Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 Three Months Review

I've been using the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 for nearly 3 months now, and it is undoubtedly the best android-based tablet I've been fortunate enough to get my hands on. While it is true that there are several tablets out there that could outclass the Tab S 8.4, very few are in the same price range as this beast.

Everything, ranging from cutting edge fingerprint sensing technology, to an incredible aesthetic design can be found on this 8.4 inch stunner. As to the build of the S 8.4, it's back is the same kind of perforated faux leather that gives a firm grip on the tablet, a bit of reassurance perhaps, when using an otherwise delicate device. It has different color options, of which I picked the Titanium-Bronze color, which changes its color when viewed from different angles.


At 6.6 mm, the S 8.4 is currently the 4th thinnest tablet on the market, being only 1 mm thicker than the thinnest. Despite its slimness and lightness at 298 g (10.51 oz.), the S 8.4 does not hold back on performance with a powerful Exonys Octa Core processor clocked at 1.9 GHz coupled with 3 GB of RAM for seamless multitasking, along with the Adreno 330 GPU. Another version of the tab is loaded with a quad core Krait Processor clocked at 2.3 GHz and again, 3 GB of RAM, the gamer's choice.

Along with all this, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 offers upto 32 GB internal storage and a maximum of 128 GB expandable storage, enough to never run out, on a tablet at-least.

The S 8.4 was manufactured with stock Android 4.4.2 Kitkat, latest at the time of making, but mine shipped with Android 5.0.2 Lollipop with zero lag but maybe a bit of bloatware, nothing that wasn't manageable though.

The best part of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 is undoubtedly its display, with a beautiful 2560 x 1600 Super AMOLED Gorilla Glass Display with a pixel density of ~359 ppi for crisp colors, a real visual treat. Also, the screen-to-body ratio is 76.5%, which makes the 8.4 inch display look bigger than it actually is, also thanks to the thin (gold) bezels that ornate the sides of the tablet.

Moving on to the Camera quality, the tablet has an 8 MP snapper on the rear and a 2.1 MP on the front with a recording capability of 1080p @ 30 fps, not the best, but definitely not less than you'll need for day to day use. Personally, I found the camera to be very satisfactory.

As to sound quality, maybe this is where Samsung messed up. The two speakers on the Tab S 8.4 are placed on the sides of the tablet ( in landscape mode ), even though it was made for portrait use, and this makes thing a bit tough to hear if you are holding the tablet like we normally do. The sound quality is very nice, but this one defect is certainly a downer. 

Now we get to my favorite part of the Tab S 8.4, its battery life. The S 8.4 packs a huge 4900 mAh battery, that could easily last you 3 days with varied usage on a single charge. It ships with a Travel Adapter that can charge the tab to full capacity in less than an hour and even has an ultra power saving mode that will make the S 8.4 last anywhere between 20 - 50 days (different people get different values, based on how long they've used the Tab, mine was 35.8 days. Brand new ones offer 49 days) probably just in case you get stranded on a middle-of-nowhere island.

Additional features include an IR Blaster on the top (landscape view) edge of the Tab S 8.4, so you can control your TV without looking for the remote (YES!), all bands of Wi-Fi support and even Wi-Fi Direct. I did seem to have a little trouble with the Headphone jack at first. It would work fine with regular headphones / earphones, but it had trouble completely fitting my ATH-M30x, but the problem appeared to fix itself all of a sudden, must have been dust in the port.

That was all I could get out of the Tab before I lost it in an unfortunate car accident (a falling foldable car seat impaled it along with all my books in my bag, even the hardcover ones, Gorilla Glass didn't stand a chance there).

Thanks for reading this review, hope you liked it and don't forget to share and follow to keep an eye out for more similar posts!

-The Guy With Random Stuff

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Audio Technica Headphones ATH-M30x Review

I've spent nearly 6 months with the ATH-M30x and for those of you torn about whether or not to buy them, I'm here to help you make up your mind.

The M30x from Japanese manufacturer Audio Technica has a lot to offer for an otherwise slim price tag of a hundred dollars.

Why don't we begin at the build and design? 

The M30xs are made like most closed-back headphones in this price range. They're foldable, and can fit into pretty tight spaces when folded, so portability is a yes. They're fairly light at 220 grams (7.8 oz) so they don't weigh down on your head, and the plastic definitely feels sturdy, so I'm not really worried about dropping them.

What does worry me is the pair of  exposed wires running up the side of the headphones from near the cups to the band that covers the head. They appear vulnerable and flimsy and constantly have me wondering what would happen if they were to get snipped off. They are really thin after all. However, I haven't had any problems with those yet, and they definitely make the M30x look more sophisticated and professional for some reason.

The cups are large enough to fit over most ears and are very comfortable with soft padding. The only problem you would face with the cup design is the heating problem they come with because they're closed-back. The M30x doesn't heat up too much though, and you'll get used to it after a few days of use. Using it for more than 30 minutes at a stretch will certainly get your ears sweating, but it's not really that uncomfortable.

