Features

Best Midrange Smartphones from $300 to $600 (July 2017 Edition)

Published

on

When premium phones are out of financial reach and entry-level handsets just don’t make your cut, something in between is the next best thing. This is our updated list of the best midrange smartphones retailing from $300 to $600.

Formulating this category was tricky, since you can’t set an exact price and some of these devices are, in fact, the flagship phones of their respective brands. To simplify things, we chose a price range that simply sits between our two other lists for best budget and premium smartphones.

Here they are in no particular order:

ASUS ZenFone 3 Zoom ($490)

The ZenFone 3 Zoom is best known for its dual-camera setup that lets you zoom in without quality loss, but less advertised is the massive battery and efficient processor it comes with. Combine both, and you get an ASUS gadget perfect for this selection.

REVIEW: ASUS ZenFone 3 Zoom

OnePlus 5 ($479)

The OnePlus 3T has finally been unseated from our list, and what better way than by its successor, the OnePlus 5. The price may have gone up, but you get even more flagship-level features this time around: a much faster Snapdragon 835 processor, up to 8GB of memory, and an additional camera at the back capable of zooming in on subjects.

HANDS-ON: OnePlus 5

Huawei P10 ($580)

While it may seem odd placing Huawei’s latest and greatest smartphone on a midrange list, the P10’s price is surprisingly competitive, especially when compared to other flagships launched alongside it at Mobile World Congress 2017 (MWC). If you’re after something a little more beefed up, there’s always the more expensive P10 Plus.

REVIEW: Huawei P10

OPPO R11 ($440)

It took a while, but OPPO’s R series of smartphones has finally been given its much-anticipated update in the R11. It’s the first in OPPO’s growing lineup to sport two cameras at the back (the additional lens serves zooming purposes) and one of the first to come with Qualcomm’s brand-new Snapdragon 660 chipset.

REVIEW: OPPO R11

Samsung Galaxy A5 2017 ($400)

Samsung hit all the right notes with its newest Galaxy A5 variant, owning a design reminiscent of older Galaxy flagships, as well as specs fit for its price point. Best of all, it has both water and dust resistance, which no other phone on this list can boast.

REVIEW: Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)

[irp posts=”14596″ name=”Best Midrange Smartphones from $300 to $600 (June 2017 Edition)”]

Hands-On

Apple iPhone 18 Pro Series Hands-on

And everything announced during Apple’s September 2026 Event

Published

on

The latest Apple event isn’t just about the shiny new Apple Duo. There’s a lot to talk about!

In this video, we break down everything Apple has announced during their September 2026 keynote.

First, there’s the updated iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max. That’s alongside their design and color changes, battery and performance improvements. Even that massive camera upgrade.

There’s even the ANC-infused AirPods 5 alongside the newer Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4. Plus, the latest software updates coming to both these wearables.

So, are these worth the upgrade?

Continue Reading

Explainers

Spotlight: Hisense UR8 + RGB MiniLED Explained

The Biggest TV Upgrade in Years?

Published

on

TV technology is changing in a way you can’t see. And it starts with how color itself is made.

Hisense’s new RGB MiniLED technology could change the way we see TVs.

Here’s our spotlight on their latest Hisense UR8 offering.

Check out the Hisense UR8 TV: https://bit.ly/4cxo6xl

Continue Reading

Features

How did new CEO John Ternus do for his first Apple event?

Is a new golden age coming for Apple?

Published

on

For a brief moment, I thought Tim Cook was refusing to step down as Apple’s CEO.

Apple’s “Surprise and shine” event, which heralded the coming of the foldable iPhone Duo, started bombastically with a montage of cinematic moments spanning different genres. The main point was: “what’s the best way to start an opening scene?”

After what felt like an age, the all-too-familiar voice of Tim Cook came on, perhaps for the very last time. But rather than overstaying his exit as the former CEO, he describes that the perfect opener should be classic, as a car that is, quite symbolically, riding off into the sunset. He then explains that he’s not the main character anymore.

Last shot of Tim Cook at the Surprise and Shine event

“That’s your guy,” he said, before pointing to John Ternus, who steps into frame without an introduction or even a name card. It’s hard to image that this guy is the new face of Apple.

It’s the perfect end to Tim Cook’s tenure and as perfect a start for John Ternus’s.

