Reviews

Revisiting the Essential Phone at $499

Reviewed as a premium midrange phone

Published

January 25, 2018

Marvin Velasco

It’s amazing what a major price cut can do to a smartphone. At US$ 700, the Essential Phone was punching above its weight class; at US$ 499, it’s a surprisingly great deal.

This is the same phone with a titanium frame and ceramic back, the fastest processor found on any Android device at the moment, and a design we consider to be the most attractive of 2017.

And since Essential (the company) had several months to iron out the kinks of its sole flagship, we’re no longer dealing with what once felt like a half-baked product.

We already reviewed the Essential Phone a couple of months after its initial release — then with the original price tag — and we were neither blown away nor totally disappointed by the handset. We’re revisiting the device as a premium midrange, now that it fits comfortably at the US$ 500 mark (although it went for as low as US$ 400 at one point).

Re-evaluating what’s essential

We had a number of complaints during our first review: The built-in camera app was too basic, its image outputs were slow and grainy, and the space around the “notchette” (because it’s notchette as big as the iPhone X’s notch) wasn’t fully utilized. Essential managed to improve two of those three, but not by much.

For one, the camera app has since been updated with a few more features. There’s now a portrait mode similar to what you’d find on the Pixel 2 and Galaxy Note 8. Essential also added support for 360 videos on Facebook Live and YouTube Live using the optional 360 Camera attachment.

While those are welcome additions, they don’t fix the real issues, which are the clunkiness of the interface and lack of any proper optimization since the app’s first version. Switching from one mode to another is as slow as ever; you can’t use monochrome or portrait mode for the front camera; and the most basic of settings, such as toggling the aspect ratio and image resolution, are still missing.

Features you’d normally take for granted on much cheaper phones are what you’ll want most on the Essential Phone’s default app. And it’s not like the image quality got significantly better; the dual cameras on the back continue to lag behind the competition and its selfies are nothing to brag about. Making matters worse is the delay between taking a shot and viewing it — another example of poor utilization of a great processor.

You can see in the sample photos below how inconsistent the camera can be. Going from pure daylight to a tad less light indoors can instantly bring the shooters from hero to zero:

Finally, we have to talk about the notchette. It’s nowhere near as intrusive as the iPhone X’s notch, and it’s better than the Mi Mix 2’s awkward camera placement on the bottom, but apps still haven’t been optimized to work around the gap. Essential promised that popular apps would eventually adapt, yet the only apps in my library to adjust are Google Photos, Maps, and Uber.

Everything else simply changes the color of the top bar or makes it all black, ultimately creating a thick bezel and ruining the borderless experience. It’s a shame that developer support has been negligible from the beginning, although that’s something you’d expect from a first-generation product with a tiny user base.

It’s easy to hit the Essential Phone where it hurts — it’s a problematic product under a troubled company — but you can’t deny how well built it is: no branding whatsoever, the ceramic back is more scratch-resistant than typical smartphone glass, and there’s comfort in knowing that the titanium frame can take a beating.

You can argue that the 19:10 screen ratio is too unconventional, but while there’s no standard in this post-16:9 era, we’ll settle for what feels best. I can wholeheartedly say that the slim 5.7-inch body is a joy to hold in spite of the slippery materials, and this is a phone I’d proudly show off to my friends and peers.

On the inside, we still have 2016’s Android 7.1.1 Nougat operating system. It’s a sore spot for a phone known for its pure, nearly untouched Android interface. Why hasn’t Oreo arrived yet on Essential’s only phone? Stuck in its beta stages, there’s hasn’t been any word when the final build will arrive. We can only hope that the update will remedy more bugs.

None of these take anything away from the steady battery life, however. It isn’t stellar by any means — I’d get around four hours of screen time and normally have to charge at the end of each day — but I never had to keep a charger or power bank beside me at all times. Although rare to find a phone with terrible battery endurance these days, this definitely slots within the above-average mark.

