time, the ColorCoral gel is ideal.KLIM BAMBOO LAPTOP
COOLER / £24.97 inc VAT
SUPPLIER amazon.co.uk
Custom kit
Phil Hartup checks out the latest gadgets, gizmos and geek toys
REVIEWS / CUSTOM KIT
The iXpand takes the idea of the simple wireless
charger and turns it into a relatively complicated
wireless charger and phone backup system.
When you put the phone on to charge, it backs up
all the data, which you can then access via an app
if you want to restore it to your phone, or to a new
phone that you’ve paired with the device.
Power is provided by a micro-USB port or a mains plug,
and the iXpand connects to your phone via Bluetooth and
then to the same Wi-Fi network as your phone. It uses a 2.4GHz
connection only though – it won’t work with 5GHz, which can be
SANDISK iXPAND WIRELESS CHARGER SYNC /£99.99 inc VAT for 256GB
SUPPLIER westerndigital.com
The propensity for laptop coolers to look like spaceships can be off-
putting, and the usual alternative is to go with a sleek or minimalist
design. In this case, however, KLIM has taken a completely different
approach, creating what’s ostensibly a ventilated chopping board upon
which to rest a laptop. Surprisingly, it’s a very natural fit.
The base is a chunk of bamboo with big vents cut into it for the
twin 130mm fans underneath. The illuminated fans, two USB ports
and speed control are located in a plastic compartment underneath,
which is coloured to match the wood. There are fold-out legs on the
back and a removable wooden bracket on the front to prevent the
laptop from sliding off. The fans aren’t too loud, and while a metal
cooler would conduct heat, and wood is an insulator, the airflow is still
fine for cooling a laptop.
The use of
illuminated fans
with a visually
rustic device
is faintly
absurd, but
it works.
COLORCORAL CLEANING
GEL / £10.99 inc VAT
SUPPLIER amazon.co.ukWood pun Would not Bleached coral Coloured coral
inconvenient if it means swapping your phone to a lower speed. You can
secure the data on the iXpand by creating an account, or using a PIN
that it generates on setup, so that you can transfer the backup to
a new phone.
The charger is quick and can function reliably through
thin phone cases, but it struggles with any barrier
over 3mm thick. The minor inconvenience of Wi-Fi
speed notwithstanding, this is a very slick device that
handles its tasks with cool assurance.Back down Backup