Moving from an age of crisis to a golden age

After a decade and a half of being the face of the brand, Tim Cook stepped down from his tenure as CEO. He leaves the company in a much better state than when he took over. Thanks to him, the iPhone is now a household item. It’s a ubiquitous phone that draws millions of fans every time a new one comes out every year.

But his tenure didn’t start on a bed of roses. When he took over in 2011, it was in response to Steve Jobs’s failing health, who passed away soon after. He inherited a company constantly threatened by competitors trying to eat into Apple’s slice of the pie.

Indeed, Cook’s tenure was peppered with crises. He had to navigate Trump’s first reign, destructive as it was towards relationships in China. He had to figure out survival during the tempestuous pandemic years. Finally, he had to carefully build a strategy for the dawn of AI.

Cook is, first and foremost, a businessman. While the Jobs era was typified by innovation after innovation, Cook built upwards, turning Apple into a trillion-dollar company. Although we didn’t see a lot of new exciting segments introduced, the company built on what it was already good at, delivering a premium and refined experience.

John Ternus comes at an opportune time. Though the brand will always have a healthy share of diehard fans, Apple must now find the next big thing and rediscover the spice of years past.

A time for AI?

After his nonchalant introduction, Ternus immediately goes on the offensive and describes his vision for Apple Intelligence. Rather than dwell on NPUs, TOPS, and other metrics that a regular user can’t make heads or tails of, he described Apple Intelligence and Siri AI as a personal assistant. Usage versus performance, in other words.

If you’re an AI enthusiast, the renewed push towards Apple Intelligence should give you hope that the iPhone won’t just be a receptacle for other AI software. Rather, it’s building its own. Wherever the AI industry is going, Apple looks like it can keep up.

Now, if you don’t like AI at all, that’s fine, too. Ternus isn’t there just for the AI.

Unlike Jobs or Cook, Ternus comes from a strictly engineering background. In today’s world, hardware complements AI. The software must use NPUs after all. But, when the AI bubble finally pops, Ternus isn’t out of a job. In fact, if his track record is any indication, it’s just getting started.

Or a time for new hardware?

This year is absolutely monumental for Apple. Earlier this year, the company launched the MacBook Neo, its first budget-friendly notebook built for everyone. If you were looking to get into the MacBook lifestyle, now is the perfect time to buy in. A lot of users felt a subtle changing of the guard.

From there, you can feel Ternus’s influence already seeping in. And if it wasn’t obvious back then, it’s more than apparent now.

iPhone Duo

In his first ever “One More Thing,” Ternus started his tenure strong with the introduction of the iPhone Duo. Almost twelve hours since the phone’s announcement, I’ve never seen a more visceral reaction to the launch of a new iPhone.

Whereas most of their annual releases reveled in more incremental improvements that primarily tickled already dedicated fan, the iPhone Duo is something new. Everyone’s talking about it. It’s gotten so crazy that even Samsung, often more nonchalant with its prodding, openly attacked the foldable after teasing the brand to go foldable last year.

Though it’s technically not a new segment, the iPhone Duo is patching up the mistakes of past foldables. Rather than just pasting two screens together, Apple’s take feels like a unified whole, emphasized by an interface that seamlessly changes from folded to unfolded.

Where Tim Cook failed to illicit more than a modest ripple with the Vision Pro, Ternus flew to new heights with the iPhone Duo’s announcement. And the phone isn’t even out yet.

Now, there’s still a chance that the Duo won’t be a hit with sales, especially because of the price. But this is still a strong opener for Ternus.

Who is the main character?

“That’s your guy,” Tim Cook pointed.

I don’t think he was pointing in the right direction. Though the camera cut to Ternus himself, his first outing clearly states that the main character is no longer whoever is handling the reins. His decision to skip an official introduction feels intentional. The main character, after all, is the hardware itself: the iPhone 18 Pro, the iPhone Duo.

The entire event started with a bold declaration that everything was shot with an iPhone. It ended, in fact, with the same declaration. Channeling their inner Marshall McLuhan, Ternus’s Apple wants you to believe in the iPhone again.

Even as someone who doesn’t use Apple products mainly, I’m stoked to see what the new era will bring to the table. This is an exciting time for Apple. We might be in the first year of a new golden age.

Continue Reading

Trending