Do take note: It uses a non-proprietary 27W fast charger instead of the usual Quick Charge found on Snapdragon-equipped phones. Why should you care? Using anything other than the bundled charger probably won’t charge the battery rapidly. I’ve had luck with the Pixel 2’s high-powered Quick Charge adapter, but it wasn’t consistent and would take anywhere between less than two hours to more than three hours to fully charge.

Re-evaluating the competition

A lot of top-shelf phones have launched since the Essential Phone was first released — Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8, Google’s Pixel 2 XL, Apple’s iPhone X, Huawei’s Mate 10 Pro, Xiaomi’s Mi Mix 2, and the OnePlus 5T, to name a few. Those are six of the best phones you could buy today, showing just how stiff the competition has gotten since the Essential Phone set foot in the market.

Up against these giants, it was a smart move on the newcomer’s part to cut down the cost of their lone product, while continuing to be on par with rivals in terms of chipset and build quality, but this really should have been the price from the beginning.

Being bold is good, but fledgling companies (no matter how renowned the founder is) must know their place. Launching before the barrage of flagship phones mentioned above was strategic; not delivering on time and losing momentum aren’t.

With the new price, the Essential Phone is no longer an overpriced phone with an underdeveloped camera and no waterproofing or audio port. It now has great value with a… umm… slightly better camera and still no waterproofing or audio port whatsoever.

And yet, it’s a bargain for the beautiful device that it is, especially with premium pricing going well above the US$ 900 by each passing launch. This just leaves us with the question:

What does the future hold for Essential?

With no rumors or expectations for an Essential Phone 2, we aren’t hopeful for a sequel this year. What we do wish for are more modular attachments; the 360 Camera simply isn’t enough to justify this handset’s modular expandability anymore.

The two metal dots at the back are underutilized to a fault. It’s a shame, because the 360 Camera is an intuitive approach to modular accessories — it’s plug-and-play and there’s no need to detach anything first. The promised wireless charging attachment would be great, and a selection close to what Moto offers for its phones would put it over the top.

At the end of the day, we’re looking at a good first attempt. The original iPhone wasn’t as refined during its time, and Google’s first Pixel didn’t look nearly as sleek compared to its competition.

It’s been more than half a year since the Essential Phone launched, and neither the device nor its features feel essential to this day. A successor could change all that and truly make a dent in the dense smartphone landscape, but until then, let’s appreciate this phone for what it is: the prettiest pure take on Android.

Reviews

Apple iPad mini OLED review

Has the mini gone PRO?!

Published

November 5, 2026

GadgetMatch and Michael Josh Villanueva

Apple’s smallest tablet just got its biggest upgrade after two long years!

The 2026 iPad mini now features a brighter than ever OLED display, a more powerful A20 Pro chip, improved (and almost non-existent) speakers.Plus, ever durable with its IP67 water and dust resistance rating.

In this video, THE Michael Josh takes a closer look at everything that’s new, what he loves, what’s still missing, and whether the new iPad mini is worth upgrading to.

Here’s our in-depth review of the all-new 2026 iPad mini OLED.

Gaming

ROG G700 review: The best prebuilt PC you can get off the shelf

This PC will make you stop worrying about specs.

Published

October 28, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

The last time I touched a PC was 2014.

At the time, I’d just finished moving houses. While my old house had space for a desk and a fairly decent PC for its time, I opted for a smaller workstation because I was confident that laptops were the future.

Now, more than ten years later, I wish I didn’t dismiss PCs so readily. Thanks to AI, the price of a new PC has reached new levels of absurdity today. It’s not easy to stock up on components anymore.

So, it was like a very heavy blessing falling down from heaven and crash-landing on my lap when the ROG G700 arrived on my doorstep. It’s my first PC in over a decade, and, wow, what a return.

A box with everything you need

The art of building a PC takes a lot of effort these days. You’ll need a command over every little detail that every single component can do. Obviously, you also need to time the market for better prices.

That said, the ROG G700 is not for the minmaxers. It’s a fully built tower you can — gingerly — pick up from the shelf and play on just as soon as you get home.

