Running has been a form of meditation for most people. To some, it’s a time where your mind goes blank, allowing you to have a break from your stimulated mind.

For others, like yours truly, it’s a moment to sort out thoughts and emotions after having a preoccupied day. A common denominator between runners is doing the activity alone, accompanied only by their smartwatches, a hydration flask, and good music.

I’ve been using true wireless earbuds to accompany me on my runs, but the advent of JBL Soundgear Sense piqued my curiosity.

What is it like to use open-ear headphones when out for a run? To find the answers, I used the Soundgear Sense during my ongoing race season.

Take the long way home

As I put on mileage for my upcoming races, I have been required by my coach to add more slow runs to improve my aerobic base. That entails long, boring runs for an hour or two.

Imagine the agony of finishing a minimum of 10-kilometers by relying on your heart rate and not your pace. That was when I sought solace from the JBL Soundgear Sense.

I didn’t realize that having open-ear headphones would allow me to take on scenic and busy routes without worry that a car might hit me.

Unlike when I use true wireless earbuds that fit snugly in my ears, the Soundgear Sense are hooked and clipped on the curve of my ears without covering the ear canal.

This allowed me to hear my surroundings while still enjoying my favorite songs from Taylor Swift and BINI, a rising P-pop girl group.

Open but still private

Even if the Soundgear Sense has an open-ear design, rest assured that there’s zero sound leakage. JBL’s OpenSound technology made sure that the sound pressure is directed through waves towards the ears, while also reducing sound dispersion.

There’s a certain shame in having people find out whom you’re listening to. Maybe because you don’t intend to share the music you’re enjoying. But if you opt to share your jam, might as well have a Bluetooth speaker, right?

That’s why I liked the idea of keeping it open but still private — in relationships and my wearable. I get to enjoy “Pantropiko” and “Salamin, Salamin” by BINI all by lonesome, while still attuned to my surroundings.

It also helps that each earbud has a 16.2mm driver with a unique bass-enhancing algorithm. The sound allowed me to immerse myself in the songs I was playing, but still aware of the external noises of the streets. Somehow, the Soundgear Sense felt like a second, inner voice whispering thoughts through music.

Hybrid design for hybrid athletes

I don’t just run. I also lift on the same day right after running. Being a hybrid athlete allows me to prepare my body from the demands of multi-sports training and partaking on a Spartan race.

I like how the Soundgear Sense has a hybrid design that makes it apt for different type of workouts. Its adjustable earhooks are clipped perfectly, which doesn’t fall off even when I’m doing plyometrics. It’s also steadily in place even if I sprint and/or do some speed training.

Even when I’m heavily sweating, the Soundgear Sense didn’t slip off. With an IP54 rating, it’s dust-, splash-, and sweat-resistant.

Also, the way it’s designed is secured to fit on whatever activities you have, regardless of sweating. Except gymnastics and parkour, though.

The Soundgear Sense might fall off after you hang or flip from those extreme activities that require being suspended in the air.

For added security, there’s an included neckband inside the box. However, I hate having something dangling on my nape so I never used it.

Moreover, I couldn’t last more than an hour having it clipped even with a supposed hybrid design. It hurts my ears eventually, and I feel like someone was pinching my ears and I couldn’t do anything.

If I have runs for more than an hour, I’d opt not wearing both earbuds.

Easy connectivity

One thing I like about JBL is how easy it is to connect your wearables to your smartphones, be it an iPhone or an Android.

Once both devices are paired, flipping open the case will instantly connect the Soundgear Sense to your smartphone.

While running, I don’t have to constantly check my phone since the Soundgear Sense, along with my Garmin epix Pro (Gen 2), helps me stay connected. With just a single flick on the earbud, I can control my music, volume, and calls.

My friend, Betty, called me one time while I was out for an easy run and she barely realized I was running until I gasped for my breath when running on a steep incline. It’s convenient to have crisp and crystal-clear calls within your reach.

And to make it more convenient, the touch controls can be personalized to your liking. On the left earbud, it’s usually the volume control.

One tap and it increases the volume, while double tapping decreases it. When someone calls, you can double tap to respond or you can tap and hold to reject the call.

The right earbud uses the same call control, but it’s automatically set for playback control. You can switch earbuds depending on the gesture you prefer.

All of these customizations can be done using the My JBL Headphones app.

Definitely long lasting

I have had the Soundgear Sense for two weeks now, and both earbuds still have a half battery life from a single charge. As of writing, the left earbud still has 51% while the right earbud has 56%.

Thanks to its charging case, both earbuds keep recharging every time they’re stowed inside.

But if you’re wondering why the left earbud has a lower battery life, it’s not because I spend too much time watching adult-rated content.

A lot of times, I run with just the left earbud clipped on my ear to stay alert from my surroundings. Even with OpenSound technology, I tend to get lost in the music I’m listening to whenever I have both earbuds hooked.

Considering I’ve amassed more than 70km of running mileage for two weeks with almost 10 hours of running, the Soundgear Sense surprised me with its battery life.