Moving on to Audio Quality, the reason you're actually reading this review. You may have heard that the ATH-M30x's are good, but just how good are they, really? Are they worth a hundred dollars? Well, it would be a safe bet to say that they are. I am a serious pianist and a budding composer and I use these Professional Studio Monitor headphones all the time with my keyboard and computers.

They have an excellent bass response, with the Bass frequency going all the way down to 15 Hz (15 Hertz), which happens to be way below the human hearing capability, so it shouldn't make a difference, but honestly, the vibrations they produce at frequencies that low are very pleasing to the ear.

They perform extremely satisfactorily in the mid-range segment as well, even for studio monitors. They seem to be just a bit lacking in the higher ranges though, possibly because of their maximum frequency being capped at 22 kHz (22,000 Hertz). The average human adult's hearing capability extends only near to 17 kHz though, so the M30x doesn't really disappoint.

Given all that, if you want to buy these cans for piano use, don't worry, I use them myself. The M30x's are especially great if you play rock or heavy metal on your piano, thanks to their Bass capabilities.

Besides all that, the M30x's come with a 6.3 mm gold-plated adapter for their standard 3.5 mm jack (also gold-plated) which screws on to the jack and doesn't come off unless you want it to. Also, the adapter can be used with other 3.5 mm audio jacks.

The 3 meter audio cable is, regrettably, not detachable, but that doesn't pose much of a problem and the cable attaches only to one side for ease of use, so that's a plus point that should balance it out.

They also come with this durable pouch for you to keep your headphones and wires in, which is pretty cool.

In conclusion, the Audio Technica M30x (ATH-M30x) is an excellent product put forth by the company for budget buyers, so if you're on a limited credit flow, then these headphones will no disappoint. 

However, it is recommended to look into higher end headphones if your wallet lets you as they just may prove to be a better choice.

That's all that's there for now, and if I helped you make up your mind, I'm glad I was of service.

Allow me to help you a bit further and provide you with a link to Amazon's website where you could pick these headphones up for the least price on the internet.

Click HERE  to buy the ATH-M30x for as low a price as you can. Any lower priced links are not from the official seller and can be extremely risky! This link is guaranteed by me to be safe.

Feel free to shoot any questions you may have regarding the product at me in the comments section below, and if you're wondering- no, the sound doesn't leak out. At least, not that I know of.
Also, if you don't mind an unauthorized seller, let me know in the comments and I'll get you a link to a seller with an even lesser price tag for these.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to share!

-The Guy With Random Stuff

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Clash Royale Arena 2 and Arena 3 Best Attack Strategies and Decks

I started playing Clash Royale a few days after it was released in my region and it sure is just as addictive as clash.

One problem we all seem to face is the extreme presence of strong players in Arena 2 and Arena 3, presumably because they've been dropping trophies. The only way you can beat such people is if you have a battle plan, an attack strategy in mind along with a battle deck that you are consistent with.

The most important part of planning a battle deck is confirming that you will most likely only make small changes in it from time to time, you will not be changing the entire deck. If you manage to remain consistent with your deck and upgrade only the cards relevant to your deck, you'll end up with much stronger cards and more gold than you'll ever need.

This post is to guide you in building the best battle deck for arena 2 and 3. There are multiple ways of attacking in these two arenas, but we'll just be looking at two such methods.

Before we tackle these two methods, we need to have a look at how to build up troops : 

There are two ways to build up troops on your side of the arena before they ravage your opponent's side. 

One method is to save up to 10 elixir and then drop you tank troops at the very back of your arena. Then save up again until your tank troop reaches the border between the two sides and launch all your small troops behind your tank troop at once.

The other way to build up troops on your side of the arena is by waiting for the opponent to drop a tank troop, like a Giant. then drop all your small troops to deal with the Giants one by one, until they all cluster around him and when the opponents tank troop goes down, drop your tank troop ahead of your small units.

Now let's have a look at the two attack strategies to take out your opponent with ease -

1. Swarming : This method works by building up a lot of troops behind a tank troop like Giants or Barbarians. These troops have to be small units that are large in number, like Skeletons, Goblins and Minions. You should launch a mix of both flying and ground troops so both groups can't be taken out at once.

You can even add the Baby Dragon ahead of the Minions, or right behind the Giant, or even as a substitute for the Giants to mix the strategy up a little. 

Finally, the presence of a Rage Spell can have a huge impact on how this strategy works, as you'll be raging up a huge group of troops.

Drawback : If your opponent has a card that deals splash damage, like the Valkyrie or the Baby Dragon, then you're in for a tough battle.

I use this method frequently to annihilate opponents in arena 2 and 3.

2. All tank troops : This is a method I use even in arena 4 from time to time. In this attack strategy you save up to 10 elixir again, then deploy your bulkiest troop at the back of your own arena. Then deploy your main attacking force behind the main tank troop one by one as he moves ahead. 

