Philippines

Best Budget Smartphones below P15,000 (August 2017 Edition)

Published

August 6, 2017

Marvin Velasco

Welcome to GadgetMatch’s list of the best smartphones priced below PhP 15,000! Each month, we update our selection with the budget-friendly phones we believe are most deserving of your hard-earned savings.

Even though the spotlight has been on high-end smartphones this entire year, there have been a few surprisingly good entry-level handsets coming out lately, as well. So good, in fact, that we had to reassess our entire list.

Here they are in no particular order:

Huawei GR3 2017 / Honor 8 Lite (PhP 8,990)

As much as we enjoyed having Huawei’s GR5 2017 (also known as the Honor 6X) on this list, we couldn’t help but replace it with its more affordable sibling, the GR3 2017 (confusingly called the Honor 8 Lite in some regions). You can never go wrong with a midrange chipset and premium-looking body in a sub-PhP 10,000 handset.

REVIEW: Huawei GR3 2017

OPPO A57 (PhP 11,990)

Now that OPPO’s F series belongs in the midrange category of our lists (the recently launched F3 is valued above PhP 15,000), it’s up to the A57 to be the gateway into the Chinese company’s portfolio. Armed with an efficient Snapdragon 435 processor, selfie-centric front camera, and speedy fingerprint scanner, the A57 is OPPO’s best budget bet.

REVIEW: OPPO A57

ASUS ZenFone 3 Max 5.5 (PhP 9,995)

ASUS has been releasing ZenFone 3 variants like there’s no tomorrow, but the one offering the most value for the price is the 5.5-inch ZenFone 3 Max. It’s the larger version of the original ZenFone 3 Max, and borrows the faster camera of the ZenFone 3 Laser.

REVIEW: ASUS ZenFone 3 Max 5.5

Xiaomi Redmi Note 4X (PhP 9,800)

We finally had to take out Xiaomi’s Redmi 4 Prime on this list to make way for the Redmi Note 4X. It’s bigger and more fun to play with; plus, it has all the same features we loved from its smaller sibling, including the large battery, efficient processor, and solid build quality.

REVIEW: Xiaomi Redmi Note 4X

Vivo Y53 (PhP 5,990)

When you talk about great value, you must include Vivo’s Y53. Despite having no fingerprint scanner, its processor and build quality are among the things you used to find on phones twice the price of this handset — truly a serious consideration when you can’t spend more than PhP 6,000.

REVIEW: Vivo Y53

Related Topics:Asus Honor Huawei OPPO Vivo Xiaomi

Laptops

ASUS unveils prices of new ZenBook and VivoBook laptops

From the cheapest one to the most premium

Published

September 22, 2018

Daniel Morial

After showing off the new notebooks during Computex 2018 in Taipei and IFA 2018 in Berlin, ASUS has now brought all of them to the Philippines. Check out the prices of the new ZenBook and VivoBook laptops.

VivoBook S330 — starts at PhP 45,995
VivoBook S430 — starts at PhP 47,995
VivoBook S530 — starts at PhP 56,995

ZenBook S (Core i7/8GB/256GB) — PhP 74,995
ZenBook S (Core i7/4K/16GB/512GB) — PhP 99,995

ZenBook Pro 14 — starts at PhP 99,995
ZenBook Pro 15 (Core i7/16GB/1TB/GTX 1050Ti) — PhP 119,995

ZenBook 13 (UX333) — starts at PhP 54,995
ZenBook 14 (UX433) — starts at PhP 62,995
ZenBook 15 (UX533) — starts at PhP 74,995

All the new VivoBook and ZenBook notebooks will be available nationwide starting October.

Check out our hands-on videos here:

Accessories

CherryRoam offers affordable high-speed internet anywhere in the world

Cherry Mobile branches out to a new territory

Published

September 19, 2018

Daniel Morial

After venturing into prepaid telecommunication services with Cherry Prepaid, the makers of Cherry Mobile are now expanding their reach globally through a travel Wi-Fi roaming device — the CherryRoam. The roaming pocket Wi-Fi service will battle rivals with affordable rates and a more user-friendly device.

The CherryRoam device sports a 4-inch touchscreen display for ease of use and intuitive operation. It’s bigger than most pocket Wi-Fi available since it has a whopping 5350mAh battery inside. The large battery capacity will be able to last 15 hours of usage or charge other mobile devices thanks to the nifty power bank feature.

It’s powered by a Qualcomm 4G LTE chipset and GlocalMe’s CloudSIM technology which allows CherryRoam to automatically connect to the best network coverage anywhere in the world. The service is available in over 100 countries and you can share your connection with up to five devices.

CherryRoam’s flexible global per gigabyte rates and long validity packages offer cheaper data roaming costs. Packages start at PhP 250 which already includes 1GB of high-speed data that’s valid for three days in popular travel destinations. There are also unlimited day pass services which offer high-speed and unlimited browsing data.

The CherryRoam is available in the Philippines for PhP 6,990. If you don’t travel that much, you can also rent the device and have it delivered straight to your preferred local address. Visit their website for more information and to avail of the rental services.

Drones

DJI Mavic 2 Zoom and Mavic 2 Pro officially launch in the Philippines

The best compact drones in the market right now

Published

September 19, 2018

Kevin Bruce Francisco

Less than a month from its official announcement, DJI’s Mavic 2 Zoom and Mavic 2 Pro have officially arrived in the Philippines through ICT company MSI-ECS. These drones offer the latest technologies seen in a quadcopter and aim to bring aerial videography to new heights.

Mavic 2 Zoom

As a quick recap, both new drones shoot 4K video at up to 100 megabits per second — meaning it can capture high-quality footage. DJI also equipped the Mavic 2 with its own 8GB internal storage in case you forget your memory cards at home. They have more sensors for obstacle avoidance and boast improved battery life (31 minutes versus the older 27 minutes). They’re also a lot quieter than previous models.

The Mavic 2 Zoom is the world’s first foldable consumer drone with optical zoom capabilities. This way, you can get up close to your subject (like wildlife, for example) while maintaining your distance, so you won’t disturb them in their habitat.

It can also perform a dolly zoom by flying backward while zooming in. This produces a vertigo effect that renowned filmmakers use in movies.

DJI Mavic 2 Pro

On the other hand, the Mavic 2 Pro is the first drone with a camera co-engineered with Hasselblad — a leading brand in medium format photography. It carries a 1-inch CMOS sensor with a 10-bit Dlog-M color profile which translates to a professional-grade image with a lot of tweaking possibilities during post-production.

DJI Mavic 2 Pro

The Mavic 2 Pro shoots 20-megapixel photos and 4K UHD videos, has support for 4K 10-bit HDR, and can switch between f/2.8 to f/11 apertures depending on the lighting condition. Think of it as your professional aerial equipment that folds up and can fit inside a small bag.

Pricing in the Philippines will start at PhP 76,300 for the Mavic 2 Zoom and PhP 98,800 for the Mavic 2 Pro. Going for the Fly More bundle which includes extra batteries, propellers, and other accessories will come at an extra cost just like the previous iteration.