I haven’t charged it since then, which made me wonder how fast it would really be, if I get to drain it down to zero and juice it back up to 100. Perhaps, stay tuned on my Instagram and TikTok accounts?

The Soundgear Sense is expected to let you listen wirelessly for up to 6 hours. You get an extended life of another 18 hours through the charging case. A quick 15-minute charge through the Type-C port gives an additional 4 hours of music.

Is this your GadgetMatch?

For an athlete, the JBL Soundgear Sense surely makes every run magical. The design and technology were innovated with runners in mind. The device integrates seamlessly to any type of active lifestyle.

It will boil down to preference, whether you enjoy an open-ear design clipped onto your ears or you’d enjoy an earbud blocking your ear canal.

As for me, I think I’ll switch and pick the Soundgear Sense to accompany me in my race season. It helps me immerse myself in good music, stay connected, while keeping me attuned to my surroundings. This ensures my safety when out for a run.

It’s easily a GadgetMatch for all types of athletes dedicated to fulfilling their training assignments. It’s also for fitness enthusiasts entering their “runnerist” era.

The JBL Soundgear Sense retails for PhP 9,499. It is available via JBL’s website and select, authorized retailers.

What is it like to spend a month with a midrange smartphone?

For someone spoiled with high-end, flagship smartphones, a watered-down experience terrifies me. I couldn’t fathom using just a midrange smartphone, even if I’m counted as a casual user.

But spending a month with the realme 12+ 5G gave me a new perspective on what midrange smartphones at 2024 can do.

Powerhouse at a fraction

A lot of times, I’ve used the realme 12+ 5G to play Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. I know, I know. It’s 2024 and I’m still playing the same old MOBA but it’s a game I know all too well that helps me de-stress after a long day.

See, I’m an athlete balancing my work and life. Sometimes, I just want to rot in bed while playing on my phone.

The realme 12+ 5G helped keep me sane thanks to its lag-free gameplay. Not once did I feel any heat or slowing down even while playing in an Ultra Graphics and Super High Frame Rate setting.

The Vapor Chamber Cooling System came into play, dissipating the heat so even if under heavy usage, the gameplay is still optimal.

Moreover, the realme 12+ 5G uses a MediaTek Dimensity 7050 chipset. When you combine this with a 12GB dynamic ram that’s expandable through your storage space, you won’t have to worry about a watered-down experience from using a midrange device.

The RAM can take up from 4GB up to 12GB to be re-allocated from the 256GB internal storage. Though, I only used 4GB since I didn’t feel the need to turn it up to the highest configuration. It’s already smooth even when multi-tasking.

It may not be as smooth as the flagship smartphones I held, but it’s enough particularly for people who just needs a smartphone they can use for their everyday lives. However, if you want a midrange device dedicated for an even more intensive gameplay, I’d suggest looking elsewhere.

Daily companion for viewing, listening

When I was on my way home from my training, I drove past a busy road in Pasig City where vendors are in the streets, bystanders are frolicking, and loafers gossip while taking space through the plastic stools they sat on spread out near the sidewalk.

What do they have in common? Smartphones. There was a realization that the Filipino masses rely on their devices to be entertained and connected.

I have a feeling that if I wasn’t a multi-passionate person with an insanely hectic schedule, I’d bury my head on a smartphone, too.

This is where having a spectacular audio-visual performance comes into play, especially for budget and midrange devices. Luckily, the realme 12+ 5G has a 120HZ Super AMOLED Display and Dual Stereo Speakers.

It’s one of the reasons why I started playing Mobile Legends: Bang Bang again when I was decompressing for the day.

Aside from doomscrolling on TikTok, I just like it when the display is fluid, vivid, and smooth while the audio can be as loud and immersive. Unlike most midrange smartphones, the audio-visual performance is always a hit or miss.

Sometimes, they have an excellent screen while the audio suffers, or vice-versa. The realme 12+ 5G just have it both.

Capture it, remember it

The realme 12+ 5G uses a 50-megapixel SonyLYT 600 OIS Portrait Camera, an 8-megapixel 112° wide-angle lens, a 2-megapixel macro sensor, and a 16-megapixel selfie camera on the front.

I used the smartphone to capture photos I send to my loved ones. From selfies, coffee runs, hotel visits, group photos, food shots, and just anything and everything in my life.

The quality for low-light shots is a hit or miss, but for photos taken during daytime and with good lighting? It’s just spectacular.

Here are some sample photos to look at:

Portraits & Selfies

Food

Sceneries

Everyday photos

Real on reliability

The realme 12+ 5G’s battery capacity is just *chef’s kiss*.

Its ability to retain its battery life even on standby is just incredibly helpful for someone who keeps forgetting to charge his devices.

The realme 12+ 5G lasts long enough when out for the day, and even if you spend a lot of hours playing games and doomscrolling.

One time, I played Mobile Legends: Bang Bang for three hours straight from a full charge, and I still had enough juice to keep playing. That 5000mAh battery surely is a lot of juice that doesn’t drain easily. I had to be the one to give up playing since it hurt my eyes already.