It’s perfect for people like me. Now, if I had the time and the money, I’d definitely make a little more effort to explore every single detail. However, as someone returning to the PC world after a decade, this prebuilt PC is more than enough to dip my toes back into it.

It is quite the package, though. The tower is 9.45 inches wide by 20.05 inches long. It’s also 18.88 inches tall. If you have a small space, you might struggle to find a space for this behemoth.

Plus, it weighs 40.39 pounds. If you live up a flight of stairs, you’d better not skip leg day. Even then, it was scary to handle this tower, knowing how much hardware I was holding up a few feet from the ground.

A clean design for gamers

Usually, I’m not a fan of heavy gamer aesthetics. As much as I identify as a gamer, I prefer keeping that part of my identity lowkey from how I look. I don’t go for all the edgy angles and the RGB lighting.

But the ROG G700 is one exception to my rule. Even then, it’s not that huge of an exception.

The ROG G700 exudes that gamer aesthetic, but it’s still pretty clean. The chassis has subtle grilles that ease cooling. The main panel is transparent that peeks into a cleanly organized system with heavy ROG visuals. The brand’s logo is peppered throughout the system. The RGB lighting, though bright at times, was easy to get used to.

Personally, I liked how clean the internals are organized. It always hits the right part of my brain when I see something well put together.

Additionally, though it could use a tiny bit more, the G700 has an ample number of ports well situated at the back and up top. When I was setting everything up, I had enough space to make sure I didn’t end up with wire clutter. My workstation was clean at all times.

The 2026 machine

Now, let’s get into the performance. With the highest configuration, the ROG G700 goes up to an Intel Core Ultra 7 processor, up to a 16GB NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 GPU, 32GB RAM, and 2TB of SSD storage. All thing considered, this is a very powerful machine for today’s world.

If you’re not down on particulars and just want something off the rack, this is more than enough. I tested the G700 on this year’s games like 007 First Light and Forza Horizon 6. Both games performed without a hitch. In fact, I appreciated both games a lot more than when I played them on older laptops. The graphics were absurdly crisp without sacrificing a smooth performance.

Also, as a hard multitasker, I love alt-tabbing even while I’m playing. While other setups usually complain, the G700 doesn’t really care. You can run a Twitch stream, play a YouTube video, or have Spotify open in the background, all while playing an intensive game. This is a machine that tells you to leave your worries at the front door because it can handle everything.

If anything, it can get too powerful. Despite the cooling system with a tri-fan intake, the tower still gets hot with heavy loads. After an hour on 007 First Light, my room started getting much warmer. Though you won’t get performance dips, all that heat is coming your way.

Is the ROG G700 your GadgetMatch?

As someone getting back into PCs, the ROG G700 is a powerful off-the-shelf prebuilt PC. Now, do you need all this hardware for day-to-day gaming? Probably not. But if you don’t want to worry if your rig can do certain things, get the ROG G700.

If you have the money, that is.

Being a powerful machine, the G700 comes with a hefty price tag. When it was launched, the machine started at PhP 179,995. Now, with prices of RAM steadily climbing, prices are likely higher today. Plus, you need good peripherals to maximize this PC, so expect to spend a lot more. Overall, it’s very expensive, but at least you’re getting your money’s worth on the investment.

For that, the ROG G700 gets a Swipe Right and a Super Swipe for being a powerful machine you can get today. It is, however, a Swipe Left if you’re looking for cheaper options that won’t break your bank.

Gaming

HP OMEN Max 16 review: Gamer-maxxing in deep black

Peripherals deemed necessary to max this out

Published

October 23, 2026

Gab Orlina

It’s not every day that you come across a machine that looks good and plays even better. Oftentimes, subtle aesthetics take a back seat to sheer performance and power. Whenever a gaming machine looks sleeker, it seems to lack the power to push it forward. Simply put, you can’t have the best of both worlds these days.

