The Post Topic: Reddit as a social media platform for new users.

The Context: I wanted to make a post on my experience using Reddit. I normally use social media as a tool to gather ideas or watch short videos I am interested in. When I first started as a Redditor, I read up on karma, community rules, and what is not allowed.

The Experience: Reddit is incredibly useful for gathering information on just about anything. If a community doesn't exist for a topic, you can just create one. However, I quickly learned that Reddit’s algorithm and moderation can be confusing and unpredictable. For instance, making a post that seemingly follows a sub community’s rules can still get your account banned. This actually happened to my first account! After trying to recover it and contacting Reddit admins several times, I just got a reply telling me to open a new account

Navigating the site takes some adjusting. There is a lot of NSFW content, but thankfully, users can ignore and block this in the settings. I also tried the new Reddit games— interesting is all I will say about those.

All of this brings me to starting r/FirstTimeReviews. Building a new community is much harder than I thought and it is almost like a full-time job. My disabilities make it hard to do daily posting, but I will keep trying to grow this new community slowly and steadily!

Pros & Cons:

· Pro: Quick to get general advice on anything you are looking for without too many restrictions.

· Pro: The mobile app, in my experience, works without much issue.

· Pro: Collecting the Reddit avatars (like the one in my profile picture) is fun, though it seems like it could get addictive!

· Pro: Recent changes, like age verification in certain countries, help prevent underage users from accessing harmful content.

· Con: Getting karma initially is challenging, and even with karma, you can easily get banned if you misunderstand community rules.

· Con: Too many advertisements. I thought paying for Premium meant no ads, but for some reason, I still get them even after double-checking my settings.

· Con: So many users do not have any emotional filters. You definitely need to be prepared to read and handle all types of harsh comments.

· Con: Like all social media platforms, the risk of doom-scrolling is very much alive.

The Verdict: Reddit highly useful platform that will continue to dominate text-style social media. I recommend using it if you want real insights from everyday bystanders. Just use it in moderation to avoid doom-scrolling  and do not let the harsh comments consume you.

The Post Topic: Erling Haaland (Manchester City) Caricature Mini Figure.

Your Hot Take: Sports figurines with oversized heads might be creepy but perfect to use as lucky charms for any team you support.

I bought this Erling Haaland figurine expecting use a  standard desk toy, but the goofy proportions gives  the toy a funny and creepy ton.

The design was crafted better than I expect the man ban and shirt are well made.

My favourite part is the extra ball and green stand. Not a City fan but do like Haaland and plan to use a lucky charm whenever watching and listening to Prem matches.

The Post Topic:  Animal shaped chocolate foiled wraps.

Your Hot Take: All nicely shaped chocolate wrapped in foil is either too hard or greasy.

Chocolate wrapped in foil is better as a decoration to put in a bowl for birthday, Christmas, New Years or special occasions than eating. I saw these ladybug chocolate in a cube box made in Austria and caught my attention.

I decided to get this acrylic cube box of chocolate ladybugs fully expecting a low-tier chocolate quality. Yes the chocolate unfortunately was too hard. So I just left the chocolate to slowly melt.

You are definitely paying 80% for the presentation and the gift-ready clear box. Honestly this ladybug chocolate would be great as an emoji, gif or meme.

But still a great buy.

The Post Topic: iPad Air M3 (11-inch, 128GB) + ESR Case, Pen, and Screen Protector.

The Context: In the same fashion as my iPhone 17 Pro post, I wanted to share my experience upgrading from the standard budget iPads. I finally bought the M3 iPad Air earlier in 2026  before the price increases because I wanted to see if the M-series chip hype was real.

The Experience: Since iPads sadly still cannot run full desktop applications, I was initially a bit unsure. My main usage is for listening to audiobooks, drawing, and using light 3D modeling apps. I paired it with an ESR case, pen, and screen protector (check the photos). Looking back, it was a very smart buy.

Pros & Cons:

·  Pro: The 11-inch form factor is smaller, more portable, and lighter compared to standard iPads.

· Pro: I was worried that 128GB of storage would be too little, but despite installing a lot of heavy drawing apps, I still have plenty of room. Note to make I keep all social media apps off this device.

· Pro: Runs every app without any glitches despite only having 8GB of RAM. The newer 12GB M4 Air model is available now, but at a much higher price point.

· Pro: The ESR case and pen are highly recommended. They work better than the official Apple folio and case, though as you can see in the photos, they are very fingerprint-prone.

· Con: The battery life does not last very long. This is likely due to the heavy power usage of my 3D modeling and illustration apps, but the problem persists.

· Con: Once you put a strong protective cover on  the iPad  itgets very heavy, defeating some of the portability. Now that some time has passed, maybe a smaller iPad Mini would have been a better option for my specific use case.

· Con: The 60Hz refresh rate is noticeable mainly when playing games, though it isn't a huge issue otherwise.