Charging it with 67W SuperVOOC, the realme 12+ 5G gets full charge in less than an hour. This is why even if I forget to charge it at night, I just have to plug the charger in the USB-C port while I was taking a bath and prepping for work.

Could’ve been a real premium

Aside from its performance and capabilities, the realme 12+ 5G comes with a strong and beautiful exterior. The unit I have came in Pioneer Green, resembling an emerald-touch of old money.

Without a plastic case, it’s soft, feels luxurious, and easy to hold even with a boxy frame. At a glance, it’s even more beautiful with its luxury watch-inspired design, thanks to designer Ollivier Savéo.

For a midrange device, realme has a knack for making its devices look and feel sophisticated. Furthermore, it’s dust and splash proof with its IP54 rating. It’s a win-win, right? Strong and pretty at the same time.

My only issue would be the realme UI 5.0 based on Android 14 that’s packed with bloatware. Look- and feel-wise, the realme 12+ 5G would be a premium stunner, even with its camera, audio-visual, and battery performance.

But the UI design along with the unnecessary bloatware made it cheap and annoying to look at.

Is this your GadgetMatch?

The realme 12+ 5G delivers what you’d expect out of a midrange smartphone. It’s premium-looking, long-lasting, offers reliable performance, and captures vivid portraits and pictures.

It’s easily a GadgetMatch for casual users requiring enough power and juice on a device that looks pretty and strong. If the realme 12 Pro+ 5G is a midrange marvel, consider the realme 12+ 5G almost the same, but at a lesser cost.

It retails for PhP 19,999 for the 12GB+256GB variant, while the 8GB+256GB unit is priced at PhP 17,999.

Last year, Ryan Gosling swooped in and plucked out our hearts as Barbie’s Ken. Now, in a post-“I’m Just Ken” world, Gosling is leaning further into his new role as Hollywood’s clueless romantic. If you loved Gosling as the “head of the patriarchy,” you’ll love him as a master stuntman in 2024’s The Fall Guy.

Loosely based on the ‘80s series of the same name, The Fall Guy turns Gosling into Colt Seavers, one of the best stuntmen in Hollywood today. However, when a stunt goes wrong and breaks his back, Seavers finds himself on an uphill climb to get back into the industry (and into the arms of his ex-lover and newbie director, Emily Blunt’s Jody Moreno).

But, of course, what’s a film about stuntmen without action? In Seavers’ first project — a sci-fi blockbuster named Metalstorm — since the accident, leading man Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) mysteriously goes missing. In-movie executive producer Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham) tasks Seavers with the task of finding the actor to save his ex-lover’s film.

It’s not a straightforward chase, too. As he tries to piece together what happened to Ryder, Seavers finds himself in the middle of a Hollywood conspiracy. Hijinx inevitably ensue.

If that premise doesn’t spell things out, The Fall Guy isn’t just a rom-com. It’s an action thriller and a sci-fi epic all in one. Yes, even the fictional Metalstorm production gets its moments to shine. This genre-hopping madness is, in Gail Meyer’s words, “the sexy bacon” wrapped around the plot.

Funny enough, you can believably consider all three plots as the sexy bacon. All three genres take their respective turns in captivating and wowing, whether it’s Seavers’ deadpan cluelessness at Meyer’s romantic jabs, the edge-of-your-seat stunts, and even the hilarity of a cowboy stuck in an alien world.

Despite the many genres juggling in the air, The Fall Guy still delivers a smooth, cohesive plot that knows when to pull back and let the action do the talking. Even then, there are a lot of laugh-out-loud moments in between stunts, including one set to the soundtrack of a Taylor Swift hit.

Way back in 2013, it was rumored that Dwayne Johnson was helming and starring in this film. If you squint enough, you can see how Johnson would have fit in the role: an injury that hardly hampers the action, a mostly loner lifestyle, and the uncanny ability to get past any obstacle. It’s a shoo-in for The Rock.

Of course, we didn’t get Dwayne Johnson. Instead, we got the best version of Colt Seavers in Ryan Gosling. The Barbie actor shines as the stuntman. His comedic timing is perfect, but his ability to shift from hopeless romantic to badass action hero is astounding. In one scene, he can act as clueless as a blind hamster to Blunt’s advances. In the next scene, he can MacGyver himself out of any hairy situation with an assortment of unlikely tools including a prop gun, a boat full of explosive, and a French-speaking dog.

Plus, his chemistry with Emily Blunt? Perfection. While the film could have expanded Blunt’s character as more than just the jilted lover, she still shone in the end as the genius of a plot to take down the film’s antagonist.

The Fall Guy might not eclipse Gosling’s performance in Barbie, but it’s the rare mainstream film that can appeal to everyone without buckling underneath the weight of its own ambition. It’s fun, engaging, and cohesive. If you have a few bucks to spare when the film opens on May 1, might I recommend a trip to the cinema for more Gosling goodness?