This is similar to the Swarming method, except all the cards here are bulky. Once again, the presence of a Rage Spell here can drastically change the effects of your squadron, and in most cases this method can take out a crown tower in less than 5 seconds.

Drawback :  The most efficient way of dealing with tank troops from your opponents side is by deploying small units from your side, but if you are using all tank troops, like the Mini Pekka, Valkyries, Baby Dragons etc. you will have trouble dealing with the opponent's tank troops.

That wraps it up for the two most viable methods for attacking in arena 2 and 3 in Clash Royale. 

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to share this post.

-The Guy With Random Stuff

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LeTV / LeEco Le 1s First Week Review

With the arrival of the LeTV / LeEco Le 1s sometime in January, the standards for budget smartphones have changed radically.

What we are looking at is quite possibly the best budget smartphone so far to ever be released. What makes the Le 1s so special, such that the phone manufacturers ran out of stock in the first 15 minutes of their first three flash sales on Flipkart?

After spending my first week with the phone, I believe that I may be able to answer that question.

LeEco has held nothing back in the manufacturing of the Le 1s, ranging from a beautiful and sleek full metal unibody to a mirror coated fingerprint sensor with a staggering recognition time of 0.1 seconds, the Le 1s has everything you'd expect from a top-of-the-line flagship smartphone.

Although it may appear that some of the design and software are similar to Apple, who doesn't like Apple's aesthetics, right?

The Le 1s sports a MediaTek Helio X10 chipset, giving the phone an extremely powerful 64 bit octacore processor that can clock upto 2.2 GHz alongside 3 GB of RAM to provide smooth transition between applications and a snappy gamer experience.

The Le 1s has three touch buttons on the bottom metal of the phone, not on the screen.

The camera might be a bit of a let down after all those impressive specs, although it's a 13 MP snapper in the rear, and 5 MP in the front. The main reason for this is the unsatisfactory photos the Le 1s takes in low light due to its tiny flash. Daylight photos are crisp and clear though and the camera's auto focus speed is alright.

As for video recording, the Le 1s can record videos in upto 4K video quality and even record in slow-mo to playback at 4 times or 2 times slower real time speed.

In terms of connectivity, the phone supports all Wi-Fi bands and has a dual sim option with 4G/LTE support on both the sims.

One slot is a micro-sim slot and the other is a nano-sim slot.

The Le 1s offers regular security options plus its super fast Fingerprint sensor, which can also be used to make quick payments with the help of certain apps.

The phone also has an IR Blaster (InfraRed Blaster) located at the top edge of the phone, right next to its headphone jack.

The phone does appear to heat up occasionally, but that''s probably the consequence of the full metal body and the super fast processor that the Le 1s boasts of. Also, the heating doesn't go to uncomfortable levels and will seem fine once you get used to it.

The Le 1s has two speakers on the bottom side of the phone, where the charging port is located, and the audio quality is high and pleasing to the ear. so far, there have been no complaints about the speakers.

The 32 GB storage that the Le 1s offers is sadly not expandable,

but this does not pose much of a problem as most phones of today still offer the standard 16 GB storage, and 32 GB should last you pretty long.

The Le 1s houses a massive 3000 mAh Li-Po battery (for a phone) which powers its 5.5 inch FHD screen (1080x1920) with a Pixel Density of 403 PPI, which displays some pretty impressive colors, even in bright sunlight. 

Li-Po stands for Lithium Polymer, a type of battery not very different from the standard Li-Ion (Lithium Ion) batteries found in most devices. Li-Po batteries can't store as much charge as a Li-ion battery, but their upside is that they don't degrade in performance like Li-ion batteries do. Moreover, 3000 mAh is more than you'll ever need with today's applications, and the phone worked just fine for me two days straight with varied usage.

The Le 1s' charger has the new standard USB Type-C cable on the phone end that, along with its Quick Charger, supports faster charging, and soon enough, phone-to-phone transfer over a wire.

The other end of the cable is a rather unusual, modified USB Type-A port, that works such that you can attach it in to the adapter without worrying about which side is up, just like the Type-C port. This makes charging your phone less of a hassle and shows that LeTV / LeEco really did think of the little things.

Based on my experience, the Le 1s charges about 2 percent every minute if you're not using it while it charges, and can thus charge from an empty to a full battery in less than an hour, and will easily last for more than a day. Seeing as battery life is something we consider no matter how good the phone, the Le 1s sure doesn't let down in that field.

Besides all that, the phone supports Bluetooth 4.1 and A-GPS, all must haves. What the Le 1s does NOT have is support for FM Radio, rather shocking , to be honest, but not much of a problem. I don't use the Radio anyway. Move on.

With that, we pretty much clear up all the technical aspects of the Le 1s, and the bottom line is that is is pretty much the Best Budget Smartphone ever released, and is a must buy if you are looking for  a premium phone with budget pricing.

Thanks for reading my review, and don't forget to share.

-The Guy With Random Stuff

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