Best Bluetooth Speaker under 2000 Rs / 30$ : PORTRONICS SOUND DRUM 10W (Water Resistant)

Modes and Connectivity Options

Portronics Sound Drum is a 10 watt Bluetooth Speaker that looks good and sounds good. First of all, this speaker has 4 modes- Bluetooth mode, FM Radio Mode, Aux Mode and USB mode. The Bluetooth version is 4.2. To turn on the speaker, just press the top circular button for 3 seconds and it will turn on. By default, it should enter Bluetooth mode and the blue light will start blinking, which indicates that it is waiting for a Bluetooth device to be paired. You can simply pair your phone or another Bluetooth audio source with it and start playing audio. Just open Bluetooth settings in your phone and "Sound Drum" will be listed. If you don't see it in the list, just refresh and it should be there. After pairing, the blue light will be constant. To increase the volume of your phone or any other audio device that is connected, press and hold the plus button, and the minus button to decrease the volume. To change the mode to FM Radio mode, simply press the same circular button once. The volume level of the phone sometimes goes down to 0% when the device gets paired with the phone. Then after a few seconds, it automatically goes back to the normal volume level and then works just fine. However, it may be an issue with my phone or Bluetooth version incompatibility. So, not exactly sure about that and surely it is not a deal breaker. When you turn on the device, it will resume the same mode which was activated when it was turned on the last time. So, if it was in FM Radio mode before turning off, it will start with FM Radio mode when you turn it on again.

Below this rubber flap, there is a LED light at the top which is also visible when the flap is closed. Then there is a full sized USB port and that means you can use a pen drive or even a card reader to play music. Below that, there is an auxiliary port or Aux port and in Aux mode, you need to plug-in an 3.5mm Aux cable from your audio source (laptop, smartphone etc.) to the speaker and it will automatically enter the Aux mode. In aux mode, it has independent volume control and it will not change the volume of the connected device directly.

The most Important Aspect : Sound Quality!

The Portronics Sound Drum has dual 5 watt speakers. The sound output was good and the loudness of the sound is really surprisingly high for it's size. It is really loud and while editing it's unboxing / review video for YouTube, I had to get the volumes down in a few places in this video where this speaker was playing music. It has a dedicated bass radiator too and again it sounds surprisingly good for the price. The bass radiator is upwards firing. The sound is like 360 degree sound though it is not confirmed but it seems that way. It has an inbuilt microphone. That means, you can use it to take calls with it's really loud speakers.

How does it look?

It looks good with it's textured body, it is kind of braided and made with special synthetic fibers which also makes it water resistant! No specific water resistance rating was provided in the specifications mentioned in the Portronics website but it is mentioned there that this device is protected against water splashing and light rain. The rubber flap protects the ports from liquid spilling. I was really amazed to witness it's water resistance capabilities. I am really impressed!

Battery Life

It has a 1800mAh battery inbuilt. Portronics claims that it has a playback time of 6 hours. As per my testing, if you use it with 50% to 60% volume most of the time, you will get close to 6 hours of playback time. You can charge it with a regular smartphone charger or power bank or even from the USB port of your laptop or desktop with any Micro-USB cable or the supplied one. The led will be red while charging and when the charging is complete, the led will turn off automatically.

A Few Downsides

A few things that I don't like about this product is that the button clicks feel a little cheap. You have to apply some pressure to click the buttons and the clicky sounds are towards the cheaper side. So, the buttons could have been smoother. There is no native SD / MicroSD card support. Again, you can use a card reader for the same (it has a full sized USB port) but a dedicated card slot would have been even better.

Price and Where to Buy?

This Bluetooth Speaker comes with a really attractive price. The price usually varies from 1800 Rs. to 2300 Rs. in different online stores and you should check where it is available for the lowest price. Check out the following links from where you can buy the Portronics Sound Drum :

Flipkart (India) - https://goo.gl/62KnsM
Amazon (India) - https://goo.gl/K1GvXy


Similar Bluetooth Speaker @ Amazon (US) - https://goo.gl/PSDBdX

Check Out the Review Video on YouTube

Credit Card vs. Debit Card vs. ATM card - Comparison

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• A Credit card or Debit card or ATM card is issued usually by a bank. However, some other service providers are also issuing Credit cards nowadays.
• Debit cards and ATM cards are directly linked to your bank account but a Credit card is not linked to a bank account, that means Debit cards are prepaid.