But what if you could have it all? Not just money, fame, and other fortunes, but also a machine with everything you’re looking for! Gone are the days of wanting only power to keep you playing all day or wanting to look good while playing. On paper, this is what the HP OMEN Max 16 promises: the best of both worlds.

Unboxing a beast inside

When you first take it out of the box, the HP OMEN Max 16 looks unassuming in its overall design. It’s bulky yet sleek in its Shadow Black colorway, with nothing too fancy or flashy while powered down. From the outside, the machine screams premium, even though its dark color can attract more visible dirt than lighter finishes.

Opening it up reveals a 16-inch OLED display with a peak refresh rate of 240Hz, seamlessly connected to a base with a full-sized keyboard and a large trackpad. The bright, seemingly anti-glare display makes colors pop when watching or editing videos on the go.

Furthermore, HP places the ports in convenient spots along the rear and sides of the laptop. This makes it incredibly easy to set up and manage external peripherals while providing more room for ventilation under heavy loads.

Of course, the device’s biggest features lie in the hardware powering it from within. An Intel Core Ultra 9 processor, 32GB of RAM, and an NVIDIA RTX 5090 Laptop GPU should give you an idea of how well this machine can perform. It’s also a great combination for demanding productivity tasks and creative work!

Power that AI can only hope to replicate

The HP OMEN Max 16 lived up to many of our expectations in terms of performance. From startup to shutdown, it delivered on what its hardware promised. You can watch videos for longer, edit photos and videos to your heart’s content, and enjoy casual gaming without slowing down. Furthermore, the wide display gives you plenty of space to accommodate all these activities.

When you step up to more competitive gaming, the machine doesn’t miss a beat. Most titles deliver high frame rates regardless of the quality or performance settings you choose. With more advanced visual settings enabled, the RTX 5090 does a fantastic job of keeping supported games within a solid 40–50 FPS range. Pair it with a high-refresh-rate OLED display, and you get crisp details and faster input response to help you get ahead in ranked games all day long.

If there’s one thing to complain about, it’s the extra optimization required through the OMEN Gaming Hub. Features such as network prioritization, automatic power-mode switching, and system optimization are useful, but you’ll need to spend time configuring them during initial setup. The laptop also comes with OMEN AI, which promises to maximize FPS with a single click. However, it was only okay at best.

Runs longer, cools off smoother

Surely, a gaming laptop this bulky and powerful can’t last that long on battery, right? Well, the HP OMEN Max 16 averages around three hours of battery life during intensive gaming, which gives you a decent amount of playing time. For general use, battery life extends to around five and a half hours with Balanced power settings. It holds up reasonably well if you forget to bring your charger.

When you do have the massive 330W charger with you, charging doesn’t take too long either. During our tests, a full charge took two hours, with charging progressing slightly faster when we left the laptop idle. Charging the battery to 50% took around 20 minutes, giving you enough juice to squeeze in another game!

Another factor in prolonged use is how the device expels hot air through its sides and rear. We touched on this earlier, but it bears repeating: the laptop provides plenty of ventilation through its vapor chamber and multiple external vents. Instead of directing heat toward the keyboard, it pushes hot air through the vents, where it can hit your hands or peripherals. At least the keyboard stays cooler, right?

Is this your GadgetMatch?

At PHP 229,990, the HP OMEN Max 16 is a sleek-looking machine with incredible power under the hood. Despite its initial bulk, it delivers impressive performance for both casual and competitive gamers. Inside and out, it packs plenty of hardware and features to let you tailor the experience to your needs.

If you’re looking for a gaming laptop with decent battery life, this is a solid choice, but don’t expect it to last half a day. Of course, you wouldn’t use this machine entirely on its own, even if the unboxing experience might suggest otherwise.

Peripherals such as the HyperX Cloud Alpha Air and Solocast 2 Pro can further enhance the experience.

Overall, this is a Swipe Right for its features, performance, and premium design. However, if you don’t have an infinite money glitch to buy it right now, you’re better off saving up for this beast of a machine!