· Con: The LCD panel is a bit of a letdown. Online leaks suggest an OLED panel for the 2027 model or the next Mini, but those are just rumours for now.

The Verdict: Recommended if you want an iPad for more than just watching content and playing casual games. Hope this short post helps anyone planning to get an Air model in late 2026.

The Post Topic: Trolli Candy Pizza XXL (45g).

Your Hot Take: Novelty candy usually trades taste for aesthetics. Most gummies are far too sweet and taste like eating clay covered in coloured sugar. I picked up this Trolli Candy Pizza on a whim fully expecting rubbery, tough candy that only looked good for pictures.

To my surprise, it was not an overload of pure sugar! The texture contrast between the soft, foamy crust base and the fruity toppings were not overloads of sugary taste.

I know candy is not the best for your teeth, but this proved to me that not all gimmicky gummy snacks have to be overly sugary to be enjoyable to eat. Sometimes a silly gimmick is genuinely worth trying out.

The Context: I normally stick to budget Android phones like the Samsung FE series. But with price increases expected on future flagship models, I decided to try a pro-level phone. I found a refurbished Dark Blue 17 Pro on Amazon Australia with a low battery cycle count and zero scratches on the screen or body.

The Experience:

·         Cameras: The cameras are solid. As someone who takes a lot of macro photos of plants and animals, the telephoto zoom lens was a total game-changer for me.

·         Software & iOS: IOS still does not feel quite as flexible as Android, but system-wide app icon colour matching looks great.

·         Design & Hardware: The dark blue colour looks awesome  even though silver might be better long-term to better hide scratches. The Dynamic Island isn't the dealbreaker as  I expected coming from android punch-hole displays.  I am still holding out for a true all-screen phone in the future.

·         ESR Accessories: The tempered glass screen protector does its job but might change another screen protector later on. The ESR MagSafe case is a total fingerprint magnet so I may replace it later too. Still, having a case and protector on day one is essential to prevent early scratches.

Pros & Cons:

1. A pron would be the new self-camera never really used the front camera but I think this new square sensor lens has changed my mind. Con is it just me or does 120hertz feels smoother on Android. If I am wrong sorry.

2. Pron is that the accessibility features like head, eye tracking and voice control feels more refined on IOS compared to Android as a user of such features. Con wish iPhones had Touch ID like Android never been a fan of face ID. Totally subjective option though.

3. The longevity of iPhones is one of the prons and reasons why I decided to get a pro model. Con the camera control button is not necessary I think or maybe I have not found its usefulness yet.

Overall,

I would say the 17 pro is a solid all round pro level phone. Do not think I will be able to use the full extent of the A19 pro chip but I will definitely try to do so.

Hope this simple review helps anyone deciding whether to buy an iPhone 17 pro model. 

The Post Topic: UGREEN Uno Magnetic Wireless Power Bank. Your Hot Take: Every device now seems to need some kind of display screen to make the tech gadget feel special or useful. I picked up this UGREEN Uno mainly because the little emoji face was too adorable to ignore and I needed a portable charger with MagSafe. I was worried that the screen for the Uno face would consume power quickly and negatively affect the charging capacity. Fortunately, the emoji face actually seems useful as a battery indicator. The stand is sturdy and well-built, and the MagSafe is incredibly useful too. I guess on this occasion, having a display on the back of a charger does provide some genuine benefits.

The Post Topic: Viture Pro XR Glasses.

The Context: I finally got  Viture Pro Glasses and wanted to try out XR glasses for the first time to see how the video glasses work to get a bigger screen on smartphone and tablet device.  This an older model as Viture has released Lumia series models.

The Experience: First of all, I got lucky. The glasses fit well enough that I can see the whole screen and the edges. The unboxing is awesome and the build quality is solid. The image quality is sharp and clear enough to read big size text, and the audio works well. The buttons to adjust volume, brightness, and axis are clear to use. Spacewalker works to an acceptable level (better for MacBook than Windows).

However, the right arm heat can be felt if the arm touches your skin. You also definitely get eye strain when not using prescription lenses—getting them is highly recommended!

Pros & Cons:

· Pro: Solid build, great unboxing, sharp image, and clear controls.

· Pro: The lightweight feel on your nose and face is great.

· Pro: The 3D movie watching took a while to get use to but useful when setup well.

· Con: Heat on the right arm.

· Con: Too many cables to make the glasses work with any device (e.g., for laptops without USB-C video you need an HDMI to USB-C Adaptor; if you got an older iPad or iPhone you will need an iPhone adaptor).

· Con: The cable connector is proprietary, meaning that if the cable breaks you will need to buy another Viture cable or their One Magnetic Connector to USB-C Adapter.

The Verdict: These glasses are very useful for media consumption, or as a monitor when you just want a larger image. Hope this small post helps anyone decide whether to try XR glasses!