• Credit card and debit card, both are used to make payments to merchants or sellers for goods and services, while an ATM card is only used to withdraw cash from ATMs. So, a Credit or Debit card can be used online or in POS machines in shops and other places to pay.
• Debit and credit cards offer multiple ways to access money without any need to carry cash or a checkbook around. Debit cards are more like digitized versions of checkbooks; they are linked to your bank account, and money is withdrawn or debited from the account as soon as the transaction occurs. Credit cards are different; they offer a line of credit or loan that is interest-free if the monthly credit card bill is paid on time. But if you fail to pay the bill on time, there will be a fine or interest rate applied with the main payable sum. Instead of being connected to a personal bank account, a credit card is connected to the bank or financial institution that issued the card. So when you use a credit card, the issuer or bank pays the merchant on behalf of you and you go into debt to the bank.

• Debit cards and ATM cards can be used to withdraw cash from ATMs because they are linked to your bank account. But on the other hand, usually a Credit card cannot be used to withdraw cash because, yes you guessed it right, they are not linked to a bank account. Then again, nowadays Credit cards can actually be used to withdraw cash from ATMs which is considered as “cash in advance” and those transactions are not free, they are chargeable.
• Nowadays, ATM cards are becoming rare day by day because an ATM card has only one job which is withdrawing cash and a Debit card can serve that purpose. So, the banks endorse Debit cards more.
• Let’s talk about EMIs now. EMI (Equated Monthly Installments) is easily available with Credit cards but not with Debit cards. Then again, nowadays EMI can be availed with Debit cards as well in limited scenarios and the availability varies from bank to bank and merchant to merchant.
• Yearly charges and other service charges vary from bank to bank for Credit and Debit Cards and many banks offer 0 yearly charges. “Per transaction” charges for Debit cards are coming down day by day and mostly there are no such charges.

• There are lots of payment network companies like VISA, MasterCard, Maestro, American Express, Rupay etc. on the Credit and Debit cards but not on the ATM cards because ATM cards are not used to pay online or offline merchants or sellers. The banks work in collaboration with the payment network companies to make the whole payment system going.
• Last but not the least, a credit check is required to get a Credit card. The bank will check your credit history and maybe current financial status. It is done from their end to make sure that you are well able to pay the money back after spending it with the Credit card. But a debit card does not require such credit check because it is prepaid.

Google Made a Cricket Game ?

Google has made a new doodle and it is dedicated to the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2017 which is set to be played among the top 8 cricket playing countries. These 8 countries are India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Indies, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and England. The tournament has started on 24th June 2017 and will go on till 23rd July with a total number of 17 matches. The Match schedule can be found here and all other details including the points table can be found here. So, the 2-dimensional game made by Google is pretty much simple and easy to play but it packs a lots of fun! The batting team is a team of cricket bugs and the fielding/bowling team is a team of snails. There are no run-outs, catch-outs and no other way of getting yourself out. The only way you can get out is to mistiming the shot and getting bowled. Watch the gameplay video and you can play the game yourself from the link provided in the description of the video -

Can You 3D Print Food? Print Your Breakfast Pancake

It may sound weird, really weird but this is happening for real. A pancake is being 3D printed with custom designs. The print-job is happening while the pancake is being cooked. The temperature of the pan can be adjusted too. I wish we all have this in our kitchens one day :-) Check out the video posted by YouTuber JerryRigEverything.

Flipkart buys eBay India after raising a record $1.4 billion in funds

In the largest ever ecommerce deal in India and the biggest ever funding round in India’s startup ecosystem, Flipkart raised a total of $1.4 billion from Microsoft, Tencent, eBay. After the deal, eBay India will become a part of the Flipkart group. With this fresh fund, Flipkart’s current valuation is now over $11.6 billion. Microsoft, Tencent and eBay now join Naspers Group, Tiger Global Management, DST Global and Accel Partners as investors in Flipkart.

The most remarkable part of this deal is that eBay India will now operate under Flipkart! eBay is making a cash investment and selling its eBay India business to Flipkart in exchange for an equity stake in Flipkart. However, eBay.in will continue to operate as an independent entity as a part of Flipkart.

eBay and Flipkart have also signed a cross-border trade agreement. As a result, customers of Flipkart will be able to access the global inventory of eBay and eBay’s customers will have access to the Indian inventory handled by Flipkart. Flipkart's selleres will now have the opportunity to expand their sales globally on eBay.


Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, Founders of Flipkart said - “We are delighted that Tencent, eBay and Microsoft — all innovation powerhouses — have chosen to partner with us on their India journey. We have chosen these partners based on their long histories of pioneering industries, and the unique expertise and insights each of them bring to Flipkart. This deal reaffirms our resolve to hasten the transformation of commerce in India through technology.”


Martin Lau, Tencent President said - “This strategic partnership enables Tencent to participate in the exciting opportunities in e-commerce and payments in India. We look forward to helping Flipkart to deliver compelling experiences to users throughout India, and to contribute to the development of the internet ecosystem there”.


Devin Wenig, President and CEO of eBay Inc said - “The combination of eBay’s position as a leading global e-commerce company and Flipkart’s market stature will allow us to accelerate and maximize the opportunity for both companies in India”.